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Are you my mentor? Informal mentoring mutual identification	[ "Mentoring", "Gender", "Human resource management", "Interpersonal relations", "Management philosophy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Everybody who makes it has a mentor (Collins and Scott, 1978, p. 89).\nHypotheses development: Why might views of informal mentoring relationships be so different? The social psychological theory of motivated cognitions provides one potential explanation. Assessments of relationships are subject to both cognitive and motivational forces (Hassin, 2008). In certain situations, individuals are motivated to positively bias their cognitive assessments in order to feel good about their relationships (Gagne and Lydon, 2004). In other words, individuals engage in motivated cognitions - cognitions which are consistent with motivational desires. For example, a recent meta-analysis found that partners in romantic relationships positively biased relationship predictions (e.g. future relationship satisfaction, relationship longevity) when compared to actual outcomes (r=0.23, p<0.001) (Fletcher and Kerr, 2010).Motivated cognitions of mentors and proteges\nMethods: Participants and procedures\nResults: Table I presents the descriptive results for this sample. On average, proteges listed a total of 2.56 mentors, but only 1.07 of these mentors agreed that a mentoring relationship existed. Similarly, on average mentors listed a total of 3.09 proteges, but only 1.85 of these proteges agreed that a mentoring relationship existed. In terms of hit rate, proteges identified mutual relationships 43 percent of the time while mentors identified mutual relationships 54 percent of the time.H1 - that potential proteges would over-identify mutual mentoring relationships - is supported. Using a paired t-test analysis, total mentors listed is significantly greater than the number of mentor matches (t=19.05; p<0.001).Similarly, H2 - that potential mentors will over-identify mutual mentoring relationships - is supported. Using a paired t-test analysis, total proteges listed is significantly greater than the number of protege matches (t=12.04; p<0.001).H3 focused on the difference in hit rates between men and women when identifying mentors. Specifically, we expected that women would have a lower hit rate than men. This hypothesis is not supported. Contrary to expectations, women had a higher hit rate than men when identifying mentors, although the difference is not statistically significant (b=0.25; p=0.23).H4 focused on the difference in hit rates between men and women when identifying proteges. Again, we expected that women would have a lower hit rate than men. This hypothesis is also not supported. Results reveal that the relationship is directionally correct, with women identifying mutual proteges 46 percent of the time versus men who identified them 57 percent of the time, but the test is not significant (b=-0.42; p=0.15).On an exploratory basis, we examined whether mutual identification is related to protege satisfaction with mentoring received. Results of this analysis (Table II) indicate that mentor matches are significantly and positively related to satisfaction with mentoring received (b=0.20; p<0.001), while mentor mismatches are not significantly related (b=0.07; p>0.05). This indicates that mutual identification seems to be important to protege satisfaction with mentoring.\nDiscussion: This study uses a unique sample to call into question the validity of the implicit assumption that most informal mentoring relationships are agreed upon by both protege and mentor. It appears that neither proteges nor mentors are very accurate at identifying mutual mentoring partners. Proteges were accurate at identifying mutual partners less than half of the time, while mentors were only slightly more accurate. Interestingly, studies examining social networks have found similar results. In fact, Marsden (1990) concluded that across studies, individuals correctly identified friendship partners between 40-60 percent of the time - percentages similar to what we found in this context.Of note, mentors were better at identifying proteges who saw them as mentors than vice versa. One potential reason for this may be because the importance of having mentors has received more popular press than the importance of having proteges. In other words, motivated cognitions may be particularly salient for proteges and influence them to classify relationships as mentoring ones when they are not perceived that way by mentors.If motivated cognitions are a factor for both mentors and proteges, should this not produce higher matches of both types? Note that increased matching will only occur if motivated cognitions lead to random selection of mentoring partners. However, the pattern of mismatches does not appear to be random. A supplemental analysis examining the misidentifications mentors made revealed some consistencies within individuals in these perceptions. Some potential proteges never failed to reciprocate a relationship (where the mentor indicated a focal employee as a protege, and the focal employee viewed the manager as a mentor), while other proteges failed to reciprocate relationships multiple times. Potentially, motivated cognitions are at work here as well. Certain individuals are probably perceived to be more valuable as either proteges or mentors because of their potential (proteges) or their power in the organization (mentors). Because these individuals are more valuable as mentoring partners, they are more likely to be the target of motivated cognitions.Does agreement between the two mentoring partners matter? It does appear that for proteges whether there is agreement or not makes a difference; only matched relationships were significantly related to satisfaction with mentoring received. In addition, the standardized regression estimates indicate that the effect of matched relationships was nearly three times greater than that of mismatched relationships.Interestingly, neither of the hypotheses suggesting that women would have lower hit rates than men were supported. In fact, female proteges had higher hit rates than male proteges did, although the difference was not statistically significant. Thus, motivated cognitions do not appear to explain the difference between mentoring theory and empirical findings concerning women.These findings have important implications for the research and practitioner communities. First, researchers need to consider the implicit assumption they make when studying informal mentoring relationships. Most empirical work on mentoring is based on either the mentor's or the protege's perspective (Allen et al., 2008), and assumes some level of agreement from the partner. Given the prevalence of mismatched relationships, this assumption appears to be problematic and may have influenced the outcomes of previous work. A substantial number of non-reciprocated relationships were likely present in many of the samples, but counted as examples of mutual relationships because only one perspective was obtained.Organizations need to be sensitive to mutual identification in mentoring because individuals are making assumptions about support from their mentoring partners that may not be forthcoming. For mentors fewer reciprocal mentoring relationships likely impact their ability to successfully accomplish their goals because fewer actual proteges translates into smaller and less robust networks for these managers. As a result, when these managers need support for an initiative or a change, they will likely overestimate the support that they can rely on from their proteges. This will impede their ability to make the change or successfully complete the initiative. For proteges inaccurately perceiving mentoring relationships likely impacts their career trajectories. If a junior employee believes that a more senior manager is their mentor, they will rely on them for the career-related functions of sponsorship and protection, both of which occur when the protege is not physically present. However, if the more senior manager does not view the junior employee as a protege, he/she may not endorse the junior employee and may not protect them from organizational hazards. This would likely impact the junior employee's ability to be successful, especially because the employee believes that the more senior person is performing this role.Our study has a number of limitations. First, the external validity of these findings is a potential issue because consulting is an extremely human-capital intensive industry. In such an environment, the importance of mentoring is accentuated more than in many industries. Second, the sample was quite imbalanced in terms of gender, which led to low power for conducting some of the statistical analyses. Although reflective of the organization, there were only 76 women in comparison to 218 men who identified mentors, and only 40 women in comparison to 130 men who identified proteges. Finally, we could not control for relationship length, which may partially account for the number of mismatches. Specifically, mentoring relationships in the initiation phase (Kram, 1988) may have a lower likelihood of a match because these relationships are still in their formative stages. In order to confirm that relationship length was not the explanation for our findings, in a supplemental analysis we re-estimated the hit rate while controlling for organization tenure (a proxy for relationship length given that the longer an individual has been in the organization, the fewer relationships he/she should have in the initiation phase). Results of this robustness check revealed that tenure was not significantly related to mentor hit rate, supporting our primary findings.Overall, our findings raise several important questions for future research. First, what are the broader implications of mismatches in terms of outcomes for proteges and mentors across different types of organizations? Second, what characteristics of potential mentors and proteges result in mismatches versus matches? Finally, what interventions might organizations consider to close the mentor-protege identification gap?In conclusion, this research addresses an important question which has not previously been addressed in the mentoring literature. Specifically, to what extent are informal mentoring relationships mutually identified? We find that mentoring relationships may often be less agreed upon than implicitly assumed. This has implications for employees who are depending upon their mentoring partners, and for researchers, especially those who study only one side of the mentoring relationship.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to understand the extent to which potential mentors and proteges agree that an informal mentoring relationship exists. Because these relationships are generally tacitly understood, either the mentor or protege could perceive that there is a mentoring relationship when the other person does not agree. Whether gender affects this is also to be examined.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Individuals were asked to identify their mentoring partners. Each report of a partner was then compared to the partner's list to determine whether there was a match (i.e. both reported the relationship as an informal mentoring relationship) or a mismatch (i.e. where one partner reported the relationship as an informal mentoring relationship but the other did not). This pattern of matches and mismatches was then analyzed to determine level of matching and gender differences.\nFindings: - There is little agreement between mentoring partners: neither potential proteges nor potential mentors were very accurate at identifying reciprocal informal mentoring partners. However, gender was not found to be related to different levels of matching.\nOriginality/value: - Previous work has not examined whether potential informal mentoring partners perceive the relationship in the same way. This has implications for employees who are depending upon their mentoring partners for support that may not be forthcoming because the partner does not view the relationship similarly. The findings also have implications for researchers, particularly when studying mentoring relationships from only one perspective and implicitly assuming agreement between partners.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Towards a more integrated view of entrepreneurial careers: Qualitative investigation of the three forms of career capital and their relationships among high tech entrepreneurs	[ "Technology", "Human capital", "Entrepreneurs", "Social capital" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Entrepreneurs are career actors who make independent decisions about which market opportunities to pursue and how to secure the resources needed to explore these opportunities (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996). Thus, entrepreneurial careers are considered \"boundaryless\" (DeFillippi and Arthur, 1994), in that entrepreneurs self-manage (King, 2004) and exercise \"independence from, rather than dependence on, traditional organizational career arrangements\" (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996, p. 6). Scholars suggest that entrepreneurs accumulate various forms of individual career capital as foundational to their ventures (DeFillippi and Arthur, 1994; Inkson and Arthur, 2001). However, entrepreneurship research has examined these various facets of career capital in isolation, including entrepreneurial intentions (e.g. Markman et al., 2002), and human vs social capital (e.g. Hoang and Antoncic, 2003) or there has been some conceptual discussions of various forms of capital but not necessarily in relation to their careers (Stringfellow and Shaw, 2009). Yet, careers' research captures the career capital concept more broadly by exploring together the \"three ways of knowing,\" specifically knowing-why (career motivation and purpose), knowing-how (skills and experience), and knowing-whom (networks and relationships) (see Arthur et al., 1995; Inkson and Arthur, 2001). While these career capital types have been examined in expatriate research (e.g. Dickmann and Harris, 2005), little is known about their role in entrepreneurial careers.\nLiterature review: Intelligent career theory and three ways of knowing\nResearch methodology: Qualitative approaches have been gaining traction in entrepreneurship research (e.g. Bruni et al., 2004; Clarke and Holt, 2010) as well as in studies of contemporary careers. Thus, a phenomenological approach (Moustakas, 1994) emphasizing the subjectivity of career experiences and the uniqueness of career contexts (see Cope, 2005; Stevenson, 1990) was deemed appropriate.\nFindings: In what follows, the three ways of knowing are described in detail, each illustrating specific aspects of how technology entrepreneurs experience the three types of career capital. At the same time the authors describe the experienced relationships between entrepreneurial motivations (knowing-why), human capital (knowing-how), and social capital (knowing-whom) in the context of their careers in the high-technology venture sector.\nDiscussion and conclusion: Summary and theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to employ intelligent career theory to simultaneously explore the relationships between three types of entrepreneurial career capital (i.e. motivations, human, and social capital). It illustrates the interconnectedness of these three forms of capital as an important way to study entrepreneurial careers and provide a new lens for understanding both personal and venture success.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative study of 22 in depth semi-structured interviews explores career stories of entrepreneurs in the high tech industry. The interviews focus on examining three aspects of their career, motivations to become an entrepreneur, ways of learning and developing their human and social capital. Interviews were transcribed and coded using grounded theory approach.\nFindings: The findings describe how entrepreneurial careers as simultaneously shaped by three types of career capital: motivations (knowing-why), knowledge (knowing-how), and relationships (knowing-whom). It also illustrates the accumulation of career capital as a continuous cycle of interrelationships between these three types of capital.\nResearch limitations/implications: In sum, the findings add to the knowledge on entrepreneurial careers and the role that the three types of capital play in venture formation and success. It also points to the importance of a more integrated view of these careers, embedded in a web of motivational, social, and human capital.\nPractical implications: The study's findings suggest that entrepreneurs should paid equal attention and nurture each form of career capital throughout their careers. It also has implications for entrepreneurship programs as well career advisers to.\nOriginality/value: Prior entrepreneurship research has examined aspects of entrepreneur's career capital (e.g. intentions, social, and human capital) typically in isolation from one another and little is known about their reinforcing relationships in entrepreneurial careers. This study provides novel insights for understanding the three types of career capital and the importance of this more integrated view in entrepreneurship education and career counseling.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How to sell technology services to innovators: evidence from nanotech Italian companies	[ "Nanotechnology", "Technical services", "Italy", "Innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is well known that new disruptive forces have been reshaping the competitive context in the last decades. Market arenas are getting more and more turbulent, dynamic and global: product characteristics, prices, competitors, and the required competencies and resources change over time with a frequency much higher than ever (Wolf, 2006). It is difficult for firms to identify the evolutionary trends for sale volumes, customer needs and technological performance. Product life-cycles are shortening, especially in high-technology environments; time and cost pressures over companies sharply increase (Ofek and Sarvary, 2003). Moreover, the globalisation of markets and firms' business activities is in place. Firms are nowadays geographically dispersing not only labour-intensive processes, such as manufacturing or distribution, but also R&D and technological innovation (Jones and Teegen, 2003). These evolutionary patterns in the external environment of the firm pose significant challenges for companies and directly influence the way in which they manage technological innovation; a new paradigm is actually emerging that is called Open Innovation (Chesbrough, 2003) or Distributed Innovation (Haour, 2004). According to this model, firms are increasingly and proactively accessing external sources of technology to support their innovation process (Roberts, 2001; Jones et al., 2001; Howells, 2000; Chatterji, 1996; Chatterji and Manuel, 1993); since they generally lack the financial and technical resources to build the whole range of competencies needed for effectively innovating in today's hypercompetitive arenas, in fact, they move towards a higher level of technical specialisation, and concentrate internal R&D efforts on core activities where they are more likely to excel.With this aim, companies are willing to exploit the technical knowledge basis retained by a wide range of external actors, including:* private product firms such as suppliers, clients, competitors;* private service companies, e.g. design, engineering, prototyping and testing, private R&D laboratories, consultant;* public service organisations such as universities, governmental R&D laboratories, public research institutions; and* free sources of technology, i.e. conference, workshops, specialized journals, patents (Veugelers and Cassiman, 1999; Bessant and Rush, 1995; Chatterji and Manuel, 1993).Among the possible sources of technical competencies, in the last years private firms developing and selling technology-intensive services have largely diffused (MacPherson, 1997a,b; OECD, 1999). These services can be referred to as Technical and Scientific Services, or TSS (Chiesa and Manzini, 2000), and a tentative list is provided in Table I.Although a relevant body of literature has developed around TSS (e.g. Chiesa et al., 2005a; Arora et al., 2001; den Hertog and Bilderbeek, 2000; Howells, 1999), most of the extant research contributions analyse Technical and Scientific Services from the perspective of the client firm that buys the TSS as a means to exploit a valuable source of technical knowledge (Chiesa et al., 2004). Accordingly the management and organisation of firms offering Technical and Scientific Services (called here TSS firms) remains an almost totally unexplored issue. Among the various managerial and organisational problems TSS firms must confront with, one of the most critical is the management of the TSS sale, which implies for a close interaction with the client company (Chiesa et al., 2004). The heterogeneity of TSS and the knowledge-bridging function they perform (Chiaroni et al., 2006) are perhaps the main reasons behind the difficulties that TSS firms encounter in managing this activity of their value chain.In order to make a step further in our understanding of Technical and Scientific Services, this paper pursues a twofold objective: firstly, to understand how TSS firms actually manage the sale of their services, and secondly, to identify the managerial and organisational implications that different approaches in the TSS sale management are likely to have on the client firm's innovation process. This paper, therefore, attempts to widen the perspective that has been adopted so far in the study of TSS, since it considers two opposite viewpoints in the TSS sale: the service supplier's and the service buyer's one.The paper is structured as follows. The next section contains an overview of the available literature on TSS, inter-firm technology transfer and inter-firm sale relationships, that provides the theoretical underpinnings required to pursue the paper's objectives. Afterwards, the third section describes the research methodology adopted for the empirical investigation. The fourth section discusses the empirical results and their implications, and the final one draws some conclusion and outlines possible directions for future research.\nLiterature review: Technical and scientific services\nResearch methodology: In light of the objectives of the paper, a multiple case study methodology was selected; in this section it will be discussed in detail.According to Eisenhardt (1989) and Yin (1994), case study research allows one to investigate a phenomenon in its overall complexity and within its natural setting. This makes the methodology particularly effective for research in unexplored topics where the main objective is answering to \"how\" or \"why\" questions that concern a contemporary set of events, thus gathering insights to build a theory rather than testing research hypotheses. Multiple case studies are largely acknowledged as far more robust than single case studies, since the cross-case comparisons allow for greater robustness in the explanation building process and in the understanding of contextual variables' influences. These properties of the multiple case study approach make it particularly appropriate for the objectives of the paper.The empirical study focused on Italian TSS firms operating in the nanotechnology industry. Nanotechnology can be defined as a \"new approach that refers to understanding and mastering the properties of a matter at the nano-scale: one nanometer is the length of a small molecule. At this level matter exhibits different and often amazing properties and the borders between established scientific and technical disciplines fade. Hence the strong interdisciplinary character that is associated with nanotechnology\" (European Commission, 2004a). The choice of the empirical setting for the research was driven by the steady growth that nanotechnologies have experienced during the last years, worldwide and in Italy (Hullmann and Meyer, 2003; Mazzola, 2003; Teresko, 2005), and the great expectations that are actually surrounding them (European Commission, 2004a, b). Moreover, the technology intensity of the industry and the pervasiveness of the underlying technology make it a particularly favourable setting for the diffusion of TSS firms, as confirmed by several contributions (see, e.g. Chiesa et al., 2005b). Table II synthesizes the most diffused types of nanotechnology-based TSS according to the taxonomy proposed in the previous section of the paper.In December 2005, the Italian nanotechnology industry comprised 19 firms; 10 had a business model that implied for the sale of Technical and Scientific Services (see Chiesa and De Massis, 2006) and they were all included in the multiple case study conducted for this paper. Table III provides a brief overview of the studied TSS firms.Information about the TSS sale management model was mainly gathered through in-depth interviews (at least two for each firm) with R&D and sales managers and, for small companies, with CEOs. Secondary information sources (e.g. project reports, service delivery documentation, contract agreements) were also exploited in a process of data triangulation (Yin, 1994), so that construct validity was ensured. Interviews were directed by a semi-structured guide that turned out to be very useful also in the phase of data transcription and storage and favoured the reliability of the research project.During the interviews, impressions were also gathered about the implications of the adopted TSS sale management model over the client firm's innovation process. In order to confirm the opinions of the service providers, two clients for each analysed TSS firm were telephonically interviewed (see Table IV, where real names are omitted for confidentiality reasons).Even if the external validity of the results is improved by the use of a multiple case study methodology, they obviously cannot be statistically generalized to all types of TSS firms, but only to those that fit into the discussed research domain.\nEmpirical results and discussion: The results of the empirical analysis, in terms of sale management models adopted by the studied companies, are summarized in Table V.The impact that the sale management model of each analysed TSS company has on the client firm's innovation process is synthesized in Table VI.A discussion of these empirical results will be provided in the following sections, which consider the two opposite viewpoints of the interaction between the nanotech TSS service supplier and its client.The TSS supplier firm perspective\nConclusions: Technical and scientific services have been largely acknowledged as critical external sources of technology that are being increasingly exploited by innovative firms in order to support their innovation process. Although research has extensively investigated the role that TSS perform in the development of regional/national economies, few contributions have adopted a managerial perspective in the study of firms providing these services. This paper attempts to make a step further in this direction; in particular, it focuses on a critical managerial issue for TSS firms, i.e. the way in which they contact their prospective customers and manage the commercial relationship along the service development and delivery period. The empirical setting for the research is represented by Italian TSS firms operating in the nanotechnology industry. The paper shows that TSS companies manage their service sale according to two alternative models: firstly, a standardised service model, that entails a close interaction with the client firm only in the phase of service delivery and does not require a structured managerial approach for handling the commercial relationship, and secondly, a customised service model, that implies for an early involvement of the client company in the TSS development process and calls for dedicated and complex communication patterns between the two firms. The paper advances that the choice of the TSS sale management model basically depends on the type of service provided, namely WIPI, PA or TdT. The rationale behind this specialization lays in the fact that different types of TSS are vehicles of diverse forms of knowledge, i.e. tacit or codified, whose transfer process is characterized by specific underlying dynamics. The different nature of the technological knowledge that is transferred through the TSS sale also explains the diverse implications over the client firm innovation process of the two TSS sale management models.This paper has obviously some limitations. First of all, because of the adopted research methodology, its major achievements can be generalised only to TSS firms operating in industries that are similar to nanotechnology. In particular, the latter shows a high degree of pervasiveness, defined as the range of possible applications for the technology around which the sector is built; it is reasonable to expect that, in technology intensive sectors with a lower pervasiveness (e.g. aerospace), the standardised service model prevails, considered that the homogeneity of possible applications necessarily favours the codification and hence an easier dissemination of technological knowledge. Second, the analysis described in this paper focused on the relationship between the type of service provided and the adopted TSS sale management model; it did not investigate how other factors (e.g. the size of the TSS firm, the complementary assets it possesses, the size of its client firms) can influence the critical sale management choices. Although we believe that the most powerful explanatory variable is the type of service supplied by the TSS company, the analysis of further possible relationships would be useful for a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon.Some possible directions for future research are here briefly outlined:First of all, it would be valuable to broaden the perspective adopted in this paper in order to study further critical managerial challenges TSS firms are called to face. For instance, it would be possible to focus on:* the intellectual property management model and the strategies adopted for solving appropriability problems that necessarily arise during the commercial relationship;* the management of technical professionals carriers and incentive schemes;* the TSS payment strategy (lump sum, royalties, or a mix of them); and* the network of technological collaborations with universities and public or private research centres.This will contribute to the development of a theory about TSS firm management and organisation.Moreover, it would be interesting to more deeply investigate the practices adopted by TSS firms for managing the sale of their services and to try to understand which are the most effective. This would require that a larger sample of TSS firms are considered; then, through an extensive survey and significance tests, the possible relationships between the TSS sale management practices and the TSS firms' overall (e.g. financial) performance could be assessed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to study nanotech technical and scientific seminars (TSS) companies from a managerial perspective. Specifically, it means to: firstly, understand how TSS firms manage the sale of their services; and secondly, to identify the implications that different approaches in the TSS sale management have on the client firm's innovation process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - First, a literature analysis identifies the critical variables of a service sale management model for nanotech TSS firms. Then, an empirical investigation involving ten nanotech Italian companies was conducted. The empirical results were analytically generalised and integrated with suggestions from the literature to provide general insights into the research topic.\nFindings: - The paper shows that nanotech TSS companies adopt two alternative models for managing their service sale: a customised approach and a standardised one. They differ in terms of: management of the commercial relationship; phases of interaction with the client firm; and degree of standardisation of the provided service.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Because of the applied research methodology, the findings can be generalised to TSS companies offering services in the field of nanotechnology, although implications for similar technology-intensive sectors are discussed.\nPractical implications: - The two TSS sale management models have different implications on the client's innovation process, in terms of: firstly, structure of the process itself and, secondly, applied managerial and organisational practices. These effects should be considered by the innovator that wants to fully exploit the potentiality of the acquired service.\nOriginality/value: - So far, TSS have been analysed in the literature from the client firm's point of view. The paper widens this perspective, since it considers the two opposite viewpoints in the TSS sale: the service supplier's and the service buyer's.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Measuring the performance of property management companies in high-rise flats	[ "Performance measurement", "Property management", "Residential buildings", "Building quality index", "Logic model", "Property management companies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Like a human being, a building needs to be maintained, and its owners are responsible for its upkeep. In fact, the management and maintenance of a multi-ownership, multi-storey building is much more complicated than those of a house with a single owner. Besides the maintenance of their own flat units, a building's owners are responsible for upkeeping its common areas (e.g. entrance lobbies, staircases, lifts, etc.). However, the different backgrounds of the owners and time constraints are two reasons why they often ignore building care. Moreover, non-cooperation among homeowners and agency problems hamper the management and maintenance of a building (Walters and Kent, 2000; Walters, 2002; Lai and Chan, 2004; Yau et al., 2009). Unmanaged buildings often accelerate building dilapidation, putting the health and safety of the community at risk and fostering urban decay (Ho et al., 2012). The number of reports concerning building dangers received by the Buildings Department in 2013 totaled 51,244, which represented a 52 per cent increase from a decade earlier and was an all-time high (Table I). The lack of proper management and maintenance has been grounds for a rising number of building incidents. Thus, property management companies (PMCs) are needed to properly manage a building's common areas. As homeowners must pay for the services of a PMC, they will favor one with a good reputation. Yet, the quality of PMCs varies, thereby requiring a way to measure their performance. Thus, in this pilot study, we aim to measure PMC performance in managing high-rise flats through the use of a logic model framework.\nThe need for property management companies: The importance of management in residential buildings has become a public concern in recent decades due to increasing public awareness of building health and safety (Ho et al., 2006). Proper building management can minimize the danger from crumbling buildings and delay their demise (Yau, 2010).\nThe theoretical framework on performance measurement: The term \"performance\" has been extensively used in the management discipline, but its exact meaning was not clearly defined (Lebas and Euske, 2007). Summarizing the various definitions of performance, Lebas and Euske (2007, p. 127) defined it as \"doing today what will lead to an outcome of measured value tomorrow\". Performance is a dynamic process that produces potential outcomes (Lebas and Euske, 2007). A company is motivated to measure and improve its business performance, particularly in a competitive industry (Meyer, 2007). Thus, a company needs to measure its performance to improve. Despite numerous meanings, performance measurement can be defined as \"a regular measurement of the results (outcomes)\" (Hatry, 2006, p. 3). Managing for results is often categorized in the performance measurement paradigm, and, thus, PMC performance measurements can be considered in this paradigm, as they manage a building to ensure its good condition.\nMethodology: Property management is a customer-oriented and service delivery industry. The commonly used model to measure the service quality of customer-oriented service companies is SERVQUAL. It is often used by the retail business and hotel industries to assess customer perceptions of their products or services by means of questionnaires, which are often subjective. In the case of a residential building, the services provided by its PMC can be reflected in its physical condition. A PMC is judged by its effectiveness in delivering services and how much it benefits the building's residents, who should have a clear picture of the quality of the services it provides.\nData: Hong Kong, with a population of 7.2 million people in 2013 and an area of 1,100 sq. km. (Census and Statistics Department, 2014), is renowned for its high development density. Its urban areas are dominated by high-rise buildings that are economically efficient due to their maximization of the use of public facilities and services and minimization of urban sprawl (Tong and Wong, 1997; Yau et al., 2009). These high-rises accommodate multiple owners and, thus, require PMC services.\nResults and discussions: The scores for the outputs and outcomes were plotted on a chart (Figure 3). The diagram shows that PMC performance varied. Interestingly, even residential buildings managed by the same company, PMC 1, experienced different outcomes (with a range of 40-90 per cent). Building age ranged from 26 to 48 years. Theoretically, the older a building, the more difficult it is to maintain. However, despite being older, some buildings were recently rehabilitated. As a result, the physical parts of these buildings appeared to be in good condition and complied with regulations. Such attributes likely reflected the performance of this PMC.\nConclusion: A PMC's services are essential for the proper management and maintenance of a multi-ownership, multi-storey building due to the complexity of its management and the need for coordination between its owners on how to maintain their shared facilities and common areas. Our study attempted to measure the performance of certain PMCs in managing high-rise buildings using a logic model as the contextual performance measurement framework with its indicators adopted from the BQI scheme.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The complex nature of multi-ownership, multi-storey buildings requires the services of property management companies (PMCs). Naturally, homeowners favor PMCs with good performance. Yet, their performances vary. The purpose of this paper is to measure the performance of PMCs in managing high-rise flats using the logic model as the contextual framework with its indicators adapted from the building quality index (BQI) scheme.\nDesign/methodology/approach: For this pilot study, the research was based on visual inspection and interviews with building management staff for the information concerning the output and outcome indicators. The authors also tested the relationship between outcomes and outputs and other factors that affect the performance of PMCs.\nFindings: Based on our pilot study of 41 high-rise residential buildings, the performance outcomes of the PMCs varied considerably. The same PMC was likely to yield different performance outcomes due to unique building characteristics. The outputs, building ages and rehabilitation statuses of the buildings were the contributing factors to the PMCs' performance outcomes.\nPractical implications: The performance outcomes of the logic model can help homeowners and PMCs understand current PMC performance, which can help trigger the development of a strategy to enhance the health and safety of residential buildings in the future.\nOriginality/value: Unlike traditional performance measurements that use financial figures or balanced scorecards to measure organizational performance, the authors used the logic model performance measurement system because the performance outcomes of the PMCs were explicitly reflected in the physical building conditions. This framework was relatively straightforward and could be applied to cities dominated by multi-ownership, multi-storey apartments.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring internal crisis communication in multicultural environments: A study among Danish managers	[ "Multiculturalism", "Globalization", "Employee communications", "Internal crisis communication", "Crisis communication", "Communication adaptation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Much research deals with the recognition of new challenges related to multiculturalism in society and the changing nature of work and the workforce. Such challenges originate from the expansion of operations into the global arena, immigration flows and increased mobility of workers, which diversify the make-up and demands of both consumer and labour markets (Wakefield, 2001; Mazzei and Ravazzani, 2012). It is often difficult to translate these societal and business macro shifts into practical problems faced by managers (Williams and O'Reilly, 1998); this holds true and becomes even more accentuated when a crisis occurs (Frandsen and Johansen, 2010a; Oliveira, 2013). Multiculturalism poses a challenge to crisis communication, as culture seems to influence crisis perceptions and interpretations (Banks, 2000; Oliveira, 2013), and even local or national crises have the potential to engender multinational and multicultural effects (Coombs and Holladay, 2010; Frandsen and Johansen, 2010a). Nonetheless, multicultural approaches to crisis communication are very few and underdeveloped in literature (Falkheimer and Heide, 2006), especially when it comes to internal communication.\nCrisis, culture and internal communication: A crisis is \"a major occurrence with a potentially negative outcome affecting the organisation, company, or industry, as well as its publics, products, services, or good name. A crisis interrupts normal business transactions and can sometimes threaten the existence of the organisation\" (Fearn-Banks, 2007, p. 8). Threats and harm are often regarded as external factors originating from the market of the surrounding environment; however, the everyday culture, structure and operating practices of an organisation produce crises as well (Kersten, 2005). Crisis communication is \"the dialog between the organisation and its publics prior to, during, and after the negative occurrence\" (Fearn-Banks, 2007, p. 9). Culture impacts on how companies communicate with heterogeneous publics as well as how these respond, at both international and national level (Tung, 1993), and thus presents an additional challenge to crisis communication (Coombs and Holladay, 2010).\nResearch design: This paper aims to fill a gap in existent research by exploring internal crisis communication in multicultural environments. It does so by taking the perspective of internal communications managers in order to investigate how they understand multiculturalism in the workplace, perceive it to be relevant for internal crisis communication and eventually adapt such communication to employees. Managers' perspectives were chosen since they contribute to building the predominant organisational narrative that embodies the organisation to its members (Willihnganz et al., 2004). In addition, in critical situations, communication and actions influence crisis perception and contribute to creating reality (Eisenberg and Riley, 2000; Stohl, 2000; Mazzei and Ravazzani, 2011).\nInternal crisis communication in multicultural workplaces: managers' perspectives: The first relevant aspect emerging from the interviews is managers' understanding of multiculturalism in the workplace, followed by and related to the illustration of the specific make-up of their own workplace. Three participants define multiculturalism as a concept mainly related to someone's cultural background, comprising people of different nations, languages and religions. Three other interviewees share the same understanding but specify that the cultural aspect is part of \"diversity\", a broader concept including a greater array of differences such as gender, age, profession and level of education. In the words of one interviewee, \"It is basically the awareness of people being different from yourself\". Another interviewee presents multiculturalism as something embedded within the complexity of the organisational culture of a multinational company: \"Every company has a culture based on its values, habits, history and traditions. But the best companies, especially on a global scale, should have more subcultures as well. You can have a DNA [...] but the best way of showing multiculturalism is exploiting and promoting diversity\".\nDiscussion and conclusions: The qualitative interviews aimed to gain insight into internal communications managers' perspectives regarding employee multiculturalism, its relevance for internal crisis communication and influence on the choice to adjust such communication. Results on the whole reveal that all interviewees are aware of the role of multiculturalism in the workplace and in crisis situations in particular.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore managers' perspectives on and practices of internal crisis communication in multicultural environments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: After a review of relevant literature on crisis, culture and internal communication to define the framework and relevance of this study, results from qualitative interviews with Danish managers are presented.\nFindings: Interviewees acknowledge the relevance of the cultural backgrounds of employees in relation to internal communication, especially in crisis situations. Cultural aspects affect message framing and employee sensemaking, especially when it comes to employees located in other countries. Line managers and local communicators are key in the adaptation of verbal and non-verbal communicative features. Employees are also seen as active sensegivers and communicators.\nResearch limitations/implications: Findings show how demographic and globalisation patterns, which are changing domestic and international workplaces, have important implications for internal communication and internal crisis communication. There is therefore a call for further research, especially from the perspective of employees.\nOriginality/value: Although cultural aspects have been highlighted as a recurrent feature of most crises today, and one of the new research areas to be explored, studies within this area are very few and concern mainly external audiences and practices. The present research study contributes to this overlooked area by offering valuable insights into internal crisis communication in organisations with a multicultural environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leanness assessment of organizational performance: a systematic literature review	[ "Performance measurement", "Lean manufacturing", "Performance indicators" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Performance evaluation is the way of evaluating work and actions within the system about its capability, competence, efficiency, and effectiveness to fulfill certain objectives. The issue of performance evaluation, which originated in the 1980s, was thought to be sufficiently mature to measure quality, cost, and delivery until new non-financial performance dimensions like flexibility, reliability, etc., appeared. This led to the non-financial performance measures driven by the core competencies of the organizations. The data about these performance measures are generally multi-dimensional, complex, and non-quantitative. Early attempts to use these performance measures to measure or evaluate the effectiveness of newer systems like lean manufacturing or lean organizations have failed. There are many studies in recent past which suggest that lean manufacturing has failed to achieve the desired results (Bhasin and Burcher, 2006; Tiwari et al., 2007; Bortolotti et al., 2015). Liker and Rother (2011) pointed out that the numerous lean programs were not successful due to the superficial approach of the organizations. Several organizations focused on the implementation of only hard lean tools and techniques and ignored the soft lean practices (human-related practices) (Bortolotti et al., 2015; Liker and Rother, 2011). There are several reports on the lean failures caused by the misunderstanding in selection and implementation of various tools/techniques in a specific environment (Karim and Arif-Uz-Zaman, 2013; Tiwari et al., 2007). Gupta and Kundra (2012) claimed that the failure is because of the consideration of the lean as a manufacturing strategy or process, rather than as a long-term philosophy. Some other reasons of lean failure are underestimation of lean by the top management (Ahmad et al., 2004; Zhu and Lin, 2017); resistance to change and organizational culture (Bhasin, 2011; Bhasin and Burcher, 2006); lack of management support, inadequate training, and resistance to change (Sharma et al., 2015); and lack of understanding, use of incorrect tools, application of one tool to solve all the organizational issues, and poor decision-making system (Bhamu and Sangwan, 2014). Susilawati et al. (2015) also conclude that this failure is due to the complex nature and improper implementation of the lean philosophy. But, it is also true that more and more organizations are trying to be more competitive by reducing unwanted and unwarranted waste adopting lean philosophy. Recently, Sangwa and Sangwan (2018) found that the ill-suited lean performance measures had shown the contradictory results of lean implementation. Hence, more research needs to be conducted to know whether the lean manufacturing failed due to the inappropriate performance measures or improper implementation or a combination of both.\n2. Review methodology: The SLR comprises four phases: plan, do, analyze/synthesize, and propose (shown in Table II). Planning is the first phase of the SLR, which contains problem identification and research question. The planning phase answers: Why is the review required? How to start the review process? What will be the contribution of the work? In the second phase, literature for the review is selected. This is the most important phase of SLR. If the selected literature is inappropriate or irrelevant, then the subsequent phases will present flawed contribution. The research articles for the SLR were selected on the basis of inclusion/exclusion criteria, research articles identification, and articles screening. For the inclusion/exclusion step, articles related to only leanness assessment and published in the English language until 2015 were included; the patent and citation were excluded. In the identification step, 123 research articles were identified using the keyword search. The research articles were queried on February 27, 2016, and the results were downloaded on the same day in a single batch. The sorting was required since browsing returned a huge number of research articles. Finally, the authors did the screening of articles on the basis of databases, relevancy of articles by manual reading of abstracts, and then full-length articles. The Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.co.in) has been used for the literature search. The final sample size was obtained through the snowball approach using forward/backward search. The review methodology (second step of SLR) is crisply presented in Table III. Third and fourth phases are used to analyze, interpret, and propose the future research directions.\n3. Analysis and synthesis: The main challenge while conducting the SLR is to disaggregate and aggregate the data set to depict the trade-off between detailed information and coherent information. Descriptive and content analyses are generally carried out to analyze and synthesize the data.\n4. Interpretation and future research opportunities: Based on the literature, authors found that the leanness assessment is a continuous improvement process due to its intrinsically dynamic nature. The continuous improvement process for lean implementation and assessment can be divided into four steps: problem identification, lean implementation, leanness assessment, and report preparation (see Figure 5). The process starts with the problem identification followed by application of different tools and techniques to resolve the specified problem(s) followed by the assessment to measure the improvement, and finally, the report preparation. It can be interpreted from the literature that the problem identification or the cause, which prompts the leadership to think of lean manufacturing implementation, should be clearly identified and presented. Practitioners have to learn \"where to start\" and \"how to proceed\" with the available tools and techniques (Wan and Chen, 2009). It is important at this point in time that few tools and techniques are identified to solve the identified problems. One of the reasons of the lean manufacturing failures is the application of single tool/technique to solve all problems or application of many tools/techniques to solve a single problem (Bhamu and Sangwan, 2014). If the identified problems are more than one, then the especial care must be taken to develop the strength of the relationship between the selected tools/techniques and identified problems. At least one tool/technique having a strong relationship should be identified to solve each problem. Next, provide training on the selected tools and techniques to the concerned employees/suppliers. The proficient employees/suppliers would carry out the leanness assessment to assess the level of implementation and the improvement in performance measures such as quality, cost, delivery, etc.\n5. Conclusions: This paper presents an SLR of peer-reviewed journal and conference articles on leanness assessment to know various types of themes and approaches used to assess the leanness level of an organization. The SLR includes four phases: plan, do, analyze/synthesize, and propose. In total, 66 research papers were identified using the SLR technique. The descriptive analysis of these papers shows that the research on leanness assessment is mainly empirical using qualitative judgment. The number of publications has increased from an average of 0.8 articles per year during 1996-2005 to an average of 5.8 articles per year during 2006-2015. The six thematic areas used for leanness assessment are lean manufacturing, lean organization, lean supply chain, lean product development, lean management, and lean supplier. In the first decade (1996-2005), the focus was narrow as it included only the assessment of the lean manufacturing, while in the second decade (2006-15), the scope became wide and included the whole supply chain. Furthermore, the paper identifies four types of approaches used for leanness assessment: tool and technique based assessment, outcome-based assessment, waste elimination based assessment, and mixed assessment. Earlier, researchers used tool and technique based assessment to improve the leanness, whereas at present, the focus is on the outcome-based assessment. Similarly, the focus of leanness assessment shifted from assessing only the quantitative performance measures of manufacturing process and financial parameters to assessing non-financial and qualitative parameters related to manufacturing process, finance, human resource, administration, NPD, suppliers, and customers. This study also depicts that the leanness assessment should be carried out simultaneously in all essential assessment areas of the organization for better results. The paper also proposes a three-level framework for leanness assessment of organizational performance to show that in future the KPIs should be developed not only for the operational area but also for all other functional areas like NPD, HRM, finance, administration, customer management, and supplier management. The evolution of leanness assessment themes, approaches, and assessment areas is shown in Table VI.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review various themes of leanness, leanness assessment approaches, leanness assessment areas, and their evolution by a systematic literature review (SLR).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The eight types of literature review methodologies are identified and compared. The SLR is selected after critically analyzing the eight types of literature reviews. A four-phased SLR (i.e. plan, do, analyze/synthesize, and propose) has been carried out based on the peer-reviewed journal and conference articles on leanness assessment.\nFindings: The existing literature on leanness assessment shows the lack of review-based papers on lean assessment. This study attempts to build a two-fold contribution to the field of leanness assessment: first, various types of themes, approaches, and assessment areas are identified; second, a framework for leanness assessment is proposed. The study shows that the research on leanness assessment is mainly empirical using qualitative judgment. The paper traces the changes in scope, areas, and approaches to leanness assessment. The scope of leanness assessment broadened from manufacturing process assessment to whole supply chain assessment including manufacturing process. The focus of earlier assessment was manufacturing and financial areas which now includes human resource, administration, new product development, suppliers, and customers also. Tool and technique based assessment has given way to outcome-based assessment using non-financial and qualitative parameters.\nResearch limitations/implications: One of the limitations of the study is that literature search was mainly focused on peer-reviewed articles published in English language only; therefore, some papers in others languages may have been missed. Apart from this, the SLR has been conducted for the manufacturing sector only.\nPractical implications: The study is expected to be useful for the lean practitioners to identify the causes of reported lean failures. Moreover, the authors also expect that the conducted SLR will provide the passage to the practitioners for not only fostering the concepts on leanness assessment but also provide the vital and significant knowledge about the leanness assessment to the managers for enhancing organizational performance.\nOriginality/value: As per the authors' knowledge, this is the first SLR on leanness assessment. It is expected that this paper will help the researchers working in the area of lean manufacturing to identify new areas of research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Work-based cognitive skills and economic performance in Europe	[ "Performance", "Innovation", "Organizational learning", "Working patterns", "Human capital quality", "Work-based cognitive skills" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The pioneer studies reporting the role of cognitive skills on economic growth were written two decades ago (Hanushek and Kim, 1995; Lee and Lee, 1995). The most convincing evidence in this line of study has been presented by Hanushek and Woessmann (2008, 2012); they argue that it is what people have actually learned that really matters for growth rather than how many years they spent at school or even the education levels attained. Their arguments represent a clear-cut shift in focus from educational efforts to outcomes obtained.\n2. Literature review: Since the neoclassical growth accounting studies, recognition has gradually been given to the importance of the quality of labour for the productivity gains made by the major capitalist economies since the early twentieth century. But it was only with the endogenous growth models from the 1980s that human capital assumed a prominent role in the explanation of economic growth; thereafter, the accumulation of human capital, i.e. the period of time devoted to education, in Lucas (1988), and the existence of a stock of workers dedicated to research activities, in Romer (1990), began to be formally included in the models as drivers of long-term economic growth.\n3. Research hypotheses and preliminary analysis: The research presented herein endeavours to explain differences in the recent growth of GDP per capita in European countries through their performance in work-based skills. The central hypothesis is that what distinguishes countries and may significantly contribute to their economic performance is predominantly the quality rather than the quantity of human capital. Considering that learning and skills development in workplaces are not only important ingredients of the quality of human capital but also seem to change widely within Europe, our research hypothesis is that cognitive skills developed by learning intensive models of work organisation are expected to contribute significantly to explaining higher economic performances. By using work-based skills, we also seek to contribute to a broader understanding of human capital in growth literature and to explore innovative and relevant measures which capture the continuous process of learning at work and in everyday life.\n4. Empirical modelling: Our goal in this section is to assess the contribution of work-based skills to GDP per capita growth in the period 2000-2010 using multivariate regressions. We choose a ten year period to give the variables affecting economic growth a considerable span of time to produce effect. The sample includes 28 countries: Norway, Switzerland and the EU27 except Luxembourg. An equation usual in the study of economic growth is estimated:\n5. Discussion and conclusions: Our results show that the quality of non-formal human capital is central to explaining differences in economic growth in Europe in 1990-2010. Countries where workplaces require and promote more advanced cognitive skills tend to exhibit higher economic growth.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand further the role played by work-based cognitive skills in the growth dynamics in Europe.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Work-based cognitive skills are studied using a factor analysis on data from the European Work Conditions Survey (Eurofound) referring to work cognitive requirements. This and other measures of education quality and quantity indicators are used to estimate growth regression models for 28 European countries, in order to test for the significance of work-based skills.\nFindings: The results corroborate the hypothesis that work-based cognitive skills have been a powerful predictor of economic growth over the last decades. Countries where workplaces require and foster advanced cognitive skills tend to exhibit higher economic growth.\nResearch limitations/implications: The Eurofound Survey on work-based skills, a major source of this study, only began in 1990 so is quite recent and covers few countries.\nSocial implications: The results indicate that the mobilisation of the full intellectual potential of workers in their work context is essential to achieve high-economic performances. Boosting workers interactive learning and autonomy should become a key policy and organisational aim.\nOriginality/value: The authors bring a deeper approach to the way human capital is addressed by testing the relevance of work-based cognitive skills on economic performance. Hence the authors build a bridge between economic growth literature, which focuses largely on the role of formal education, and innovation studies where the emphasis is placed on the relevance of learning processes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Servant leadership, distributive justice and commitment to customer value in the salesforce	[ "Customer value", "Distributive justice", "Servant leadership", "Quota", "Salespeople" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: It has been suggested that greater research attention be given to the topic of organizational justice in the salesforce (Arnold et al., 2009; Chang and Dubinsky, 2005), and some, although limited, attention has been focused in this area (Arnold et al., 2009; DeConinck and Johnson, 2009; Kashyap et al., 2007). Organizational justice deals with employee perceptions of fairness in the workplace (Colquitt et al., 2001). More specifically, Arnold et al. (2009) claim that it is critical that we understand the formation of perceptions of equitable awards among salespeople (i.e. distributive justice, a form of organizational justice) due to the potential positive (e.g. job satisfaction) and negative (e.g. turnover) outcomes associated with such perceptions. While distributive justice judgments (i.e. perceptions of reward fairness) play a critical role in salesforce attitudes and behaviors, the role of sales leadership in influencing such judgments is less clear. Further, the outcomes examined in relation to salesperson distributive justice appear to be focused on the salesperson and his/her organization. This begs the question as to how sales leadership might affect distributive justice with regards to salespeople's reward allocation and if fairness in reward allocation might affect meaningful salesperson attitudes regarding customers.\nTheoretical background and research hypotheses: The hypothesized model illustrated in Figure 1 is grounded in theories of sales leadership and organizational justice, in particular leadership style and distributive justice. Sales leadership involves constructing and articulating a vision, developing the sales culture, establishing core values and inspiring followers to grow, develop and achieve, and it can occur at both the executive and supervisory management levels (Ingram et al., 2005). As \"managers of meaning\", sales leaders help salespeople to understand their sales environment (Smircich and Morgan, 1983) and bring them to consensus on what is important (Pfeffer, 1981). Consequently, sales leaders play an instrumental role in influencing the behavior of salespeople.\nMethodology: Sample and data collection\nAnalysis and results: Multicollinearity was evaluated prior to estimating the hypothesized model. This was done by determining each measurement construct's variance inflation factor (VIF). Little or no multicollinearity exists if the VIF is close to 1.00 (Hair et al., 2010). The highest VIF occurs for PQS (1.71, R2 = 0.43), well below a suggested cutoff value of 10.00 (Hair et al., 2010), indicating that little multicollinearity exists among the variables.\nDiscussion and managerial implications: Because the formation of perceptions of equitable awards among salespeople (i.e. distributive justice) can affect salesperson outcomes such as job satisfaction, voice and turnover, Arnold et al. (2009) claim that it is critical that we understand these perceptions. This study extends our understanding in this area by suggesting and testing additional antecedents and outcomes associated with salespeople's distributive justice perceptions in the form of reward allocation fairness. Specifically, it is suggested that leadership style and participation in quota setting can both impact salesperson perceptions of fairness in reward allocation. Fairness perceptions affect salesperson CSCV. As sellers converge toward offering comparable levels of quality and price, adding value to customer relationships becomes a critical avenue for differentiating one's offering (Stevens and Kinni, 2007). With customer value providing a unique source of competitive advantage to the firm (Parasuraman, 1997), efforts should be taken to improve it. This study suggests that salespeople's perceptions of reward allocation fairness can be improved when supervisors practice servant leadership behaviors and salespeople are allowed to participate in quota setting. Improving distributive justice perceptions subsequently results in salespeople who are more committed to providing superior customer value. In sum, the findings extend not only our knowledge of distributive justice in the salesforce, but our understanding of the important role that servant leadership can play in fostering customer value.\nLimitations and directions for future research: This study is not without limitations. First, this study was limited to only business-to-business salespeople. While the characteristics of respondents seem to embody the population under study, it is plausible that differences might exist among a differently distributed population and/or sample, such as business-to-consumer salespeople. Nevertheless, these findings are likely to be applicable in business-to-consumer sales settings when quota is utilized. Second, the model tested in this study represents a narrow range of variables. Therefore, it fails to capture a comprehensive picture of the antecedents and consequences for each of its constructs. Third, the data were collected from a single source using self-report measures. However, it is important to note that salespeople's perceptions of servant leader behaviors, quota participation and reward fairness, regardless of the reality of the situation, are likely to drive their attitudes and behaviors. Nevertheless, it would be fruitful to examine buyers' perceptions regarding the value they receive from salespeople. Finally, survey research is fraught with concerns over the honesty of survey respondents. Given that the survey questions are not highly sensitive, and that respondents were provided anonymity, dishonesty in responses is less likely to be a problem (Good and Stone, 1995; Randall and Fernandes, 1991).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this research is to further understand salesperson distributive justice judgments by examining two controllable factors that may influence these perceptions: sales leadership (i.e. servant leadership) and salesforce control (i.e. quota).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample included 279 business-to-business salespeople from across the USA. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.\nFindings: Servant leadership and salesperson participation in quota setting both positively impact distributive justice perceptions (i.e. fairness in reward allocation), which subsequently affect salespeople's commitment to providing superior customer value.\nOriginality/value: First study to empirically examine connections between servant leadership, distributive justice and commitment to customer value in the salesforce.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Finding face: building collections to support indigenous identity	[ "Continuing education", "Diversity", "Collection management", "Librarian education", "Librarian demographics", "Libraries and American Indians" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In 1993, Collection Building published an article on how libraries might assist indigenous patrons in reinforcing their native identity, especially if they lived far from their tribal communities (Roy, 1993). This article revisits and updates the content presented over 20 years ago.\nContinuing interest: A good place to start this discussion is to ask whether the topic of building collections to serve American Indians living away from their tribes is relevant. The short answer is: yes. In the twenty-first century, there continues to be interest in American Indian culture by the public at large while native communities are asserting, sharing, protecting and caring for expressions of their traditional knowledge. This sustained interest is in part due to the rise in native studies programs and research in academia, the increase and urgency of native language revitalization efforts and the ability to connect people through various social media. Native identity and family history continue to be discussed among native peoples themselves and by non-natives tracking genealogical links, now often supplied with results from DNA test kits.\nAmerican Indians and Alaska natives: general and librarian population demographics: Another argument for considered customized services for American Indian patrons is that their numbers are increasing. US Census information from 2010 reports that the American Indian population continues to grow, with 2.9 million people self-reporting that they are American Indian or Alaska native and another 2.3 million reporting that they were of mixed heritage. A library in any location might be serving members of these populations: 78 per cent of these 5.3 million people live outside of Indian country (Norris et al., 2012).\nLearning opportunities for librarians: Over the past 20 years, the topic of indigenous librarianship has grown more common in learning settings. Tribal librarians have opportunities to gather for continuing education and networking through events such meetings of the American Indian Library Association (AILA) held during the ALA Midwinter Meeting and ALA Annual Conference; the annual Tribal College Librarians Institute in Bozeman, MT; meetings and programs of the Indigenous Matters Section of IFLA; the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education; the International Conference on Indigenous Archives, Libraries, and Museums; and the International Indigenous Librarians Forum held every other year since 1999. Non-tribal librarians may attend some of these events but are more apt to learn about working with and for American Indian patrons at general library conferences such as those offered by national and state library and archives associations, as well as conferences addressing diversity issues. Those unable to travel to attend such events may need to develop a focused personal continuing education plan to include reading and viewing resources available online and joining organizations such as the AILA to follow and contribute to online discussion.\nTribal libraries: model grant funded projects: Libraries serving American Indian populations provide examples of types of services and programs. This includes a broad range of types of libraries from tribal community libraries, special collections in academic libraries and the libraries at tribal colleges.\nGuidelines and advice: The 1993 Collection Building article provided advice for working with native people in developing readers' advisory services for American Indians (Roy, 1993). Since then, a number of protocol documents and writings have shared and offered other suggestions and guidance. There are no national guidelines in the USA or advice on how libraries might handle and provide access to indigenous cultural knowledge, but other sources of advice exist. These include the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library and Information Resource Network Protocols, the Assembly of Alaska Native Educators' Guidelines for Resecting Cultural Knowledge and the 2007 Protocols for Native Archival Materials (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library and Information Resource Network, 2012; Assembly of Alaska Native Educators, 2000; First Archivist Circle, 2007).\nSelecting and offering access to sources on native cultural identity: Librarians seek practical ideas that should be consulted in building collections for Native students. The following are some strategies:\nSummary: In reflecting on the state of providing library services to native people interested in learning more about their cultures, it is obvious that these services continue to be needed. There are more people in the USA who self-identify as American Indian or Alaska native, and nearly two-thirds live away from their tribal lands. Some improvement and growth is seen in the growing numbers of American Indian librarians and support for their education through a number of one-off or long-standing funding initiatives. Tribal libraries continue to seek and be awarded funding to build and expand their collections. While international educational guidelines exist, the need continues to assist native and non-native librarians in acquiring the experience, skills and aptitudes in providing services for their indigenous patrons. Librarians might expand their acquisitions processes to include a focus on topics of relevance to include, especially, content on local tribal communities. In addition, librarians can use social media to connect their patrons with the issues and day-to-day experiences of living as an indigenous person in the twenty-first century.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review content provided in an article published in 1993 to determine if there is still a need to provide information services to American Indians living away from their homeland areas.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The design involved reviewing the content and recommendations provided in the 1993 article and then to update this content by reviewing updated US Census data, a literature review and observed examples based on personal observations and experiences.\nFindings: The paper found that there is still a need for services due to increased American Indian population. While more American Indian librarians are employed, there is still a need for all librarians to learn how to serve this population.\nOriginality/value: While the article reviews content from 1993, it provides original perspectives and adds additional evaluation criteria.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Addressing English teachers' concerns about decentering Standard English	[ "English teaching", "Literacy and identity", "Critical language awareness", "English dialects", "English language variation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: One recent spring afternoon, on the blossoming campus of a university in the Midwestern USA, faculty members in education engaged in earnest discussion of charged subject matter. One senior scholar, face reddening as the debate unfolded, finally exclaimed, \"It makes me want to throw up!\".\nWhat's the point?: \"Is justice the point of literacy? Are we supposed to build equality through our language? I'm not sure I agree with that.\" (A veteran English teacher)\nWhat do I teach?: \"So, you're saying that when it comes to grammar and writing, anything goes?\"\nWhat do I need to know?: \"But I don't have the language knowledge to pick out these moments and build on them. Are you saying I need to go back to school to study linguistics?\"\nWhat about the real world?: \"My students need to learn Standard English for tests and job interviews.\"\nWhat about my ELs?: \"My students are ELs. Teaching them different Englishes will just confuse them.\"\nWhat about my white students?: \"My students are all white, so this doesn't really apply to my context.\"\nWhat else?: There are many more questions and concerns raised by the teachers I've worked with: White teachers often feel uncomfortable teaching and talking about African-American English. Black teachers are sometimes the harshest critics of African-American English. Parents raise a range of concerns. Members of English departments don't see eye-to-eye. Administrators need convincing. And then there are always the standardized tests that assume, incorrectly, the grammar of Standardized English is the only English grammar.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to address concerns of English teachers considering opening up their classrooms to multiple varieties of English.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on the author's experience as a teacher educator and professional developer in different regions of the USA, this narrative paper groups teachers' concerns into general categories and offers responses to the most common questions.\nFindings: Teachers want to know why they should make room in their classrooms for multiple Englishes; what they should teach differently; how they learn about English variation; how to balance Standardized English and other Englishes; and how these apply to English Learners and/or White speakers of Standardized English.\nPractical implications: The study describes the author's approach to teaching about language as a way to promote social justice and equality, the value of increasing students' linguistic repertoires and why it is necessary to address listeners as well as speakers. As teachers attempt to adopt and adapt new approaches to teaching English language suggested in the research literature, they need to know their challenges and concerns are heard and addressed. Teacher educators working to support these teachers need ways to address teachers' concerns.\nSocial implications: This paper emphasizes the importance of teaching mainstream, White, Standard English-speaking students about English language variation. By emphasizing the role of the listener and teaching students to hear language through an expanded language repertoire, English teachers can reduce the prejudice attached to historically stigmatized dialects of English.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a needed perspective on how to work with teachers who express legitimate concerns about what it means to decenter Standardized English in English classrooms.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Healthy lifestyle and food waste behavior	[ "Healthy food", "Food waste", "Food lifestyle", "Food prevention", "Meals patterns" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Food waste is globally recognized as a thoughtful issue that has moved up the political agendas of both institutions and governments over the past decade (Defra, 2011; Donovan and Pickin, 2013). About one-third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted worldwide. Europe, in particular, contributes to the phenomenon with around 88 million tons of food wasted annually, with associated costs estimated at EUR143bn. Therefore, measures to reduce food waste have been increasingly recommended over the past years (HLPE, 2014; Roodhuyzen et al., 2017) and appear further needed in light of future estimations (Fusions, 2016). Thus, research on food waste prevention and management still deserves particular consideration.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: Household food waste intensity\nMethodology: Sample and data collection\nResults: Evaluations of the measurement model\nDiscussion and implications: The results demonstrate that food waste preventing behaviors are negatively related to food waste intensity, as previously shown in the extant literature (Quested et al., 2013; WRAP, 2013). Although it seems quite an obvious result, this study proposes a more comprehensive identification of preventing actions, which suggests a richer understanding of behaviors that could be changed to avoid food waste before it is generated (Papargyropoulou et al., 2014).\nConclusions, limits and future research: This study investigated the relationship between healthy lifestyle and food waste intensity. The basic hypothesis is that the adoption of a healthy lifestyle reduces the intensity of food wasted. Moreover, the study argued that such a relationship is mediated by positive behaviors towards food waste.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to address the food waste phenomenon by investigating the relationship between healthy lifestyle and food waste intensity and by considering the mediating role of food waste preventing behavior on such a relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on an online survey of 1,941 UK millennial consumers, the research hypotheses were tested using the PLS-PM approach to structural equation model.\nFindings: The results reveal that both the consumption of healthy food and the habit of eating at home enhance food waste reduction. Moreover, the findings corroborate the mediating effect of the food waste preventing behavior on the relationship between a healthy lifestyle and food waste intensity, thus underlying its role as an effective mechanism able to improve the influence of healthy lifestyle dimensions on food waste intensity.\nPractical implications: The paper offers three levels of practical implications directed to public institutions, private manufacturers and retailers.\nSocial implications: The study underlines the key relevance of ad hoc educational programs aimed at improving the overall awareness of young consumers about food waste damages, by specifically identifying the main features on which these programs should focus.\nOriginality/value: This paper adds knowledge by helping to explain how and why a healthier lifestyle could translate into food waste reduction. Moreover, the study offers a comprehensive understanding of preventing behavior by proposing a rich overview of strategies to adopt to avoid food waste.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A population and economic overview of Cambria County, Pennsylvania following the 1977 Johnstown Flood	[ "Counselling", "Careers guidance", "Floods", "Population", "Unemployment", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A 2000 United States Geological Survey (USGS) (USGS, n.d.; Perry, 2000) asserts that in the USA in the past century, no other natural disaster claimed more lives or caused more property damage than floods. This same report states that floods can happen anytime of the day, anytime of the year and in any part of the USA. The report also states that floods can occur from a variety of natural occurrences and from man-made reasons, but they all can be attributed to too much water accruing in one area in too little time.\nDecennial overview: The Pennsylvania Department of Labor Statistics (2003) indicate that decennial Unemployment rates in Cambria County were 12.6 per cent in 1980, 7.4 per cent in 1990, and 6.8 per cent in 2000. Changes in the unemployment rates show a decrease in unemployment by 5.2 per cent between 1980 and 1990; a decrease in unemployment by 5.8 per cent between 1980 and 2000; and a decrease in unemployment by 0.6 per cent between 1990 and 2000 (Table IV).The United States Bureau of Census (2000) calculates the total population in Cambria County of 183,263 in 1980; 163,029 in 1990; and 152,598 in 2000. These numbers indicate a recurrent decline in population following the 1977 Flood: from 1980 to 1990 a loss of 20,234 people; from 1980 to 2000 a loss of 30,665 people; and from 1990 to 2000 a loss of 10,431 people.Decennial total persons employed as compared to total persons unemployed in 1980 was 62,200 total persons employed compare to 9,000 persons unemployed. In 1990 there were 61,600 total persons employed compared to 4,900 total persons unemployed. In 2000, there were 61,800 total persons employed compared to 4,500 total persons unemployed (Pennsylvania Department of Labor Statistics, 2003). This information indicates a decrease in total persons employed from 1980 to 1990 of 2,215; an increase of 4,415 persons employed from 1980 to 2000; and increase of 6,630 persons employed from 1990 to 2000 (Pennsylvania Department of Labor Statistics, 2003).The United States Bureau of Census (2000) data show that the percentages of families living in poverty were 7.6 per cent in 1980, 11.2 per cent in 1990 and 9.4 per cent in 2000. This data indicates that there was an increase in numbers of families living in poverty from 1980 to 1990 by 3.6 per cent, an increase in number of families living in poverty from 1980 to 2000 of 1.8 per cent, and a decrease in number of families living in poverty from 1990 to 2000 0f 1.8 per cent.Per Capita income in Cambria County in 1980 was $ 6,324; in 1990 it was $10,460; and in 2000 it was $16,058 (The United States Bureau of Census, 2000). This data indicates that there were continuing increases in per capita income in the 33 years following the 1977 flood by $4,136 between 1980 and 1990; by $9,734 between 1980 and 2000, and by $5,598 between 1980 and 2000.Median household income in Cambria County was 15,772 in 1980; in 1990 it was $21,462; and in 2000 it was $30,179 (The United States Bureau of Census 2000). This information reflects a continual increase in median household income since 1977: 1980 to 1990 a rise of $5,690; 1980 to 2000 a rise of $14,407; and from 1990 to 2000 a rise of $8,717.Total high school graduates in 1980 were 61.1 per cent of the Cambria County's total population; in 1990, 71.2 per cent of the total population; and in 2000, 80.0 per cent of the total population graduated from high school. This data signifies continual gains of 10.2 per cent from 1980 to 1990, of 19 per cent from 1980 to 2000 and of 8.8 per cent from 1990 to 2000 (The United States Bureau of Census 2000).The United States Bureau of Census (2000) statistics signify a continuous increase in the number of College Graduates (Bachelor Degree or more) from 1980 to 2000. Overall percentages for Cambria County indicate that in 1980 that 8.6 per cent of the total population graduated, in 1990 10.8 per cent of the population graduated from college and in 2000, 13.7 per cent of the county's total population graduated from college. Percentages of differences designate an increase of 2.2 per cent from 1980 to 1990; an increase of 5.1 per cent from 1980 to 1990; and an increase of 2.9 per cent from 1980 to 2000.Table V illustrates the population and economic overview for Cambria County, Pennsylvania for 1980, 1990 and 2000 (The United States Bureau of Census, 2000).Implications from this data indicate that counties that experience a flood in similarity to the 1977 Johnstown Flood's severity could experience a drastic increase in number of persons unemployed and in unemployment rates, especially in the month directly following the flood. Closing of major manufacturing facilities may also lead to long-term loss in overall population for decades. Poverty levels are likely to increase, but may recover; however, this increase and recovery is most likely due to decrease in overall population.Per capita income and Median household income showed steady growth over the years following the flood. These incomes would need to be compared to pre-flood data for a more accurate reflection of what affect the 1977 flood may or may not have had on Per capita income and Median household income.Following the 1977 flood, both High School Graduates and College Graduates continued to increase. An interesting study would be to calculate the number of graduates who leave Cambria County. With the number of persons employed remaining consistent over the decades, an inference can be made that both High School and College Graduates are leaving and that could account for the overall decreases in population.Implications for crisis counseling suggests that areas that experience a similar disaster, that leads to the permanent closing of major employers, may need assistance in preparing for the career and economic changes that may happen immediately. Post-disaster, there may also be a need for rebuilding the economic infrastructure through crisis and career counseling.The noticeable limitation of this study is that it does not use pre-flood data. To better accurately analyze and synthesis the overall population and economic changes in Cambria County following the 1977 Johnstown Flood, pre-flood population and economic information would need to be presented and compared to post -flood data. An additional limitation of this study is that the economic and population data are for Cambria County alone and do not reflect state or national trends following a major flood. This information presented stands-alone, and does not compare or contrast to other counties. Therefore, all inferences projected from this data can only be attributed to the 1997 Johnstown Flood. State, national and international pre and post flood similar data needs to be compared and contrasted to make a clearer reference.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to examine the extent of monetary damage, the loss of life and the effect on employment caused by 1977 Johnstown Flood and their subsequent effects on population, unemployment rate, poverty rate, per capita income, median household income, and education in Cambria County, Pennsylvania.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Statistics from 1980, 1990 and 2000 were used to create an economic and population overview of Cambria County. Short-term and long-term effects of the 1977 flood were examined to uncover possible trends regarding population and economics. Revealed trends might aid communities in recovering following a natural disaster.\nFindings: - There have been continuous decreases in population following the 1977 Johnstown Flood and a drastic increase in the unemployment rate following the flood. These findings suggest that the loss of key employers following a major natural disaster may lead to long-term losses in the overall population.\nResearch limitations/implications: - These data relate to only Cambria County and may not relate to other areas. Implications suggest that following a similar natural disaster Crisis Counselors may aid community governments in rebuilding economic infrastructures and Career Counselors could assist displaced workers with retraining and job-seeking.\nOriginality/value: - This paper begins to explore the relationship between natural disasters and population changes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Channel capability and the effectiveness of new product strategies: Deepening the FMCG's business	[ "Marketing mix", "Business buyer behaviour", "Business market competition", "Channel capability", "New products strategy", "Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry in Indonesia has involved more than 2.5 million business actors from small, medium to large scale (Trihatmoko et al., 2016a; Trihatmoko, Mulyani and Lukviarman, 2018). It illustrates that the FMCG industry has an important role for the growth and economic development of each country, as it does for Indonesia (Sarangapani and Mamatha, 2008). The position of the business actors is reflected in the channel management structure and understanding of agency theory (Trihatmoko, Harsono, Wahyuni, Haryono and Lukviarman, 2018; Trihatmoko, 2016; Trihatmoko et al., 2016b; Bergen et al., 1992). In the end, the achievement of product distribution in stores is a measure of the success of each choice of strategy by producers/marketers. The beginning of the creation of the level of product distribution in the market is due to the suppliers willingness to buy products, or it is like in term of the conception of buying decisions behavior by buyers in the business market (e.g, Trihatmoko and Mulyani, 2018).\nLiterature review: This business buyer behavior applied agency theory (Trihatmoko, Harsono, Wahyuni, Haryono and Lukviarman, 2018; Trihatmoko, 2016; Bergen et al., 1992). Bergen et al. (1992) can be seen as the originator of agency theory for the field of marketing management. However, the theory is still rarely touched by many researchers in their studies (Trihatmoko, Napitupulu, Purnamasari and Kurniawanto, 2018; Trihatmoko, 2016; Trihatmoko et al., 2016b). Transactional between suppliers and buyers are identified based on the type of business and the characteristics of the relationship between the business actors, namely in the context of direct competition, exclusive contracts and temporary contracts (Trihatmoko, Harsono, Wahyuni, Haryono and Lukviarman, 2018).\nMethod: This qualitative research through grounded theory was designed by combining the theoretical phenomenology and constructivism philosophy (Proctor, 2005; Creswell, 2009, 2013; Jonker and Pennink, 2010; Saldana, 2011; Fatchan, 2011; Hammersley, 2013; Gupta and Awasthy, 2015; Taylor). Creswell (2013) pointed out that grounded theory includes two points: the researcher works toward the development of a systematic theory that explains the process, action or interaction about the phenomenon that happens in the field; and the purpose of grounded theory is to move out of the description and elicit or discover a theory.\nResults: Channel capability and business buyer behavior\nDiscussion and implication: The findings offer novelties in identifying a new construction: the channel capability or wholesaler internal situation which is in relation with the external competitive situation of the business buyer behavior. Furthermore, the findings identify and position the environment, namely internal economy regarding the variability of channel capability which determines the purchase decision. This is in relation to the external economic environment of the competitors and categorical product demand, product segmentation and new product demand. Meanwhile, Dwyer and Welsh (1985) and Evans and Berman (1992) limited their statements that the distributor should facilitate the infrastructures as the functional distributing management. These findings also provide confirmation to previous literature which has described environmental factors as stimulants of buyer decisions (see, Webster and Wind, 1972; Johnston and Lewin, 1996; Kotler and Armstrong, 2013). The contribution of the conception of business buyer behavior in this paper provides specific arguments, namely the external economic environment as an antecedent of the internal economic environment, as well as identifying each conten in both that economic environment.\nConclusion: The findings revealed the following facts: buyers perform detection on their capability aspects by estimating the internal economic environment factor on the situation of warehouse space, shelf space and customer coverage based on the external environment factors of level of demand aspects; and buyers perform detection on the internal economic environment factor related to the competition of product display and new product demand as a basis to estimate the selling turnover. In summary, the channel capability is an essential aspect considered by buyers for the entry of new product. Buyers' consideration of capability aspects is the stage of assessing their needs for the feasibility of a new product economically to be included in their business.\nRecommendations: First, in creating new product innovation, marketers as the owner of new product are recommended to review the way of handling products in the warehouse and in the place of display in which usually done by the wholesaler in the traditional trade; design a flexible packaging of the product to be displayed at the wholesaler or retailer shops; and set the packaging unit based on its shape and quantity in a carton or pack.\nLimitations and research opportunities: The study of business buyer behavior and marketing mix series is limited to some market conditions of B2B transactional of new-task purchase in FMCG products. Other studies having different specifications on subject research or type of business market, situational type of purchase, exploration center and methodological approach will give different probability findings. Thus, the other aspects of buyers' consideration in the decision-making process of new product purchase still provide an opportunity to be re-examined using a methodological approach that fits the research focus.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: detecting, describing and providing a detailed understanding on the essence of buyer responses on the channel capability in deciding new product purchase; and describing the effectiveness of new product innovation related to the channel capability. The new product innovation intended here is an outcome of the brand strategy created by the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research applies qualitative method and uses grounded theory approach and pragmatism interpretation, which are focused on FMCG. The approach chosen in research is grounded theory and pragmatism, parallel to the previous phenomenology and constructivism approach; therefore, the main data for this study use transcript records of the results of in-depth interviews in the field of study.\nFindings: The research showed the following results: the channel capability aspects (warehouse space, shelf space and customer coverage) are the essence of buyers' responses; construction of business buyer behavior and economic mechanism; the effectiveness of new product innovation; and channel capabilities of selling products.\nPractical implications: The results of this research have some implications: developing the concept of business buyer behavior in a new-task purchase situation; expanding the micro-economic system of trading sector; and expanding the concept of marketing mix strategy.\nOriginality/value: Some of the theoretical implications are the originality of this research paper; therefore, the constructs will be described theoretically in order to provide practical understanding in some contexts of business importance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Are we living in a post-bureaucratic epoch?	[ "Bureaucracy", "Civil service", "Postmodernism", "Organizational change", "United Kingdom" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nPreamble: Since the early-1980s, a growing literature in a range of management sub-disciplines has asserted that the age of bureaucracy has ended or is ending. It is said that there has been a \"paradigm shift\"; a \"fundamental transformation\"; \"a profound shift\"; \"a startling evolution\"; a \"profound break\" - that we live in a new organizational \"age\", \"era\" or \"epoch\". \"What is going on\", it is said, is \"fundamental: a move beyond bureaucracy\" (Heckscher, 1998, p. 2). As Maravelias (2003, p. 547) states:In recent years an increasing number of studies have pointed to the demise of the bureaucratic organization and the emergence of a new post-bureaucratic organization.Whilst \"post-bureaucratic\" is one of the most widely used labels for the supposed new organizational type, other terms are also employed in the same sense, including: \"post-hierarchical\"; \"the post-modern organization\"; \"the virtual corporation\"; \"the cellular form\"; and the \"boundaryless corporation\". Castells (1996, p. 164), for example, speaks of the \"horizontal corporation\" which is \"a network of self-programmed, self-directed units based on decentralization\".Constant in this literature is a \"discourse of ending\", a belief in the \"epochal\" termination of bureaucracy (Kamarck, 2002, 2003; Child and Rodrigues, 2002; Child and McGrath, 2001; Ashkenas et al., 1998; Miles et al., 1997; Dent, 1995; Heckscher, 1994; Heckscher and Applegate, 1994; Kofman and Senge, 1993; Davidow and Malone, 1992; Heckscher, 1991; Cooke, 1990). Are we living in a post-bureaucratic epoch? How would we know?To engage with this question it is necessary to specify the properties of an epoch and specifically a post-bureaucratic epoch; and then discuss types of evidence which would support or challenge this claim. Organizational changes in a national sector over a period of more than 20 years and evidence from other sectors and countries are considered here, in order to determine whether these add weight to, the post-bureaucratic epoch hypothesis or contradict it. Implications of this analysis are then outlined.\nEpoch: The notion of a post-bureaucratic epoch is one of a number of epocalist claims in the management literature. Other candidates include: the \"risk society\"; \"late-modernity\"; and a host of uses of the prefix \"post-\" (for example, post-Fordism), to supposedly define the age we are in, or are moving into. Each epochal claim is advanced as a description of a distinctive and significant feature of the contemporary world. The notion of \"epoch\" is thus not aspirational - in the sense of explicitly desiring a future state - nor an analytical device such as an archetype. It purports to be an accurate representation of the contemporary world. The conditions which are creating, or will create, radical and unstoppable change are supposed to be already in place. They are \"dissolving\" (Beck, 1992) the old era (Dingwell, 1999; du Gay, 2003), and preparing the way for a new \"post-bureaucratic\" era.\nEvidence: What is the evidence for the advent of a new post-bureaucratic era? What evidence would support, or counter, this view? Of course one can dismiss, as Beck (1992, p. 9) does, the importance of \"methodological safeguards\" in making empirical claims about major transforming processes. But what then distinguishes scholarship from mere claims by the already committed that they are the \"eye-witness ... of a break within modernity?\"Following Weber and others, bureaucracy is viewed in this paper as a continuum - not as a condition that is either entirely present or absent. It is \"a matter of degree, rather than kind\" (Hall, 1963, p. 37). If we locate Weber's ideal typical bureaucracy at one \"extreme\" and an imputed post-bureaucratic era at the other, the direction of change would be counter to the Weberian ideal type and evidence for such a trend would surely be discernible. \"Epochal\" claims should be derived from, and justified by, such evidence. Pointing to supposed instances of post-bureaucratic practices is not sufficient - the epochalists need also to demonstrate:* that these instances are increasing; and* that there are no significant moves in the opposite direction.Evidence of expansion, or intensification, of bureaucratic practices would be hugely damaging for the epochal claim. By \"bureaucratic intensification\", we mean moves towards: implanting or extension of centralised and hierarchical control; specification and (often) quantification of overall and micro targets; detailed depictions of supposedly knowable and extensive \"input\" and \"output\" relationships; and formal reporting by and monitoring of aggregate, sub-aggregate, and individuals' performances. Evidence of increases in both post-bureaucratisation and of further bureaucratisation would also undermine the epochal claim - overwhelmingly, if we are in an epoch, the trend should only be in the post-bureaucratic direction.\nSupportive literature: The most striking features of the post-bureaucratic epoch asserting literature are: paucity of evidence; temporal and locational vagueness and silences; unwarranted generalisation and determinism. There is also a marked tendency to conflate description and desire.Paucity of evidence\nCounter-evidence: There is considerable empirical evidence of widespread bureaucratic intensification (see above) during the past few decades - the very period in which the notion of a post-bureaucratic epoch emerged. This paper provides an historical overview and assessment of administrative/management changes in the UK's Civil Service (hereafter the Civil Service) during that period; it then presents supporting evidence drawn from both the wider public sector in the UK and from the private sector.The UK Civil Service\nFalse periodization and ideational singularism: The paper has presented evidence taken from a broad range of public and private sector settings. This evidence shows that bureaucratic practices remain and there are, moreover, good reasons for believing that we are seeing a significant intensification of bureaucratic practices. Why, despite this, do some scholars persist in making epochal claims? Only one possible influence is considered here: a wider malaise in the management literature: an overemphasis on \"subsuming\" or \"mono-ideational\" explanations (McSweeney, 1995). These \"unicities\" can only suppose a complete absence change (Hofstede, 2001) or \"absolute-change\" - thus reflecting an historical tendency to adopt rigid periodizations in which one unicity is opposed to another (Abercrombie et al., 1980; Archer, 1988; McSweeney, 2002).An example is the periodizing sense in which the notion of \"post-modern\" (or \"post-modernist\"; or \"post-modernism\"; or \"post-modernity\") is widely used - literally as post (i.e. after - succeeding and negating) the modern (Dent, 1995; Child and McGrath, 2001; Rifkin, 2004; Farmer, 2005; Gorman, 2004; Alvesson, 1995; Parker, 1992; Rose, 1991). The logic is that bureaucracy and modernity are inextricably bound to each other (Kallinikos, 2004) but as we now live in a post-modern, not a modern epoch, a new organizational form (the post-bureaucratic) is emerging and will dominate. Jean-Francois Lyotard, a \"high-priest\" of postmodernism, emphatically rejected such periodization: \"Post-modern is not to be taken in a periodizing sense\" (Lyotard and Thebaud, 1985, p. 16n) and \"The postmodern ... is undoubtedly a part of the modern ... postmodernism ... is not modernism at its end\" (Lyotard, 1986, 1993, pp. 26, 79). As Heller and Feher (1988, p. 1) state: \"postmodernity is not a historical period\".Two aspects of the post-bureaucratic discourse reflect the ideational singularism noted above. First, there is the idea of epoch itself. Although it is a notion of very long-standing, its use in the management literature does not long precede the arrival of \"epochal\" claims made for post-bureaucracy. Most significant for its insertion into managerial discourses was the rise of interest in the work of Michael Foucault and, more specifically of a particular readings which highlighted the notion of epoch in Foucault's work. Foucault himself was, however, scathing about the homogeneous notion of an epoch. In a 1968 interview, translated into English as early as 1972, he stated:Nothing, you see, is more foreign to me than the quest for a sovereign, unique and constraining form. I do not seek to detect ... the unitary spirit of an epoch, the general form of its consciousness ... I am a pluralist\" (Burchell et al., 1991, p. 55).Later, in 1983, Foucault also stated:I think we should have the modesty to say to ourselves ... the time we live in is not the unique or fundamental or irruptive point in history where everything is completed and begun again (Alvesson, 1995).That has, however, not prevented the legitimation of unicity in the name of Foucault. Indeed whole academic careers have been built almost entirely by peppering claims to have discovered the decisive current epoch with quotations from early Foucault.Another singular understanding, that of the supposed uniform political content of the New Right, is also germane to a more critical understanding of \"the post-bureaucratic turn\". The libertarian ideology of the New Right is anathema to public sector bureaucracy and it has often been equated with the post-bureaucratic turn (Kamarck, 2003). But a closer study of the New Right reveals that it is not a monodology, not a coherence, but a coalition, indeed a syncretism of ideas. It is a: \"an ensemble of sub-gospels with inter- and intra-factions and disputes\" (McSweeney and Duncan, 1998, p. 346) which contains equally significant authoritarian dimensions which emphasise central control, formal rules, detailed monitoring, reduction in discretion - and thus bureaucratic intensification (Gamble, 1996; Stone, 1996). Contemporary readings of the New Right as Neo-Con[servative]s (Stelzer, 2004) resonate strongly with these centralising tendencies.\nConclusion: The essence of the post-bureaucracy thesis is that we are in the midst of, or on the threshold of, a fundamental transformation - the ultimate and inevitable replacement of bureaucratic organizations by post-bureaucratic ones. This is a dramatic and weighty claim. The consequences of such a reformation would be immense, rippling well beyond the current interest in the post-bureaucratic organization. The burden of proof lies with the epochalists - but this is a task which they have performed with very limited success. Far from demonstrating that the direction of organizational change is uniquely or overwhelmingly towards the post-bureaucratic, epochal claims rely on scattered, contestable and anecdotal descriptions of organisational practice. The epochalist vision is one of total transformation. It cannot incorporate pluralism and forecloses any search for deeper conditions of possibility. This vision also denies the complex, diverse, coexisting, and interpenetrating nature of organisations.The epochalists presuppose the existence of the epoch. A willingness to make empirical statements carries an obligation to test counter-views and counter-data. This does not require a rigid commitment to the correspondence theory of truth - empirical tests may be inconclusive and results always contestable (McSweeney, 2000) - but the absence of this commitment allows very large claims to be made on the basis highly selective and partial citation of the \"facts\". \"Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air\" (Keynes, 1936) are closed to self-interrogation and to the consideration of alternative views, but must this also be true of scholars?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - According to an extensive and growing literature, we are in the twilight of bureaucracy. The labels applied to the supposed new organizational form include: post-bureaucratic; post-modern; post-hierarchical; and the virtual organisation. The purpose of this paper is to consider the various claims for \"epochal\" change by evaluating the supporting and contrary evidence.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws on evidence on the reform of the UK Civil Service over the last few decades to show the intensification of bureaucracy.\nFindings: - The paper takes issue with the \"epochalist\" visions of sudden transformation which have underpinned much of the comment on post-bureaucracy, arguing that the concept of post-bureaucracy is analytically blind to the diversity and complexity of contemporary organizational change.\nOriginality/value: - Locating the debate on post-bureaucracy in the broader political economy of Neo-Conservatism reveals an authoritarian dimension which has been absent from most commentaries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cryptocurrencies: applications and investment opportunities	[ "Bitcoin", "Ripple", "Portfolio optimization", "Cryptocurrencies", "Litecoin", "Markowitz", "G01", "G11", "O16", "O33" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Cryptocurrencies are a basic topic of understanding to some, and a complete mystery to many. Throughout the past few years, these digital currencies have become the next big thing for select investors, but a topic of complete confusion and question for others. What are cryptocurrencies, and why have they become such a large topic for discussion as of recently? In the last quarter of 2017, this question was asked widely, as Bitcoin surged in value more than 2,500 percent from mid-December 2016 to mid-December 2017. The interest on cryptocurrencies increased even more after the great cryptocurrency crash in the beginning of 2018. In the course of one day, Bitcoin lost about 15 percent of its value, dropping from $13,500 to $11,500 in a matter of hours (Burgess, 2018). Although Bitcoin is the most well-known digital currency, it is just one of the more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies. Other popular cryptocurrencies with the largest market capitalizations are Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin. Cryptocurrencies operate differently and are distinguished from one another mainly due to their values, transaction speeds, usages and volatility characteristics.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Cryptocurrencies overview\n3. Research methodology: This paper aims to answer should, and if yes how, cryptocurrencies can be used to diversify an investment portfolio. Additionally, we ask how cryptocurrencies correlate with each other and with other asset classes, and how cryptocurrencies rank as individual investments, taking both risk and return properties into account.\n4. Data: Daily price data for seven different asset classes are used in the analyses. We consider cryptocurrencies as financial securities for investment portfolios. For the three cryptocurrencies, the data are obtained from Coin Metrics. The price data for the other four asset classes are collected from FactSet. We focus on Bitcoin, Ripple and Litecoin because they have been in existence the longest. Our sample period with daily frequency is from August 5, 2013 through January 17, 2019, covering the majority of 2010s.\n5. Results and discussion: The portfolio with the traditional asset classes in equity, fixed income, real estate, along with the volatility index representing derivatives market for sophisticated investors is further enhanced with the cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Ripple and Litecoin. Table I presents the summary statistics of the return characteristics of these financial securities for the sample period covering August 2013-January 2019.\n6. Conclusion: In this study, we investigate popular cryptocurrencies as individual investment opportunities and as components of the construction of an optimal portfolio. Our sample period covers most of the 2010s. We examine three popular cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ripple and Litecoin. As an independent single investment, Ripple has had the highest return, followed by Litecoin and Bitcoin during the sample period. However, volatility of Ripple is also the highest, followed by those of Litecoin and Bitcoin. Combining risk and return together, coefficient of variations reveal that the best cryptocurrency has been Ripple, followed by Bitcoin and then by Litecoin. All these cryptocurrencies have been better than the traditional asset classes in the 2010s for investment purposes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study investigates the role of cryptocurrencies in enhancing the performance of portfolios constructed from traditional asset classes. Using a long sample period covering not only the large value increases but also the dramatic declines during the beginning of 2018, the purpose of this paper is to provide a more complete analysis of the dynamic nature of cryptocurrencies as individual investment opportunities, and as components of optimal portfolios.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The mean-variance optimization technique of Merton (1990) is applied to develop the risk and return characteristics of the efficient portfolios, along with the optimal weights of the asset class components in the portfolios.\nFindings: The authors provide evidence that as a single investment, the best cryptocurrency is Ripple, followed by Bitcoin and Litecoin. Furthermore, cryptocurrencies have a useful role in the optimal portfolio construction and in investments, in addition to their original purposes for which they were created. Bitcoin is the best cryptocurrency enhancing the characteristics of the optimal portfolio. Ripple and Litecoin follow in terms of their usefulness in an optimal portfolio as single cryptocurrencies. Including all these cryptocurrencies in a portfolio generates the best (most optimal) results. Contributions of the cryptocurrencies to the optimal portfolio evolve over time. Therefore, the results and conclusions of this study have no guarantee for continuation in an exact manner in the future. However, the increasing popularity and the unique characteristics of cryptocurrencies will assist their future presence in investment portfolios.\nOriginality/value: This is one of the first studies that examine the role of popular cryptocurrencies in enhancing a portfolio composed of traditional asset classes. The sample period is the largest that has been used in this strand of the literature, and allows to compare optimal portfolios in early/recent subsamples, and during the pre-/post-cryptocurrency crisis periods.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
From business process management to customer process management	[ "Customer orientation", "Business process management", "Servitization", "Customer centricity", "Service blueprint" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Any process redesign effort should in theory take the customers' needs as a starting point (Chen et al., 2009). Therefore even initiatives that focus on improving internal business processes usually start with a declarative goal of delivering value to customers (Ellram et al., 2008; Trkman, 2010) and the literature on business process management (BPM) is awash with references to customer orientation. BPM can be considered as the way in which customer requirements get transformed into actual goods and services (Smart et al., 2009). Despite the wide adoption of higher customer satisfaction and improvement of relations with customers as a declarative end-goal in BPM (Neubauer, 2009; Schmiedel et al., 2014), most academic and practitioner efforts that target the improvement of business process focus on improving intra-organisational processes.\n2. Literature and theoretical background: 2.1. Servitisation and dealing with services\n3. Method: 3.1. Design and procedures\n4. Findings: In the initial step, a number of root causes for the relatively low customer satisfaction were identified. While some of these root causes were related to inefficiencies in the systems used for contacting Hamapol and insufficient staff to respond to all support requests, other problems appeared to be directly related to customers' business processes. The first important observation was that customer employees often had to go through a time-consuming internal process before they could or would request a service of Hamapol. In many cases, the end users were experiencing problems multiple days before Hamapol was contacted. Typically, the problem would be reported internally, triggering an internal escalation process. Depending on the complexity of the problem, it would be fixed by an expert user, the internal helpdesk or even a low-cost unspecialised service provider. Only if all these options failed would Hamapol be contacted. This means that, in many cases, the internal customer process triggered by a problem with Hamapol equipment would terminate without Hamapol even being contacted:\n5. Analysis and discussion: The findings of the case study confirm that the classical BPM approach and service blueprint do indeed fall short in developing a thorough understanding of the customers' processes and how they affect the internal processes of the service provider and the interaction between both. Extending the blueprint to include the customers' internal processes and the application of business process improvement techniques to these customer processes allowed the service provider to bridge this gap and shift their internal focus towards the customer.\n6. Conclusions: BPM aims to improve and manage organisational processes in order to provide maximum value to the customer. Despite the importance of the customer, most process improvement efforts and techniques insufficiently take the customer into account. Gersch et al. (2011) suggested that a good approach to integrating the customers' expectations is by integrating BPM with service blueprinting. As BPM is a management discipline that aims to create and manage processes and service blueprinting is a tool that helps in gaining understanding of customer-related processes, combining these to optimise the service encounter indeed represents an important step in making customer orientation and servitisation profitable.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to argue that in order to achieve customer centricity through business process management (BPM), companies have to obtain the profound understanding of customers' processes and when necessary change not only the interactions with but also the processes of their customers. A method is presented that allows doing this in a systematic manner.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study of a large multinational company was conducted. Several different sources and methods were used, including document analysis, interviews and a qualitative analysis of responses to open-ended questions. Data were gathered at three points in time: before, during and after the implementation of the presented approach.\nFindings: The method that was successfully employed by the case organisation consisted of combining BPM with service blueprinting, and of extending these efforts by integrating the customers' internal processes into the scope of improvement.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper does not thoroughly evaluate the long-term effects of the proposed approach. Some results of the case study analysis had to be excluded from this paper due to reasons of confidentiality.\nPractical implications: The paper presents an approach for organisations to not only understand the needs of their customers but also the way in which their product is used in customers' processes. In this way BPM can be implemented in a truly customer-oriented way.\nOriginality/value: This paper extends previous work by presenting one way in which BPM can follow up on its promise of increasing an organisations customer orientation. While servitisation has received a lot of attention in various disciplines, its application within BPM research and practice has been scarce.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Entrepreneurial activities in a developing country: an institutional theory perspective	[ "Entrepreneurs", "Institutions", "Developing countries", "Small firms", "Institutional theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A growing area of research aims to contextualise entrepreneurial phenomenon by investigating how institutional contexts enable and constrain entrepreneurial activities (Aldrich and Fiol, 1994; Bruton et al., 2010). As opposed to studies that include only individualistic, resource-based and rationalistic perspectives of entrepreneurship, the notion of institutional embeddedness argues that it is the prevailing values, rules, expectations and material infrastructure in countries that simultaneously provide individuals with entrepreneurial opportunities and set boundaries for their actions (Tolbert et al., 2010; Welter, 2011). Institutional theory applied to entrepreneurship foremost posits that entrepreneurs must conform to existing institutions in order to gain endorsement and legitimacy and resources from important referent audiences and stakeholders (Greenman, 2013; Jain and Sharma, 2013). This line of research has expanded in recent years with studies trying to untangle complex and endogenous effects of institutions (see Su et al., 2017 for review).\nLiterature review: This section reviews literature on institutional theory perspective of entrepreneurship, and its current use in understanding entrepreneurial activities in developing countries.\nMethodology: This section describes the research context, research design, sample selection and data collection procedures for this study. Furthermore, we detail the data analysis methods used.\nFindings: Institutional constraints to entrepreneurial activities\nLimitations, recommendations for future research and implications for practice: While our study delves into fine-grained data and findings, it is only one of many studies that may be conducted to fully understand entrepreneurial activity in other challenging institutional environments, such in transition economies (e.g. countries in Eastern Europe) or newly formed countries (e.g. South Sudan). Replication with new samples in Tanzania as well as in other neighbouring countries will deepen understanding of constraints, enablers and responses as well as indicate differences and commonalities. Moreover, future studies can deepen insights made here by using other qualitative methods (e.g. ethnographies, experiments and longitudinal studies). For example, our study shows that language barriers are an important factor. A possible question for future researchers could be to explore what kind of barriers precisely is faced and how these barriers span over time, tribe and region. Moreover, our findings on the traditional markets and festivals can be further explored by, for example, studying what type of festivals is crucial to entrepreneurship and to what extent. Accordingly, when studying engagement in entrepreneurial activities in other challenging institutional environments, future researchers are suggested to take our findings as a possible point for departure by extending insights into new territories.\nConcluding discussion: Our analyses and findings lead to a number of contributions. First, institutional theory and entrepreneurship research often focus solely on the constraining factors of institutions at macro- or meso-levels of analyses (Urbano and Alvarez, 2014; Aparicio et al., 2016). Less known are the day-to-day, real-life experiences of, and creative responses to, institutional constraints emerging from the personal stories and reports of entrepreneurs (Su et al., 2017). In other words, literature on the institutional constraints to entrepreneurship recognises political, economic and cultural dimensions influencing entrepreneurial activity, but much of this research does not allow for details to emerge from local contexts and situations despite repeated calls do to so (Bruton et al., 2010). In contrast, we conducted an inductive study that has revealed new, in-depth insights in the impact of various institutional dynamics on everyday entrepreneurship in a developing economy. This adds to contributions setting out to understanding the complexities of everyday entrepreneurial life (Bruni et al., 2004; Steyaert, 2007), including also such experiences and events that might be considered too micro, or too mundane for most analyses (Engstrom, 2012; Steyaert, 2004). As well, and in line with this, our study answers to calls made to broaden the contexts in which entrepreneurial initiatives are studied (Baker and Welter, 2017), including also contexts in which conditions are constrained, so as to counter \"fantasies\" of the \"heroic entrepreneur\" (Johnsen and Sorensen, 2017), as well as \"one size fits all\" approaches (Annink et al., 2016; Eijdenberg, 2016). Our micro approach importantly enhances our understanding of how entrepreneurs cope in a constrained context, such as Tanzania, and how they find opportunities in local institutional occurrences.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Entrepreneurship research in the context of developing countries has typically investigated the ways in which culture, politics or economic institutions prohibit or enable entrepreneurial activities using macro-level surveys and deductive designs. In contrast, the purpose of this paper is to take a micro-institutional perspective to study these three institutions influencing entrepreneurial activities in such a context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis is based on inductive, qualitative field data from a challenging institutional environment, Tanzania. This includes two focus groups, one with experts and one with entrepreneurs; and 24 individual interviews with entrepreneurs.\nFindings: Entrepreneurial activities in Tanzania are not constrained only by bureaucracy and arbitrary enforcement, access to capital, competition and consumer spending, but also by language barriers, negative media portrayals and gender disparity. In their favour, recent trade policy, opening up of borders and changing gender relations, has led to more opportunities, but just as important are traditional festivals, marital gift-giving and familial support. Entrepreneurs respond to institutional constraints in many creative ways, including undertaking entrepreneurial strategies, developing inner strength, joining associations, giving back to communities and skilfully managing relations with authorities.\nOriginality/value: The fine-grained discussion of the findings of this study specifically contributes to theory by illustrating the constraining and enabling role of under-represented institutions, such as festivals and marriages, as well as entrepreneurial creative responses that define everyday entrepreneurial life in a developing country.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Tracing the evolution of AI: conceptualization of artificial intelligence in mass media discourse	[ "New technology", "Artificial intelligence", "Mass media", "News coverage", "Public perception", "Conceptualization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term that is both widely used and loosely defined (Kanal and Lemmer, 2014). Even in academia, experts in different fields have different opinions on what AI is, what AI can do and how to design, standardize and integrate it into social implications (Muller and Bostrom, 2016). Over the past 30 years, significant progress has been made in this area because of the increase in computing processing power, the development of algorithms and, perhaps most importantly, the availability of large data sets that can help train AI systems. Today, most AI systems involve machine learning or deep learning. These algorithms can both recognize patterns in the data set without human guidance and evolve over time through self-learning.\nRelated works: History of artificial intelligence\nMethodology: Data set\nResults: Subjects and keywords in artificial intelligence news\nConclusion: It can be seen from the media's reports on AI that the impact of AI on human beings is more profound than ever before. Its application has involved all aspects of people's lives and has gradually begun to overcome past defects. With the attention of all sectors of society, the support of government departments and the promotion of the global industry, AI has become an important force in the new era.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study/paper aims to understand the public perceptions of AI through mass media discourse. In the past few years, significant progress has been made in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The benefits of AI are obvious, but there is still huge uncertainty and controversy over the public perception of AI. How does the mass media conceptualize AI?\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors analyze the evolution of AI covered by five major news media outlets in the past 30 years from 7 dimensions: scientific subject, keyword, country, institution, people, topic and opinion polarity.\nFindings: First of all, different subjects are competing for and dividing up the right to speak of AI, leading to the gradual fragmentation of the concept of AI. Second, reporting on AI often includes reference to commercial institutions and scientists, showing a successful integration of science and business. Moreover, the result of topic modeling shows that news media mainly defines AI from three perspectives: an imagination, a commercial product and a field of scientific research. Finally, negative reports have focused on various issues relating to AI ethics.\nOriginality/value: The results can help bridge various conversations surrounding AI and promote richer discussions, increase the participation of scientists, businesses, governments and the public and provide more perspectives on the functions, prospects and pitfalls of AI.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exceptional HR leadership rests on four foundations: Business acumen, trust, expertise and culture make up the cornerstones	[ "Performance", "Leadership", "Organizational culture", "Strategic human resource management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: \"Without our HR team we would not be in the good place we are today,\" said the senior operations leader of a major US company. \"They are awesome; they help to provide strategic direction, help us to get our work done, find great workers, develop our people and solve business problems by partnering everyone in our organization so that we are all becoming HR managers. None of this would happen without great HR leaders\".\nModel for exceptional HR leadership: We would like to build on this research and share a model for exceptional HR leadership that is constructed on the primary foundations that have emerged from this process. They include strong business acumen, trustworthy leadership, great HR expertise and cultural stewardship, and must be in place to meet current and future human resource challenges.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Considers the four foundations of exceptional human resource (HR) leadership - strong business acumen, trustworthy leadership, great HR expertise and cultural stewardship - that must be in place to meet current and future human resource challenges.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Considers the four foundations of exceptional HR leadership - strong business acumen, trustworthy leadership, great HR expertise and cultural stewardship - that must be in place to meet current and future human-resource challenges.\nFindings: Advances the view that if one of the cornerstones is weak or ineffective, the ability of the HR leader and his or her team to be exceptional is greatly impaired.\nPractical implications: Reveals how to take HR to the next level.\nSocial implications: Demonstrates how HR leaders can add value and improve the competitiveness of their enterprises.\nOriginality/value: Explains how HR can best overcome the challenges it faces in respect of talent gaps, process failures, compensation and benefits repositioning, workforce realignment, dealing with budget cuts and fiscal constraints, lack of front-line management buy-in, compliance, increased time constraints and the need to help with technological implementation, strategy execution and improving profitability.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Job preferences of business and economics students	[ "Employment", "Choice experiment", "Random parameter logit", "Students’ job preferences" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowing job preferences of young job seekers can help companies to better understand the attributes that are significant for them. This becomes particularly important when the level of income is not the only or even the most important job attribute that counts. To attract suitable employees, companies might have to offer other, non-monetary job attributes to attract candidates that would fit the position and also the company, especially when companies are interested in medium- to long-term employees.\n2. Literature review: Most of the studies in the literature have been conducted in the business and accounting fields and are not very quantitative. Main methodologies used to analyse students' job preferences have been ranking or rating job attributes. Ranking refers to arranging various job characteristics, or attributes, in order of preference, while the rating method asks respondents to evaluate attributes independently, by claiming if the attribute is important to them, or not.\n3. Methodology: 3.1 CE's: an introduction\n4. Results: 4.1 Basic statistics\n5. Discussion and conclusions: In this analysis, students' job preferences are elicited in a more quantitative and rigorous method than had been previously used in the literature through the use of a CE. Taking into account students' job preferences, the WTA, based on RPL model estimations for students at five universities, in three countries, at both public and private universities, is simulated. The possibility of working at the company long-term is the most important attribute across countries and regardless of whether the university is public or private. It could be argued then, that if companies cannot offer applicants high salaries, they could offer them the possibility of working at the company long-term. Surprisingly, similar results were also found in Malaysia by Lim and Soon (2006), as well as most of the studies conducted among business students, which seems to suggest that students, in general, like to have the prospect of a long-term career at the company. Even though young employees might not choose to stay at the same job long-term, they would like that decision to be up to them rather than knowing their position at the company is stagnant.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to elicit young economists' job preferences through the use of a choice experiment (CE).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A CE conducted at a total of five universities in Spain, the Czech Republic and Germany. After estimating a random parameter logit model, the monetary value of the willingness to accept a specific job attribute is simulated.\nFindings: The most important job characteristic, consistent across countries and universities, is a long-term career prospect at the company.\nOriginality/value: This is the first CE conducted on business and economics students' job preferences in three European countries. Using the same survey instrument allows for the comparison of students' job preferences across countries and also between private and public universities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The determinants of terrorist shocks' cross-market transmission	[ "Stock markets", "Stock returns", "Terrorism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the post 9/11 era a new literature emerged, whose main aim has been to investigate various aspects of terrorism shocks' impacts on capital markets. The extant literature has established the significant - and immediate - negative reaction, to major terrorist attacks, of \"ground-zero\" countries' capital markets (Abadie and Gardeazabal, 2003; Carter and Simkins, 2004; Chen and Siems, 2004; Drakos, 2004; Eldor and Melnick, 2004; Maillet and Michel, 2005; Gulley and Sultan, 2006; Amelie and Darne, 2006; Arin et al., 2008; Guzhva, 2008; Nikkinen et al., 2008; Straetmans et al., 2008; Haque and Kouki, 2009). This literature has also shown that significant negative reactions are also observed to third countries' markets.However, an apparent gap in the literature, and in general of our understanding of the issue, relates to what is the underlying diffusion mechanism of major terrorist shocks. In other words, although we suspect that such shocks are indeed transmitted cross-nationally, we have no concrete evidence regarding the determinants of their cross-sectional variation. To put simply, we do not know why and how much third countries react in the occurrence of a major terrorist incident in another country. Clearly, providing an answer to this question would be of value for policy makers and supervision authorities, but more importantly for portfolio managers. Essentially, knowledge of these reaction patterns could assist portfolio managers in assessing whether diversification is possible. For instance, if terrorism shocks exhausted their effect within the \"ground-zero\" country, then they could be thought as being part of its idiosyncratic risk, and therefore able to be diversified away. If however terrorism shocks were diffused across markets, the diversification scope would depend on the pattern of diffusion. For instance, the diversification gains would evaporate if shocks spread uniformly. In contrast, if shocks were non-uniformly diffused, diversification would be possible, provided that one could pin down the basic anatomy of the transmission mechanism.Casual empiricism suggests that major shocks, especially of an adverse nature, or crises, even if considered as being mainly local, tend to diffuse cross-nationally. This diffusion is known as contagion, broadly defined as the spread of market disturbances from one country to another. A burgeoning literature has provided the theoretical underpinnings for several alternative explanations for the spread of shocks from their original location (the \"ground-zero\" country) to third countries (for excellent and extensive reviews (Wolf, 1999; Dornbusch et al., 2000). One explanation places emphasis on economic linkages, where essentially the spillover to a given third country depends on the degree of its integration with the world markets (Calvo and Reinhart, 1996; Masson, 1998; Forbes and Rigobon, 2002). We hereafter call this diffusion mechanism the world integration channel. Another explanation that has been proposed, similar in spirit, suggests that the transmission of shock to a country is facilitated by its economic ties with the \"ground-zero\" country. We hereafter call this transmission mechanism bilateral integration channel. Another class of explanations highlights the role of various \"irrational\" phenomena triggered by investors' behavior (Calvo and Mendoza, 2000; Pritsker, 2001; Kodres and Pritsker, 2002). Among this class, we consider the role of liquidity constraints arising in the event of a major shock that may lead investors to sell assets in third countries to meet margin calls. Hence, according to this channel the contagion increases with a country's capital market liquidity. We hereafter call this contagion mechanism the liquidity channel.In the present study, we make a first attempt to explore the determinants of terrorist shock diffusion. In particular, focusing in the post 9/11 period, we model stock market reaction patterns across 68 countries on the days of two major terrorist events (Madrid attack, London attack). Reaction is measured by the daily abnormal return, controlling for a three-factor world asset pricing as well as distributed lags of domestic returns. Then the analysis investigates whether the three alternative transmission channels contain any significant explanatory power for abnormal returns.Our empirical findings suggest that terrorism shocks are indeed diffused cross-nationally, and moreover this diffusion is non-uniform. In particular, we find empirical support for the world integration channel since trade and financial linkages to world markets emerge as important \"predictors\" for a country's stock market reaction to terrorist events. Among the trade and financial linkages considered, a country's share in the world trade is able to explain the highest percentage of abnormal-return variation in the occurrence of a major terrorist incident (about 12 percent). Additionally, the bilateral integration channel is also in operation, where we find that a third country's trade linkages with the \"ground-zero\" country explain about 24 percent of stock market reaction. Moreover, we find empirical support for the liquidity channel with the value of stock trading explaining about 6 percent of stock market reaction. A hybrid model including proxies for all three channels is able to explain about 24 percent of abnormal-return variation in the occurrence of major terrorist shocks.The remainder of the paper is as follows. The second section provides the general setup within which one can model the transmission mechanism of terrorist shocks. Third section describes data sources, the construction of variables, and their sample properties. Fourth section presents the econometric methodology. Fifth section discusses the empirical findings. Finally, in sixth section we conclude.\nReturns' generation and shock transmission: The baseline pricing framework\nData issues: Returns and systematic risk factors\nEconometric methodology: We use a flexible empirical specification whose core is a three-factor world model where, apart from the current values of the risk factors, we also include up to five lags to capture any non-synchronization in trading. In addition, we allow for a similar autoregressive structure for country returns. In order to capture any calendar anomalies we use fixed month and day effects, over and above year effects (Gibbons and Hess, 1981; Jaffe and Westerfield, 1985; Kato and Shallheim, 1985; Board and Sutcliffe, 1988; Choudhry, 2001). The employed baseline empirical model is of the following form: Equation 22 Given the panel dimension, we condition on country heterogeneity allowing for an unobserved effect mi treated as random, assuming that E(ri,t-jmi)=0 [?] i,j,t.A well-established empirical regularity is the volatility clustering exhibited by daily returns (Engle, 1982; Bollerslev, 1986). Thus, in order to control for this we employ a Pooled Panel GARCH (PP-GARCH) model for the conditional volatility of stock returns (Cermeno and Grier, 2006). Although multivariate GARCH models are also available, they are not practical for most panel applications because they require the estimation of a large number of parameters, which consumes degrees of freedom rapidly. In contrast, PP-GARCH estimation by imposing common dynamics on the variance-covariance process across cross-sectional units reduces the number of parameters dramatically ensuring parsimony. We then allow a more flexible specification for the error term with: Equation 23 In particular, assuming that ei,t~N[0, Oi,t], i.e. are multivariate normal error terms with a time-varying conditional variance-covariance matrix produces a PP-GARCH model (Cermeno and Grier, 2006). The variance-covariance matrix Oi,t is time-dependent and its diagonal and off-diagonal elements are given by the following equations: Equation 24 where, the th*'s, ps's, e's and r's denote unknown constant parameters to be estimated.\nThe effect of transmission channels: In order to investigate whether linkages contain significant information for abnormal returns, we recover the residuals (e^i,t\|mgtgzc,t=1) from model (19) focusing on the days of the two major terrorist events. It should be noted that due to the different time zones of countries included in the sample, one should correct for the non-synchronous trading. We have followed the standard practice of using the lag or the lead of the return for countries at different time zones accordingly. However, in order to avoid further complication of notation we denote all abnormal returns at time (t).Let (xm,i,t) denote the possible reaction determinant where (m) denotes a particular transmission channel proxy. Then, we project the residuals on each of these proxies allowing for up to a third-order polynomial to capture potential non-linearities: Equation 25 After the estimation stage, we proceed with three steps. First, for each potential channel proxy, by the means of formal hypotheses testing, we establish the preferred specification (i.e. linear, quadratic or cubic). Second, we explore whether each type of linkages contains significant explanatory power over abnormal returns by testing: Equation 26 Provided that a particular set of hypotheses is rejected, it would imply that the associated channel of diffusion is in operation and furthermore, that the diffusion of terrorist shocks is non-uniformly distributed across countries. Third, we embark on a comparison between potential diffusion channels in terms of their relative explanatory power over abnormal returns.\nEmpirical results: Preliminary unconditional analysis\nConclusions: In the present study, we make a first attempt to investigate the underlying cross-market transmission mechanism of major terrorist shocks, which has so far been unexplored. In particular, focusing in the post 9/11 period, we use two major terrorist events (Madrid and London attacks) and model stock market reaction patterns across 68 countries. Reaction is measured by the daily abnormal return, controlling for a three-factor world asset pricing, as well as distributed lags of domestic returns. Then the analysis investigates three potential channels for the cross-country diffusion of terrorist shocks:1. integration with world markets;2. linkages vis-a-vis the \"ground-zero\" country; and3. stock market liquidity.Our empirical findings suggest that terrorism shocks are indeed diffused cross-nationally, and moreover this diffusion is non-uniform. In particular, we find empirical support for the world integration channel since trade and financial linkages emerge as significant predictors for a country's stock market reaction to terrorist events. Among the trade and financial linkages considered, a country's share in world trade is able to explain the highest percentage of abnormal-return variation in the occurrence of a major terrorist incident. The bilateral linkages channel is also active where third countries' trade linkages with the \"ground-zero\" country account for about 24 percent of the cross-country variation in reaction to terrorist shocks. Moreover, we find empirical support for the liquidity channel since stock market capitalization is also a significant determinant of stock market reaction. A hybrid model were all three channels are jointly included suggest that only bilateral trade linkages with the \"ground-zero\" country are significant determinants of stock market reaction.These findings have important implications for supervision authorities but more importantly for portfolio managers. The non-uniform reaction to major terrorist shocks implies that there is ample scope for diversification. Future research could extend the set of explanatory variables including other structural country characteristics over and above linkages, such as market structure, ownership structure, and liquidity. In addition, non-financial factors could also be explored, such as the impact of terrorism shocks on investor sentiment and risk aversion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of the cross-market transmission mechanism for terrorist shocks, focusing on two major terrorist events and 68 national stock markets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper generates daily abnormal returns from a three-factor world asset-pricing model. Abnormal returns are then regressed on proxies of three transmission mechanisms; a world integration channel, a bilateral integration channel, and a liquidity channel.\nFindings: - The findings indicate that terrorism shocks are diffused cross-nationally in a non-uniform manner. This paper finds empirical support for all three channels when considered separately. The bilateral integration channel contains the highest explanatory power since it is found that a third country's trade linkages with the \"ground-zero\" country explain about 24 percent of the stock market reaction. A country's share in the world trade, a proxy for the world integration channel, is able to explain about 12 percent of abnormal-return variation, while the liquidity channel exhibits the lowest predictive power, with the value of stock trading explaining about 6 percent. A hybrid model, where proxies for all channels are included, shows that only the bilateral trade linkages with the \"ground-zero\" country are significant determinants of the stock market reaction.\nPractical implications: - Provides evidence useful for portfolio management and authorities' assessment of terrorist shocks' impact on capital markets.\nOriginality/value: - It is the first study that investigates the determinants of cross-market transmission of terrorist shocks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Technology innovation, human resources and dysfunctional integration	[ "Innovation", "Human resource management", "Management attitudes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The commercial breakthrough of the internet in the mid-1990s posed a serious challenge to the telecom industry. To meet this, Ericsson Denmark (henceforth referred to as Ericsson) initiated a major corporate strategic project called \"The 2005 scenarios\", the aim of which was to thoroughly analyse the future of the market. The implicit challenge was the so-called convergence of three industries, made possible by internet technology: The IT industry, the telecom industry and the media industry. Following the strategic research of the corporate 2005 scenarios, a new Business Development Department (BDD) was established at Ericsson Denmark, the focus of which was future orientation and end-user understanding. As a result of the work of this department, a general market understanding was built up, describing the chasm between two end-user segments, which, according to Moore's terminology (1999), consisted of early adopters and pragmatics/conservatives. These segments were mirrored in a description of the cultures of the two industries: The IT industry and the telecom industry. The exposure to a new device, which seemed to bridge the two worlds, was like a spark that lit a vision. After less than a month, this vision was documented in a so-called business opportunity specification. An interesting feature of this new department was that it should both carry out market analyses and suggest solutions or actions, functions which in most companies tend to be physically separated.\n2 The theoretical underpinnings of the case: Creativity, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship are intertwined and interlinked in more than one respect. The intentional use of knowledge and skills to extend the limited capabilities of human beings is normally referred to as technology. To further expand such learning into useful replicable methods, processes and/or products requires a certain amount of creativity and innovation. It has been argued that creativity is an intellectual capability associated with imagination, insight, invention, intuition, and inspiration (Henry, 1991). Moreover, creative individuals are known to be problem-sensitive, imaginative, tolerant of ambiguity, and risk-taking. Put another way, creative individuals produce new ideas, whereas innovative individuals spot new ideas and develop and/or transfer these to new and useful outcomes (e.g. patents and new products). Entrepreneurs then take new patents and other outcomes into the marketplace and/or into practical implementation. Rigid as such typologies often are, the borderlines remain blurred across different types.In the field of R&D-oriented research, Amabile (1988) argued that persistence, energy, curiosity, and intellectual honesty were crucial for creativity. Based on an exhaustive review, Barron and Harrington (1981) found aesthetic qualities in experience, broad interests, attraction to complexity, high energy, intuition, independence of judgement, autonomy, self-confidence, etc. to be associated with a creative personality. Others have portrayed the creative individual as less authoritarian, suspending judgement and accepting one's own impulses (Steiner, 1965). In the literature on key factors of innovation management, interest has focused on two major trajectories. One line of inquiry has focused on the influence of organisational structure (Burns and Stalker, 1961; Lawrence and Lorsch, 1965; Becker and Stafford, 1967), while another has focused on key persons (Allen, 1970; Chakrabarti, 1974).Two definitions of innovation are generally widely acknowledged. Thompson (1965, p. 2) defines innovation as the \"generation, acceptance and implementation of new ideas, processes, products or services\", while Zaltman et al. (1973, p. 10) similarly see it as any \"idea, practice or material artefact perceived as new by the relevant unit of adoption\". At first glance, these may seem obviously equivalent. However, while the former focuses on the generation of innovation perspective, investigated mainly by economists and technologists, the latter also allows for the adoption perspective (Gopalakrishnan, 1996, p. 20), mainly investigated by organisational technologists and sociologists, discussing how innovations socially diffuse (Rogers, 1995).Following the research trend towards interactive process perspectives (Van de Ven and Rogers, 1988; Slappendel, 1996), West and Farr (1990, p. 9) have attempted to combine these views by presenting innovation as the \"intentional introduction and application within a role, group or organisation of ideas, processes, products or procedures, new to the relevant unit of adoption, designed to significantly benefit the individual, the group, organisation or wider society\". Furthermore, we refer to innovation as a cyclical social process encompassing observation, initiation, implementation, and stabilisation. In this process, observing refers to the identification of a gap between the existing and something feasible for adoption and/or further development, e.g. idea generation and/or identification of opportunities to adopt an existing innovation or generate something new. Initiation houses a communicative phase where the observation is transmitted to others in a social system.Depending on acceptance, the material or immaterial artefact can be commercialised and thus systemically implemented. In the case of rejection, the innovation may be abandoned or looped back for refinement, resulting in recurring cycles of observation and initiation. Standardisation occurs when a successful implementation of an innovation has diffused to relevant areas of application and become fully routinized (West, 1990). Here, in contrast to individualists' and structuralists' views (Slappendel, 1996), innovation is therefore not portrayed as linear, stepwise or symmetrical, but as an embedded, continuous, bi-directional and dynamic social process, involving social structuration and diffusion, as well as material and immaterial inputs and outputs.Much of the innovation literature tends to be inherently biased towards success. However, there is another side of the coin - innovation failure. Superficially, failure can be defined as the inability to successfully market an innovation. It can then be asked whether the failure was due to shortcomings in the innovation, the innovator, or the innovating team. Undoubtedly, radical innovations can be so intrinsically flawed, either in terms of customer perception of their utility, performance, or cost, that no organisation could successfully market them. As pointed out by Sneep (1991), the distinction between incremental and radical innovation is difficult, as there is no absolute measure for intrinsic newness. Intrinsic newness relates to the scientific knowledge component of technology, whereas architecturality refers to the organisational component (i.e. how knowledge, artefact and auxiliaries are organized and combined in a new way that changes existing patterns). We generally describe product innovation as architectural (Henderson and Clark, 1990) when the degree of product newness is high and it changes or seriously challenges existing patterns (in production and/or in use).\n3 Methodology: Our research design follows the general rules laid down in the participative action research methodology (for an overview of this methodology, see Hult and Lennung, 1980). This methodology has the advantage of also being able to explain how innovations emerge from the social interaction of the participants, rather than from the failure of the organisation to adapt to the requirements of its environments. It puts the focus on actual social actions in their specific organisational contexts. The focus on human actions was introduced into social science research more than three decades ago (Silverman, 1970).This study has been grounded in an interpretative methodology that recognizes the importance of social interaction and the socially constructed nature of social reality. Specific outcomes of such interactions cannot be properly described or explained without a detailed knowledge of the subjective logic that led to the institutionalised meanings of the organisations in question. Subjectively meaningful courses of social action must thus be systematically related to the structures of social interaction in which they were undertaken (Reed, 1985). This method is based on the view that social individuals co-create their reality through participation, experience, and action (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994). As stressed by Tandon (1989), this methodology produces knowledge based on social actors' agenda-setting roles, participating in data gathering, and analysing and controlling the use of the outcomes.The case material was gathered in the following way. The first author was directly involved in the project between October 1997 and September 2001.The project team recorded the most important events in a project logbook, which covers the project from the beginning in 1997 until 1 September 1999. All official project documentation from 1997 to 2001 has been analysed by both authors, together with a comprehensive archive of e-mails from 1997 to 2001. Nine personal, A4 notebooks written by the formerly employed author also cover the entire period.\n4 The case study analysis: The home communication concept: 4.1 Background information\n5 Discussion and conclusion: Often there seems to be a relatively high focus on the technology component and its application potentials at the expense of the human and organisational dimensions of technological innovations, as is also the case in this innovation study. As pointed out by Ozatalay and Reilly (1990), examples of unsuccessful internal implementation of innovations are to be found in uncoordinated human resource functions.As in the case of the HCC innovation, research and development and/or business development teams are often multifunctional and multidisciplinary in their composition (Stoker et al., 2001). The leaders of such functions are furthermore up against multiple demands. Firstly, they are responsible for securing that the necessary skills and competences are available and/or developed within the team. Secondly, they are held responsible for not complying with the time and budget constraints. Last, but no least, they play a crucial role in ensuring the full commitment and support from upper echelon management so as to secure the integration with the rest of the business activities of the organisation. Research into R&D and/or BDD functions unfortunately tends to focus primarily on the leaders of such critical functions (Schnake et al., 1993).The HCC innovation of the business development team seems to have been both a success and a failure. BDD did in fact rock the boat - the department had its breakthroughs (CeBIT 1999 and the ScreenFridge field trial) - but they were not so successful in finding a home and owner for HomeNet and HCC. The explanations are many, and undoubtedly BDD lacked sufficient political skills, being trapped by their own passion in a position as self-righteous missionaries. However, some more fundamental innovation problems also seem to have influenced the venture.As Christensen (1997/2000) says, \"Perhaps the most powerful protection that small entrant firms enjoy as they build the emerging markets for disruptive technologies is that they are doing something that it simply does not make sense for the established leaders to do. Despite their endowments in technology, brand names, manufacturing prowess, management experiences, distribution muscle, and just plain cash, successful companies populated by good managers have a genuinely hard time doing what does not fit their model for how to make money\".This might well have been said about the small business development department team which, as the \"entrant firm\", presented a business idea that simply did not make sense to the established organisation. Mainstream organisations are designed for thinking inside the dominant paradigm, thus making breakthroughs of profound new concepts difficult. According to the classical dilemma of innovation, the formula (for design skills and technological capabilities) which made the company what it is today not only leads to myopia and/or inertia, but, more importantly, will prevent the company from profiting from new disruptive technologies. The present case suggests another dilemma - that of balancing between a free and creative environment which nurtures the generation of new and radical innovations while at the same time securing mutual trust and respect between the innovative team and the mainstream organisation. In other words, the dilemma is how to encourage creative teams to \"think out of the box\" and break existing paradigms, while at the same time creating a bridge between these \"entrepreneurs\" and the mainstream for the beneficial utilisation of the ideas. Inspired by Gordon McKenzie's book Orbiting the Giant Hairball, this can be seen as finding a balance in which the innovative team stays in orbit around the organisation - with the necessary distance to think outside the established formula, but close enough to bring in value to the organisation. Put another way, it is necessary to prevent the innovative team from sliding too far away from the rest of the company and/or turning into a \"religious fundamentalists\" that see ghosts everywhere.The danger of letting the innovative function \"slide\" further out of orbit and thus becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the organisation can be further reinforced by a lack of serious attention at upper echelon managerial levels. This phenomenon is well known in innovation studies. Lack of integration has in fact been found to be an important part of the explanation for innovation failures (Bouwen et al., 1993). In a more recent study in the UK, Stoker et al. (2001) found that the innovative attention of the surveyed organisations tends to be focussed primarily at lower organisational levels. This points to an integration of innovation policy that should instead engulf the entire organisation so that the responsibility for innovation in R&D and/or BDD functions is not abdicated at higher echelon layers.5.1 Implications for managers and for research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To provide an in-depth empirical account demonstrating the danger of letting the innovative human resources of the business development function \"slide\" further out of orbit and thus becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the organisation can be further reinforced by a lack of serious attention at upper echelon managerial levels\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This case study is based upon a participative action research methodology (for an overview of this methodology).\nFindings: - The practical innovation analysed in this study seems to have been both a success and a failure. The innovative and creative human resource within the Business Development Department did in fact rock the boat, but they were not so successful in finding a home and owner for the innovation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - One of the important findings of this in-depth study is that there seems to be a lack of trust and mutual understanding about the value of different managerial functions in a company.\nPractical implications: - With regard to the internal dimension, managers of R&D and/or BDD functions also need to realize that they play several key roles, ranging from securing the updating and further development of the human resources to handling the constraints of time and budget.\nOriginality/value: - This article clearly demonstrates the danger in letting critical and innovative human resources become more and more isolated from the rest of the organisation with the inescapable result that the human resources in question felt being trapped by their own passion in a position as self-righteous missionaries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An inter-industry comparison of VET in Australian SMEs: Inter-industry comparison	[ "Vocational training", "Small to medium‐sized enterprises", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In Australia, as elsewhere, much has been written about enterprise-provided training. The view popularly espoused by commentators and policy-makers alike, is that Australian employers do not spend enough on training their workforce (Smith, 2003). However Smith (2003) challenges this view, arguing that such concerns are based on data from the early to mid-1990s. Drawing on data from other sources (e.g. Survey of Education and Training (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001), Training Practices Survey (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001) and Training Expenditure Survey (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2001)), he concludes that training has, in fact, improved, not deteriorated, with Australians now receiving more and better training from their employers than in the past. However, Smith (2003) also acknowledges that important size-related differences exist, with smaller enterprises spending less on training than do their larger counterparts. He further notes that, it is at the micro-end of the spectrum of firm size, that there is a sharp decline in the provision of training, with only 20 per cent of micro-firms providing structured training, compared with 60 per cent of small firms. This is a particularly important finding, given Australia is predominately a country of small businesses, accounting for nearly 97 per cent of all private sector businesses, and employing over 3 million workers (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2001).For many observers, the so-called employer failure to train has adverse implications for the creation of a national skill base upon which enterprises can draw to increase their competitiveness. In the case of small business, its reduced sponsorship of employee participation in structured training and expenditure on employee development, combined with the significant proportion of the Australian workforce employed in the sector, often leads to claims that the sector does not contribute equitably to national skill development (Billett, 2001). In addition, employees in the sector are potentially at risk - both socially and economically - if they do not participate in skill development (Billett et al., 2003).A central, related concern of successive Australian governments then, like those in other Western countries, has been the specific lack of interest and participation of small business in Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs (Billett, 2001). While recent research has examined small businesses reluctance to participate in or sponsor structured VET (e.g. Billett, 2001), relatively little research has explicitly investigated the extent and nature of VET vis-a-vis other forms of training in small business. In addition, considerable variation exists among firms, not only in terms of size, but also in terms of industry classification. Yet while it is generally accepted that training in small business is largely informal and on-the-job, few, if any, studies have examined VET vis-a-vis other forms of training in varying sized small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in different industries. In addition, with few exceptions, existing extant studies are cross-sectional. As a result, very limited data exists on how training and development in SMEs across industries changes over time.This study seeks to fill the identified gaps by means of a longitudinal inter-industry comparison of training and development initiatives in specific-sized SMEs. The purpose of this exploratory study, which is based on data from 1,915 SMEs over four years, is to compare and contrast the extent and nature of VET vis-a-vis other forms of training, in three sized SMEs from two industries. The paper proceeds as follows: after briefly reviewing the central tenets of Australia's national VET system, prior research on the nature of training and development in SMEs, including small business participation in VET, is examined. Thereafter, the current research method is outlined. The findings of the research are then presented and discussed. This is followed by conclusions arising from this study.The Australian VET system and training in SMEs\nMethodology: The panel data employed in this research are drawn from the Business Longitudinal Survey (BLS) conducted by the ABS over the four financial years 1994-1995 to 1997-1998. The ABS Business Register was used as the population frame for the surveys. Data collection in the BLS was achieved through self-administered, structured questionnaires, with response rates very high by conventional research standards - typically exceeding 90 per cent.The specific BLS data used in this study are included in a Confidentialised Unit Record File (CURF) released by the ABS on CD-ROM in December, 1999. This CURF contains data on 9,731 business units employing fewer than 200 persons - broadly representing SMEs in the Australian context. However, this exploratory study uses panel data on 1,915 SMEs from the manufacturing and retail sectors only.Definition of small business and VET\nDiscussion of results: For the most part, the results present few surprises. For example, OTJ training is the most prevalent training method (Table I), with owner-managers or employees the predominate provider of on-the-job training in SMEs (Table II) - regardless of size or industry sector - as has been the case in prior research. Further, there are indeed marked, sized-related differences in the incidence of training provision, methods, providers and fields, between micro- small and medium-sized enterprises. As we would anticipate from the existing literature, the provision of training, and adoption of all four training methods, six training fields and eight of the nine training providers increases with SME size (Tables I-IV). Further, the results of a series of chi square tests indicate that the substantive size-related differences occur between small and medium-sized firms, compared with micro- and small firms.The results presented in Table IV also concur with Smith (2003) contention that, it is at the micro end of the spectrum of organisational size that employer-provided training is unlikely to occur, with over half of all micro-sized firms providing no training. Small and medium-sized firms in all sectors are most likely to report no major change to training provision, although when change occurs, SMEs are more likely to increase than decrease training. It is, however, noteworthy that, overall, there is a decline in the proportion of micro- and small firms increasing the provision of training over the four years. Similarly, the proportion of medium-sized enterprises that increased training decreased, albeit in three of the four years in the case of retail.Further evidence of the lack of training - structured or unstructured - in micro-firms across industry sectors is evident in Table I. Not only are micro-firms unlikely to use any structured training method (i.e. structured training, seminars, workshops or conferences or job rotations/exchanges2), only a third or fewer micro businesses use the more informal on-the-job training. Similarly, small firms are unlikely to use structured training, although three-quarters or more use on-the-job training. In contrast, the majority of medium-sized firms in all sectors use all three forms of structured training, with 90 per cent or more also using on-the-job training.Consistent with this pattern, more than half of small and medium-sized businesses use business owners/employees to provide on-the-job training, although only a quarter or less of their micro-sized counterparts do (Table III). As Table III shows, aside from on-the-job training provided by business owners/employees, a positive association exists between organisational size and business owners/employees providing structured training, professional and industry associations, equipment suppliers, private trainers, TAFE and universities. The use of a wide range of external training providers in SMEs in each of the size categories probably reflects the lack of training infrastructure in general in SMEs. It is unlikely that any of the SMEs have internal resources capable of meeting specialist training in management, professions, computers, trades, health and safety and \"other\" fields, and thus rely on specialist external trainers.Taken together then, the findings provide support for the first proposition that size-related differences in training in varying sized SMEs exist, with smaller enterprises significantly less likely to provide training, adopt formal training methods and use external training providers relative to medium-sized firms.Significant differences also exist between industry sectors, with differences in three training methods, six training fields and seven of the nine training providers between medium-sized manufacturing and retail firms (0.01 or better) (Tables I-IV). In contrast, there are only significant differences between small manufacturing and retail firms in the four training methods, one of the six training fields, and one of the nine training providers. Further, only one significant difference between micro-sized manufacturing and retail firms exists (0.01 or better). As with size-related differences, these results suggest that substantive differences in training practices between industry sectors also increases with firm size.The results are also consistent with the third proposition that, micro- small and medium-sized firms are unlikely to invest in structured VET, with less than half of SMEs providing trade and apprenticeship training and traineeships. However, 49 and 47 per cent of medium-sized retail and manufacturing firms respectively, provide apprenticeship training (Table II) - below the 70 per cent or more reported by Wiesner and McDonald (2001). These findings also concur with the changing nature of apprenticeships and traineeships in general, with apprentices and trainees expanded to a much wider range of occupations and industries, including retail, while traditional skilled trades such as those occurring in the manufacturing sector now account for less than half of all apprenticeships (Smith, 2003).Further support for the proposition that SMEs are unlikely to invest in structured VET can be seen in Table III, where again, less than half of SMEs in all three categories and industry sectors utilise TAFE, the predominate accredited provider of VET in Australia. While manufacturing SMEs in all three-size categories are most likely to use TAFE, their micro-, small and medium-sized counterparts in the retail sector are least likely too. However, the results of a series of chi-square tests indicate that small and medium-sized firms in all industry sectors that provide apprentice training are also significantly more likely to use TAFE3 (at 0.05 or better) (Table V).Table III reveals that SMEs are also unlikely to use industry associations as training providers, with the minority of SMEs in each category only using industry providers. However, in contrast to the findings with respect to TAFE, small and medium-sized firms in the retail sector are most likely, and manufacturing SMEs least likely, to use industry providers of training. All SMEs are also unlikely to use private training providers, although of the industry sectors, again, small and medium-sized manufacturing firms are most likely too. Collectively, these results support Smith and Hayton (1999) contention that particular sectors are more likely to develop links with particular providers of training.The results of a further series of chi-square tests show that small and medium-sized firms in all industry sectors that provide apprentice training are significantly more likely to use industry training providers (0.05 or better). Only medium-sized manufacturers, and small retailers that provide apprenticeship training are significantly more likely to use private training organizations (0.05 or better). Table V also shows, with few exceptions, the proportion of SMEs that provide training in the various training fields and use VET providers, increases with size.Limitations\nConclusion: The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the extent and nature of VET vis-a-vis other forms of training in three size categories of small business, and across industry sectors, adding to the very few longitudinal large-scale studies conducted to date that have focused exclusively on the extent and nature of VET in small business.Given the general consensus concerning the nature of training in small firms, it is not surprising that on-the-job training provided by owner-managers or employees is the predominate training practice in small business, regardless of size or industry sector. The results also indicate that significant sized-related differences exist in training provision, methods, providers and fields; however, only the minority of enterprises in the three-size categories implemented any of the dimensions of VET examined in this study. In particular, less than half of SMEs provide apprenticeship training and traineeships - and in the case of micro- and small business, VET in any other field for that matter - or used any of the widely recognised providers of accredited VET. While there is a positive association between enterprise size and the implementation of VET, nonetheless, the results demonstrate that small businesses investment in structured VET is minimal, a conclusion shared by many in Australia and internationally (e.g. Billett, 2001; Matlay, 1999).Billett (2001) argues cogently for the importance of widening the definition of what constitutes VET to recognise the informal nature of training in small business. However, the finding in this study that, at the micro-end of firm size, less than a third of firms in both sectors use OTJ training, with only the minority of micro-firms providing training, suggest that no matter what definition of VET is adopted, the majority of micro-businesses do not train. Recent empirical work, such as that reviewed in Smith (2003) reinforces this finding.Indeed, if, as reported elsewhere (Billett, 2001) a third of small businesses are unlikely to use external training no matter what the VET sector does, a tentative policy implication is that resources may be better directed at the individual worker, rather than at the firm level, particularly in light of recent concerns over the quality of training provided at the firm level (Smith et al., 2003). This is, in fact, consistent with the notion that today, skill maintenance and development is increasingly the responsibility of the individual worker. However, the utility of such an initiative would have to be determined, particularly the value attached to such education and training from actual and prospective employer's perspective. Moreover, wide-scale qualitative research must be first conducted, given research suggests that traditional statistical data underestimates training in small business.Less controversial are the policy implications of the conclusion that significant differences in training methods, fields and providers exist within and between size categories and industry sectors. While neither grand nor new, targeted training and development initiatives really do need to be developed to meet the considerable sectorial diversity that characterises the small business sector.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the extent and nature of Vocational Education and Training (VET) vis-a-vis other forms of training in three size categories of small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from two industry sectors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The longitudinal panel data employed in this paper are drawn from the Business Longitudinal Survey (BLS) conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) over the four financial years 1994-1995 to 1997-1998.\nFindings: - The results indicate that less than half of the enterprises in the three-size categories provide apprenticeship training and traineeships - and in the case of micro- and small business, VET in any other field for that matter - or used any of the widely recognised providers of accredited VET. While there is a positive association between enterprise size and the implementation of VET, nonetheless, the results demonstrate that small business investment in structured VET is minimal. The results also show that significant size-related and industry differences exist in training provision, methods, fields and providers in small business, with substantive differences occurring between small and medium-sized firms.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This paper relied upon a secondary data source, and is limited by the VET variables available in the BLS.\nPractical implications: - The findings in the paper indicate that, at the micro-end of firm size, only the minority of firms provide training, suggesting that no matter what definition of VET is adopted, the majority of micro-businesses do not provide training.\nOriginality/value: - The paper focused exclusively on VET in SMEs in Australia, adding to the very few longitudinal inter-industry studies conducted to date that have explicitly examined the nature and extent of VET relative to other forms of training in small business.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Profiting on purpose: creating a master narrative	[ "Collaboration", "Philanthropy", "Corporate social responsibility", "Corporate citizenship", "Authenticity", "Employee-driven", "Long term commitment", "Master narrative", "Purpose-driven" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In the never-ending hunt for better employee and customer engagement, companies across the world are doubling down on \"purpose\" and arduously building \"purpose-driven\" brands. Consumer opinion surveys purport to show that millennial consumers care deeply about the social commitments of the companies they buy from and gravitate toward employers who demonstrate their commitment to adding social value (Case, 2014). In a front page Harvard Business Review article, \"Creating Shared Value\", renowned academic Michael Porter described an elegant framework for how to do just that (Porter and Kramer, 2011).\nLong-term commitment: In the ever-changing era of social media, it can be hard to sustain a long-term commitment to a clear corporate purpose. Ideally, the time horizon over which a corporation's purpose should be expressed should be 20 years, able to provide vigorous leadership and not simply satisfy a passing trend. \"Smarter Planet\" and the \"Sustainable Living Plan\" have this characteristic as does a brand such as Dove, whose \"Real Beauty\" underscores its unwavering commitment to the self-esteem of women and girls (Gilmore and Pine, 2007).\nAuthenticity: This hard-to-capture characteristic of effective purpose-driven companies is often undermined by disconnects between corporate statements and the behavior that the corporation exhibits in the marketplace. Under the harsh light of consumers' responses in social media to well-intended citizenship initiatives, many companies have demonstrated inconsistent behaviors, leading consumers to question the authenticity of their commitments. Even Starbucks, a company with a strong track record in social responsibility, backtracked when its \"conversation about race\" in response to the Black Lives Matter movement was widely derided. To avoid this kind of development, the leaders of companies seeking a purpose-driven vision need to be brutally honest with themselves about their own and the company's commitment to staying the course (Carr, 2015). It also means honestly acknowledging when, as inevitably occurs, a gap opens between the company's stated purpose and instances of behavior that contradicts that purpose. Google's core philosophy - \"Don't Be Evil\" - faces enormous challenges when the company tries to do business in closed markets, such as China, but it has stayed the course effectively.\nEmployee-driven: The audience that will be most skeptical about a company's purpose will always be its own employees, which is why it is critical in creating a master purpose narrative to start with them. They are the first to identify gaps between the purpose and reality and they have access to numerous public sites such as \"Glass Door\" where they can make that skepticism known. Fortunately, today's workers are actively seeking employers who have a credible mission to make the world a better place and are more than willing to help make that vision a reality. This also means that employees need to have opportunities to create their own contributions to the social purpose of their companies. At companies such as Novo Nordisk, there are employee portals specifically dedicated to employee volunteer activities. Its portal, \"Changing our Communities\", launched in 2014, not only tracks activities by employees across the company but also provides monetary support to signature partners for whom employees volunteer. Deloitte provides unlimited employee time for social activism and almost 40,000 employees engage in some activity. Getting the balance right between employee-driven causes and corporate cause-driven partnerships is essential to driving employee engagement in a purpose-driven company.\nCollaboration: Given the pressures on public corporations to create financial returns to shareholders, there is always an underlying tension in claims companies make about their greater social purpose. Indeed, in the period roughly covered by this survey, 1880-2015, there has always been a strong strand of opposition to corporate citizenship activities on the grounds that companies are using \"good works\" to buy favor or to deter legislative or regulatory limits to their activities. Because this tension will probably always exist, it is important that companies exercise restraint in painting themselves as heroes in saving the world. This means that purpose-driven enterprises do best when they are active collaborators with government entities, non-profits and other companies in pursuing their purpose agendas. By definition, making the world a better place represents significant challenges and the most successful initiatives are done in partnership whether that is attempting to rid the world of conflict diamonds or eliminate human trafficking. Du Pont, for example, has even made collaboration a core driver of its commitment, calling itself \"The Global Collaboratory\" to underscore its contribution alongside other partners. To convene, to support, to organize are worthy roles for companies that understand the power of corporate humility. Too many corporate citizenship initiatives cry their value from the rooftops. The most successful persuade with quiet consistent commitment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the origins of and current practices in corporations seeking to define themselves as \"purpose-driven\". The literature suggests that consumers, in particular Millennials, are attracted to companies that define themselves in this way both in terms of their buying behaviors and as places they would wish to work. The author also wanted to examine whether this trend represented a significant departure from previous activities in corporate citizenship, corporate social responsibility, sustainability or the triple bottom line.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This viewpoint reviewed the history of corporate philanthropy and social commitments from the 1880s to today to identify trend waves in this category. The author then examined some current examples of \"purpose-driven\" behavior to identify best practices.\nFindings: The author found that there is considerable confusion in the marketplace about what constitutes best practices in corporate citizenship. The author also found that the outputs from preceding waves of corporate citizenship have created atomized pockets of similar activities in individual companies that either overlapped or were at odds with each other. This analysis suggested that there were four key requirements for companies trying to maintain a purpose-driven corporate brand: long-term commitment, authenticity, that they be employee-driven and be based on collaboration.\nResearch limitations/implications: The viewpoint was based on secondary source material and did not involve any primary research.\nPractical implications: By identifying some core principles for purpose-driven activity, the viewpoint will help companies create and effectively maintain a master narrative.\nSocial implications: This review of corporate social responsibility will also create framework for thinking about the appropriate balance between the social and profit-driven motives of today's corporations.\nOriginality/value: The author believes that this viewpoint is the first to examine the entire spectrum of corporate social commitment from both a historical and contemporary perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge creation and interaction in an R&D project: the case of the energy weather forecast	[ "Interaction", "Knowledge processes", "Knowledge creation", "Hermeneutics", "Knowledge management", "Phenomenology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the past 20 years, the phenomenon of knowledge creation has become a major issue in the field of knowledge management (KM). Organizations need to constantly create new products and services and develop their own processes to survive in the changing environment. (Choo, 2016) In addition, there are complex global and national problems, which require knowledge creation in multidisciplinary research communities, in collaboration with private and third sector organizations, and decision makers. Thus, the potential of universities and research consortia in the research and development (R&D) work has been emphasized. (Migdadi, 2009; Hong et al., 2010.) The research on knowledge creation underlines the significance of interaction and collaboration in the creating process (Nonaka, 1994; Tsoukas, 2009). However, as sizes of research communities increase and participants are from various scientific disciplines, collaboration is challenging. In addition, the multidisciplinary research work is often conducted in multi-organizational environments, where people do not have possibilities to face-to-face interaction. Hence, the need for KM is clear, as knowledge creation processes need to be organized and managed to enable productive interaction (Auernhammer and Hall, 2014).\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Organizational knowledge creation and interaction\n3. Methods and data: 3.1 Research environment: BCDC energy\n4. Findings: The results of our analysis of the knowledge creation process of the EWF can be reported on several levels, coming from our hermeneutic approach. Our analysis suggests that the dimension of similarities and differences could be seen to describe the past, whereas the dimension of openness and goal-centeredness was linked with the future. Hence, the process of knowledge creation could be described as a flow of continuous events of interaction in the present moment, where the past and future were shaping the development of the EWF. In this chapter, we first describe how the eventness of the knowledge creation as a phenomenon could be used to understand the development process of the EWF. Second, we examine, how the knowledge needed for EWF was rooted in the previous knowledge and historical experiences of the participants. Finally, we examine the knowledge process in terms of constantly moving toward the future prospects, and describe how that process is facilitated by a strategic management.\n5. Discussion: In this study, we have examined the development of the EWF with our phenomenological approach on knowledge creation. The research questions were:\n6. Conclusions: This study has illustrated how the interactive knowledge creation process can be examined and understood in terms of hermeneutic phenomenology as a continuous flux of events and experiences shaping the process. To understand the emergence of an innovation it is crucial to notice the role of the past events and experiences, as well as the expectations of the possible futures affecting the development. The understanding of the limits and possibilities provided by the circumstances is emphasized in the mediating role of the leader. In future studies, the framework suggested in this study could be further elaborated to understand these dynamics and also the limits of using the conception of hermeneutic circle in the examination of knowledge creation. This could be done by examining the relevance of discontinuity, misunderstandings and chance in the development of new knowledge. In addition, to understand the event of being together, also the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty (2006) with the emphasis of perception and embodiment would needs to be consulted (see Kupers, 2005; c.f. Olsson, 2016; Olsson and Lloyd, 2017; Latham, 2014). Furthermore, the phenomenon of knowledge creation should be further examined by acknowledging the material environment shaping the work and interaction in organizations (Carlile et al., 2013).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine knowledge-creating interaction in developing an innovation in a multidisciplinary research community with hermeneutic phenomenology, to understand how previous experiences and future prospects shape the process and to examine the circumstances, which support or limit knowledge creation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The approach of this study is phenomenological and the empirical case study has been conducted using ethnography. The data consist of field notes, videos, interviews and documents of a BCDC energy consortium, developing energy weather forecast (EWF) in a new type of research environment.\nFindings: The results indicate that the role of actual interactive events was crucial in the development of EWF. Hermeneutic approach illustrated that the roots of that event were in the past experiences of the participants and the circumstances, which promoted the development of the innovation, but the acknowledgment of the future prospects was crucial in finalizing the process. The role of a leader organizing the interaction and collaborative work was also substantial.\nPractical implications: The results of this study could be used to plan and organize knowledge creation processes in organizations, especially in universities and research communities, striving to create multidisciplinary research environments and practices.\nOriginality/value: This study proposes a new approach based on hermeneutic phenomenology to examine it in a unified way, by focusing on the key aspects of elements affecting knowledge-creating interaction.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Designers' wooden furniture ecodesign implementation in Scandinavian country-of-origin (COO) branding	[ "Ecodesign", "Scandinavian design", "Value proposition", "Sustainability marketing", "Wooden furniture" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\n1. Introduction: Industrial design is a professional service which seeks mutual benefits for users and manufacturers by creating and developing products and services that optimize the functionality, value and appearance of these offerings (Gabrielsen et al., 2010). Product design may be divided into a physical part related to the materialistic side of process development and a metaphysical part referring to the way that a product impacts peoples' feelings and senses (Ljungberg and Edwards, 2003). Collaboration between designers, managers, engineers, manufacturers and marketing directors is crucial in industrial product design (Micheli et al., 2012). Fluent collaboration enables an industrial manufacturing system to create commercialized products in which aesthetics and technical requirements are balanced to meet customer requirements (Ljungberg and Edwards, 2003). Consequently, tangible and intangible benefits composed of product image, company reputation and responsiveness to customer needs define the value of a product on the market (Wilding and Newton, 1996).\n2. Branding in COO and sustainability marketing: The purpose of branding in marketing is by tangible and intangible product characteristics to communicate product's value proposition for different groups of customers (Kotler and Gertner, 2002). Successful branding of industrial products increases the confidence of customers during the purchase decision-making, enhances companies' reputation and supports increasing and sustaining competitiveness in the markets (Michell et al., 2001). In addition to perceived value at the time of purchase, the value of products in use as a factor of value proposition has become more important during the previous decades (Ballantyne et al., 2011). Abreast with brands related to individual companies, COO brands associated with geographical areas have become an integral part of disseminating cues on the tangible and intangible characteristics of products influencing customers' purchasing decisions in the global markets (Kotler and Gertner, 2002; Gertner, 2011).\n3. EDO in wooden furniture marketing: Design plays an important role in meeting the challenges of sustainable development caused by the overconsumption of materials, inefficient resource utilization, pollution and overpopulation (Ljunberg, 2007). Regarding the use of wood materials in design, forests facilitate ecologically and socially sustainable development by, e.g., providing renewable raw materials and supporting local livelihoods, especially in remote areas (Macias and Knowles, 2011).\n4. \"Scandinavian design\" as a COO brand: The export orientation of the Nordic design furniture industry began speeding up in the late 1940s and early 1950s (Davies, 1997). The Nordic countries (i.e. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland) established the \"Scandinavian design\" brand during the 1950s, to depict their common cultural traditions in the markets, e.g. by producing simple, inexpensive and functional products (Rusten et al., 2007). In the globalized markets, geographical clusters with similar values and symbolic meanings have become even more important in seeking for new business opportunities for cultural industries such as industrial design (Pratt, 2008). In our study, the concept of Scandinavian design is generically used for products sold under brands that represent values commonly associated with the Nordic countries (Thakor and Kohli, 1996; Roncha, 2008; Power, 2009).\n5. Materials and methods: Literature concerning industrial design, ecodesign and the wooden furniture industry, especially related to Scandinavia, was utilized as background material for formulating our questionnaire. The material of our study is composed of survey data gathered in autumn 2012 using an online WEBROPOL questionnaire sent to designers working with wooden furniture in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Recipients' names, professional portfolios and contact information were found online (i.e. designers' personal and organizational web pages and LinkedIn). The online questionnaire was e-mailed to 253 designers, 65 (25.7 per cent) of which returned the questionnaire within the response time of 20 days. After two weeks of the initial questionnaire delivery, a reminder was sent to non-respondents from the original sample.\n6. Results: The results on the background information showed that all respondents were involved in wooden furniture design. In addition, 54 respondents (83 per cent) were occasionally or constantly marketing their wooden furniture products using some form of COO branding (e.g. \"Scandinavian Design\", \"Nordic Design\", \"Design in Sweden\", \"Made in Finland\", \"Danish design\", \"Design in Iceland\", \"Norwegian Furniture\", etc.). When considered together, this implies that although our sample is small, it has been correctly targeted, increasing data validity for further analysis.\n7. Discussion: The importance of EDO as a successful form of branding and sustainability marketing is expected to increase in the future as a result of growing environmental awareness in the global markets (Nordin and Kowalkowski, 2010; Benoit-Moreau and Parquel, 2011; Luchs and Swan, 2011). Simultaneously while meeting ecological values, customers also expect their other tangible and intangible requirements as depicted in Branding Matrix (Figure 1) related to, e.g., quality, functionality, fashion and aesthetic sense to be fulfilled (Plouffe et al., 2011). Quality of design, the selection of raw materials and the emotions provided for customers have been found to be crucial factors affecting the competitiveness of brands in the global markets of the furniture industry (Ljungberg and Edwards, 2003).\n8. Conclusions: New business opportunities for Scandinavian COO labelled wooden furniture branding seem to exist both in the communication of ecological information and recognition of different customer needs related to functionality and representationality of Scandinavian wooden furniture sold under COO brand. Co-creation of value with customers could be enhanced, e.g. by differentiating the integration and communication of ecological impact assessments and sustainable product declarations attached to furniture of different SDSs according to the specific needs of different market segments.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify links between the components involved in ecodesign orientations (EDOs) and the integration of ecological criteria into Scandinavian wooden furniture industries. The purpose of identifying these links is to recognize possibilities and gaps in wooden furniture product development and branding opportunities to deepen customer engagement with the Scandinavian country-of-origin (COO) brand.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The application of ecodesign in Scandinavian wooden furniture industries was studied using survey data gathered from Nordic wood furniture designers. Factor analysis was used to identify the general types of Scandinavian design styles (SDSs) and EDOs implemented in the Scandinavian wooden furniture industry. The SDS and EDO impacts on the integration of ecological design criteria were modelled using logistic regression analysis.\nFindings: The integration of ecological criteria by Nordic designers influences both the perspectives on material and process optimization and the end use of wooden furniture as well as the recycling of these products. In contrast, our results showed no statistical evidence of connections between different SDS types and the integration of ecological criteria in design. Recognition of special needs of customers valuing both high Scandinavian design and EDO could provide strategic opportunities for wooden furniture industries to recognize new global market potential and enhance their competitiveness.\nPractical implications: Developing business opportunities for wooden furniture marketed under the Scandinavian COO brand, and forming a better understanding of customer expectations on the ecological information related to different wooden furniture SDS types, is needed. This would support developing new ecodesign strategies across the whole industry and enhancing value proposition of Scandinavian wooden furniture within different customer groups.\nOriginality/value: Research findings on the intersection of industrial brand design and ecodesign are still scarce, especially with a special focus on strategic management and sustainability marketing of companies. The results of our study provide entirely new insights on the topic especially in the context of Scandinavian wooden furniture industry.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Regional dynamism between social and commercial ventures: An empirical study based on Swedish data	[ "Sweden", "Social entrepreneurship", "Organizational ecology", "Commercial entrepreneurship", "Firm entry rate", "Regional dynamism" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Many scholars agree that both social and commercial ventures acquire and combine unique resources for the pursuit of an opportunity (Meyskens et al., 2010). However, while for commercial ventures the main motivation for resource mobilization is generating economic value (Austin et al., 2006), social ventures mobilize resources to generate social value through addressing unmet social needs (Mair and Marti, 2006; Nicholls, 2006). This difference in the mission of social and commercial ventures has made many research works to study the influence of this difference on, for example, the earned income of social and commercial ventures (Dorado, 2006), on their funding mix (Bacq et al., 2013), or on their determinants (Kachlami, 2014). Among these types of studies, however, very few of them have studied the competitive behaviors of social and commercial ventures and particularly their influence on each other.\n2. Literature review: Among the previous research on social entrepreneurship, there is a tendency to focus on the positive influence of social ventures on commercial ventures. One line of these research works argues for the benefits that social ventures have for the well being of communities and as a result for commercial ventures as well. They discuss that social ventures generate positive spillovers, which can be appropriated by commercial venture (Estrin et al., 2013; Mair and Marti, 2009; Mair et al., 2012; McMullen, 2011). Peredo and Chrisman (2006), for example, discussed the positive role of social ventures in effective exploitation of resources of communities, which would provide individuals with the required skill to start a business. Estrin et al. (2013) discussed that the prevalence of social ventures in a country would increase social capital which could later be appropriated by commercial ventures. The operation of social ventures within communities has also been discussed as the agent of institutional change creating new framework for market transaction, which can later be exploited by commercial ventures (e.g. Mair and Marti, 2009; Mair et al., 2012; McMullen, 2011). Di Domenico et al. (2009) also discussed that cross-sector collaboration between social and commercial ventures could increase the efficiency of market function and as a result the well being of communities.\n3. Theoretical framework: Entrepreneurship as a process is about bundling resources in the pursuit of an opportunity (Morris et al., 2001). Many scholars also agree that both social and commercial types of entrepreneurship fall under this definition (Dacin et al., 2010). However, in social entrepreneurship the priority is given to generating social value and addressing unmet social needs (Brooks, 2008; Mair and Marti, 2006; Nicholls, 2006) while commercial ventures primarily look for generating economic value (Austin et al., 2006).\n4. Hypothesis development: Instead of viewing a population of organization as an isolated unit interacting with its environment, organizational ecology describes how the entry and exit rate of a population of organizations is affected by the presence of other organizational populations (Van Ryzin et al., 2009). In fact, organizational ecology tries to find the link between the vital rates of populations of organizations (Van Ryzin et al., 2009). Organizational ecology also pays attention to the density of population of organizations and how it affects the entry and exit rates within and between populations of organizations. In this regard, most of the studies have tried to explain organizational founding through concentrating on density dependence and population dynamics (Singh and Lumsden, 1990). Thus, in following parts, it is investigated how changes in the vital rates, entry and exit, and the density of the population of social ventures may affect the entry rate of commercial ventures in a region.\n5. Variables, data, and model: 5.1 Dependent variables\n6. Results: The results of statistical analysis are shown in Tables I-III. Tables I and II show the results of descriptive statistics and correlations, respectively. As can be seen Table II, none of the correlation coefficients exceeds the recommended threshold of 0.7 (Hair et al., 2003). Thus, multicollinearity does not affect the results of the statistical analysis. model 1 in Table II is the baseline model and consists of only control variables while Model 2 also includes the independents variables. Both models are highly significant (p<0.001). The coefficients of control variables change when independent variables are added in model 2 but their sign and significance remain robust in both models.\n7. Conclusion: The results of this study are in line with the results of the study by Abarca and Anokhin (2012) who studied the dynamism between social and commercial ventures at the 88 counties of Ohio State, USA and found a negative relationship. However, it contradicts the results of the study by Estrin et al. (2013) who studied it at the level of countries and found a positive relationship.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the interaction between social and commercial ventures in a region. It achieves this objective through investigating the influence of social ventures' entry, exit and density on the entry rate of commercial ventures.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Organizational ecology is applied for theoretical analysis and the feasible generalized least square method for empirical analysis.\nFindings: The study, in overall, finds a diffuse competition between the populations of social and commercial ventures. The results have revealed a negative influence of social ventures' entry and density on the entry rate of commercial ventures and a positive influence of the social ventures' exit on commercial ventures' entry rate in a region.\nOriginality/value: The study is one of the few in its filed that empirically studies the interaction between social and commercial ventures and the first study, which investigates it in the context of Sweden. The previous two studies, however, have only examined either the influence of social ventures entry or social venture density on the entry rate of commercial ventures. This study, however, examines the influence of both of those factors plus the influence of social venture exit on commercial venture entry. The study is also unique regarding the large-scale database it uses including all the 290 municipalities all over Sweden 1990-2014.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The transformation of the organization's intellectual capital: from resource to capital	[ "Value", "Intellectual capital", "Intangible assets", "Human capital", "Resource", "Capital" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The concept of intellectual capital (IC) is complex and multifaceted. There are different opinions about IC, its elements and structure as well as its role in an organization. This concept consists of two socially significant words: \"intellect\" from the Latin intellectus - mind, intellect, intelligence, thinking ability, comprehension and \"capital\" from the Latin capitalis - dominant, chief, basic.\n2. The formation and development of the IC: Upon exploring the historical evolution of the concept of IC, the authors conclude that it is associated with two interrelated views on resources. Consequently, two views on resources and on the formation of profits and competitive advantages exist in the theory of economics. One of the views is the resource-based view (RBV) where the organization's resources or the resources it can acquire are considered to be the source of its competitive advantage (Barney, 1986; Itami and Roehl, 1987; Makadok, 2001; Peteraf, 1993; Rumelt, 1984; Wernerfelt, 1984). The second view is the knowledge-based view (KBV) where knowledge is considered to be the source of the organization's competitive advantage (Grant, 1996; Roos, 1998; Sveiby, 2001a; Wiklund and Shepherd, 2003). Resources are in the centre of both views, whereas there are differences in the kind of resources taken into account and the way in which the organization's competitive advantage is ensured. However, representatives of both views believe that the sources of the organization's competitive advantage are not in the external but in the organization's internal environment.\n3. The nature of IC: resource or capital?: Nowadays, there are different views on the definition of the IC concept. These views can be divided into two groups (see Table II):\n4. The structure of IC: To better understand the nature of the \"IC\" concept it is necessary to analyse the components which are included in the IC at organizational level and the elements contained therein. When studying the structure of IC, it can be noted that IC is traditionally divided into three groups/components: human capital (in the sense of the organization's human capital), organizational capital and relational capital (see Table III).\n5. Conclusions: The authors believe that the concepts of \"IC\" and \"knowledge\" are not synonymous, as IC includes knowledge. The principal difference between these two concepts lies in the nature of IC as well: IC is to be treated as a capital and not as a resource. IC has a dual nature: it is an investment in the organization, as well as the outcome of the organization's operations. Moreover, this result is a value which exceeds the value of IC, as the organization's operations create value for all of the organization's stakeholders, including the organization itself. The authors conclude that from the perspective of value creation, IC can lead to the effect of multiplication, i.e., provide greater value creation in the organization and the national economy than the value of the original investment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Over the last three decades, the role of intellectual capital (IC) in ensuring an organization's competitiveness has increased significantly. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and evaluate the evolution of the concept of (IC) by showing its transformation from resource to capital, while offering a new perspective on the structure of (IC).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The formation and development of (IC) is studied on the basis of literature review, logical and comparative analysis. The new structural components of (IC) are defined upon studying the relationships of the relevant concepts and the content of the concept at organizational level today.\nFindings: In the scientific literature, (IC) is mainly viewed as a resource or set of resources an organization uses for creation of competitive advantage and value. Using the information gathered about different views on (IC), this study shows the development of the sources of the organization's competitiveness: from resource to (IC).\nResearch limitations/implications: This study offers the authors' view on the nature of the concept of (IC) showing (IC) as a business asset. The analysis of the concept is focused at organizational level.\nOriginality/value: The study explains the differences between the interrelated concepts: knowledge, competence, performance and (IC). The authors offer an improved definition of (IC) by showing the evolution of its content and offer their own approach to the structure of (IC) that might facilitate tracking this asset in the organization's accounts and promote effective management of the asset.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Corporate governance mechanisms and R&D intensity in OECD courtiers	[ "Corporate governance", "R&D intensity", "OECD", "Resource dependence theory", "Board structure", "Ownership structure" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Corporate governance (CG) in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries goes back to the Cadbury report (1992). Over the next three decades, CG has become a major undertaking by the OECD in OECD countries and other countries. With the emphasis on good governance, OECD countries have developed codes of CG that outline standards and recommendations. These standards and recommendations assure investors of the rules of conduct governing the countries. While individual countries have developed their codes, the OECD has developed its Principles of CG. The OECD Principles is a minimum standard for all OECD countries. These Principles have been adopted by many non-OECD countries, as evidence of having strong governance principles that protect investors and other stakeholders.\n2. Corporate governance and research and development: a review: CG systems in the OECD countries include two main models that are commonplace and that oppose each other: the stakeholder model and the shareholding model (Alhares et al., 2018; Sternberg, 1997; Letza et al., 2004). These two models are based on stakeholding and shareholding theories. In differentiating between these two models, Letza et al. (2004) suggest four views of CG that throw light on the differences between these perspectives. Letza et al. (2004) highlight the finance model or principal-agent model, which adheres very strictly to the shareholder model. The finance model deals with \"a universal agency problem and how to adopt appropriate incentive systems and/or mechanisms of takeover to solve the problem (Letza et al., 2004, p. 244). The shareholder model focusses on the 'maximisation of shareholder wealth' and the agency problem (Letza et al., 2004, p. 246). The stakeholder model focusses on the \"maximisation of the stakeholders\" wealth' and the \"absence of stakeholders\" involvement in governance' (Letza et al., 2004, p. 246).\n3. Theoretical framework: 3.1 Agency theory\n4. Empirical literature and hypotheses development: The objective is to see how ownership and board structures are implicated in risk-taking. The ownership structures discussed are IO and DO. The board structures discussed are BS, ID and BD. Some studies have examined many ownership and board structures at firm-level (Chen and Hsu, 2009; Tran, 2014; Al-Bassam et al., 2018; Ntim et al., 2012; Haniffa and Cooke, 2002). Our study extends the literature using a multi-theoretical framework to investigate the impact of the firm- and country-level factors.\n5. Research design: 5.1 Sample selection and data source\n6. Empirical findings: 6.1 Descriptive analysis and bivariate correlations\n7. Robustness check: To guarantee the robustness of the study's findings, three additional tests were performed. The robustness analysis of this study demonstrates the degree to which the detailed results are robust to the potential endogeneities that may exist among the governance mechanisms used. This includes discussing any concerns of endogeneity in paper, looking at the relation between the endogenous and the exogenous in the equations used and recognising where there could be potential issues, for example, where variables have been precluded. As Larcker and Rusticus (2010) bring up, it is essential to use a lagged financial performance- CG structure, an instrumental variable model, a two-stage least squares model and a changes model. It is likewise proposed to show that any of the instruments used as an intermediary for the original variable be viewed as an important instrument (Larcker and Rusticus, 2010).\n8. Summary and conclusions: The current study articulated the principles of CG to shed light on the mechanisms of influence on R&D. To explore this, the current study assessed the extent to which CG mechanisms of OECD companies affect their investments in R&D. This study was based on a sample of large companies from the OECD countries covering six years. Quantitative and qualitative instruments were used to further the debate on the effects of CG on R&D investment. The study also aimed at examining the impact of firm-level governance mechanisms on R&D investments in different traditions (Anglo-American and Continental European) and identifying different configurations of governance mechanisms leading to high or low R&D investment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of ownership structure and board structure on risk-taking as measured by research and development (R&D) Intensity in OECD countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A panel data of 300 companies from Anglo American and European countries between 2010 and 2016 were used. The ordinary least square multiple regression analysis procedure is used to examine the relationships. The findings are robust to alternative measures and endogeneities.\nFindings: The results show that institutional ownership, board size, independent directors and board diversity are negatively related to risk-taking, with greater significance among Anglo American countries than among Continental European countries. In contrast, the results show that director ownership is statistically insignificant.\nOriginality/value: This study extends and contributes to the extant corporate governance (CG) literature, by offering new evidence on the effect of ownership and board structure on risk-taking between two different traditions. The findings will help regulators and policy-makers in the OECD countries in evaluating the adequacy of the current CG reforms to prevent management misconduct and scandals. These findings are relevant for companies aiming to adopt the most suitable governance mechanisms to pursue their R&D objectives and for policymakers interested in promoting R&D investment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Responsible leadership, affective commitment and intention to quit: an individual level analysis	[ "Responsible leadership", "Affective commitment", "Intention to quit" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The concept of responsible leadership is gaining recognition as an important and dominant part of organisational studies literature. It has emerged as a major discourse in organisational studies mainly because of the recent global financial crisis and executive misconduct (Haque et al., 2017). According to Maak (2007), responsible leadership is defined as \"the art and ability involved in building, cultivating and sustaining trustful relationships to different stakeholders, both inside and outside the organisation, and in co-ordinating responsible action to achieve a meaningful, commonly shared business vision\" (p. 334). Several attempts have been made in the leadership literature to explain and understand the practice of responsible leadership but only a few empirical studies explore its effect on organisational and employee outcomes (Augusto and Mario, 2016; Haque et al., 2017).\nLiterature review: Responsible leadership\nTheoretical framework and hypothesis development: Social learning theory proposes that employees learn by focusing on role models and adapt behaviour by observing what actions are rewarded or penalised (Bandura, 1986). According to Bandura (1977, p. 22), \"[...] from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviours are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action\". Responsible leaders are ideally placed to promote social learning theory. Through their perceived trustworthiness, role-modelling behaviour, and access to punishment and rewards, responsible leaders can shape the morals and responsibility of their employees (Haque et al., 2017). Hence, employees may learn what behaviour is expected, rewarded, and punished through responsible leaders. Previous studies have also demonstrated that leaders as role models can influence prosocial responses (Haque et al., 2017). Several scholars have suggested the value of using social learning theory as a bridge between behaviourist and cognitive learning approaches as it encompasses attention, memory and motivation (Bandura, 1986). Therefore, using the analytical lens of social learning theory, this study relates responsible leadership, affective commitment and intention to quit to justify the hypothesised model (Figure 1).\nMethods: This study applied a quantitative approach to determining the existence of a relationship between responsible leadership, affective commitment and intention to quit. Using a cross-sectional survey within Australia, the study adopted an explanatory and correlational research methods. It identified the target population as employees over 18 years of age working full-time within Australia. The sampling frame focused on employees who are exclusively working under direct managerial or supervisorial positions within organisations in Australian industries such as finance, health, education or health. For example, among the respondents (n=200), 30 (15 per cent) were from the financial, 8 (4 per cent) from telecom sector, 22 (11 per cent) from the health and 130 (65 per cent) from other specified sectors. However, ten of the respondents were uncertain about their sectors (5 per cent).\nResults and hypothesis testing: Descriptive statistics and correlation test\nDiscussion: This study examined the relationship between responsible leadership and intention to quit and the mediating effect of affective commitment among Australian employees. A summary of the results for the tested hypotheses are included in Table IV. The results establish the relationships among responsible leadership, affective commitment and intention to quit in several ways. First, as predicted in H1, responsible leadership was positively related to affective commitment. This positive relationship between responsible leadership and affective commitment suggests that organisations can use responsible leadership to enhance employees' affective commitment. This result is in line with Haque et al. (2017) which showed that responsible leadership may be a major construct that generate employees' attachment to the organisation. The practice of responsible leadership not only helps attract employees to their leaders and organisations, it can also positively influence employees' psychological attachment to generate higher levels of affective commitment. Second, as predicted in H2, responsible leadership was negatively associated with intention to quit. This result suggests that responsible leaders' ability to establish superior relationships with their employees can lead to decreasing levels of intention to quit. This finding is similar to Doh et al.'s (2011) which found that responsible leadership is a central construct that bonds employees with their organisations. Third, the testing of H3 revealed a negative relationship between affective commitment and intention to quit. This means when employees have higher levels of affective commitment, then they will experience lower levels of intention to quit. This result is in line with previous studies showing a positive link between low commitment and high intention to quit (Christian and Ellis, 2014). Finally, the results from H4 show that affective commitment partially accounts for the effects of responsible leadership on employees' intention to quit. Thus, the mediating influence of affective commitment could play an important role in determining the usefulness of responsible leadership to address employee intention to quit. These results of partial mediation for affective commitment confirm the findings of previous studies (Christian and Ellis, 2014; Haque et al., 2017) (Table V).\nConclusion: In light of social learning theory, this paper reports that responsible leadership influences intention to quit directly and indirectly through affective commitment. The results of this study have confirmed the relationships in the proposed model (Figure 1) and showed how responsible leadership can promote employees' emotional attachment with affective commitment and therefore, reduce intention to quit. These results are in line with previous studies and contributed to filling a significant gap in the extant literature (Christian and Ellis, 2014; Haque et al., 2017).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Drawing on social learning theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the mediational effect of affective commitment on the relationship between responsible leadership and intention to quit.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study applied a two-step process of the structural equation modelling technique to test the proposed hypothesised model. A web-based survey was administered to collect data targeting a sample of 200 full-time Australian employees.\nFindings: The results suggest that responsible leadership significantly influences employees' affective commitment and their intention to quit. As predicted, both responsible leadership and affective commitment negatively influenced intention to quit. Notably, the direct influence of responsible leadership on intention to quit was found to be partially mediated by employees' affective commitment.\nPractical implications: This study shows how leaders can expect to reduce employees' intention to quit by leading responsibly through valuing employees' affective commitment.\nOriginality/value: This study makes a unique contribution to responsible leadership literature by linking it with social learning theory. Moreover, there are only a handful of studies examining responsible leadership and its influence on employees' behavioural outcomes. This study extends the limited understanding of responsible leadership and its relationship with affective commitment and intention to quit.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Reconceptualising e-business performance measurement using an innovation adoption framework	[ "Performance measurement", "Electronic commerce", "Performance metrics", "Technological change", "Innovation in ICT", "Innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The use of internet information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support business activities, commonly referred to as \"e-business\" is now so widespread as to be all but ubiquitous in the vast majority of organisations of all kinds. According to the Office of National Statistics (2010) internet sales represented 16.7 per cent of the value of all sales of UK non-financial sector businesses. The most recent data show that the value of e-business sales rose to PS408bn in 2009, an increase of 24.9 per cent from the 2008 figure (Office of National Statistics, 2010). In addition, internet usage amongst the general population is amongst the highest in the world, most recently measured at 76.4 per cent of the UK population (Internet World Stats, 2009) underpinning record online retail sales growth of 17 per cent (Financial Times, 2010). Participation in the world of on-line business typically requires significant financial investments, not only in technological infrastructure but also in the processes and people necessary to operate them successfully (E-business Watch, 2008). In most organisations, investment proposals for the adoption or increased use of e-business are likely to have to compete for funding and resources with many other potential projects. As such, it might be expected that businesses would subject e-business investment proposal to the same degree of scrutiny as any other. It might also be expected that businesses would wish to monitor the performance of the resulting on-line business operations once implemented in order to ensure that anticipated results were being achieved. Undertaking such performance evaluation and monitoring requires that the organisation's performance measurement regime can provide the information that is both necessary and suitable for the on-line business environment. There is no shortage of advice for practitioners from both researchers and consultants about how to undertake effective performance measurement. In particular, the performance measurement literature is dominated by \"best practice\" prescriptions and models such as the balanced scorecard (Huang et al., 2009). Most of these models emphasise the need to align performance measurement processes with the organisation's business strategy. However, as yet, little attention has been given to how performance measurement programmes might need to be adapted to meet the requirements of e-business or inform e-strategy as companies look to revise their business models and integrate their value networks (E-business Watch, 2008).In recent empirical research, Barnes and Hinton (2008, 2009) investigated e-business performance measurement in successful e-business adopters. However, they found that even organisations that might be seen as exemplary in their use of e-business had made little progress in developing distinctive performance metrics for e-business. The organisations that they examined displayed little interest or willingness to undertake major overhauls of their existing approaches to performance measurement. Rather, they preferred to make incremental rather than radical changes when addressing their need for e-business performance metrics. Given the strategic significance attributed to the adoption of e-business innovations by many researchers and commentators (e.g. Porter, 2001; Hamilton, 2007), it is perhaps surprising that these organisations had made little or no change to their existing performance measurement systems. Contrary to the practices advocated in the performance measurement literature, these organisations tended to take an ad hoc rather than a systematic approach and made little or no use of best practice models.Whilst there were a number of limitations to Barnes and Hinton's research (including its use of a small convenience sample), it does point to several incongruities between real-world practice and the performance measurement literature. However, the gap that they identify between theory and practice is based solely on an analysis between their empirical findings and one theoretical perspective, namely that of normative best practice, which is the dominant paradigm of the current performance management literature. Nevertheless, there are other perspectives that might be usefully employed to examine their findings. In particular, the innovation adoption literature offers a number of different perspectives on behaviours observed when new technology is introduced into an organisation with the intention of changing business processes and practices. The advent of e-business, relying as it does on the adoption of internet ICTs, is clearly an example of innovation adoption centred on technological change. Innovation adoption has its own specific literature that is distinct from that associated with business performance management. As such, it might be expected that this literature could provide additional insights into the way that organisations behave when adopting e-business practices.The aim of this paper is to reconsider the findings from Barnes and Hinton's (2009) research through the lens of the innovation adoption literature. After this Introduction the paper is structured as follows. The Literature review, which follows, is in three parts. The first considers the dominance of normative prescriptive models in the performance measurement literature. The second part points to the relative dearth of literature that considers performance measurement issues in e-business. The third part provides an overview of those theories from the technology adoption literature that might provide an appropriate lens through which to view the adaption of approaches to performance measurement for a variety of e-business scenarios. The Empirical research section then provides an overview of the original research study, including its aims, methodology and findings. The Discussion section is also in parts. The first part considers Barnes and Hinton's findings in the light of the performance management literature. The second part re-considers the study's findings in the light of the various theories offered by the innovation adoption literature. The paper draws the various strands of its discussions together in the Conclusion section, which also suggests further research, which might usefully be carried out.\nLiterature review: Performance measurement literature\nEmpirical research: Barnes and Hinton (2008) investigated how organisations were adapting their performance measurement systems and practices in response to changes in their business operations as a result of the adoption of e-business. Its main aims were to identify the features and benefits of an effective e-business performance measurement system. Using a case methodology based on interviews with managers with responsibility for e-business operations, the research investigated twelve organisations including examples from the public and private sector, manufacturers and service providers, large multi-nationals and small owner-managed businesses. To be included as a case study, each organisation had to demonstrate some success in developing performance measurement systems for the online environment and be willing to participate in the research. A summary of the case organisations and their e-business applications can be seen in Table I. Pseudonyms have been used to protect confidentiality. More extensive case descriptions can be found in Barnes and Hinton (2008).Given the kind of organisations that they were studying, Barnes and Hinton had expected to find that the adoption of e-business would have led to:* a strategic review of existing performance measurement systems;* the development of distinctive performance measurement systems for e-business;* modifications to capital investment appraisal methods for e-business investments; and* the use of best practice models (e.g. BSC) to underpin the development of new e-business performance measurement systems (Barnes and Hinton, 2009, p. 340).Instead the main findings of their study were that:* Organisations tended to take an ad hoc incremental approach to adapting performance measurement systems for e-business.* There was a marked reluctance to embark on major overhauls of existing performance measurement systems, with organisations apparently concerned about where the potential costs of so doing would outweigh the benefits.* Organisations preferred to use or adapt existing measures to monitor e-business performance, or to add new metrics to those already in use.* There were a variety of approaches to adapting performance measurement systems for the online environment, with no common framework apparent.* Although most organisations were measuring more than one aspect of e-business performance, no organisation had a true portfolio of e-business performance metrics.* There was no sense of balance between the measures used, with each organisation tending to adopt its own specific focus on e-business performance measurement. (The focus might, for example, be on finance, customers or processes.)* Whilst there was a common concern to link e-business performance to organizational objectives, practice was similarly patchy in this regard and not all organisations had performance metrics appropriate to their e-business aims.* Organisations tended to assess capital investment proposals for e-business in the same way as for other capital investment proposals.* None of the case organisations used a best practice performance measurement framework, such as the Balanced Scorecard to underpin their e-business performance measurements.\nDiscussion: The study's findings and the performance measurement literature\nConclusions: Attempting to post hoc rationalise empirical data collected without reference to the theories now being considered is bound to be problematic. However, we argue that this new analysis can point to possible new interpretations of the incongruities between real-world practice and the performance measurement literature identified in Barnes and Hinton's work.The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it has provided additional insights into existing research, namely that of Barnes and Hinton (2008, 2009), whose findings seem problematic when viewed through the lens of the existing performance measurement literature. However, when viewed through the lens of theories from the technology adoption literature, new understandings and new avenues for further investigation have been uncovered. In particular, the analysis highlights the importance of individual, cognitive, social and cultural influences in an organisation's operating environment on its willingness to adapt performance measurement systems for on-line business activities. This in turn, points to a need to adopt a more context specific approach to the development of e-business performance measurement systems. Second, it points to ways in which both the understanding and practice of performance management in e-business can be advanced. Incorporating a consideration of the various factors highlight by the various technology adoption theories seems to offer a means of progressing beyond the narrow context-free prescriptions of the best practice literature. Third, it highlights the limitations of current performance management literature, dominated as it is by normative best practice thinking. Breaking free from this requires willingness to incorporate other theoretical perspectives into performance management research.In closing, we would point to the need for further research to be conducted that views the development of performance measurement systems for e-business through lenses other than that of the best practice literature. It is unlikely that any single study could satisfactorily encompass all of the theories mentioned in this paper, let alone the many other theories that might also offer additional understandings. Consequently, we argue the need for a new direction in e-business performance management research away from the narrow constraints of the application of normative models. These have proved unable to provide a full and sufficient understanding of observed practice such as that described in the empirical findings of Barnes and Hinton. The application of a wider range of theories seems more likely to offer a route to a richer and deeper understanding of the emerging practices of e-business performance measurement.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Previous empirical research into the performance measurement of exemplary e-businesses has pointed to a lack of progress in developing distinctive performance metrics for e-business and a failure to adopt best practice in performance management. The objective of this paper is to reconsider the evidence from that study by drawing on innovation adoption theories.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper re-examines the findings from case study-based research that investigated leading e-business performance measurement practices. The study suggests that there are limitations in analysing the findings using normative best practice, the dominant paradigm within performance management. Given that e-business innovation relies on the adoption of multiple technologies this paper reconsiders the findings using the conceptual perspective of the innovation adoption literature.\nFindings: - The study highlights the importance of individual, cognitive, social and cultural influences in an organisation's operating environment on its willingness to adapt performance measurement metrics for online business activities. The findings point to the benefits available from incorporating new theoretic perspectives in performance measurement research.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The work points to a need to adopt a more context-specific approach to the development of e-business performance measurement. Furthermore, it indicates ways in which both the understanding and practice of performance measurement in e-business can be advanced.\nOriginality/value: - This paper highlights the limitations of current performance management literature as monopolised by normative best practice thinking, and argues for the need to incorporate other theoretical perspectives into performance management research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Misplaced paranoia over subliminal advertising: what's the big uproar this time?	[ "Advertising", "Promotional methods", "Perception" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Every 20 years or so there is a new assault on the subliminal advertising front. First was James Vicary and his controversial 1957 theater experiment where he subliminally encouraged movie goers to eat popcorn and drink Coca-Cola. In the 1970s and 1980s Wilson Bryan Key spread his gospel of subliminal persuasion in a series of books. Most recently, August Bullock, a self-proclaimed disciple of Key's, has taken up the torch.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to revisit the concept of subliminal advertising as a response to August Bullock's recent book The Secret Sales Pitch: An Overview of Subliminal Advertising.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Citing published research and using Bullock's own words, this article refutes Bullocks viewpoint of subliminal advertising.\nFindings: - The article finds that Bullock's book is based on his personal interpretation while he ignores research that refutes his claims.\nPractical implications: - The concept of subliminal advertising cannot be substantiated by only opinion, and research does not support the concept.\nOriginality/value: - The article questions this newest view of subliminal advertising and reminds marketers, advertisers, and consumers of subliminal advertising being an invalid concept.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs: help or hindrance to the public's health?	[ "Prescription medicines", "Pharmaceuticals industry", "Advertising", "Public health", "Health education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\nIntroduction: Pharmaceutical companies in the USA spent $3.45 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs in the year ending March 31, 2004 (Lam, 2004). This represents a substantial operating expense for the companies, and the trend over the past few years is to spend an increasing proportion of marketing budgets on DTCA. The USA is only one of two industrialized countries in the world that expressly permits DTCA of prescription drugs. In New Zealand, the other country that currently allows DTCA, the issue has been hotly debated over the past several years as a result of a treaty between that country and Australia that would result in a common drug standard between those two countries. However, DTCA is not permitted in Australia, and several professional and consumer organizations are supporting the implementation of a ban in New Zealand. In the United States no such debate is apparent.This article will review the main arguments posited by both sides of the debate. While New Zealand is considering banning DTCA, other countries including Canada and the countries of the European Union are considering relaxing their restrictions on the practice.Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs can be defined as the presentation of messages regarding pharmaceuticals directly to the public. Strictly speaking, in countries where DTCA is prohibited, no information about prescription drugs may be provided to the general public through print or the electronic media such as radio or television. However, in practice, such bans may not be total. For example, in Canada advertising of a product is permitted, but only if the medical condition it is designed to treat is not indicated; or a medical condition that may be treatable by a drug can be presented, but the product that could be used may not be mentioned. Further, marketing information on drugs is readily available through the internet.Those who support DTCA argue that drug advertising is a form of public health education that will ultimately result in the improved health status of the population. Detractors of DTCA, however, see it as being exclusively driven by a profit motive, and they argue that it encourages excessive, unnecessary, and potentially dangerous use of prescription drugs. The main arguments of both groups are presented below.\nDTCA is important for health education: The pharmaceutical industry actively promotes DTCA as a method of getting important health information to the general public. Pharmaceutical advertising messages make the public aware of the availability of treatments, and it encourages them to see a physician to talk about their health problems. Indeed, appropriate messages could be a valuable public health tool (Berndt, 2005). DTCA may result in people seeing physicians earlier, receiving treatment earlier, and potentially avoiding future medical complications. In addition, advertising may result in people who would not otherwise have seen physicians to make appointments, possibly allowing other health problems (i.e. hypertension, diabetes, heart disease) to be identified and treated (Holmer, 2002). Some consumer groups agree with the pharmaceutical industry, and provide additional support for DTCA.Starting in the twentieth century and continuing today, there has been a growing consumer movement directed to empowering the public to take greater control of their health. This has resulted in increased demands for information about medical conditions and health care, and a heightened need for physicians and other health professionals to disclose to, and educate, their patients. Further, there has been an increase in the medicalization of various human conditions. Medical care is now expected to provide treatments for conditions that were previously considered to be societal problems, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, and domestic violence. As a result of these two trends, the general public has an increasing interest in prescription drugs. They also have heightened expectations that drugs can be used to treat a wide array of medical conditions. While physicians recognize the limitations of drugs, they may also support DTCA because of the impact that it can have on their practices, and the care they can provide to their patients.Studies have shown that DTCA increases the utilization of physician services (Holmer, 2002). If a person sees a physician earlier for a health problem, the physician may be in a better position to provide treatment. Having a medical appointment also allows the assessment of other possible medical problems, which may allow prevention or treatment that would not otherwise be possible. From a physician's perspective, these are good reasons to allow and support DTCA. Finally, physicians who receive fee-for-service payments would expect to receive increased income due to seeing more patients. Proponents of DTCA include the pharmaceutical industry, the general public, and many physicians.\nDTCA is contrary to the public interest: Education in general, and health education in particular, is considered important. What is it about the provision of prescription drug information directly to the public in the form of advertising that is objectionable to some?In general, the argument is that DTCA is different from other forms of health education because prescription drugs are only one component of the health care system, and should not be removed from the context of a continuing relationship between a patient and their physician. As well, prescription drugs may be considered different from other drugs (i.e. over-the-counter drugs) in that they are generally used to treat medical conditions that are more difficult to self-diagnose, and may be more toxic than other drugs. In addition to these general concerns, some consumer groups and some physicians present additional arguments against DTCA.Those who support the restriction of DTCA believe that the primary motivation of the pharmaceutical industry is to produce as large a profit as possible, not to educate the public. Hence, the foundation for advertising of prescription drugs is potentially contrary to the public's interest. Some consumer groups argue that DTCA should be banned because it encourages the unnecessary utilization of drugs, thus increasing the overall cost of health care. Further, advertising primarily focuses on drugs that are new to the market. These drugs frequently do not have a proven safety record compared to older more established drugs. And, the actual content of DTCA may maximize benefits and minimize potential risks. While some consumers have these concerns, there are also issues raised by the medical profession.Despite the fact that DTCA may motivate people to seek medical care, many physicians are concerned about this type of advertising. In particular, some physicians may feel pressured to give a prescription, or to prescribe a particular drug, when they would not have, had the patient not made a specific request for it, placing a strain on the physician-patient relationship. Further, when the physician deems the requested drug to be inappropriate, they may need to spend additional time with the patient to discuss why they will not issue the prescription, or why alternative pharmaceutical or non-pharmaceutical approaches may be preferred.\nIs the evidence for either side conclusive?: In spite of much study, there are only a few aspects of the issue for which there is strong evidence, either supporting or refuting the arguments raised. Research has clearly shown that DTCA does indeed affect consumer behavior. And, DTCA does result in physicians prescribing more. For example, between 1999 and 2000, prescriptions of the 50 drugs most heavily advertised in the USA rose by 24.6 percent while the prescriptions for the remaining 9,850 drugs rose only by 4.3 percent (National Institute for Health Care Management Research and Education Foundation, 2001). This increased utilization understandably results in an overall increase in the nation's expenditure for drugs.\nWhat is the answer?: Countries around the world are debating the merits of DTCA. Options range from an outright ban, to setting no limitations whatsoever on the practice. Many countries in the future are likely to allow some form of DTCA, but it seems likely they will regulate it. For example, the New Zealand Ministry of Health (Meek, 2001) has proposed the following regulations:* Only allowing drug advertisements in the public media such as newspapers, magazines, or on the radio and television, and preventing the practice of drug companies promoting pharmaceuticals by directly writing to individual patients, running competitions, giving free offers, and paying for physician's visits.* Banning advertisements by pharmaceutical companies of brand names on vehicles such as buses, because it is difficult for the public to read the mandatory risk information.* Banning sponsorship of events by pharmaceutical companies using a brand name, because it may promote a drug name, but without the responsibilities.* Increasing fines for non-compliance with legislation and regulations.* Specifying the length of time for television advertisements for the mandatory risk information to be presented, as well as the font size of the information.* Requiring voice-overs of risk information (mandatory in the USA).* Shifting the onus from the complainant having to find an example of the offensive advertisement to the pharmaceutical company.* Requiring a fair balance of benefit and risk information (again, required in the USA).While there is little support for unrestricted DTCA, those proposing a full ban on the practice recommend that state-supported public education campaigns be used as a means of making people aware of treatments that are available, and encouraging them to see a physician. The inherent additional cost to already stretched health care budgets makes this alternative politically unattractive.In the USA, where freedom of speech, including commercial speech, is constitutionally protected, it is unlikely that a full ban would be effected. However, there have been limitations placed on DTCA by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), particularly the requirement to include information on risks, and that this information be provided in a way that it is accessible to consumers such as voice-overs in television ads.This article has outlined the main arguments in support of and opposing direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. The discussion is one that has increased in intensity in recent years, and it is likely to continue for some time to come. Countries around the world where the debate is taking place will be looking for the best balance between educating the consumer, and protecting them.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to review the issues regarding direct-to-consumer advertising that have been identified in the literature from the perspective of consumers, consumer groups, physicians, the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Literature from international sources was reviewed to identify themes relating to direct-to-consumer advertising.\nFindings: - Direct-to-consumer advertising is expressly permitted in only two developed countries (USA and New Zealand). All other countries place various limitations on the practice. The debate surrounds whether or not the advertising provides a public health benefit.\nOriginality/value: - The debate over direct-to-consumer advertising continues in jurisdictions around the world. This paper identifies and summarizes the issues that are being considered.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants of trust in imported food products: perceptions of European gatekeepers	[ "Trust", "Food products", "Risk management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Within Western Europe, food-related scares have dominated the news media in recent years - in part due to the enthusiasm of tabloid journalists for sensationalising the news. This role of the media, termed \"social amplification\" (Slovic, 2000), magnifies public perceptions of risk and erodes trust - a phenomenon which has been particularly pronounced in the UK (O'Neill, 2002). According to Firth (1999, p. 41), \"whereas genuine outbreaks of food poisoning are not uncommon, the reactions in Britain seem particularly out of line with the threat.\" The handling of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak, and the vivid symbols associated with it, contributed in a major way to the public reaction (Harris and O'Shaughnessy, 1997). Given the recent history of food-related concerns, it is to be expected that interest in where food products originate, and under what conditions, may have intensified in Europe (Lindgreen and Hingley, 2003). Food distribution channel members, in deciding where to source imported food products, are likely to reflect the concerns of end-consumers.Country-of-origin (COO) effects have been intensely studied over the last three decades (Bilkey and Nes, 1982, Nebenzahl et al., 1997, Han, 1989, Han and Terpstra, 1988, Al-Sulaiti and Baker, 1998, Papadopoulos and Heslop, 1993). Stereotypes associated with a given country engender \"mythological narratives\" in the minds of people of other countries (Ger et al., 1999, p.165). COO is used by consumers to reinforce, create and bias initial perceptions of products (Johansson, 1993). Many studies have documented negative attitudes on the part of consumers toward developing countries and their products (Heslop and Papadopoulos, 1993). Agarwal and Teas (2001) concluded that extrinsic cues such as COO, brand name and store name interact with price to influence perceptions of product quality. Combined assessment of product quality, sacrifice and risks determine consumer perceptions of product value (Agarwal and Teas, 2001). Liefeld's (1993) meta-analysis indicated that purchasing agents place even more importance on COO in their product evaluations than do consumers.According to Heslop and Papadopoulos (1993, p. 67): \"good products are seen to be produced by people who have refined taste, and are likeable, trustworthy and admirable for their role in world politics\". Whether perceptions of trustworthiness in relation to particular countries necessarily translate into purchasing behaviour on the part of either industrial buyers or consumers is a question of great importance for exporting nations. To what extent do perceptions of country image, and perceptions of trust associated with that image, influence purchasing of food products from that country? These are questions investigated in this study.\nThe importance of trust: Trust is a concept that is generally understood by the public, yet academics in several disciplines have devoted much effort to defining it. In social psychology trust has been defined as \"a generalized expectancy held by an individual that the word of another ... can be relied on\" (Rotter, 1967, p. 651). Trust has been viewed as \"a state of perceived vulnerability or risk that is derived from individuals' uncertainty regarding the motives, intentions, and prospective actions of others on whom they depend\" (Kramer, 1999, p. 571). In the context of relationship marketing, trust has been considered as \"willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence\" (Moorman et al., 1992; 1993). Morgan and Hunt (1994, p. 22) conceptualised trust as existing when \"one party has confidence in an exchange partner's reliability and integrity. Trust goes beyond a promise not to harm the interests of the other party to include the expectation of a positive implied undertaking to act in the best interests of the trusting party (Govier, 1994, Hosmer, 1995).A related issue is the concept of reputation. Blois (2003, p.186) points out that \"reputation is built on past behaviours but trust involves assessments of how the other party will behave in the future.\" These various views of what constitutes trust focus on the actions of parties involved. So, in evaluating determinants of trust in imported food products, it is necessary to determine whether trust is in the products themselves, in the brand associated with the product, in the farmers that grow the raw materials, in the companies that process and supply the products, or in the country from which the products originate. If trust is in the country, what elements of the image of that country instil such trust?\nCountry-of-origin of food products: It is commonly acknowledged that COO information influences consumers in buying food products (Skaggs et al., 1996; Hoffmann, 2000). Juric and Worsley (1998), surveying a random sample of New Zealand consumers, found that national image seemed to act as a halo in the evaluation of unknown foreign food products. Ratings of American and Australian products appeared to reflect consumer knowledge about products they buy regularly, whereas prevailing public perceptions about less-developed countries may have influenced the observed negative perceptions of products from Thailand and Hungary (Juric and Worsley, 1998). Skaggs et al. (1996, p. 594) point to the importance of overall impressions of a country influencing perceptions of food products from that country:If a consumer had never tried food products imported from China but had an image of China as a country that uses prison labour to produce exports and condones copyright infringement (as has been broadcast on recent news reports), it may cause the consumer to question the business ethics and ingredients used to produce food products there.\nCountry-of-origin and perceptions of risk: Consumer perception of risk associated with food products has intensified in recent years, despite significant advances in food quality and food security (Bergman, 2002). This paradox can be ascribed in part to the emergence of a risk-sensitised society, in which risk messages are subject to distortion and social amplification (Slovic, 2000). Consumer perceptions of what constitutes risk in food differ markedly from country to country. For example, French consumers prefer cheese made from unpasteurized milk and are willing to accept the higher associated health risks from Listeria contamination, whereas the US bans sale of most unpasteurized cheese, despite this constraining consumer choice (Buzby, 2001).\nIssues addressed in this study: The background of consumer mistrust resulting from food scares prevailing in major markets opens opportunities for food exporting countries to build confidence in their country images by developing mental associations between specific country-of-origin and aspects of quality assurance and food safety. In order to do this, it is important to understand the elements of country image that influence consumers when making choices of food products. Even more important are the factors that influence gatekeepers of the food distribution sector. A relatively small number of gatekeepers make food buying decisions on behalf of food importing and distribution companies that supply millions of end consumers. In food industry supply chain relationships \"power is generally skewed in the favour of large retail buyers\" (Hingley, 2005). Sternquist (1994) aptly referred to such buyers as \"gatekeepers of consumer choice.\" This was particularly evident in the present study: the parent of one of the respondent companies has an annual turnover approximately twice the size of New Zealand's GDP; another respondent company distributes imported product from a central hub to regional distributors and retailers in approximately ten European countries. What are the elements of country image and country reputation that instil trust in these powerful industrial buyers? What is the span of influence of the reputation of a country, compared to the individual reputations of supplying companies from within that country?\nMethodology: In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with key informants of 17 companies and organisations deemed by New Zealand Trade Commissioners to be key players in the European food distribution sector. Nine respondent companies were importers and distributors of meat, seafood, fruit or manufactured food products. Two were meat and/or seafood-based products manufacturers who import the raw ingredients for further processing. Two were buyers for major supermarket chains, and one for a major food service sector supplier. Two were industry organization representatives, and one was the publisher of leading trade magazines for the meat and seafood sectors in Italy. The objective was to sample as much diversity as possible among the participants so that an overall view could be distilled from diverse inputs. Patton (1990, p. 182) uses the term \"purposeful sampling\" to describe such an approach.\nInterview procedure: Interviews spanning 60 to 120 minutes were consistent in approach based on an interview guide that set forth the major areas of inquiry (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000, Kvale, 1996, Merton et al., 1956, McCracken, 1988). Questions were open-ended, and designed to elicit views of the respondent irrespective of the preconceptions of the interviewer. An example of a question asked of each respondent near the beginning of the interview is: \"What were the main considerations you had in mind when sourcing imported food products\"? Questions should be \"intentionally couched in such terms that they invite subjects to refer to virtually any aspect of the stimulus situation or to report any of a range of responses...An unstructured question is, so to speak, a blank page to be filled in by the interviewee\" (Merton et al., 1956, p. 15). The aim was to build a \"conversation-like dialogue rather than asking questions that impose categorical frameworks on informants' understanding and experiences\" (Arnould and Wallendorf, 1994, p. 492). The material reported here is part of a wider study, details of which (including the interview guide) are provided elsewhere (Knight et al., 2007; Knight et al., 2003).Steps were taken to minimise the risk of social desirability bias (Schuman and Presser, 1981; Fisher, 1993), i.e. the \"basic human tendency to present oneself in the best possible light\" (Fisher, 1993, p. 303). To overcome such effects, we employed indirect questioning - a projective technique in which respondents are asked to provide opinions from the perspective of another person or group, in order to \"describe their own feelings behind a facade of impersonality\" (Simon and Simon, 1975, p. 586). Evidence that this technique was successful came in the form of respondents distancing themselves from the answer - indicating that this is not how they themselves think, but how they believe most of their business customers or end consumers would view a particular issue.\nData collation and analysis: Taped interviews were transcribed and comments coded (Coffey and Atkinson, 1996). According to Seidel and Kelle (1995, pp. 55-56) this process has three components:1. noticing relevant phenomena;2. collecting examples of those phenomena; and3. analysing those phenomena in order to find commonalities, differences, patterns and structures.Thematic analysis was undertaken to build a logical chain of evidence (Miles and Huberman, 1994). In accordance with Coffey and Atkinson, 1996, this analysis aimed to preserve \"the storied qualities of qualitative textual data, that is the ways in which social actors produce, represent and contextualize experience and personal knowledge through narratives and other genres\" (Coffey and Atkinson, 1996, p. 54).A preliminary version of the research findings was submitted to the participants in the study for \"checking how accurately participants' realities have been represented in the final account\" (Cresswell and Miller, 2000, p. 125), a process regarded as \"the most crucial technique for establishing credibility\" (Lincoln and Guba, 1985, p. 314). Changes were made in response to respondent requests in two instances in order to preserve confidentiality and remove commercially-sensitive content. In addition, two eminent academics in the UK and one in the USA were enlisted to review the draft report (Knight et al., 2003), from which the results reported here are derived. Changes were made in response to input from the referees to ensure that the conclusions and recommendations were a valid reflection of the data collected.\nResults: Respondents made many and varied comments about what was important to them in determining from where and from whom to source food and beverage products. The nature of these \"top-of-mind\" factors was to some extent dependent on the sector that respondents operate in, but a consensus emerged that these diverse factors convey the common element of reliability. Trust in hygiene standards, trust in production methods, lack of microbial contamination, freedom from antibiotics (e.g. chloramphenicol in shrimps) and Marine Stewardship Council sustainability certification were identified by seafood importers as key determinants of where they chose to source food products. A German fruit distributor considered New Zealand apples and kiwifruit to be \"the Mercedes Benz among the fruit basket\", but based this evaluation on his perception of quality control standards, low pesticide residues, taste and appearance of fruit, and high packaging standards, rather than perceptions of the country itself. However, an Italian meat distributor (Excerpt 1 in the list below) felt a country name could become important as a proxy for \"trustworthy\".Determinants of trust at different levels of the supply chain\nDiscussion: The importance of country-of-origin\nConclusions: Factors involving confidence and trust in regulatory systems and suppliers interact with price and perceived quality in influencing where importers source food products. According to Skaggs et al. (1996, p. 599) \"product-country images that extend an aura of riskiness to food products are a serious problem for marketers, particularly when in direct competition with products perceived to be less risky.\" Our study indicates that in the eyes of the food channel members interviewed, New Zealand is in the fortunate position of being perceived as \"less risky\" than many other countries, as a direct result of the efforts that have been made to institute the best quality control and traceability systems and technology available. Therefore, debate concerning governmental policy and commercial strategy should not rely on diffuse country images - at least in regard to food exports. Instead, it should build on a given country's reputation for quality and reliability in production, processing and delivery, together with the country's reputation for trustworthiness and freedom from scandals.Maintaining a reputation for trustworthiness on the part of products, but also of companies and intermediaries in the supply chain, is crucial in maintaining the reputation of the country from which food products originate. Exporting companies need to appreciate the importance of building and maintaining their corporate reputation, irrespective of the reputation that their country may enjoy. Supplying business customers with transparent information that consumers will in turn trust (Lindgreen and Hingley, 2003) is likely to enhance that reputation in a risk-sensitised age.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to understand the elements of country image that influence gatekeepers of the European food distribution sector when making industrial purchasing decisions regarding imported food products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In-depth interviews were conducted with key informants of seventeen food distribution companies and industry organisations in five European countries to determine the factors that they consider important when deciding from which countries to source food products.\nFindings: - Confidence and trust in production systems, the integrity of regulatory systems, and the reliability of suppliers appear to be the major determinants of product-country image as viewed by gatekeepers of the food distribution channel.\nPractical implications: - These specific factors relating to confidence, trust, integrity and reputation appear to over-ride more general perceptions of country image based on scenic or environmental considerations.\nOriginality/value: - Provides useful information for public policy makers and companies in food exporting countries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assembly line productivity improvement as re-engineered by MOST	[ "Line balancing", "Bottlenecks", "Maynard Operation Sequence Technique (MOST)", "Predetermined time standard (PTS)", "Productivity improvement", "Work measurement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Today's business world has become too competitive and diversified in securing and expanding the market share. Moreover, with the launching of alternative products by competitors in a frequent manner, the situation has become even more difficult (Westkamper, 2008; Manyika et al., 2012). So, appropriate measures need to be taken in order to sustain in this fiercely competitive environment by controlling the overhead and operational expenses (Amen, 2006; Jiao and Tseng, 1999). Among numerous measures, optimal utilization of human and other resources in the assembly or fabrication process is inevitable along the various stages of a supply chain. However, proper management of manpower is a big challenge which cannot be realized in a short-cut way. For an assembly line, enhancement of productivity in different spheres of operational activities through elimination or reduction of non-value added activities (NVA) is a pragmatic approach (Thakre et al., 2009; Shook and Marchwinski, 2014; Jin et al., 2008). But a failure to meet the customer demand is to be carefully measured in terms of manpower requirements for carrying out a particular task which may lead to a surplus or shortfall of human resources in attaining the production target (Klampfl et al., 2005; Scholl, 1999; Yano and Rachamadugu, 1991). In case of a surplus manpower, more wages would be paid but in return there would not be proportional gains (Jin et al., 2008; Amen, 2006) whereas for a shortfall opportunities are missed. So to accurately justify the requirement of manpower for an activity or a task, it is essential to systematically analyze the time required for completion of all the elemental tasks (Razmi and Shakhs-Niyaee, 2008). For an optimized work system it often needs to eliminate the non-value added part of task elements or reduce their durations (Jin et al., 2008). In this context work measurement can play a vital role to save the valuable production time, reduce operational costs, enhance profitability and eventually help a manufacturer to be more competitive (Klampfl et al., 2005; Meyers and Stewart, 2002; Whitmore, 1987; Di Gironimo et al., 2012).\n2. An overview of PMTS: PMTS is used to gather data and assess the operational performance by means of pre-set standard times of basic human motions for accomplishing the tasks. Usually the available PMTS methods such as MTM, work factor, MOST and MODAPTS are derived through analysis of an enormous sample of operations and motions (Bentley, 1984; Salvendy, 2001). However, having the variation in level and scope of applications some common PMTS methods which are repeatedly referred in literature for solving the intricate operational issues of automotive industries are described in the following sub-sections (Razmi and Shakhs-Niyaee, 2008).\n3. Methodology: This research study was initiated basically to find out the remedial solutions in performing the tasks at all the workstations of the assembly within a time-frame shorter than or equal to the Takt time. All the assembly operations were broken down into a number of discrete tasks. The completion times of the tasks are then determined by observation through conventional time study and recorded in the form of process charts. The MOST has been applied subsequently to estimate the standard times for all the tasks belonging to the operations in the four workstations. The estimated standard operation times are then compared with the observed times to check the accuracy of the MOST for its reliability. Moreover, the work methods are examined to search for improvement opportunities through incorporation of appropriate changes and inclusion of suitable hand tools such as air screw driver, air pump and efficient jigs or fixtures, etc.\n4. Case study: The local company, where the study has been conducted, belongs to the multi-echelon supply chains of auto makers. Being in operations since 1995 the company had been engaged in designing, developing and producing automotive components, molds and reached a rank within the top ten producers in Malaysia. Company's attainment of this position is presumably due to its adherence to the lean manufacturing initiatives. In line with the continued lean endeavor, an attempt is made to re-engineer and improve the operations in the car rear window assembly line by focussing on reduction of NVA, adoption of efficient methods and workload balancing. Snapshots of the operations on: fixing of channel rubber (Assembly 1); fitting glass to the frame (Assembly 2); screwing and applying silicon to corner (Assembly 3); and leak test and final assembly (Assembly 4) representing the four workstations of the whole process are shown, respectively, in Plate 1(a)-(d).\n5. Changes in layout and work method: Upon a thorough and close examination of the workflow, the motion of operators, the layout plan, the hand tools, the jigs and fixtures, relevant steps have been taken to modify the process for improved performance. In this context, layout plan is modified by relocating the workstations and storage places to a close proximity. The manual system of silicone adhesive application at W/S-1, W/S-3 and W/S-4 is upgraded by adding air pump which has been conducive to shorten the task times as well as to reduce exertion by the operator. Manually operated screw driver is replaced by an air screw driver at W/S-1 for easier and quicker fixing. Jig used for fastening window frame at W/S-3 is changed by a faster clamping mechanism. Moreover, for use in W/S-1 the off-line cutting operation of channel rubber in two pieces at a time is increased to 32 pieces in one shot. This has led to reduce the cutting time per piece of channel rubber and helped improve the process efficiency.\n6. Allocation of tasks and determination of station times: We know that until the real-life environment is established by implementing the changes, an assembly line performance by the conventional time study is not be possible to be assessed. However, such a constraint does not apply if we adopt the MOST as this procedure allows us to estimate the task times quite precisely on the basis of the sequence models required to execute the task elements. For this purpose the activities or tasks are divided into discrete elemental tasks which are then categorized according to the appropriate MOST sequence model. A quantitative description is prepared to portray the motions, distance, type of action and their repeat frequency, and tool use, etc. for each task element. A sequence model is chosen for the task element to set the normal times whereas standard times is evaluated by using an allowance factor. For this case we used 10 percent.\n7. Results and discussions: The standard times of the tasks grouped under W/S-1, W/S-2, W/S-3 and W/S-4 are to be determined. However, to set the standard times it is necessary to assign an allowance factor with the normal times. As mentioned earlier, a 10 percent allowance factor is assumed for the prevailing working conditions and environment in the assembly line. So the normal times for the tasks are multiplied by a factor of 1.10 to work out the standard times. Aggregate values of the standard times for the assembly operations are presented in Table VI for both the previous and proposed procedures.\n8. Concluding remarks: In this paper we present an industrial case where application of the MOST is found to be highly beneficial. Activities were closely observed to develop the process charts. The MOST procedure was followed to work out the elemental normal and standard times. Observed workstation times from video recordings and the standard times estimated by the MOST were found to be in good agreement. Activities or tasks of assembly line irrespective of whether from the bottleneck station or not were examined for efficient changes. Work methods are modified, suitable hand tools and devices are incorporated into the workstations. Time standards for the tasks and the workstations are set and the new bottleneck station is identified. A reduction of more than two minutes in cycle time consequently increased the daily production rate leading to a throughput increase of 29.63 percent for the rear windows. Inclusion of suitable tools and jigs has led to a conducive and ergonomic work environment and operators are expected to perform rapidly with lower physical exertion. So application of MOST for assembly operations in an intelligent manner can be very effective for throughput enhancement. However, concerning line balancing, the values of LBR and LBLR, are found to be positive but not significant. The whole assembly could rather be arranged from the perspective of minimizing the cycle time and the number of workstation as well as line balancing. The outcome of the study, however, reiterates that simple modifications of work methods with minimal investment for simple tools and devices can help develop an ergonomic, safer, faster and cost-effective assembly line. Therefore it will not be ardent to claim that continually improved design of assembly works by the MOST can secure a sustainable position for an organization and save it from being pushed out of competition.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address and solve operational problems of an automotive industry in reaching production target by adopting Maynard Operation Sequence Technique (MOST) as lean and productivity improvement strategies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the undertaken case of auto-car rear window assembly line, a recurring production shortfall in fulfilling the daily demand is seemingly due to inappropriate work method. Initial observation of the operations led to suspect certain lapses in initiatives to adopt the time standards, to reduce or eliminate non-value added motions, to design suitable aisle and to assign tasks among workstations in a balanced manner. Subsequently an attempt is made to pinpoint the causes of poor performance and the bottlenecks through process flow analysis and time study by applying MOST. The elemental tasks are closely examined for possible reduction of workstation times by choosing efficient work methods with ergonomic features. Thus appropriate hand tools, jigs and fixture with nominal investment are prescribed to incorporate in the assembly works. The operational changes as steered by the MOST application have enhanced the workflow with a shorter cycle time which led to a substantial increase in productivity.\nFindings: The productivity of the assembly line is increased by more than 29 percent from the earlier capacity through the MOST application which is deemed to meet the current level of demand.\nOriginality/value: The adopted framework for recognizing the effectiveness of MOST to expose and rectify the flaws in work methods without much investment is expected to be beneficial for a manufacturer in securing the competitiveness.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Livestreaming vs pre-recorded: How social viewing strategies impact consumers' viewing experiences and behavioral intentions	[ "Purchase intention", "Social viewing", "Livestreaming", "Pre-recorded" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the pervasive and boundless digital landscape of the twenty-first century, social viewing is defined as the process through which consumers engage in shared electronic viewership and content-guided interactions irrespective of time and location. Traditional research on social viewing originated in the mass media and communication literature, where it was conceptualized as in-person TV coviewing (Sapolsky and Zillmann, 1978) and technology-mediated TV coviewing (social TV, \"two-screen viewing\" or \"multi-screen viewing\") (Johns, 2012; Shin, 2013; Shin and Biocca, 2017; Shin and Kim, 2015). While social TV viewing is an interesting phenomenon, its implications for marketing practitioners are largely limited because viewership is strictly tied to television broadcast. Recently, the way consumers view and share content has changed. One prominent change over the past decade is the growing popularity of livestreaming online videos as a social activity (Weisz et al., 2007). Currently, video content dominates roughly 74 per cent of internet traffic (Stelzner, 2016). More importantly, livestreaming is outpacing the rise of different forms of online video viewership, with a 113 per cent increase in advertising growth yearly (Golum, 2016).\nTheory, conceptual framework and constructs: Social impact theory\nHypothesis development: Outcomes of social presence\nMethodology: Study design and procedure\nResults: To make sure that our manipulation worked as intended, we asked all the participants to rate the social viewing strategy on a seven-point scale, with 1 being live and 7 being pre-recorded. The results showed that our scenario-based manipulation was successful (Mlivestreaming = 1.14; Mpre-recorded = 6.93; p < 0.001). The main analysis then follows guidelines set by Hair et al. (2010) as described below.\nGeneral discussion and implications: Discussion\nConclusion: In closing, this study addresses two fundamental research questions, \"Do social viewing strategies (livestreaming vs pre-recorded) impact consumer behavioral intentions (i.e. search, subscribe and purchase intentions)?\" and \"How does authentic viewing experience affect the relationship between social influence cues inherent in social viewing strategies and consumers' behavioral intentions?\" The findings showed that a live-streamed social viewing strategy favorably influences consumers' behavioral intention more than a pre-recorded social viewing strategy. The results also emphasize that authentic viewing experience plays a significant mediating role between social influence cues and consumers' behavioral intentions. A live-streamed (vs pre-recorded) social viewing strategy appears to authenticate consumer viewing experience, which is responsible for more favorable consumer behavioral intentions. Consequently, we conclusively uncover the conditions and process by which social impact factors lead to positive consumer outcomes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Marketing researchers currently lack a systematic and empirical understanding of digital social viewing strategies. Drawing on social impact theory, this study aims to investigate if and how firm-initiated digital social viewing strategies (livestreaming vs pre-recorded) influence consumer viewing experiences and consequential behavioral intentions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 462 participants. The study involved social viewing strategies in a new product launch context. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: This study demonstrates that social influence cues (social presence and synchronicity) inherent in a livestreaming strategy induce a more authentic consumer viewing experience than a pre-recorded strategy, which in turn increases consumers' searching and subscribing intention. However, a company's social viewing strategy does not moderate the effect of search and subscribe intention on purchase intention.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study extends the application of social impact theory by showing that social presence and synchronicity impact authentic consumer viewing experiences, which influence consumers' searching, subscribing and purchasing intention.\nPractical implications: This study validates the importance of using social viewing as a viable digital marketing strategy for practitioners. The paper provides marketers ways to increase consumer purchase intention via livestreaming marketing content, particularly for new products.\nOriginality/value: This study extends the traditional research on social viewing into the realm of digital social viewing. It is among the first to delineate the advantages of both livestreaming and pre-recorded social viewing approaches.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Designing workspaces for cross-functional knowledge-sharing in R & D: the "co-location pilot" of Novartis	[ "Co-location", "Pharmaceutical industry", "Knowledge-sharing", "Research and development", "Workspace design" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Researchers and practitioners have both agreed on knowledge as a critical factor for continuous innovation and success (Drucker, 1999; Kogut and Zander, 1992; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Considerable attention has been paid to a general understanding of knowledge flows (Carlile, 2004; Schulz, 2001), knowledge sharing (Hansen et al., 2005; Hemlin et al., 2008) and knowledge creation (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) within organizations. Nevertheless, managing knowledge-driven organizations has proven to be a big challenge due to difficulties in sharing tacit and explicit knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Von Krogh et al., 2000) across different functions (Carlile, 2002). On the one hand, shared knowledge is a potential source for new knowledge creation. On the other hand, knowledge can be a barrier if it stays within one function and does not overcome functional knowledge boundaries (Carlile, 2004). Integrating different experts from different departments certainly seems to be a good idea, especially in research and development (R\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Knowledge management in R&D\n3. Methods: case study, observation and semi-structured interviews: Knowledge-sharing is considered to be an essential argument for the long-term success of an knowledge-intensive organization. As part of the organizational reality, the employees share knowledge in interactive processes (Pohlmann et al., 2005). For this reason, the social-constructionist perspective has been applied in the following case study. This study is based on an exploratory case study as the relationships under investigation are a contemporary phenomenon and the case study research allows the investigation of contemporary phenomenon within real-life contexts (Yin, 2003).\n4. Results: The following section compares communication and collaboration patterns before and after the co-location of a project team from traditional cell offices into a new multi-space workplace to describe the effects on the knowledge-sharing process. The findings have been set in relation to a non-co-located project team revealing further interesting insights. Our results indicate, on the one hand, that co-location of the project team effects cross-functional knowledge boundaries on three levels syntactic, semantic and pragmatic. On the other hand, the design of the workspace provides the shared context for project team members to socialize, externalize and combine knowledge.\n5. Discussion: Due to a widely perceived productivity crisis within R\n6. Conclusion: The findings of the study suggest knowledge-sharing in two different ways. First, co-location enhances unplanned face-to-face communication among project team members leading to faster and more precise flows of knowledge. Second, socialization, externalization and combination of knowledge are stimulated by the multi-space design of the environment. The creation of a common language (syntax) refers to socialization. Externalization helps to overcome the semantic boundary, while transferring tacit knowledge into explicit one and knowledge combination depends on the pragmatic boundary, in terms of collaboration, shared methods and best practices within shared areas.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper examines co-location as an important solution to design workspaces in research and development (R\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is based on a co-location project of the knowledge-intensive, multi-national company Novartis. To compare communication and collaboration patterns, we interviewed and observed employees before and after co-location into the \"co-location pilot\" and investigated a control group that was not co-located. The use of data and method triangulation as a research approach underlines the inherent dynamics of the co-location in this study.\nFindings: The study suggests findings leveraging knowledge sharing in two different ways. Co-location of dispersed project team members increases unplanned face-to-face communication leading to faster and more precise flows of knowledge by transcending knowledge boundaries. Co-location to an open multi-space environment stimulates knowledge creation by enabling socialization, externalization and combination of knowledge.\nPractical implications: This study provides managerial implications for implementing co-location to achieve greater knowledge sharing across functions. The design of the work environment provides the framework for successful co-location.\nOriginality/value: This paper reports the findings of an empirical case study conducted within the \"co-location pilot\" of the pharmaceutical company Novartis. This study contributes to an in-depth understanding of the phenomena on a qualitative and micro-level.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Delphi method: analysis of rounds, stakeholder and statistical indicators	[ "Foresight", "Delphi method", "Number of rounds", "Stakeholders", "Statistical indicators" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The term Delphi refers to a town in ancient Greece in which the predictions of the god Apollo were transmitted to futurologists on Earth. As a result, Delphi has always been associated with the forecast (Landeta, 2006; Wakefield and Watson, 2014).\nTheoretical framework: For Abend (2002, p. 32), \"the Delphi method proposes a question and invites the opinion or solution to a group of highly qualified experts, the process is conducted anonymously.\" According to Castello and Callejo (2000), the Delphi is a method that has been used in national technological foresight exercises, and it started being used by Japan in its five-year prospective exercises with the objective of defining the direction of the country's long-term growth.\nMethodology: Phase I\nResults: Several applications of the Delphi method have been carried out in various sectors, regions and countries in the world. Below is a summary of the applications found in the literature review, as of February 2018 in Figure 1.\nDiscussion: Within the theoretical and empirical Delphi studies analyzed, there are several problems that warrant attention from academics and practitioners. In this article, a synthesis was established on three of them: number of rounds, the convenience of the participation of academic experts only or that of stakeholder, and indicators and statistical analysis techniques.\nConclusions: The article presents contributions to the state of the art of the Delphi method, especially related to the identification of trends in different uses of Delphi different from the original, type, RTD, RTSD, policy Delphi, group Delphi, Market Delphi and real-world Delphi. Trends are also identified in terms of decreasing the number of rounds, low ranges in the number of participants and the potential discovery of new indicators or techniques to complement the traditional descriptive analysis with measures of central tendency and dispersion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the Delphi method, its characteristics and current applications through an analysis of recent most-cited scientific papers, with an emphasis on three axes, namely, the number of rounds used, stakeholder participation relevance or only academic experts' participation and the possibility of using indicators or techniques different from those related to descriptive statistics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 57 papers were initially reviewed, 10 of them with a high citation rate. Then, an analysis was made of papers in Scopus for the period 2015-2018 published in the Technological Forecasting and Social Change Journal and in the Futures and Foresight Journal, which had the characteristic of displaying quartile Q1 or Q2 in Scimago in addition to being in Scopus.\nFindings: Among the main results, the authors observe the tendency to use fewer rounds, a higher prevalence of stakeholder participation and not only academic experts but also the use of new types of modified Delphi such as real-time spatial Delphi, Delphi group, market Delphi, real-world Delphi and policy Delphi.\nOriginality/value: Among the conclusions, the possibility of using other indicators or complementary techniques to the descriptive statistics is highlighted such as number of justifications or comments between rounds, coefficients to quantify the competence or degree of expertise of the participants, measures of the perception of the expert on the usefulness of the presented feedback, graphs of the number of arguments according to the number of questions, the Wilcoxon Ranked Pairs Test, the k means, Kolmogorov-Simonov test and the Mann-Whitney U-test.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
BIM for FM: Developing information requirements to support facilities management systems	[ "Information management", "Building information modelling (BIM)", "Information exchange", "Construction operations building information exchange (COBie)", "Facilities management systems", "Information requirements" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Facilities management (FM) can be defined as an integrated process within an organisation to maintain and improve building and infrastructure assets to enhance the effectiveness of its key activities (EN15221-1, 2006). FM involves a wide range of multidisciplinary services with an overall purpose to maintain and enhance building assets to ensure occupants' wellbeing (Becerik-Gerber et al., 2012). The key challenge for the FM teams is to have real-time, accurate and comprehensive information to perform their day-to-day activities and to provide their senior management with accurate information for decision-making (Atkin and Brooks, 2009). Currently, there are various technology platforms, data repositories or database management systems such as Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) and Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) that are used for these purposes in different facilities. In most practices today, the data required for CAFM/CMMS systems, which come from various sources, are collected and entered manually into these systems, manipulated several times during the project lifecycle, and entered manually several times into each individual FM system, as they lack interoperability between each other, resulting in error-prone processes (Becerik-Gerber et al., 2012; Teicholz, 2013; Patacas et al., 2015).\n2. Research background: The late delivery of huge amounts of unstructured facility information to the FM team is recognised as a major challenge among the research and industry communities. BIM with its capabilities as a data repository provides possibilities to address this challenge. Several studies have been conducted with a focus on the geometric information requirements of BIM. However, there is still a need to focus on identifying non-geometric BIM information requirements to support successful implementation of BIM in FM, as recommended in several studies (Becerik-Gerber et al., 2012; Giel and Issa, 2016; Borhani et al., 2017; Cavka et al., 2017; Pishdad-Bozorgi et al., 2018). Thus, this study aims to identify information requirements for efficient information exchange between BIM and FM systems, and to propose a process to transfer the identified information requirements to FM systems using an open data format.\n3. Research methods: In identifying the required BIM data outputs for FM systems' inputs, this study adopted a three-stage procedure proposed by Giel and Issa (2016): comparison, prioritisation and development, with each phase corresponding to a specific research aim, as shown in Figure 1. In the first stage of this study a qualitative approach was adopted, involving an extensive review of the existing academic literature, standards and best practice guidelines to develop a generic set of information requirements of BIM models to support FM practice. A matrix was then created to compare different information requirements. The second stage of this study adopted a quantitative approach which involved the development of a questionnaire survey based on the outcomes of the first stage, to prioritise the information requirements of BIM models to support FM systems specifically. A preliminary questionnaire survey was developed using the generic list created in stage one. The preliminary questionnaire then was revised and finalised, based on a pilot study in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen FM practitioners in the UK to solicit comments on the readability, accuracy, and comprehensiveness of the questionnaire. The final questionnaire survey was then distributed to FM practitioners in the UK using the British Institute of FM (BIFM, 2017) database. The FM practitioners were asked to rank the importance of the provided information requirements to support FM systems and they were given an opportunity to add more information requirements. As a product of the prioritisation stage, 39 information requirements were identified and prioritised according to their importance to support FM systems, as suggested by the FM practitioners. On the basis of these results, the subsequent stage involved the development of a generic list of information requirements of BIM models to support FM systems and a process of identification and exchange of information requirements between BIM models and FM systems using an open data format.\n4. Results and discussion: 4.1 Stage I: comparison between the existing information requirements of BIM models to support FM practice\n5. Conclusion and future work: This study aimed to address the challenges faced by FM practitioners in information management. The overall study objective was to identify a generic set of information requirements of BIM to support FM systems, which can be used as the base for developing an automated information exchange process. Information items were collected and identified through the literature review of similar studies, existing standards, and best practices. The qualitative analysis found 45 information items that are required to construct BIM models to support FM practice. These findings of the first stage were organised in a questionnaire survey which included 41 information items, after excluding four items which were considered unimportant for FM systems, according to the interviewee's feedback in the pilot study.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to identify a generic set of information requirements for facilities management (FM) systems, which should be included in BIM as-built models for efficient information exchange between BIM and FM systems, and to propose a process to identify, verify and collect the required information for use in FM systems during the project's lifecycle.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied at different stages of the study's sequential design. The collection and analysis of qualitative data was based on an extensive literature review of similar studies, standards, best practices and case study documentation. This was followed by a questionnaire survey of 191 FM practitioners in the UK. This formed the background of the third stage, which was the development of the information management process to streamline information exchange between building information models and FM systems.\nFindings: The study identifies a generic list of information requirements of building information models to support FM systems. In addition, the study presents an information management process that generates a specific database for FM systems using an open data format.\nOriginality/value: The existing literature focuses on specific building types (educational buildings) or specific information requirements related to particular systems (mechanical systems). The existing standards, guidelines and best practices focus on the information requirements to support the operations and maintenance (O&M) phase in general. This study is different from previous studies because it develops a set of specific information requirements for building information models to support FM systems. FM organisations and owners can use the proposed list of information requirements as a base to generate specific data output for their FM systems' input, to decrease the redundant activity of manual data entry and focus their efforts on key activities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Retail store environment and customer experience: a paradigm	[ "Customer behaviour", "Hedonic consumption", "Customer experience", "Retail store design", "Shopper’s behaviour", "Physical stores" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: \"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,\" Maya Angelou (2013). What people remember about shopping experience is determined by the mood, feelings and intensity of emotions created in particular moments while shopping.\n2. Paradigm of customer experience: Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) are believed to be the first ones to introduce the experiential perspective of consumer behavior and marketing. Traditional consumer research has tended to neglect such experiential aspects of behavior, resulting in limited understanding of the importance of hedonic benefits.\n3. Discussion: In order to be successful a retailer must offer an enhanced, truly memorable and distinctive shopping experience to its customers (Danziger, 2006, p. 17). The goal of experiential store design is to use a variety of emotional and cognitive stimuli to create a unique shopping experience for each customer. People like to touch, feel, smell, taste, inspect, test and try on. It is a holistic approach that involves both emotional and rational triggers (Meyer, 2006, p. 1). Research has demonstrated that shopping environments invoke emotional responses in consumers (Machleit and Eroglu, 2000) and that these emotions, in turn, influence customer shopping behavior (Donovan and Rossiter, 1982; Darden and Babin 1994; Sherman et al., 1997).\n4. Conclusion: Measuring emotion in hedonic experiences is extremely important due to the emotional components of experiential consumption (Havlena and Holbrook, 1986). A challenge that seems to be emerging from the literature is how can organizations systematically engineer their customer experiences (Carbone and Haeckel, 1994) in order to achieve the \"triple bottom line\", i.e. to make them not only better for the customer but also better for the organization's staff and better for its bottom line, i.e. economical and more efficient (Bate and Robert, 2007; H.M. Government, 2007). Retailers can generate positive returns by creating an exciting and stimulating shopping environment (Kaltcheva and Weitz, 2006).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The current context of retail is extremely challenging. Retail environments are pushing consumers to appreciate hedonic aspects of consumption. Retailers are finding new ways to offer customers something unique or special in order to encourage traffic to physical stores. People like to touch, feel, smell, taste, inspect, test and try on. It is a holistic approach that involves both emotional and rational triggers (Meyer, 2006, p. 1). The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The basic proposition is that a shopper's behavior is influenced by the environment. The environment (store) influences a shopper's emotions and mood, which in turn influence the shopper's behavior (Ebster and Garaus, 2011, p. 108). Mehrabian found a significant amount of research to back Holbrook's findings that \"emotion is a key link in the shopping experience\" determining that consumers' reactions within stores are based on their emotional states, which are stimulated by store designs (Mehrabian, 1977).\nFindings: It is important to focus on engaging the customer both emotionally and behaviorally, which means that the communication on social media and physical retail stores should both excel in emotional appeal, and encourage various forms of interaction with the brand. Increasingly, success at retail is less about what the retailer has to sell and more about how they sell it. This is the new experiential paradigm shift in shopping. This will become even more critical in the future as success at retail will continue to shift toward how well retailers play to the emotions, psychology and feelings of the shopper (Danziger, 2006, p. 17). The need whether utilitarian or hedonic carries them to the store but emotions make them stay and shop.\nOriginality/value: Both utilitarian and hedonic experiences - whether they are derived from consuming products or total experience, including products, people, places and the environment - contribute in differing degrees, to the overall experience of consumption.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Comfort versus discomfort in interracial/interethnic interactions: Group practices on campus	[ "Ethnic minorities", "Higher education", "Cultural studies", "Individual perception", "Social groups", "Multicultural societies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Achieving the potential organizational benefits of diversity has long been inconsistent (Williams and O'Reilly, 1998; Webber and Donahue, 2001; Horwitz and Horwitz, 2007; van Knippenberg and Schippers, 2007; Joshi and Roh, 2009). The reasons are still not well understood (Shore et al., 2009; Joshi et al., 2011; Guillaume et al., 2013). Greater knowledge of perceptions and interpersonal interactions is needed (Kossek and Zonia, 1994; Mor Barak et al., 1998; Brown, 2004; Ely et al., 2006), since achieving diversity's benefits requires that diverse individuals actually interact competently and meaningfully with each other, rather than interacting only superficially or avoiding each other entirely. A key factor associated with this individual competence and choice is the comfort or discomfort that an individual experiences when interacting with diverse others, according to social psychological literature and an earlier qualitative phase of the research presented here. In this study we investigate several group practices that are posited to foster such comfort. The literature germane to comfort uses three terms: intercultural (e.g. Crisp and Turner, 2011; Halualani, 2007), interracial (e.g. Plant and Devine, 2003), and interethnic (e.g. Gaertner and Dovidio, 2005). In the discussions below, we use interracial/interethnic as the broad term that brings together these literatures. We use the term interracial/interethnic comfort to connote the more specific construct operationalized in this study, where subjects were asked about their \"interracial/interethnic\" interactions. The subjects were college students, individuals at a key life stage in which they can develop, or not, interracial/interethnic competencies.\nTheory development and hypotheses: Interracial discomfort, in various forms, has been identified in laboratory studies (Plant and Devine, 2003; Crisp and Turner, 2011). It seems to have been little investigated in field research, despite indications in a few studies of its serious negative impacts for both minority and majority individuals. Those impacts include the following.\nResearch design and methods: Given Halualani's (2007) finding that students commonly misperceive superficial intercultural interactions for more meaningful ones, as well as the qualitative phase indicating that few of their interracial/interethnic interactions on campus were comfortable, the study faced a challenge - how could its survey methodology produce adequate variance on comfort and its other constructs to enable proper analysis? Consequently, as suggested to us by the qualitative phase (Bernstein and Salipante, 2010), we directed survey participants to identify and respond in terms of the particular campus setting where they experienced their most meaningful interactions with differing others. To specify the dimension of diversity we were seeking, the survey used the terms racial/ethnic, ethnic/cultural, racial/cultural, and people from different racial/ethnic groups. Accordingly, the survey asked: \"In the following situations at college, please indicate the frequency of positive meaningful interaction with individuals from different ethnic/cultural groups.\" Eight particular group settings were listed: dorm/residential life, classroom (e.g. team projects), sports teams, music or theater groups, departmental or pre-professional groups, student government, co-curricular groups or organizations, the national voluntary group (of which all respondents were members), other voluntary/community-focussed groups, and \"other.\" All remaining questions focussed a respondent on interracial/interethnic experiences within the particular group setting to which they assigned the highest frequency. For example, if the student identified the music or theater group, then the online survey inserted the words \"music or theater group\" in each question. In the discussions below the term \"group\" refers to that setting - that is, where the respondent had experienced the most meaningful interracial/interethnic interactions. The groups are organizational groups based on function, as opposed to identity groups based on gender, ethnicity, and similar factors (Alderfer, 1986).\nResults: Tests of hypotheses\nDiscussion: This study seeks to shed new light on the nature and group-level antecedents of an individual's interracial/interethnic comfort - the felt ease, safety and self-efficacy of interacting appropriately with diverse others. Examining such comfort among college students, the study's results support the view that a group's practices for interpersonal interactions around its purposes can have important impacts on members' experiences with diversity and inclusion. The results support the model of Figure 1, which represents a simple theory of group influence on one component of cultural development - interracial/interethnic comfort, including achieving a modicum of confidence as measured by the comfort construct. To further explore this theory in light of the study's results, we consider possible conceptualizations for the effects observed in the model.\nLimitations: The survey's 10 percent response rate is a potential limitation. The survey was distributed in September when many schools are just getting started and students are often inundated by multiple e-mails and surveys. The interaction structuring construct exhibited a low reliability (Cronbach's a=0.64). While this is below the recommended 0.7, it is within the lower levels of acceptability and sufficient in exploratory research (Hair et al., 2010). In addition, in this study the structural equation modeling was conducted using PLS (Chin and Frye, 1998) where the composite reliability for interaction structuring was 0.794, exceeding the minimum of 0.7. However, we suggest further development of the interaction structuring construct to learn more about the dynamics of the interactions. Despite these limitations, the study provides a useful exploration of group-level practices that promote interracial/interethnic comfort.\nImplications: This study's model of group-level antecedents to interracial/interethnic comfort, as conceptualized above, constitutes a theory of personal cultural acceptance and development by college students that is consistent both with long-standing concepts of purposeful contact (Sherif, 1958; Allport, 1954) and with recent theoretical syntheses of social psychological research (Crisp and Turner, 2011). The study extends the latter by identifying a set of group practices in field settings that operationalize the factors theorized to underlie an individual's cross-racial/ethnic engagement and learning: motivation, ability, and repetition. The study's results suggest that the concepts in Figure 1 are worthy of further field investigation in university and other institutional contexts, and of attention by leaders interested in heightening the benefits of diversity in their institutions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Responding to findings of psychological discomfort impeding interracial/interethnic attitude and skill development, the purpose of this paper is to investigate group-level factors as possible antecedents to individuals' comfort in interracial/interethnic interactions. Among individuals experiencing diversity during a key developmental stage in life, college students, the study inquires whether group practices that foster a sense of belonging and inclusion among all members differentiate comfortable from uncomfortable interracial/interethnic interactions. As part of the analysis, the construct interracial/interethnic comfort is developed and tested as a measure of interactions that are experienced with ease and confidence.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Scale development methods and structural equation modeling were used to analyze survey data from 360 members of a voluntary service organization at 50 US colleges.\nFindings: The structural equation analyses indicate that the group practices - shared superordinate purpose, a welcoming climate for diverse members, and practices for structuring interactions among all group members - have significant and important effects on interracial/interethnic comfort, which was found to be a reliable construct. The relationship between each of the group practices and individuals' interracial/interethnic comfort was either totally or partially mediated by the individuals' sense of belonging, a strong form of inclusion.\nPractical implications: The results indicate group practices that possess the capacity to contribute to students' interracial/interethnic attitude and skill development by creating solidarity and comfort in their interactions with diverse others. Institutions can make efforts to further individuals' cultural development by stimulating the use of these practices in campus groups.\nOriginality/value: This study identifies concepts for understanding and addressing the known, problematic phenomenon of psychological discomfort in settings of diversity. These constructs offer new directions for research on diversity climate by focussing on relational practices at the group level that can move diversity beyond numerical representation to strong inclusion and close relationships.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Merger as conversation	[ "Merger", "Culture", "Metaphors", "Complexity theory", "Customer orientation", "Acquisitions and mergers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Merger work is commonly portrayed as an integration of two legacy cultures, blending the best that both companies represent. At the same time, the sub-text of informal conversations among employees on both sides is rife with speculation as to who are the winners and who the losers. This is accompanied by fevered maneuverings, political dealings and survival-driven behaviour.While grappling with the complex legal and operational technicalities of managing a merger, leaders are also faced with the question of how to deal with the cultural differences between the two organizations. The research evidence makes for salutary reading. Cultural incompatibility or \"culture clash\" (Carleton and Lineberry, 2004; Buono and Bowditch, 1989; Chatterjee et al., 1992; Nahavandi and Malekzadeh, 1993; Brock et al., 2000) is widely cited as the main reason why mergers end in disappointment or fail altogether.Much has been written about the reasons for the failure of cultural integration and there is no shortage of prescriptions for success (Walker, 1998; Sinetar, 1981; Kleiner, 2003; Haspeslagh and Jamison, 1991; Marks and Mirvis, 1998).If the achievement of some degree of socio-cultural integration (Cartwright and Cooper, 1999) represents the holy grail of successful mergers few writers consider how this might be accomplished. There are some welcome exceptions to this (Rosenberg, 2005; Jacobs, 1994).This paper is an account of an effort to address the \"daunting and delicate process\" of cultural integration (Shelton et al., 2003).Merger as unfolding conversation\nInforming thinking: Culture as meaning making\nThe story: In June 2006, the merger was announced between Nokia's Networks Business Group and the carrier-related businesses of Siemens Communications. Pro-forma revenues of about EUR17.1 billion in the fiscal year 2006, and approximately 60,000 employees, makes Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) one of the largest telecommunications infrastructure companies.The newly appointed CEO, Simon Beresford-Wylie, was determined to set an inclusive tone and encourage a sense of widespread ownership of the new NSN culture.His aspiration was for a culture that would differentiate NSN from its competitors. He wanted to involve everyone in the process of formulating the new culture such that the merger would benefit from the strengths and differences between the two legacy cultures and that it should not represent a compromise between them. Mindful of the high-failure rates of mergers, the new management team realized that they needed to invest time and resource into the formation of new NSN culture.A senior internal organisation development (OD) specialist was appointed to lead this process. He worked in partnership with an external OD consultant who specialises in cultural change. This paper is written from the perspective of these two facilitators.The challenge\nKey learnings: The process continues. Reflecting on our learning over the first 18 months of NSN, the following observations are offered:* The active and demonstrable sponsorship of the CEO and the senior team is essential for the success of the process. Participation of senior leaders can have a significant accelerator effect. The reverse also obtains. The absence of visible participation on the part of senior leaders can slow or stall the process altogether.* The use of expressive and relational methods (such as conversational forums, the use of cultural pictures and the use of social networking technology) was especially valuable ways of encouraging dialogue and helping people to make ongoing sense of things. They also helped people to cope with the variety of feelings arising from the complexity and uncertainty that accompanies a merger process.* Prolonged uncertainty and speculation are common during mergers and can have a debilitating effect on morale and employee commitment. While hard to avoid in the course of a merger, the experience in this case suggests that the use of a forum that legitimates and contains the open expression of these feelings is valuable. The forum held the darker feelings felt by many and, ironically, ultimately fostered a sense of connectivity and community. As these emotions were both expressed and \"honoured\", peoples' willingness to participate constructively in the unfolding debate gradually increased. The Culture Square served as a crucial and largely self-organising forum for the \"shadow conversation\", a conversation that would otherwise have taken place \"underground\". Early facilitation of the Culture Square helped to establish a generative tone for the conversation.* While this account has described a number of interventions as if they were occurring independently if each other, it is suggested that the combination of the Culture Square in conjunction with the JAM was particularly helpful to the process. The informal conversation that occurred in the Culture Square provided a continuous insight into the pre-occupations and aspirations of employees regardless of seniority or location. Accordingly, the debates and suggestions in the square were invaluable when formulating the framing topics for the JAM. Similarly the Culture Square, as an ongoing forum, offered an ideal means for processing and debriefing the JAM. It was especially important in ensuring that the final version of the values was endorsed as much by the broad body of employees as it was by the board. It is suggested that this interplay between the Culture Square and the JAM, between the informal and the formal, accounts for the exceptionally strong level of support shown for the values and for the spontaneous ways in which they have been reinforced and applied across the company.* Social networking tools (such as the Culture Square and the JAM) enormously expand the possibilities for participation. They also have much to contribute to tangible business decisions and outputs, in this case allowing for the effective formation and performance of implementation teams in the aftermath of the JAM. At the same time, they pose significant logistical and facilitation challenges and call for careful preparation and experienced project management.* The uncertainty and emotional turmoil associated with a merger is pervasive, affecting all involved including the organisational leadership, the facilitation team as well as those comprising the body of the organization. All parties need emotional support in the course of the process. It is in the ambiguity and uncertainty that a new discourse emerges and this can prove uncomfortable and stressful. This case would suggest that the use of forums such as the Culture Square and the JAM can provide constructive containment of these anxieties and provide a useful means for progressing important conversations in a constructive way.The formation of a culture is as much about the process by which norms, standards and values are arrived at, as it has to do with the content of the value statements that are finally agreed. The process, as a form of low-profile symbol, can either reinforce or contradict the high-profile expression of values. When the two carry the same message the effect can be powerful indeed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe an intervention aimed at supporting the formation of a distinctive new culture in a post-merger context. The work is informed by social constructionist thinking, complexity theory and draws on a semiotic approach to the understanding of cultures.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The case describes an experiment in the use of social networking and web-based technology in order to enable and support a sustained, organization-wide conversation. In particular, it describes the combined use of two virtual platforms: a global 72-hour, virtual conference that allowed for the participation of all 60,000 employees and a virtual forum (Culture Square) that invited ongoing discussion of the desired culture.\nFindings: - Social networking technologies represent powerful new ways of expanding the possibilities for participation. They can also serve as useful ways of containing the ambiguity and uncertainty associated with mergers. The use of metaphorical representations of legacy cultures can create a helpful platform for generative dialogue and cultural understanding. Legitimating the shadow conversation through the Culture Square accelerated the formation of the emergent culture and powerfully complemented the virtual conference.\nPractical implications: - The use of an emergent approach to the formation of a new culture calls for high tolerance of ambiguity on the part of organizational leadership. The use of online forums calls for careful facilitation early in the process. Large-scale virtual conferences present a host of logistical challenges and call for a high level of project management capability as well as skilful local facilitation. Social networking technology enables the formation and effective functioning of virtual teams and participative creation of the new culture at reduced cost.\nOriginality/value: - Several distinctive features of this approach make it a novel approach to post-merger integration. The paper is of specific value to organisation development and HR professionals at a technical level and to organisation leaders considering strategies for the cultural integration of mergers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Is public debt hindering economic growth of the Philippines?	[ "Development", "Government", "Economic philosophy/theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Heavy indebtedness of the developing countries has recognized as one of the important development policy issue. Public debt consists of two parts, public and publically guaranteed external debt and domestic debt. According to traditional neoclassical models, at initial stages of development, the developing countries have limited capital stocks and investment opportunities; therefore, capital mobility (in the shape of external debt) increases the economic growth (Chowdhury, 2001). As long as these borrowed resources are used for productive investment, it does not create macroeconomic instability (Burnside and Dollar, 2000). However, another school of thought is of the view that high level of external debt has adverse implications for investment and economic growth. A broad rationalization of these effects is referred as \"debt overhang\". It asserts that if there is a probability that country's future debt will be more than its repayment ability then anticipated costs of debt-servicing can depress the investment (Krugman, 1988). Similarly, if a greater share of foreign capital is used to service the external debt then very little will remain available to finance investment and growth, this channel is known as the \"crowding out\" effect (Diaz-Alejandro, 1981).\n2. Literature review: Krueger (1987) found that after oil crisis, large current accounts deficits are faced by the oil importing countries whereas oil exporters are able to accumulate the current account surpluses. These surpluses are lent to the commercial banks, in turn; deficits of oil importing countries are financed by the banks. Sachs (1990) shown that if higher taxes are levied to cover the debt servicing, then these taxes are likely to reduce the economic growth. Levy and Chowdhury (1993) also finds that an increase in public external debt depresses the economic growth by discouraging capital formation and encouraging capital flight.\n3. A brief overview of the Philippines economy: Over 7,000 islands of the western Pacific make the Philippines, there exists huge diversity among the population that speaks more than 80 languages and dialects. In comparison with other East Asian economies, the Philippines' economic growth record has been quite disappointing. A comparative analysis of the growth rate of real per capita GDP is presented in Table I. It reveals that on average during the period 1950-2010, the growth rate in selected East Asian countries is above 3.5 per cent, whereas in the Philippines the rate is just above 2 per cent. It is also noteworthy here that during 1980s other economies showed steady performance but the Philippines experienced negative per capita growth, similarly during 1990 growth rate was <1 per cent.\n4. Data and estimation methodology: The growth literature can be divided into the following major schools of thought: the Classical and neo-Classical Growth Models, Keynesian and neo-Keynesian Models, Endogenous Growth Model and new growth models. David Ricardo (1817) concept of Ricardian Equivalence describes the role of debt in economic growth in classical growth model. According to this theory, if government borrows then, in future, it has to repay this borrowing by raising taxes above the normal. In the Keynesian model, as Todaro and Smith (2003) points out, if domestic savings are less than the requirements of GDP growth then economy needs foreign aid or foreign investment to fill the saving-investment gap.\n5. Estimation results: 5.1. Analysis of impact of public debt on economic growth\n6. Conclusions and policy implications: The study principally examines the consequences of public debt for economic growth and investment in the Philippines. However, it also investigates the impact of certain other macroeconomic variables on economic growth and investment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Over the years most of the developing countries have failed to collect enough revenues to finance their budgets. As a result, they have to face the problem of twin deficits and to rely on external and domestic debt to finance their developmental activities. The positive effects of public debt relate to the fact that in resource-starved economies debt financing (if done properly) leads to higher growth and adds to their capacity to service and repay external and internal debt. The negative effects work through two main channels - i.e., \"Debt Overhang\" and \"Crowding Out\" effects. The purpose of this paper is to examine the consequences of public debt for economic growth and investment for the Philippines.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The present study examines the consequences of public debt for economic growth and investment for the Philippines during the period 1975-2010, by using autoregressive distributed lag technique.\nFindings: The results reveal that in the Philippines, public external debt has negative and significant relationship with economic growth and investment confirming the existence of \"Debt Overhang effect\". But due to insignificant relationships of debt servicing with investment and economic growth, the existence of the crowding out hypothesis could not be confirmed. The domestic debt has a negative relationship with investment and positive relationship with economic growth.\nResearch limitations/implications: First and foremost implication of the study is that heavy reliance on external debt must be discouraged. Therefore, in order to accelerate economic growth, developing countries must adopt those policies that are likely to result in reducing their debt burden, and it must not be allowed to reach unsustainable level. In the case of domestic debt, the present study finds that investment is negatively affected by domestic debt due to the crowding out effect; yet real GDP has a positive relationship with domestic debt. Thus, if policy makers want to use domestic debt as a tool to stimulate real GDP then it must keep an eye on the consequences of domestic debt on the investment.\nPractical implications: First and foremost implication of the study is that heavy reliance on external debt must be discouraged. Therefore, in order to accelerate economic growth, the Philippines must adopt those policies that are likely to result in reducing their debt burden, and external debt it must not be allowed to reach unsustainable level. In the case of domestic debt, the present study finds that investment is negatively affected by domestic debt due to the crowding out effect; yet real GDP has a positive relationship with domestic debt. Thus, if policy makers want to use domestic debt as a tool to stimulate real GDP then it must keep an eye on the consequences of domestic debt for on the investment.\nSocial implications: It also follows from the estimation results that population growth rate is harmful for the economic growth. So in order to stimulate the growth performance, it must adopt effective population control policies. Similarly, since openness and investment are growth enhancing so there is need for the trade and investment supportive policies.\nOriginality/value: From the review of literature on the issue, it can be broadly summarized that most of the studies are on the relationship of external debt and economic growth, neglecting domestic debt entirely or mentioning it in the passing. Second, most of these studies have been conducted by using panel data. However, as the different countries vary in socio-economic conditions so it is better to conduct the country specific study. The present study is an attempt to fill these gaps in the existing literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of knowledge intermediaries in co-managed innovations	[ "Co-managed innovation", "Epistemic network", "Knowledge intermediaries", "Relational proximity", "Spatial relationships", "Technological hubs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: To meet the challenge of fast innovation coupled with deep customer understanding, companies are adopting new approaches to their innovation strategies (Cheesbrough, 2003; OECD, 2012).\n2. From outsourced innovation to co-managed innovation: \"Openness\" has increasingly become an important orientation for accessing knowledge resources to generate new ideas and to bring them to market (Cheesbrough, 2003; Christensen et al., 2005). Removing the distance from the closed model, where innovation is produced inside the firm, the open approach requires managers to consider how a firm's creation of knowledge depends not only on what the firm realizes, but also on how firms interact with each other. From this perspective, innovation implies connections with external actors. Firms look for systematically performing knowledge exploration, retention and exploitation both inside and outside an organization's boundaries throughout the innovation process (Lichtenthaler, 2011). Innovation requires not only research of external sources but also the development of an effective innovation solution that involves strong interaction and cooperation with knowledge partners and is founded on the sharing and combining of knowledge (Powell et al., 2005; Hakansson and Olsen, 2011; Huikkola et al., 2013).\n3. Research approach: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how THs, defined as knowledge intermediaries, can assist companies in creating successful partnerships for open innovation. To understand the phenomenon of open innovation better, we used a qualitative case study approach (Beverland and Lindgreen, 2010; Harrison and Easton, 2004; Eisenhardt, 1989). We adopted an abduction process that enables data-driven theory generation (Jarvensivu and Tornroos, 2010). Choices related to the theoretical framework influenced the empirical investigation. The research involved a systematic combination of the continuous interaction between theory and the empirical world (Dubois and Gadde, 2002; Dubois and Araujo, 2004; Piekkari et al., 2010).\n4. The TH case: ComoNExT: In 2007, ComoNExT (new energy for territory) became the first TH founded in the Lombardy Region in North Italy. Its mission was to improve the attractiveness of the local economy. The TH covers facilities of 20,986 square meters where 73 enterprises are settled and 400 people work. The network of cooperation involves over 400 organizations, including firms, universities, research centers, banks and investment funds.\n5. Discussion and implications: The results of this study show the development of a collaborative approach in an innovation ecosystem, highlighting the shift from outsourced to co-managed innovation. Firms continually search for partners that can provide resources and can be involved in the process of innovation development. Yet, this search requires a process of careful partner identification, selection and involvement. Different scholars have highlighted the key role of supplier involvement in the development of new products, while others have discussed the centrality of user involvement. Our work outlines the relevance of a co-membership network, recognizing the substance of suppliers and customers and the growing importance of different innovation partners (i.e. research centers, universities, public organizations, industrial associations, THs, incubators, science parks, etc.).\n6. Conclusions: In the shift from outsourced innovation to co-managed innovation, firms need to select and involve both vertical (i.e. suppliers and customers) and horizontal (i.e. universities and research centers, public organization and knowledge intermediaries) relations in innovation development. As our findings show, the selection and involvement of vertical and horizontal partners is facilitated by THs that increasingly work on new business models founded on value-added services and networking. THs facilitate and support relationships among actors belonging to different positions but characterized by the same relational proximity.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how technological hubs (THs), defined as knowledge intermediaries, can assist companies in creating successful partnerships to develop innovations. Specifically, the authors ask how THs can help firms connect with horizontal networks and how THs can assist firms on finding suppliers and customers from the vertical network with whom to collaborate. By answering these two main questions, the paper sheds light on the important role of THs and its incubators as knowledge intermediaries in innovation co-creation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research is founded on a longitudinal case study of an Italian technologic hub, ComoNExT, that aims to improve the competitiveness of its local economy. Specific attention is given to the role of the incubator that was formed as a joint effort in the technology hub.\nFindings: The authors find that THs can facilitate networking among tenants and among tenants and external actors within the same epistemic network. The TH that the authors studied is characterized by a new business model that is founded on providing value-added services and networking. The TH sustains the networking at different levels: within tenants, with local actors, extra-local and international actors. The authors' analysis suggest that THs become knowledge intermediaries who allow firms to identify innovation parties and transform them into innovation partners and, thus, outline the shift from outsourced innovation to co-managed innovation.\nOriginality/value: The paper shows how knowledge intermediaries facilitate the intermediation between heterogeneous organizations who are located at different network positions and characterized by relational proximity that is the basis for reaching effective innovation. The research depicts how knowledge intermediaries reinforce the drivers of a co-membership network to co-create innovation to improve the strength of a relationship characterized by a shared vision.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Improving hospital food menu quality: an experimental approach	[ "Decision making", "User satisfaction", "Service delivery", "Patient satisfaction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Food served to institutional consumers has received notable criticism over time. Hospital food especially has a poor image, and quality expectations for hospital food are often low (Hartwell and Edwards, 2009). Even consumers with no prior experience with institutional food often hold negative attitudes and have low expectations about food served in hospitals, nursing homes, military camps and others. Cardello et al. (1996) refer to this consumer predisposition as institutional stereotyping. In fact, when looking at the reports given by those who consume hospital food, it should not come as a surprise that they develop such a stereotypical perception, e.g., in 2002, the Food Manufacture magazine reported that \"the quality of hospital food - or, at least, the condition in which it eventually reaches the patient - is so bad that anyone with less than an iron constitution can struggle to force it down\" (Whitworth, 2002. p. 28), which may be a significant reason why nearly half of all hospital food is thrown away. Moreover, in 2013, one report was that hospital food in England is so poor that six from ten patients rely on their relatives to bring food (Triggle, 2013). In March 2015, Norwegian newspapers reported that a 73-year old patient lost 21 kg after being hospitalized for five weeks, and eventually died from under-nutrition (Fuglehaug, 2015). These are just a few stories that contribute to a generally held belief that hospital food is inferior, which upholds the institutional stereotype.\nEvaluating food menus: When consumers are exposed to the alternatives listed on a food menu (e.g. a restaurant menu), they look for benefits that they believe will satisfy their current expectations (Wansink et al., 2005). Hence, menu information will be processed in comparison with associations retrieved from memory, and consumers will, based on this comparison, develop their expectations. However, outcomes may differ depending on the processes taking place in the consumer's mind. First, we will argue that consumers can base their food menu evaluations on an expectancy-disconfirmation process (Oliver, 1977, 1980), where evaluations will differ because expectations are different for various food offering organizations, e.g., if a consumer is confronted with a medium quality menu belonging to either a low-quality cafeteria or a high-quality restaurant, then they are likely to rate the menu belonging to the cafeteria more positively than the restaurant because the cafeteria is judged to deliver above expectations (positive disconfirmation), while the restaurant offer is below expectation (negative disconfirmation). This notion is the basic premises for research conducted within customer-satisfaction marketing, service management and consumer psychology (Oliver, 1997), and is basic knowledge in major marketing text books (Kotler and Keller, 2009). Hence, following these assumptions, a menu might be judged differently depending on the expectations consumers hold for the food supplier prior to seeing the actual menu. When transferred to a hospital setting, we might assume that institutional stereotype, or generally held belief that hospital food is low quality, should result in consumers having low expectations regarding food quality. Hence, if they are then exposed to reasonable quality food, then we might expect them to rate this more positively than they would if the same offer was given at a restaurant for which expectations where generally higher.\nMethods: Our goal was to test how food menu's perceived variation and attractiveness is influenced by food supplier specifications and menu descriptions. We outlined an experimental 2 (hospital post vs visitor restaurant) x 2 (plain vs fancy menu) between subject's factorial design. To get equal participants in each cell, 100 university students (58 percent women) were recruited to participate. Mean age was 24.45 years. The subjects were randomly assigned to four experimental conditions (25 in each cell), and were exposed to the following procedure: first, they were given a brief verbal introduction, before turning their attention to a booklet where they initially read a brief cover story. Here, food supplier manipulation was included, as half the participants were told that they were going to see a menu that listed the courses that local hospital patients could choose for today's dinner. The other half were told that these were the dishes that customers at the hospitals' cafeteria could choose today. To exclude price effect, this latter group was told that all options were equally priced, but no price was listed. The reason we chose the visitor cafeteria at the same hospital as our restaurant condition is that we wanted a food supplier with a neutral image, rather than a restaurant where the name alone could influence perceptions. Moreover, we did not want to make the differences between the supplier subject to negativity bias and the more neutral one to extreme, thereby testing our anticipated differences in consumer evaluations more strongly.\nDiscussion: Results from our experimental study hold interesting implications. First, it appears that sweetening the pill, by making food menus fancier, increases perceived attractiveness, which implies that institutional food negative perceptions are not strong enough to possess the characteristics often associated with a significant negativity bias, as we should then not see these positive changes in menu judgments. For institutional kitchen leaders, this implies that making the food menus more sophisticated might lead to increased satisfaction and increased consumption. Previous research on food taste evaluations found that when attitudes are activated prior to taste, they will influence how consumers like or dislike food, e.g., Lee et al. (2006) noted that people thought a beer tasted worse when exposed to negative information prior to taste than after taste. Similarly, in a study on herding bias and taste judgments, Hansen (2014) saw that consumers liked a food product better if being offered positive information about the product prior to taste than after taste. These two studies focused on how attitude activation affects food taste judgments and find that both positive and negative information have an effect. Related to institutional menus, we argue that a positive activation induced by more attractive menu descriptions may have a positive effect on consumer food evaluations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the negative impressions consumers hold toward institutional food can be remedied by subtle changes in menu descriptions. While an expectancy-disconfirmation explanation would suggest this, a negativity bias explanation would suggest otherwise.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors test the research question using an experimental 2 x 2 full factorial design, with data collected from 100 university students.\nFindings: The results show that when hospital menus are made somewhat fancier in their description, consumers evaluate the food as more attractive and menu variation to be greater. This implies that the judgments are more likely to be based on an expectancy-disconfirmation process that on being subject to negativity bias.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors study perceived attractiveness and menu variation, but future research should include taste perceptions and consumption volume.\nPractical implications: Institution managers could improve consumer perceptions of how attractive the food being served is, and the perceived variation in their menus, by subtly changing the course descriptions to become fancier. However, as such, a strategy based on an expectancy-disconfirmation process, institution managers should beware not to sweeten the pill too much, i.e., making promises they cannot keep may backfire if one makes the menus too fancy compared to what is delivered.\nOriginality/value: The authors extend current knowledge on menu label effects by addressing them for food suppliers, which are inherently associated with low food quality. The authors also show that when managers apply such strategies, the effect is due to a disconfirmation process rather than a negativity bias.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Editorial "Health for all": an attainable goal or an idealistic dream?	[ "Public health", "Developing countries", "Poverty" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: This editorial reflects on the prevailing health inequities across the globe and attempts to address some of these global health determinants and related global injustices. It specifically focuses on potential directives for achieving the lofty goal of \"health for all\" through improved health promotion efforts. It concludes by offering some practical suggestions for fostering global health, and the potential role of health educators in minimizing those adverse social determinants of health that impact us all.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Reflects on the prevailing health inequities across the globe and attempts to address some of these global health determinants and related global injustices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Specifically focuses on potential directives for achieving the lofty goal of \"health for all\" through improved health promotion efforts.\nFindings: - The concept of \"health for all\", envisages the attainment of a level of health that permits all the people of the world to lead a socially and economically productive life and this goal has been guiding health strategies all over the world for the past two decades. However, in the present day heterogeneous world, where wide disparities in health and social conditions exist between and within countries and regions, achievements in health are disturbingly dissimilar.\nOriginality/value: - Presents a health promotion perspective that could advance the ideal of \"health for all\".\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An investigation on impacts of structural changes in stocks' past returns on financial analysts' earnings forecasting rationality	[ "Structural change", "Earnings forecasting", "Financial analysts’ rationality", "Information regime" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Financial analysts routinely make forecasts on earnings per share (EPS) for the stocks they follow. Both institutional and individual investors incorporate earnings forecasts information in their stock investment decision making and transactions. As such, studying the mechanism of financial analysts' earnings forecasts is very important to stock investors. There has been a rich literature exploring financial analysts' rationality in making EPS forecasts. Financial analysts' rationality is referred to as a decision-making process in which a forecasted EPS is logically based on the information available at the forecasting time (Keane and Runkle, 1990). When making EPS forecasts, financial analysts use different sources of information. This study focuses on investigating financial analysts' rationality in using stocks' past return information to make EPS forecasts. Abarbanell (1991) shows that financial analysts do not fully use the information reflected in stocks' past returns. Lys and Sohn (1990) also report that analysts' earnings forecasts do not incorporate the full information contained in stocks' past returns prior to forecast-release dates. Basu and Markov (2004), using a linear loss regression methodology, show that financial analysts' earnings forecasts are not statistically efficient when stocks' past buy-and-hold returns serve as a predictor variable in the linear regression model. Muslu and Xue (2013) report that financial analysts' momentum recommendations reflect different sides of stocks' past returns. Jung et al. (2015) find that analysts incorporate the information of stocks' past returns when making revisions on earnings forecasts. Based on these findings, it suggests that analysts may not be fully rational when making earnings forecasts in using the information about stocks' past returns. To this end, a further question to ask is whether analysts' rationality in making earnings forecasts is homogenous or not if there exist significant structural changes in stocks' past returns. Specifically, would a financial analyst have the same extent of rationality in making earnings forecasts in the presence of significant regime shifts in a stock's past returns? Answering this question could help both practitioners and researchers better understand the behavior of financial analysts in making earnings forecasts. The purpose of this study is to add insights into this research. We use stocks' past returns as the information variable in this study. Using an econometric approach, we test whether financial analysts' rationality in making stocks' earnings forecasts is homogenous or not across different information regimes in stocks' past returns.\n2. Literature review: Researchers have made significant findings on the relationship between financial analysts' earnings forecasts and stocks' past returns. Lys and Sohn (1990), using a sample of 58 companies during 1980 to 1986, show that analysts only incorporate about 66 percent of the information contained in stocks' prior returns when making earnings forecasts. Abarbanell (1991) finds that even though there is a positive association between earnings revisions and past returns, the information of stocks' past returns is not fully reflected in earnings revisions made by financial analysts who follow the stocks' price changes. Cooper et al. (2001) report that financial analysts do use the information of recent excess returns to update their earnings forecasts. Clement et al. (2011) reveal that financial analysts, when forecasting future earnings, respond to past returns differently depending on how informative the past returns are about future earnings' changes. More recently, Dong et al. (2016) add to the existing literature that financial analysts indeed use the information about stocks' past returns in their earnings revisions. However, they find that 50 percent of these revisions are inconsistent with the signs of the past returns. Basu and Markov (2004) point out that even though financial analysts do use the information of stocks' past buy-and-hold returns when making earnings forecasts, these forecasts are economically efficient but not statistically efficient. It follows from the existing literature that stocks' past returns indeed influence analysts' earnings forecasts or revisions, but the information of stocks' past returns is not fully reflected in earnings forecasts.\n3. Research methodology: According to Keane and Runkle (1990), financial analysts' rationality in forecasting earnings can be tested using a linear regression model:(1)\n4. Data: We use quarterly panel data in this study. The actual and forecasted quarterly EPS data are obtained from Institutional Brokers' Estimate System (I/B/E/S). The quarterly stock prices data are gathered by the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP). The quarterly stock prices are used to calculate the quarterly returns. I/B/E/S provides both historical EPS estimates and actuals with two different versions, one of which contains the summary of historical EPS estimates and actuals, and the other includes the detailed EPS estimates and actuals. The former, which is called summary statistics, summarizes at a consensus level the EPS estimates made by all the financial analysts who follow the same stock, and the latter, which is called Detail History, records each individual analyst's EPS estimates on a daily timeline. The I/B/E/S data compiled for EPS estimates have different frequencies in terms of forecasted fiscal periods, such as one semi-annual, two semi-annuals, one year, two years, one quarter or two quarters ahead, etc. We use one-quarter ahead EPS estimates/forecasts extracted from the I/B/E/S Summary Statistics data. The data includes both mean and median consensus estimates for EPS. Research has shown that mean consensus EPS estimates are inefficient (Kim et al., 2001) as EPS summary information and median consensus EPS estimates are the optimal EPS estimates (Gu and Wu, 2003). Following the literature, we use median EPS estimates instead of mean EPS estimates in this study. For each quarter's EPS estimates, both mean and median estimates are collected in each monthly statistical period in I/B/E/S. We extract the median estimates published in the latest statistical period and use them as the EPS estimates (forecasts) for each quarter. The data from I/B/E/S in this study span from the Q3 of 1984 to Q2 of 2012 with 112 quarters[1]. As such, the CRSP data align with this time window as well. The finally matched I/B/E/S and CRSP data include those firms without any missing observations in both earnings and stock prices in the specified time horizon. Totally 212 firms and 112 quarters are included in the data with 23,744 observations.\n5. Results: In this study, we test analysts' rationality in different information regimes of stocks' past returns when they make one-quarter ahead forecasts for earnings, therefore we set k = 1 in the model (3). For the information variable, we use past one-quarter, two-quarter, and four-quarter buy-and-hold returns up to the end of quarter t-2, the quarter immediately before quarter t-1, during which an analyst makes quarter t's earnings forecast. Correspondingly, we test how past one-quarter, two-quarters and four-quarter return information at the end of quarter t-2, which is the most recent quarterly return information available prior to quarter t-1, affects analysts' rationality in making one-quarter ahead earnings forecasts, respectively. In estimating the threshold regression model, we do not pre-specify the number of the thresholds. The estimation process iteratively seeks optimal number of statistically significant thresholds and simultaneously estimates them together with other coefficients in the model.\n6. Conclusions: This research studies whether and how structural changes in stocks' past returns impose significant impacts on financial analysts' earnings forecasts. Specifically, we aim to answer a research question:\n7. Implications, limitations and future research: The results from this study have several implications. To researchers, this study adds more insights into the research on financial analysts' behavior in making EPS forecasts. Specifically, using a threshold regression model makes it possible to reveal the different reactions of financial analysts in the different structures of stocks' past returns. Methodologically, this study provides a different quantitative approach on testing financial analysts' rationality in making EPS forecasts. The finding that financial analysts are only rational when using a certain range of stock return information calls for more research on the reasons behind this behavior. From a practical perspective, the findings from this study may help practitioners in the equity investment field better use the EPS forecasts provided by financial analysts. Put it more concretely, it is helpful to be aware that EPS forecasts could be overestimated or underestimated when stock returns are extremely negative. The risk level of an investment portfolio based on forecasted EPS information might not reflect the true risk exposure. Furthermore, financial analysts' recommendations on stocks could be impacted by biased EPS forecasts. In addition, a trading strategy that is built up on the basis of EPS forecasts needs to be adjusted when a structural change in stock returns is detected.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test whether financial analysts' rationality in making stocks' earnings forecasts is homogenous or not across different information regimes in stocks' past returns.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By treating stocks' past returns as the information variable in this study, the authors employ a threshold regression model to capture and test threshold effects of stocks' past returns on financial analysts' rationality in making earnings forecasts in different information regimes.\nFindings: The results show that three significant structural breaks and four respective information regimes are identified in stocks' past returns in the threshold regression model. Across the four different information regimes, financial analysts react to stocks' past returns quite differently when making one-quarter ahead earnings forecasts. Furthermore, the authors find that financial analysts are only rational in a certain information regime of stocks' past returns depending on a certain return-window such as one-quarter, two-quarter or four-quarter time period.\nOriginality/value: This study is different from those in the existing literature by arguing that there could exist heterogeneity in financial analysts' rationality in making earnings forecasts when using stocks' past returns information. The finding that financial analysts react to stocks' past returns differently in the different information regimes of past returns adds value to the research on financial analysts' rationality.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The authentication and authorization infrastructure of perfSONAR MDM	[ "Computer networks", "Systems software", "Computer applications", "Control systems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In order to provide the fast, reliable and uninterrupted network communication that users of the GEANT2[1] research networks rely on, network administrators must be able to find and fix problems quickly and efficiently. However, while network administrators can identify problems that occur in their local network domains quite easily, methods to track issues across multiple domains are limited and time-consuming. For end-users, this inevitably leads to disruption and dissatisfaction.The perfSONAR infrastructure provides a multi-domain monitoring (MDM) service that answers the need for cross-domain monitoring capability. For the first time, network administrators are able to access network performance metrics from across multiple domains and can perform network monitoring actions in different network domains. Using out-of-the-box or customised web-interfaces, network problems and performance bottlenecks can be tracked and eliminated quickly, and potential performance issues can be identified and prevented before service disruption occurs.The perfSONAR MDM service enables users to:* Access network metrics for their own or any other network in the European REN. The metrics have a universally consistent meaning within the entire European REN.* Perform network measurements in different networks.The service comprises:* software (the perfSONAR web services and visualisation tools);* usage support; and* software support (deployment and configuration).\nperfSONAR framework: The framework of perfSONAR is based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), as it is shown in Figure 1, reflecting how different domains should collaborate between them.The Measurement Point Layer is the lowest one in the environment acquiring measurements and basic network information where every deployed component is configured for working on a specific metric, such as one-way delay or available bandwidth.The Service Layer manages the information obtained by those components in the previous layer and allows the exchange of measurement data between domains. In this layer is where perfSONAR services are deployed having an specific functionality, like resource management or authentication and authorization. The following types of perfSONAR web services are available:* Measurement Point web services: a family of web services which collect and publish the data that the network domains' measurement tools have collected. The measurement data can be collected on demand or in regular intervals according to a defined schedule. The data can be published to a client, transferred to other web services or stored in an archive (a database or a file system).* Measurement Archive web services: a family of web services that read measurement data held in databases or file systems and publish it to clients. The Measurement Archive web services can also be used to write measurement data that other web services provide to data stores.* Lookup web services: each network domain that joins the perfSONAR infrastructure needs a Lookup web service with which all other web services in this domain register. The Lookup services of multiple network domains communicate with each other and inform clients which web services are available. Clients just need the URL of the Lookup web service.The User Interface Layer represents those tools that, sending NMWG (Network Measurement Working Group/Open Grid Forum[2]) messages to perfSONAR services, analyze measurements and data of different domains and show reports to users. Also, these reports can be personalized depending on the role of the user interacting with the tool: end users, project members, NOC/PERT staff and network managers.\nProtecting perfSONAR: Measurements and network data are sensitive data for institutions and it is necessary to provide a way of protecting them, since they are available to any user who knows the end point of perfSONAR web services and message they expect to receive.The main goal of the perfSONAR Authentication and authorization Service (AS) is to allow any perfSONAR service to know whether the sender of a message is valid and has enough privileges to get data from them. Network domains that join the perfSONAR infrastructure can use an Authentication web service to protect resources within their domain. Users are authenticated before they can access the resources required to access measurement data or to carry out them.This service can receive authentication and authorization requests. The second one implies the first one too, so when it is received an authorization request (authR) is received it checks the authentication (authN) of the sender.The development of the AS has been divided in two steps: an initial release covering the authentication process and a second release implementing the authorization part. The main reason for this is that clients and perfSONAR services are exchanging sensitive data, as said before, and there is the strong constraint of providing a full-protected environment as soon as possible. In this way, services can start taking advantage of the authentication process without waiting for a full release of the AS.A brief overview of eduGAIN\nConclusions and future work: The Authentication and authorization Service of perfSONAR constitutes a first step in the introduction of an identity federation model in the field of network measurement and administration tools, as a result of joining efforts of the JRA1 and JRA5 of GEANT2. Now, perfSONAR services can validate the authentication of the sender and the new version of the AS, implementing the authorization process, is in advanced stage of its development.One of the main benefits of the development of the AS is that perfSONAR developers don't need to be aware of authentication and authorization issues, therefore reducing the cost of deploying federated AAI in the multi-domain infrastructure of the project.But the implementation of the AAI of perfSONAR faces further challenges that the project will need to deal with. A policy engine matching attributes against local policies is being developed for the AS, since it is required in the authorization process, but it will have to provide mechanisms for network administrators at the involved domains to manage authorization policies, having in mind that they are not experienced in AA issues.Furthermore, another important point for the future is the performance of the AA process. In perfSONAR, this is one of the most important points in its development, since visualization tools can send hundred of messages in order to analyze a problem. The generation of signatures in every message is noticeably decreasing the performance. Then, the AS should have a session engine so visualization tools can receive a session ticket from the AS and they can use in every message.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to show the results of having a full authentication and authorization scenario in a web service-oriented architecture. The Joint Research Activity 1 in the EU-funded GEANT2 project, in cooperation with Internet2, the US Department of Energy's ESnet and the Brazilian National Research and Educational Network, has defined a general framework for a multi-domain network measurement infrastructure. The implementation, called Performance-focused Service Oriented Network Monitoring Architecture, contains a set of services delivering performance measurements in a multi-domain environment. The main goal of this work is to provide a multi-federation identity solution to perfSONAR.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is a case study of applying authentication and authorization standards to a web service-oriented architecture. The prototype is implemented thanks to eduGAIN.\nFindings: - A multi-federation identity solution for highly distributed web services environment has been gained.\nOriginality/value: - The paper shows that it is possible to have a multi-federated environment for web and non-web applications applying current technologies. This is useful for practitioners of distributed software, specially in national research and educational networks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managerial practices and operative directions of knowledge management within inter-firm networks: a global view	[ "Knowledge management", "Inter-firms networks", "Knowledge clusters", "Knowledge networks", "Knowledge sharing", "Technology transfer." ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Scientific and technological advances have long been recognized as being among the main drivers of national social and economic development. However, with respect to firm-level competitive advantage, widespread recognition that knowledge is the primary way to achieve superior performance has come much more recently (Cardoso et al., 2012; Nicotra et al., 2014). Furthermore, the need to create new knowledge and to improve the learning process is a reaction to the challenges posed by globalization. Strong internal demand, for example, is no longer an undisputed advantage when the cost of international transport decreases when consumer confidence against domestic firms is reduced or when they are not the majority of trade barriers. Then, the process of learning and the creation of new knowledge are seen as firms' replies against a changing economic and institutional environment. It's interesting to note that to learn using external resources, it is necessary that the organization is inserted into a system that allows it to exchange knowledge through direct contacts with other actors. The relational networks can in fact be regarded as the relationships between agents that cooperate to acquire resources. This definition leads to the economics network approach, an interpretive model that provides a framework for analyzing the relationship between learning, innovation and networks. Thus, knowledge is being increasingly recognized as the most important resource in organizations and a key differentiating factor in business today. It is increasingly accepted that knowledge management can lead to the much needed innovation and improved business performance in organizations. Understanding knowledge as a key resource for innovation can be viewed as a knowledge management issue. Although there are several perspectives on knowledge management, they all share the same core components, namely, people, processes and technology (Carayannis and Alexander, 2002). Knowledge management plays a crucial role in the development of sustainable competitive advantage through innovation whether in products or services (Quintane et al., 2011). Knowledge management is also crucial for exploiting business relationships and extract value from the external networks of the organization. This special issue aims to present and discuss research focused on the role of knowledge management for innovative solutions in organizations and inter-firm networks (Ahuja, 2000; Wolf et al., 2011) as well as to shed light on recent advances of knowledge management in knowledge-intensive industries (Del Giudice and Straub, 2011; Chase, 2004, 2006). The scientific objective of the special issue is to identify challenging problems on the role of knowledge management on designing and implementing innovative products, services or inter-organizational forms as well as to identify future directions of research for the role of knowledge management regarding these issues.\nDesign and methodology: This special issue presents original research findings aiming at contributing, at a practical level, new knowledge for both researchers and managers interested in the knowledge management and sharing within inter-firm networks. The papers here presented include contributions from worldwide: they have been selected among almost 100 submissions and discuss empirical findings across multiple levels of analysis in a wide range of sectors. Empirical research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods have been welcomed. The Guest Editor has considered conceptual papers that draw on the existing literature and develop innovative contributions that improve the understanding of the topic, as well. Thus, the guest editor has been looking for a wide variety of papers that may contribute to the creation of a solid evidence base concerning knowledge management in organizations and inter-firm networks. The research methodologies used for gathering empirical data vary from quantitative surveys to exploratory case studies based on qualitative data. Several rounds of blind peer review have been necessary, and they resulted in the final form of this volume on July 2014 for publication here. All articles selected demonstrated relevance to the understanding of social software and its implications for knowledge management. Readers of this special issue should be technically savvy, scientifically demanding and drawn to practically relevant phenomena. The special issue has been organized coherently with two \"strains\" of topics: the first one focused on managerial practices and operative directions of knowledge management, the other one pointed out on applications of knowledge management to inter-firm networks.\nManagerial practices and operative directions of knowledge management: The papers included in Part I provide a solid grounding to readers interested in managing various aspects of the knowledge processes within organizations (Del Giudice et al., 2010; 2011; 2013); they have been selected to provide an overview of key contributions from different theoretical perspectives and to explore a variety of approaches and tools in different settings.\nApplication of knowledge management within inter-firm networks: The studies in the second section of this special issue reinforces the main theme explored throughout this research, the contention that inter-organizational learning in a global context challenges organizations to develop new skills and structures, including new and multiple forms of learning.\nConclusions: Over the past two decades, researchers in the rapidly changing marketplace have applied frontier efficiency analysis to measure efficiency. There is one leitmotif reflected in many contributions to this special issue, namely, that intangible assets are rapidly becoming an important indicator of performance of a country or a company. The authors of this editorial thank all the colleagues who contributed as reviewers to the development of this issue, particularly Roberta Cuel, Loris Gaio, Diego Ponte, Maria Laura Frigotto and Marco Zamarian. Last but not least, a special acknowledgement goes to Rory L. Chase, Editor in Chief of the Journal of Knowledge Management, for his insightful suggestions and patient guidance; this issue would never see the light without his precious advices, support and if he was not thrilled for the research topics.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this special issue s to cover a substantial range of approach to knowledge management penetrating inquiry that goes beyond intra-organizational learning processes to include inter-organizational perspectives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: As pointed out by the literature on various aspects of the knowledge processes within and between organizations, the work has been organized coherently with two \"strains\" of topics: the first one focused on managerial practices and operative directions of knowledge management, the other one pointed out on applications of knowledge management to inter-firm networks. Qualitative as well quantitative papers have been welcomed.\nFindings: Opening up the idea of pluralism as a driving force in the knowledge economy pushes the organizations in a permanent cumulative process of adaptation and re-creation through innovative means of social interaction in global environments.\nResearch limitations/implications: The dynamic nature of the field is reflected in the fact that this project expanded to encompass emerging works on knowledge models and concepts that grew from conversations within the network.\nOriginality/value: This special issue aims to extend the current understanding on how diversity of approaches enhances the process of discovery: the authors convey the sense of where the stimulating challenges lie.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge creation in universities and some related factors	[ "Iran", "Universities", "Organizational culture", "Social capital", "Knowledge creation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the recent decade, knowledge has been the driving force of intellectuality and accordingly, those organizations which have been able to employ collective aptitude of the employees and use their expertise and knowledge completely, are recognized as more innovative. Therefore, it can be said that the survival of organizations depends on knowledge creation (Coromina Soler, 2006, p. 10). While some developing countries pin their hopes on their natural resources like oil, gas and mineral resources and are worried about the decrease of their national capitals, industrial countries have found access to endless resources which grow and yield more profits with more consumption. This wealth is rooted in man's dynamic mind. Knowledge is an endless wealth.Knowledge creation depends on different factors. Among these factors, organizational culture (Parent et al., 2000) and social capital (De Clercq and Dakhli, 2004) can be mentioned. To confirm this claim, researchers have undertaken pilot research and interviews and found that the two variables, organizational culture and social capital, prove to be more effective in the process of knowledge creation (Al-Alawi et al., 2007, p. 31).Knowledge creation is related to professors' scientific socialization, the combination of scientific findings, publishing findings of research, etc. Dorri and Talebnejod (2008) expressed that one of the most important missions of universities today is knowledge creation. The necessity of knowledge creation in universities can be assessed from the external (reply to the needs of society) and internal dimension (improvement of the quality of education, promotion of the place of university, increase in income, etc.). Based on their conceptual model, the barriers to knowledge creation were related to government and society, scientific communications at the national and international levels, equipments, facilities and space, organizational structure, etc., respectively (Dorri and Talebnejod, 2008). In a society which the above-mentioned barriers can be removed to a great extent, improvement in all dimensions can be observed. Therefore, one of the important factors for knowledge creation is social capital because social capital includes supportive social networks which can accelerate reproduction of the process of knowledge creation. Another variable affecting knowledge creation, which has been considered in this study, is organizational culture. Organizational culture includes a combination of values, beliefs, perception and inference, and way of thinking common to members of an organization (Pourkazemi and Shakeri Navaii, 2004, p. 49). Therefore, if organizational culture materializes among the members of an organization (faculty members in this case) in an optimal level, it can make positive changes in knowledge creation too. The essential point related to this issue is that so far, there has been no research undertaken in Iran with emphasis on the relationship between organizational culture, social capital and knowledge creation and the research undertaken before has not considered the three sociological constructs together. Therefore, the innovation of the present research has to do with simultaneous investigation of the three constructs mentioned above, and their relationships. Based on this point, it can be said that the main rationale behind this study is that although nowadays, universities are the major center of knowledge creation and educating expert human force and the major mission of universities is creating knowledge, the findings of previous studies on this issue in Iran reveals that the amount of knowledge creation at universities is not at an ideal level (Ghanei rad et al., 2008). This issue is worrisome since it can have unpleasant effects on the process of multidimensional, continuous development of the country.Thus, the main objective of this study is to find out the amount of knowledge creation in the university of Isfahan as one of the main universities of Iran and second, whether organizational culture and social capital as the major variables of the study affect the amount of knowledge creation.\n2. Conceptual and theoretical approaches: 2.1 Knowledge and its kinds\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Research method, data collection and data analysis\n4. Data analysis: 4.1 Variable descriptive analysis\n5. Conclusion and implications: The main purpose of the present paper is examining knowledge creation and investigating the effects of organizational culture and social capital on it. In this section, we try to present a selected collection of the concepts examined in this study and the answers to questions posed in the introduction section then, compare the result with the findings of previous research. As a result, a set of applied implications for promoting knowledge creation will be presented.Today, in post-industrial societies, knowledge is a key resource. Universities, as educational organizations are among these key resources. In the third millennium, universities should function as social institutes which logically assess and analyze the situation of the society in order to solve its major problems. Naturally, these purposes will materialize when creating knowledge becomes the primary objective of universities. For this reason, this study tries to consider the essential issue of knowledge creation and many times, it was mentioned that organizational knowledge creation is a dynamic and continuous interaction between implicit and explicit knowledge. This interaction is formed through the change and development of different methods of knowledge transfer. The first dimension of knowledge creation is socialization. This dimension is the process of exchanging knowledge and sharing ideas (interaction of implicit knowledge and implicit knowledge). This happens in dynamisms of efficient teams or between the colleagues who share common ideas. In this stage, people talk about what is important to them and use the ideas of each other. As a result, agreed knowledge is achieved. In externalization, the second dimension of knowledge creation, ideas change to an operational reality. In a team situation, metaphors and allegories help people to externalize and reveal their implicit knowledge (experiences, ideas, beliefs, etc.) and visualize a clear and vivid picture of other's ideas in their minds. The compromised knowledge is purified within dialogues, discussions and analyses and a codified language like allegory and metaphor is used for highlighting the common points of concepts. In this way, the relation is made between concepts. Each section and the relations between sections help to define the problem and generally give integrity and logical discipline to the body of knowledge. In combination, the process of systematizing the concepts in the framework of the system of knowledge is at work. Combination, the third dimension of knowledge and the existing knowledge in other sections of the organization, crystallizes knowledge in the form of a new product, service or management systems. Systematic knowledge is the final product of this stage of the process knowledge transfer. Finally, learning through application which leads to internalization (the last dimension of knowledge creation) makes operational knowledge. These kinds of knowledge interact with each other in the process of knowledge creation.Organizational culture relates to a set of shared perceptions and understandings for organizing actions which employs language and other symbols to express these shared understandings (Sardari, 2004, p. 46). Therefore, organizational culture is considered as a source and reference for the employees' feeling of identity. On this basis, the employees relate their personalities to the personality (culture) of the organization, and due credit of it (identification). In addition, organizational culture by introducing appropriate motivations to employees helps them move in the direction of achieving the objectives of the organization. In this way, the possibility of the emergence of behaviors opposite to the rules of the organization decreases. From the social view, culture is like a glue which connects the members of the organization together through presenting an appropriate standard (stability of social system) and finally it makes a kind of commitment and feeling of responsibility in people toward something which is more important than the individual's advantage and profit (internal commitment). Therefore, on the basis of the content of organizational culture and its relation with knowledge creation and social capital, it can be inferred that first, knowledge creation does not happen in vacuum, rather, it occurs in organizations in which strong organizational culture has been already materialized, and second, one of the main conditions for realization of social capital is to act according to the norms of the organization or to realize the organizational culture. Therefore, organizational culture has strong relationship with both social capital and knowledge creation. Regarding social capital, such factors as trust, voluntarily participation and supportive social networks are essential elements that if realized in the society of university, they can grow the production of modern knowledge. In other words, social capital in the realm of its knowledge is a factor for accumulating knowledge. Now, if managers at different levels become familiar with this concept, they can reduce a lot of social and organizational expenses by empowering and useful exploitation of it and they can bring life and reproduction to the cycle of knowledge creation by doing structural changes.Now, considering the above-mentioned points, it can be said that based on the findings, organizational culture and social capital as the main variable, have significantly influenced knowledge creation. As the results of path analysis reveal, the two independent variables mentioned above determine 36 percent of the fluctuations in the dependent variable (knowledge creation). Thus, it can be concluded that the results of previous research can be applied for this population (Table XII).Finally, based on the findings, the following proposals can be presented for promoting knowledge creation.Since a healthy organization cannot survive without knowledge, organizations should plan for operationalizing knowledge and empowering in creating and publishing knowledge.If there is no trust among people in the exchange and sharing of knowledge, they cannot easily acquire and decode knowledge from social sources. Therefore, bringing trust through facilitating social interactions, which part of it is related to the expertise of university managers, can be useful for promoting knowledge creation in the university.In a society devoid of enough social capital, other resources will waste. Therefore, the issue of social capital as a major principle for finding access to knowledge creation is necessary. Social capital is the realization of social or organizational culture based on people's trust and participation. Thus, any attempt on behalf of managers for enriching organizational culture can enhance social capital because regarding the role of leadership and cultural symbols, the management of organizational culture can generally enhance such cultural factors as feeling of group identity, and shared organizational identity, belonging to a common future, participation, inter-personal and group trust, etc. This fact will finally lead to enhancing knowledge creation.Using educational group techniques such as team works and group projects and also increasing group learning in the framework of work processes at university can both empower trust networks and make knowledge creation.Finally, universities are passing the stage of information and reaching knowledge. Therefore, the changes of moving from modern to post-modern realm can itself postpone making and enhancing knowledge creation. Accordingly, at this realm, management based on knowledge is necessary not management based on mere information. On the other hand, today, we are passing the stage of giving prominence to material resources and reach the stage of giving prominence to social resources. Therefore, if we want to have knowledge creation in universities, we should share our knowledge with each other, and internalize it as culture to make new knowledge by accumulating that. As a result, many problems and disorders of the society can be removed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical picture of the concept of knowledge creation and then investigate the effects on it of such variables as social capital and organizational culture.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The population of this study includes faculty members of the University of Isfahan (Iran) in 2008 (476 cases). From among these cases, 142 cases were selected based on the Cochran formula. Survey was used as the research method and a questionnaire was used for data collection. Pearson correlation \"r\" and multi-variable regression were employed, and in the next stage, through drawing the model of structural equations, the direct effects, indirect effects and total effects of independent variables on the dependent variable were investigated, based on path analysis model. SPSS and LISREL were employed for statistical analysis.\nFindings: - The results revealed that social capital and organizational culture had meaningful effect on knowledge creation. The analysis showed that the independent variables mentioned above could determine 36 percent of the effects of the dependent variable.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The findings are based, in the main, on an extensive, single university study; therefore it is necessary to be cautious about generalizing the result of this study to other universities in Iran.\nOriginality/value: - The paper can contribute to organizations through providing a holistic picture of the role of knowledge creation in organizations (especially universities).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Characteristics of water containers influencing the presence of Aedes immatures in an ecotourism area of Bang Kachao Riverbend, Thailand	[ "Aedes mosquito immature", "Dengue vector", "Mosquito survey", "Tourist attraction area", "Water container" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: In Thailand, the dengue virus is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) and Aedes albopictus. These species prefer to breed in man-made water containers in human habitation. The risk of dengue transmission is increased by poor environmental management and water storage practices. The annual report of the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that the global incidence of dengue, mostly among children, has increased significantly in recent decades[1]. For example, dengue cases in three WHO regions (Americas, South-East Asia and Western Pacific) exceeded 1.2m cases in 2008, and over 3m in 2013. Worryingly, the number of dengue cases is increasingly reported in new areas, and extensive dengue outbreaks have also occurred[2].\nMethods: Study design and study area\nResults: Mosquito productivity\nDiscussion: The differences for productive containers bathroom and toilet containers (74.02 and 15.17 percent), and daily-use water containers (10.29 and 77.17 percent) were the indoors and outdoors locations, respectively. Both consistently provided breeding places for Aedes' immatures production. The results were similar to previous studies finding that open-mouthed containers and large containers increased the number of suitable breeding places for mosquito larval production[24, 25]. Indoors, large or open-mouthed containers in the bathroom and toilet, which are human-made square concrete basins, were the most productive sources of Aedes immatures. Outdoors, daily-use water containers for washing clothes or cleaning the house, mostly using earthen jars, were the most productive. Bang Kachao Riverbend is an environmental area that provides breeding places that support abundant Aedes immatures. These breeding areas include natural water held in natural containers, such as tree-holes, bromeliad leaf axils and bamboo trunks, which are difficult to eliminate and should be considered for priority primary control.\nConclusions: These results might be supported by the public health concern in the households that are located in a tourist attraction area. Different productive containers were often found with Ae. aegypti pupae representing more than 70 percent of surveillance, such as in jars, toilet tanks, fish bowls and plastic pans surveyed in Khon Kaen province (northeastern Thailand), Chiang Mai province (northern Thailand) and Surat Thani province (south of the country) during rainy and dry seasons. However, the pH or other substances in containers should be evaluated in further studies. Using safe and environmentally friendly water storage systems are recommended as well as increasing the knowledge of humans and society about the dangers of certain practices. The increase of Aedes immatures is a public health concern and is mainly achieved by eliminating container habitats that are favorable in oviposition sites. These controls may not permit the development of the larvae/pupae stages. For daily use, containers are able to eliminate larvae/pupae by cleaning them or removing the developing stages using an insecticide or biological control agent or combination of these methods. Finally, applying an integrated vector management system is the strategic approach to promoting vector control. These findings are an early warning to control dengue vector in a tourist attraction area.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of breeding containers on the production of Aedes mosquitoes after a vector-control program in households that might support dengue transmission in tourist attraction areas of Bang Kachao Riverbend, Thailand.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional study was conducted in an ecotourism area of Bang Kachao Riverbend, Thailand, during the period October 2016 to September 2017. A total of 832 households from five villages participated in the study. Data collection employed an interview questionnaire, larval mosquito survey and measurements of the chemical properties of the water in each container. A binary logistic regression model was used to investigate the characteristics of water containers influencing the presence or absence of Aedes immatures.\nFindings: The study found that water containers located inside households had a highly presence of Aedes immatures (2.22 times) compared with outdoor containers. Water containers without lids and water containers with ineffective had a high presence of Aedes immatures (3.69 and 2.54 times, respectively). In addition, the chemical properties of the water inside the containers, such as pH, influenced the presence of Aedes immatures (1.76 times) (OR=1.76, 95% CI=1.59-1.96).\nOriginality/value: The study results emphasized the characteristics of water containers in households located in a tourist attraction area. The findings may inform public health vector-control messages for households located in the tourist attraction area.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How relationship attributes affect bank customers' saving	[ "Retail banking", "Financial advisory services", "Relationship attributes", "Saving behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Saving is an important part of consumer financial decision making. Compared with other products, saving products are often regarded as more complex and difficult to evaluate due to their sophistication, uncertainty and long-term horizon. Therefore, many consumers decide on saving after consultation with a financial advisor.\n2. Theory and hypotheses: 2.1 Saving\n3. Data and method: 3.1 The sample and data collection\n4. Results: The next step of the empirical investigation involves testing our hypotheses in a structural model of causal relations, model 1. Figure 1 shows the relations among duration, context, trust and saving. The number of observations used in the model after listwise deletion due to missing values is 3,693.\n5. Conclusions, managerial implications, and future research: Saving behavior has traditionally been analyzed at the aggregate level or at the individual level, but has more seldom been related to the intermediation between bank advisors and their customers. Recent research, however, points to more costs than benefits for investors meeting financial advisors in terms of risk-weighted return, and of stronger saving behavior after meeting financial advisors (Hackethal et al., 2012). This study has focused on the different attributes that characterize a relationship between the bank advisor and the customer. First, we find that relationship attributes such as duration, context, and trust - as subjectively perceived by the customer - can explain saving behavior - as objectively measured by the monthly flows to mutual funds and the number of bank products bought by the customer and held in stock. Second, we find that duration of relationship with the bank is the most important attribute, followed by context. Trust has somewhat smaller total effects on saving behavior. Third, we find that trust is a partially mediating variable, which means that a longer duration as bank customer leads to increased trust; also a greater understanding of context by the advisor about the customer's needs and risk profile, as perceived by the customer, creates trust. Understanding the customer's context thus opens up more room for creating more trust in the advisor; this strengthens saving behavior since, with more trust, the customer is more inclined to listen and follow the advice given. Context and duration also contribute directly to saving behavior.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine how three relational attributes - duration, context and trust - are subjectively perceived by bank customers, and how these affect their saving behavior, as defined by monthly flows to mutual funds and the financial products bought and held in stock.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use a combination of unique bank register and subjective survey data, and a structural equation model for theory development. Four constructs are developed to estimate the structural model, i.e. saving behavior, duration, context and trust.\nFindings: The authors find that all three relational attributes have positive effects on saving behavior. The authors also find that duration and context have the largest total effects, and that trust is a mediating variable channeling indirect effects from context and duration to saving behavior.\nPractical implications: One implication for bank managers is that it takes time and understanding of customer context to gain customer trust, but that this increases customer savings. Another implication is that the authors confirm that relational attributes can be studied using subjective measures in surveys, and that these have an effect on objective savings behavior. The findings provide an understanding that could develop both the customer's value and the banks' business opportunities.\nOriginality/value: The impact of relationships between bank advisors and their customers in terms of costs and benefits has been studied, but a little research has focused on the attributes of the relationship and how these affect customers' saving behavior. The study also uses unique objective bank register data, combined with customers' subjective perceptions of the relationship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Preserving patient privacy in the quest for health care economies	[ "Privacy", "Health services", "Economics" ]	[ { "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: Marketers have not taken a leading role in the digitization of health care information process. Their insight and experience offer the potential of avoiding conflicts and insuring a well functioning system. Notably, the standard bearers in the digitization process are politicians seeking consumer welfare and cost savings, and information system professionals, seeking profit-generating solutions. Both of these groups lack the marketing knowledge to deal with consumers and gain their trust, support, and cooperation. Absent that support, consumers' concerns about privacy issues may undermine the effective functioning and effectiveness of the system. The paper discusses the state of the effort to digitize patient health care data, offers a theoretical perspective to help understand the issues involved and provides insights into how marketers can affect the process.Health care occupies a unique place in western society. Arguably, it is valued more than engineering, natural science, business or liberal arts. One reason may be that health care providers are those who can reduce pain, improve the quality of life, or prolong it. Life is precious and the actions to preserve it may be priceless. In addition, health care is so important that the supply of health care providers is limited to the very best educated individuals trained to the highest professional standards. The resulting supply of health care providers is thus limited, a classic reason for higher costs. Another reason for the cost increase is that medicine has developed and improved during that period. New medical discoveries, treatment modalities, and technologies have improved the quality of health care and increased patient welfare and life spans.The health care service requires multiple players to deliver: physicians, laboratories, pharmaceutical producers, hospitals, insurance providers, public programs like Medicare and Medicare and a host of government overseers. Overall delivery costs have risen steadily as the number of services and participant providers have increased impacting customers over the last 50 years. Costs of providing more services have skyrocketed and as insurance premiums rise, the numbers of the uninsured swell. The numbers of individuals without health insurance is expected to reach 66 million, which will be over a fifth of the US population in 2019 (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2009).Over the same period doctors, hospitals, insurers, and governments have attempted to contain the cost increases. Each entity has attacked the problem in its own way. Doctors have shifted some of their work to lower paid professionals like physicians assistants, nurse practitioners or trained clinical aides. Nurses can take a medical history, record weight and blood pressure and free the doctor from that work. The result is that the physician can see more patients and that tends to reduce the cost per patient.Hospitals have introduced technology including new treatment applications, advanced diagnostic tools, and money saving record keeping and billing systems. Insurers have done their part by trying to limit insurance coverage and their outlays in reimbursing health care providers for services rendered. They have imposed cost containment measures, delayed payment and required pre-approval before considering covering treatment. In addition they have looked for cost saving approaches like early discovery or prevention of disease, one of their current objectives.Governments have acted in several ways. On one hand they have offered to provide treatment to individuals via national health programs. On the other hand some have tried to impose limits on compensation. Others have used taxation to restrict the use of items that harm health like cigarettes and alcohol.Simultaneously, improvements in computer technology have prompted each entity to apply computing power to affect cost savings. Today's technology can offer a physician increased efficiencies and possibly reduced operating costs. Physicians interviewing a patient may download patient records directly to his laptop computer and type his treatment notes directly into an electronic file after making the diagnosis. He or she can print prescriptions from the therapy room or send them directly to the pharmacy electronically. Hospitals, insurers and governments have also discovered the cost savings of digitized patient records and have moved to standardize and require them.Digitization technology promises cost savings, and nearly 20 billion dollars of the recent US economic stimulus financing are devoted to increasing the level of digitization. The carrot of financial support to physicians and hospitals willing to digitize is accompanied by a stick - in a few years medical costs reimbursement by government will require electronic data or be withheld.Digitization also using it carries an unintended consequence: compromising patient privacy. The twentieth century physician kept records on paper; records that could be safeguarded in a locked filing cabinet. Moreover, in the absence of third-party mandate, like the legal requirements to report tuberculosis, doctor-patient privilege kept patient treatment confidential. In contrast, today digital records are so easy to copy, transmit, share, and access, that privacy is easy to compromise.The costs of loss of health care information privacy\nDigital information pathways in the use of health care information: As health care costs have escalated, more parties require access to individual patient health record data. The system depicted in Figure 1 has evolved over time while the number of providers and participants increased. In the nineteenth century, the dyadic model of patient (Number 1 in Figure 1) and doctor (2 in Figure 1) included all the partners in health care and guaranteed that the privacy of any patient information would be maintained. If a third-party, the pharmacist (3 in Figure 1), were involved, the system still had the potential to safeguard a patient's confidential information. At this stage, professional ethics that protected patients also protected their privacy. As time went on and other partners were included in the health care system, the potential for information to leak increased. Even the players are more complicated. For example, there are more physician specialists, and what was often treated in the past by the family doctor today requires referral to specialists. With increase specializations, medical equipment vendors (3a), and medical service suppliers (3b) entered the process. In cases where hospitalization was required (4 in Figure 1) the potential loss of privacy increased further as newly created records, some without the knowledge of the patient became available. Another party impacting the provision of health care is the health care insurer (5 in Figure 1). Their need for documentation of conditions and treatments provides them with access to individual's medical records. That access, combined with the health insurer's contract impacts the search, choice, provision and consumption of health care services. The employer (if they paid the health insurance premiums and the government (6 and 7 respectively) increase the number of potential breaches of the privacy of medical information.The complex system of information pathways depicted in Figure 1 describes the current health care system with numerous additional entities requiring, and having, access to information. Any organization may have a problem safeguarding information. As the number of partners has proliferated, the actual breaches of security have increased.Recent news accounts illustrate the potential problems is maintaining the security of consumer information. The areas include student or alumni records, credit card account data, and patient health data, among others. On the surface, the information may not seem critical. However, even something as seemingly innocuous as university alumni records can cause severe damage. Such databases include sensitive information like an individual's name, address, date of birth and social security or government identification number. Using that information, cyber thieves can open credit card accounts, empty them and leave the victims to deal with damaged credit ratings and the potential liability for the theft. The data can come from stolen laptop computers used by employees outside of the organization, by hackers entering a company's computer mainframes, or by thieves who intercept electronic data as it is being transmitted. One troubling source of leaks is employees themselves. Computerization within companies has made it easier for employees to access information. For companies without internal firewalls that compartmentalize access for employees to their areas of responsibility, potentially anyone can access anything. There is often a market willing to buy such data that includes the tabloid media. Celebrities may be the most egregious examples of victims of invasions of privacy. While some of the information takes the form of inappropriate photos taken early in their careers, some of the examples focus on the health status of movie stars.Other issues can involve aspects of safety to consumers' health that can arise from inadvertent errors in data entry or editing leading to changes which can lead to errors in diagnosis and treatment (Goldstein, 2009; Terhune et al., 2009). In the case of health care information for ordinary individuals, the rewards for breaching confidentiality may be lower, but exist nevertheless. Pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies have an interest in identifying individuals who must take specific medications to treat certain diseases. Some have started to encourage patients' compliance with dosage regimens, while at the same time insuring sale of their products and another assault on privacy.However, as shown in Figure 1, the information pathways are still complex and convoluted. Successful digitization of the medical data in all of the pathways would expose personal data to an increasing number of information handlers, dealing with a variety of aspects of the health care provision, all at electronic speeds distributed to multiple recipients.As more emphasis is placed on economics, individuals' life-style choices may be incorporated into the health care records. Drug and alcohol use, smoking, obesity, and other habits can impact health care costs and are already targets for change. The potential for cost savings could increase the impetus to collect individuals' behavioral information, further increasing potential breaches of data and loss of privacy. The problem of securing massive amounts of electronic data requires a systematic approach. Most important, it requires a commitment that information security is important and is a goal to be achieved.In order to assess the nature and scope of the security problem it is useful to examine the relationships among the system actors. The pathways are the conduits for information but people and their policies determine the security of the data. Several existing theoretical business perspectives are applicable to the information security and management issues. They include agency, stewardship, and the resource dependence model. Examining each one and applying it to the health care information security problem can shed light on the factors that must be addressed to insure consumer privacy.\nTheoretical perspectives on privacy: A number of economic and organizational theories have recognized the role that relationships between managers and stakeholders play in organizations. The interpersonal relationships introduce a variable that complicates cause and effect relationships in organizations. Three theories: agency, stewardship and resource dependence have particular relevance to digitization of the health care records and the relationships between individuals and the system operators.Individual systems may operate in ways that typify one of the theoretical perspectives. Examining each of the theoretical models in the context of the health care information system may help uncover the essential ingredients for safeguarding privacy.Agency theory\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the threats to patient privacy inherent in the movement to reduce health care costs by digitizing health care information.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper applies relevant organizational theories to the health care information privacy arena, and predicts different privacy outcomes depending on the model organizations adopt to manage their information processing practices.\nFindings: - Public policy makers who value preservation of patient health care information privacy, can predict the relative safety of information based on the organizational model used by companies which handle that data. Propositions advanced by these theories to explain business processes are reviewed to the extent they help explore the relationships between the users and managers of the digitized health records, and the privacy of the patients' health-records. The paper offers a series of implications for marketers based on the framework.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The findings are most applicable to health care systems that do not already sacrifice privacy in the name of economy.\nPractical implications: - The findings can be used to insure the security of health care information.\nOriginality/value: - The paper addresses a recent trend motivated by the need to make health care accessible to more people. Rising health care costs have forced lawmakers and marketers to seek more efficient processes to reduce costs. One unintended consequence is that economies sacrifice privacy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Inter-basin water transfer supply chain coordination with the fairness concern under capacity constraint and random precipitation	[ "Supply chain coordination", "Capacity constraint", "Fairness concern", "Inter-basin water transfer (IBWT)", "Random precipitation", "Water delivery loss" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) project is to use a large-scale artificial method to transfer a large amount of water from the water abundant basin to the water shortage basin, so as to promote the economic and social development and alleviate the contradiction of water shortage in the water-scarce region. Many large-scale IBWT projects have been built and operated in major river basins around the world, such as, the Central Valley Project in the USA (SWP, 2017; Yang, 2003) and the South-to-North Water Diversion (SNWD) Project in China (Wang et al., 2009).\n2. Literature review: Currently, game theory is applied to identify the interaction relationships among stakeholders in the operations management of IBWT projects are investigated through game theory, for example, game theory model for the water conflicts in the SNWD project (Wei et al., 2010), game-theoretic model for the IBWT system considering both the quantity and quality (Manshadi et al., 2015), innovative option contract for allocating water in the IBWT projects (Rey et al., 2016), and the incentive-compatible payments in the SNWD project (Sheng and Webber, 2017). Furthermore, cooperative game theory is applied to balance the individual rationality and the collective rationality in the operations management of IBWT projects; for example, optimal water allocation in the IBWT system using the crisp and fuzzy Shapley games (Sadegh et al., 2010), water resources allocation considering the water quality in the IBWT system using cooperative game (Nikoo et al., 2012), IBWT water resources allocation using least core game (Jafarzadegan et al., 2013), IBWT water-resource allocation using a robust multi-objective bargaining methodology (Nasiri-Gheidari et al., 2018).\n3. Theoretical modeling notations and overview: An IBWT distribution system is a typical \"embedded\" supply chain structure. In this supply chain system, a horizontal water supply system is embedded in a vertical water distribution system (see Figure 1). The horizontal water supply system is comprised of a local supplier and an external supplier and they serve as a joint IBWT supplier via an efficient cooperation mechanism, and the vertical water distribution system distributes water by the joint IBWT supplier through the multiple water distributors to many water consumers in the service region. Specifically, the water resources are transferred and supplied by the local supplier from the water source to the external supplier within the trunk channel and then distributed to water resources distributors of all water-intakes via river channels and artificial canal. Finally, the water resources are sold by each distributor to the water resources consumers in his service region. What needs to be noted is that the water consumers can only buy water from their regional water distributors due to the fixed physical structure of the water transferring channel and the corresponding facilities and equipment. This feature determines that there is no competition among water distributors.\n4. IBWT supply chain coordination with fairness concern under capacity constraint and random precipitation: Based on modeling notations and assumptions in Section 3, the theoretical models of IBWT supply chain coordination without/with fairness concern under capacity constraint and random precipitation are developed, analyzed and compared in this section.\n5. Numerical and sensitivity analysis: Based on the real characteristics of IBWT project, an IBWT supply chain with one IBWT supplier and six water distributors is developed for the numerical analysis of the IBWT supply chain models developed and analyzed in Section 4. Since there are six water-intakes and six water distributors in the IBWT supply chain, i.e. n=6. We assume that three water distributors are supplied by the local supplier (i.e. m=3) and three water distributors are supplied by the external supplier (i.e. n-m=3). The random precipitation xi obeys normal distribution, i.e.\n6. Managerial insights and policy implications: Based on the modeling and numerical analytical results of Sections 4 and 5, the corresponding management insights and policy implications can be summarized as follows:\n7. Conclusion: In the operations management of IBWT project, the supply capacity constraint, the water delivery loss and the fairness concern have important impacts on the operations decision and operational efficiency of the IBWT project under the random precipitation. From a supply chain perspective, this paper tries to explore the issues of the operations management mechanism of IBWT project considering the water delivery loss without/with fairness concern under the supply capacity constraint and random precipitation. The IBWT distribution system is defined as an IBWT supply chain system first; and then a fair shortage allocation rule is made by the government; on this basis, the IBWT supply chain coordination models considering water delivery loss without/with fairness concern under the supply capacity constraint and random precipitation are developed, analyzed and compared through the game-theoretic and coordination research approaches, and the corresponding numerical and sensitivity analysis for all models is conducted and compared; finally, the corresponding management insights and policy implications are summarized in this paper. The research results indicate that: the two-part tariff contract could effectively coordinate the IBWT supply chain and achieve operational performance improvement; the binding supply capacity constraint makes the water capacity to be allocated among IBWT distributors in accordance with fair shortage allocation rule and reduces the profit (or utility) of the IBWT supply chain and its members; the existence of fairness concern reduces the utility of the IBWT supply chain and its members; a lower precipitation utilization factor in CNB is beneficial for improving the profit/utility of the IBWT supply chain while a higher precipitation utilization factor in CB is beneficial for improving the profit/utility of the IBWT supply chain; and reducing the water delivery loss rate, the mainline transfer cost, the branch-line transfer cost, the holding cost and the shortage cost and setting a higher retail price are beneficial for improving the profit/utility of the IBWT supply chain.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of supply capacity constraint, water delivery loss and fairness concern on the operational decisions/efficiency of the IBWT supply chain under the random precipitation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two game-theoretic decision models for the IBWT supply chain coordination considering water delivery loss without/with fairness concern under the supply capacity constraint and random precipitation are developed, analyzed and compared. On this basis, the corresponding numerical analyses are conducted and compared to derive the corresponding management insights and policy implications.\nFindings: The research results indicate that the two-part tariff contract could effectively coordinate the IBWT supply chain and achieve operational performance improvement; the binding supply capacity constraint makes the water capacity to be allocated among IBWT distributors in accordance with fair shortage allocation rule and reduces the profit (or utility) of the IBWT supply chain and its members; the existence of fairness concern reduces the utility of the IBWT supply chain and its members; a lower precipitation utilization factor in the case with non-binding capacity constraint is beneficial for improving the profit/utility of the IBWT supply chain while a higher precipitation utilization factor in the case with binding capacity constraint is beneficial for improving the profit/utility of the IBWT supply chain; and reducing the water delivery loss rate, the mainline transfer cost, the branch-line transfer cost, the holding cost and the shortage cost and setting a higher retail price are beneficial for improving the profit/utility of the IBWT supply chain.\nOriginality/value: Two innovative coordination decision models under random precipitation are developed, analyzed and compared through game-theoretic approaches to investigate the impact of supply capacity constraint, water delivery loss and fairness concern on the operational decisions/efficiency of the IBWT supply chain, which have enhanced the optimization decision theory for the operations management of IBWT projects and provided a better decision support for the IBWT stakeholders to make better operations strategies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implementing the Gantt chart in Europe and Britain: the contributions of Wallace Clark	[ "Scientific management", "Management consulting", "Budgetary control", "Gantt chart", "Henry L. Gantt", "Wallace Clark" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Whereas the transfer of technology across national boundaries can be traced through licensing agreements, patent records and other means, documentation of the diffusion of ideas is more problematic. Publications through books and journals, professional conferences and international scholarly associations are familiar means of transferring and exchanging ideas. The role of consultants in the spread of management concepts and techniques, however, is typically neglected in management history and provide another way to examine how ideas are adopted, refined and/or implemented in management practice in an international environment. My purpose is to examine how one managerial tool, the Gantt chart, influenced the practice of management in Britain and Europe through the work of Wallace Clark.\nHenry Laurence Gantt: Henry L. Gantt received his bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University and taught at a preparatory school, McDonogh, before attending the Stevens Institute of Technology, Taylor's alma mater, for his mechanical engineering degree. Employed at Midvale Steel, Gantt met Frederick Taylor and worked closely with him at Midvale, Simonds Rolling Machine Company and Bethlehem Steel. Gantt was one of \"Taylor's strongest supporters in the scientific management movement\" (Petersen, 1991, p. 134).\nWallace Clark: Clark's (1922) The Gantt Chart: A Working Tool of Management and subsequent translations earned him recognition as a management pioneer. He was born as Henry Wallace Clark on July 27, 1880 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of William Allen Clark and Mary Rankin Clark, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1902 with an AB in economics and sociology (Clark, 1957, p. 2). He was employed by the Remington Typewriter Company in its Manila and Hong Kong offices, resigned for a position at the export-import company of H. W. Peabody, then returned to the USA to work for Cincinnati's Lodge and Shipley Machine Tool Company (Thompson, 1926, preface). In 1907, Clark rejoined Remington Typewriter in its New York City headquarters as head of the central office staff and assistant to the president.\nClark's firm in France: Clark's firm had notable clients in France, and results of its work are apparent in some instances (Table I). AFC-Pechiney was a major non-ferrous metals, primarily aluminum and chemical producer in France. A decline in aluminum prices began in 1929, before the Depression, and Pechiney responded by closing smaller, less efficient and obsolete plants. Needing further efficiencies, Clark's firm was employed to begin improving the maintenance shops at L'Argentiere aluminum plant in the French Alps. The electrochemical processes used in manufacturing often caused machine failure, creating unexpected delays and the retention of large inventories of \"just-in-case\" replacement parts. Working with Jean Benoit, Managing Director of the plant and an advocate of scientific management, Clark and his associates established a preventive maintenance program \"reducing considerably the volume of replacement parts and their heterogeneity\" (Cailluet, 2012, p. 85). Clark's firm continued working with Pechiney until 1933 and established production cost controls, budgetary controls and inventory management procedures that \"were extended between 1930 and 1934 to all electro-metallurgy plants [...] with spectacular results \"(Champsaur and Cailluet, 2010, p. 11)[2].\nIn Britain: Wallace Clark and Company had an office in London, but relatively little is known about its clientele, particularly in comparison with our knowledge of its work in France. Table I lists \"chocolate\" among the industries Clark cites for his work in Britain, and it is likely that it was Rowntree and Company, not Cadbury, because Seebohm Rowntree and Lyndall Urwick were \"actively engaged\" in promoting budgetary control in Great Britain (Berland and Boyns, 2002, p. 335, p. 345). Clark attended a conference organized by Urwick and Rowntree, perhaps one of the Oxford Management Conferences (Briggs, 1961, p. 183). Our understanding of Clark's work in Britain is limited and calls for further research.\nIn Poland: Clark's participation in the Kemmerer Commission provided entree to Polish industry and his subsequent return to Europe. Table I indicates his further study of the state monopolies in salt and tobacco, metals and pulp and paper. His work with the Warsaw Tram service involved scheduling and controlling the maintenance of all equipment, and Lilpop, Rau and Lowenstein applied graphical methods to manufacture freight and passenger cars for railroads. Discussed earlier, Clark's relationship with Karol Adamiecki, a Polish pioneer in scientific management, was established during these years and maintained through Adamiecki's follower, Zbichorski. Thompson reported \"Mr Wallace Clark installed the Gantt charts in many Polish concerns\" (Thompson, 1940, p. 174). Locating these efforts indicates the need to understand more deeply the role of scientific management in Poland.\nIn Germany: The Germans took a nationalistic approach to scientific management by creating the Reichskuratorium fur Wirtschaftlichkeit (RKW) in 1921 (Shearer, 1997). Through the efforts of steel manufacturer Carl Friedrich von Siemens and his colleague, Carl Kottgen, the state-funded RKW, was a clearinghouse for German academic or industry specialists to study and promote industrial economy and efficiency during the interwar years of the Weimar Republic. American ideas from Henry Ford and Frederick W. Taylor were to be emphasized, although Thompson found Frank B. Gilbreth achieved greater recognition and \"the [Taylor] System generally identified with time and motion studies\" (Thompson, 1940, p. 172).\nIn Russia: Application of Gantt charts in Russia was the work of Walter Polakov, a native born and educated Russian and one-time member of Gantt's consulting firm. Polakov translated Clark's book The Gantt Chart into Russian and worked with Clark on the US Shipping Board. From December 1929 to May 1931, Polakov applied Gantt's methods to a machine tool plant as well as other assignments by the Russian Supreme Council of the National Economy, and his work was \"warmly recommended\" for all Soviet enterprises (Wren, 1980, p. 7). The Russian five-year plans were considered \"impressive achievements\" despite assorted shortfalls and charting for planning and controlling was a part of this success (Polakov, 1931).\nThe wallace clark international management center: Wallace Clark and his wife Pearl returned to New York City in 1939, as World War II was beginning to engulf Europe. During the war, Clark was an advisor to the US Army Signal Corps and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. He reopened his New York City consulting practice when the war ended, but when AFC-Pechiney requested his services in 1947, he assigned Kenneth B. White, former head of his Paris office, to assist Pechiney, as it reorganized after the war (Berland, 1997, pp. 10-12). Another known arrangement was per diem contracts with Joseph Juran, formerly a statistical quality control engineer for Western Electric Company. After leaving Western Electric, Juran became a member of New York University's Department of Administrative Engineering. According to his biographer, Juran \"struck a deal with the well-known management consultant\", Wallace Clark, who became a major source of Juran's consulting assignments (Butman, 1997, p. 75, p. 82). Following Clark's death in 1948, Juran offered to buy the Clark firm, but Pearl Clark refused, and Juran opened his own practice (Butman, 1997, p. 82). Further inquiry is suggested to examine any possible influence of Clark and Gantt on Juran's \"trilogy\" of quality improvement and the world's quality control movement.\nDiscussion and conclusions: This is the first study of the diffusion of a managerial tool, developed by Henry L. Gantt, into Europe and Britain through the contributions of Wallace Clark. Clark's book, The Gantt Chart: A Working Tool of Management, was published in 1922, translated into Polish and German in 1925, and into French, Italian, Russian and Spanish by 1936. Gantt's graphics first appeared internationally through print, then through Clark's work on the Kemmerer Commission in Poland and possibly furthered by Clark's contact with Karol Adamiecki to involve Clark further in the international management movement. Clark established his consulting firm in 1927 after returning to Poland, and it became the means for introducing Gantt's charts into state-owned monopolies and private firms.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to trace the European and British activities of Wallace Clark and his consulting firm with public sector agencies and private firms implement Henry L. Gantt's chart concept.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Archival records and secondary sources in English and French.\nFindings: Developed to meet the shipbuilding and use needs for the Great War (World War I), the Gantt chart was disseminated through the work of Wallace Clark during the 1930s in numerous public sector and private organizations in 12 nations. The Gantt concept was applied in a variety of industries and firms using batch, continuous processing and/or sub-assembly lines in mass production. Traditional scientific management techniques were expanded for general management, such as financial requirement through budgetary control. Clark and his consulting firm were responsible for implementing a managerial tool, the Gantt chart, in an international setting.\nResearch limitations/implications: Some firms with which Clark consulted could not be identified because the original records of the Wallace Clark Company were disposed of by New York University archival authorities. Industries were identified from the writings of Pearl Clark and Wallace Clark, and some private or public organizations were discerned from archival work and the research of French and British scholars.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study of the diffusion of a managerial tool, developed in America by Henry L. Gantt, into Europe and Britain through the contributions of Wallace Clark.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gender differences in information search: implications for retailing	[ "Customer satisfaction", "Consumer behaviour", "Search output" ]	[ { "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: Consumers are faced with purchase decisions and not all of these decisions are acted on equally. Some decisions are more complex and thus entail greater effort, while other decisions are fairly routine and require little or no effort. Marketers have determined consumers are diverse in the amount and type of effort they exert when purchasing products. The significance for marketers and retailers is that the amount expended by a market segment and the type of search effort serves as an important determinant for an appropriate marketing strategy. Although personal and situational variables affecting consumer information search have been well documented (for example, involvement, experience, time pressure, and purchase situation), less is known about the determinants of information search for different purchase situations.Thus, consumer behavior toward information search is an important and critical component of consumer decision-making models. Focusing on the information consumers choose to reach a purchase decision, an understanding of how consumers reduce uncertainty and increase purchase confidence can be tested (Engel et al., 2000; Urbany et al., 1989).Research on self-confidence has sought to understand product-specific uncertainty and its influence on purchase search behavior (Wells and Prensky, 1996). Several risk reduction strategies may be adopted by consumers depending on their level of purchase confidence. One strategy is the search for additional information, whereby the level of perceived risk will define consumers' information needs with consumers seeking sources, types, and amounts of information that seem most likely to satisfy their particular needs.Although an individual's perception of risk is \"subjective\", the manner in which it is perceived and information evaluated is related to gender (Meyers-Levy and Maheswaran, 1991). In general, men are likely to make decisions based on the evaluation of relevant cues in the environment, while women are more likely to make decisions based on the thorough processing of all available information (Darley and Smith, 1995).Thus, when considering purchase confidence, women are less likely than men to take risks, and when risk is perceived as being present women's decisions tend to be more conservative than those of their male counterparts (Rahman, 2000). Meyers-Levy (1994) suggested that gender-based differences in risk-taking proclivity are a result of social roles and/or biological sources.This study examines the relationship between internal knowledge, search behavior, purchase confidence, and gender differences as they relate to search behavior. The study's objectives are to determine the impact of internal knowledge and the purchase confidence dimensions on consumers' likelihood of choosing a source of information given different purchase situations, and develop recommendations regarding gender-based segmentation strategies for service-oriented organizations.\nBackground: Internal knowledge\nMethodology: Design of the study\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion: The impact on search behavior from purchase confidence, self assessed knowledge, situational use and gender differences were all important findings from this research. The role that gender plays in search behavior was particularly important and is similar to that found by Meyers-Levy (1988). In that study it was noted despite the availability of information, gender differences on accessing and using information varied.Three key findings emerge from this research. First, the data overall support previously established findings that females' search behavior often entails interpersonal affiliations, where their preference is to reach out to friends, family or other personal sources of information and are accepting of others opinions. For males, they found impersonal or published material, most important in information search confirming the belief that males are less comfortable with personal interaction in making life decisions.Second, the findings suggest, however, that these gender differences in search behavior are likely to change when consideration is given to different purchase situations. The findings offer insight into how males search for information. It appears that, when gender differences emerge given different purchase situations, it is because males' are more likely to ask family/friend or for retail assistance, despite their overall higher subjective knowledge and level of purchase confidence.This runs counter to previous studies (Meyers-Levy, 1988; Venkatesh and Morris, 2000) that males have a tendency towards high self-efficacy and are generally unwilling to ask for help when experiencing problems in life. As an example, in this study males considered friends/family most important when purchasing a wine as a gift. Although this study did not test for this, it is possible that as Gould and Weil (1991) pointed out, the recipient of the gift may have an impact on the behavior of males. Males are thought to be culturally prohibited from intimacy and expressive affectivity with same-sex friends while women are not. Thus if the gift is for a female verse a male, then the selection of an information source may become important to them.Finally, the findings suggest that when knowledge and confidence are considered, along with gender, then the differences are remarkably different and unexpected. For males with low subjective knowledge and purchase confidence, they would search out a retail clerk for assistance only when buying wine for a dinner party away from home with friends. This suggests that without the high confidence and self-assessed knowledge, which both may indicate high self-efficacy, males are more willing to engage in interpersonal interaction.Overall, the present research demonstrates that gender is likely to bring different strategies to bear in searching for information only when the demands of the situation and how confident and knowledgeable the consumer feels support the use of a particular strategy. The results add weight to the notion that gender differences influence how purchase confidence and self assessed product knowledge impact search behavior and how they impact purchasing.\nManagerial applications and implications: The major contribution of this research is to highlight the role of gender in decision-making research. The current study provides marketing professionals with new insights to developing better strategies. They need to be aware that in addition to objective product characteristics, customers purchasing decisions may be driven by less obvious factors, such as those investigated in this study - self-assessed knowledge, purchase confidence, and the purchase situation. This understanding will lead to a more critical look at marketing strategies aimed at establishing relationships, particularly with male customers; particularly given they are an untapped and potentially large market.It is apparent from this study that males view and react to the purchase decision differently than females and despite their higher level of self-assessed wine knowledge,they generally avoid interaction with personal sources of information, such as retail store clerks or friends. However, if they feel uncertain about the purchase and have assessed their product knowledge to be low, they will search out and interact with others to aid in their purchase decision. Therefore, in order to capture the male wine consuming market, increase market share, and establish a loyal following from male consumers, wine producers, retailers, hoteliers, and restaurants must consider educating their staff to better handle male customers' needs.This could be accomplished through staff engagement of male consumers in open discussion, creating an environment where it is acceptable to ask questions and exchange ideas and comments about wine. Possibly more important to wine producers is the creation of promotional material directed at attracting males as a potential wine consuming group and thereby creating brand loyalty and expanding the overall wine market. This could be accomplished by creating a \"masculine\" image for wine.Future studies should consider expanding this research to focus on gender identity as discussed by Palan (2001) and personal self-confidence as discussed by Veale and Quester (2007), particularly given the suggestion above that wine as a product should create a \"masculine\" image.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence on search behavior of gender, purchase confidence, and internal knowledge in different purchase situations. It is expected that there will be gender differences on search behavior, particularly given different purchase situations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze the main and interaction effects of the independent categorical variables on multiple dependent interval variables. An online survey was distributed to employees in different geographic locations in the USA.\nFindings: - The results of situational use indicate that sources of information are perceived differently by males and females depending on their levels of purchase confidence and internal knowledge, suggesting that, when consumers consider sources of information, such as retail clerk, family/friends or themselves, the purchase situation influences that decision.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The measure of the situational influence through brief descriptions of hypothetical consumption situations was required. Such descriptions could not include every possible feature of a natural setting, resulting in subjective interpretation by respondents of what are socially acceptable, possibly confounding results.\nPractical implications: - Consumers bring to the buying decision different types of experiences and expectations. Understanding how males and females seek varied sources of external information is relevant to the service industry in designing promotional plans, whether the product of choice is a restaurant, vacation resort, and hotel or tourism destination such as a winery.\nOriginality/value: - The contribution of the research is to broaden the understanding of search behavior and the role gender plays, particularly in different purchase situations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Whistleblowing as a countermeasure strategy against food crime	[ "Consumer protection", "Whistleblowing", "Food", "Crime", "Countermeasures" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Whistleblowing can be a mode of ethical resistance (Glazer and Glazer, 1989); a vehicle to promote rights through movements such as consumer issues (Greenwood, 2015); or a process to give a voice to animal rights and environmental concerns with regard to an organisation's practices. Whistleblowers are seen as either individuals who undertake heroic and noble deeds; or as malcontent, trouble-makers and misfits for exposing wrongdoing (Zakaria, 2015). The term \"whistleblow\" was coined by Nader et al. (1972) as disclosure by organisational members of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices that are executed under the control of their employers, to persons or organisations that may be able to effect action as a result of that disclosure (Miceli and Near, 1984, 1985; Near and Miceli, 1995, 2016). Publically Available Specification (PAS) 1998 (2008, p. 9) Whistleblowing arrangements: Code of practice defines a whistleblowing concern as a \"reasonable and honest suspicion an employee has about a possible fraud, danger or other serious risk that threatens customers, colleagues, shareholders, the public or the organisation's own reputation\".\n2. Whistleblowing and whistleblowers: Previous studies of whistleblowing mostly involve corporate or public sector malpractice such as corruption (Schultz and Harutyunyan, 2015), police agencies (Park and Blenkinsopp, 2009; Rothwell and Baldwin, 2006), accounting and financial reporting (Hwang et al., 2008, 2013), auditing (Alleyne et al., 2013; Arnold and Ponemon, 1991; Brennan and Kelly, 2007; Maroun and Solomon, 2014), government agencies (Cho and Song, 2015), and healthcare (Philipsen and Soeken, 2011). Within the health setting, McDonald and Ahern (2000) reported that health workers who reported misconduct were subjected to severe official reprisals including demotion, reprimand and referral to a psychiatrist. There were also instances of individuals experiencing threats, rejection by peers, pressure to resign and being treated as a traitor, or experiencing a lack of progression in their career. Hwang et al. (2008, 2013) assert that personal relationships, fear of retaliation and also media coverage discourage whistleblowing in Chinese society. Vinten (1996) associated the act of whistleblowing to a \"bee-sting phenomenon\" suggesting the approach can only be used once, before the act itself jeopardises the career of the whistleblower. Thus it is a high-stakes action and the potential consequences post-reporting (both positive and negative) will influence an individual's decision to either remain silent or to blow the whistle.\n3. Regulatory response towards protecting whistleblowers: 3.1 European Union\n4. Market response towards protecting whistleblowers: The UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills issued a report in March 2015 titled \"Whistleblowing: Guidance for Employers and Code of Practice\" (BIS, 2015). The report states that whilst a voluntary requirement it is good business practice to create an open, transparent and safe working environment through implementing a whistleblowing policy in the workplace. Depending on the nature and size of the business, PAS 1998 (2008) outlines that overall responsibility for enabling whistleblowing should rest with either the board, chief executive, group secretary, with routine responsibility falling to the human resources department. In a small food business with both strategic and operational roles filled by one or two individuals this could prove more difficult to disassociate.\n5. Whistleblowing models: A number of whistleblowing models exist in the literature that have been designed to address mainly corporate fraud in the financial, business and public sectors but none specifically for food industry. These have been analysed within this research (Table III). The models often reflect individual (Henik, 2015), organisational (Alleyne et al., 2013; Brennan and Kelly, 2007) and cultural factors (Hwang et al., 2008). Although many studies have applied the TRA and TPB to food and food service sectors, little research has dealt with their application to whistleblowing. Table III then provides the context for the potential application within a food production or supply chain setting. Henik (2015 citing Goldberg et al., 1999) describes three types of whistleblower: the strategic moral guardian (SMG); the fed-up vigilante (FUV) and the inactive individual called in this research as the servant of two masters (STM) see Table IV.\n6. Concluding remarks: Whistleblowing exposes illegal, inappropriate and fraudulent practices with the goal that private and/or public exposure will force change. Many of these criminal practices go undetected by regulatory authorities and at times senior management of an organisation. Conventional behavioural models such as TRA and TPB can be extended to include individual, organisational, cultural and situational factors to study whistleblowing intention among food production workers and this has been the approach used in this conceptual paper in developing Figure 2. Greater understanding not only the forward process, but also the feedback loops, and the situational factors of influence will assist food industry practitioners in developing effective FCMS that include a whistleblowing strategy. Therefore appropriate regulatory protection of those who engage in whistleblowing activities is crucial to both mitigate food crime and protect consumers from loss and potential harm. Without considering the specific difficulties that arise and addressing the existing barriers to whistleblowing it is unlikely that the whistleblowing can become an effective strategy for addressing food crime. Therefore further empirical research is required to assess the influence of these barriers and how they can be overcome. The model in this paper provides opportunity for such primary research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to undertake a two-phase desktop review of literature sources in order to conceptualise, frame, and critique existing whistleblowing models and strategies and consider how whistleblowing strategies form part of an effective food crime management system (FCMS) especially for small and medium sized organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Existing literature from academic sources, financial, healthcare, food industries has been reviewed and critiqued in order to construct a conceptual framework that can inform future empirical research.\nFindings: Whistleblowing strategies can form an effective part of a FCMS. Appropriate regulatory protection of those who whistleblow is crucial to not only safeguard individuals but also to mitigate food crime and protect consumers from loss and potential harm. Barriers to whistleblowing exist and if these are not addressed then individuals will be reluctant to report food crime. Further empirical research is required to assess the influence of these and other factors identified in this research and how they can be overcome.\nOriginality/value: The framework will provide food industry practitioners with guidance on the effective application of whistleblowing strategies within a FCMS.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An examination of interactive effects of employees' warmth and competence and service failure types on customer's service recovery cooperation intention	[ "Hospitality employees", "Warmth", "Competence", "Service recovery cooperation intention", "Compensation effects" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Customers tend to be emotionally more involved in service failures and recovery processes than the delivery of satisfactory services and are usually more dissatisfied with a recovery failure than a service failure itself (Bitner et al., 1990; Smith et al., 1999). Thus, how employees respond to service failures not only affect customers' perceptions, emotions, evaluations and behavioral intentions but also affect their willingness to participate in the service recovery process (Bock et al., 2016; Koc, 2019; Van Vaerenbergh et al., 2018) and their level of recovery cooperation intentions. Cooperation intention refers to the degree to which individuals are willing to share various information and accomplish tasks together with others (Campion et al., 1993; Scott et al., 2003). Because customers' recovery cooperation intentions can influence their attitudinal and behavioral responses (Jin et al., 2020), employees' immediate reactions and responses after a service can play critical roles in customers' service recovery participation intentions and, thus, effective management of service recovery processes (Yao et al., 2019).\nLiterature review: Warmth and competence\nHypothesis development: The conceptual model of the study is shown in Figure 1. As presented in Figure 1, this study proposes that the interaction between an employee's warmth and competence and service failure types has different impacts on a customer's service recovery cooperation intention.\nMethodology: Research design and sample\nResults: The one-way ANOVA test was conducted to identify the differences in service recovery cooperation intention among eight experimental conditions. The findings indicated significant differences in customers' service recovery cooperation intentions (F(3,330) = 20.10, p < 0.001). In outcome failure situations, when customers viewed employees as having low warmth and high competence, their service recovery cooperation intentions were the highest compared to other experimental conditions ((Mlwhc = 5.89, Mhwlc = 4.49, Mhwhc = 4.86, Mlwlc = 3.97; F(3,162) = 23.45, p < 0.001). Thus, H1 was supported. On the other hand, in process failure settings, when customers viewed employees as having high warmth and low competence, their service recovery cooperation intentions were highest compared to all other conditions ((Mhwlc = 5.73, Mlwhc = 4.02, Mhwhc = 5.28, Mlwlc = 3.65; F(3,164) = 38.26, p < 0.001), which provided support for H2.\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Drawing from the compensation effects in social cognition theory, this study aims to investigate the interactive effects of employees' warmth and competence and service failure types on customer's service recovery cooperation intention after a service failure and before service recovery is completed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used a scenario-based experiment with a 2 (high vs low) warmth x 2 (high vs low) competence x 2 (outcome failure vs process failure) service failure between-subjects design. Data were collected using an online panel.\nFindings: This study finds that employees' low warmth and high competence in outcome failure situations and high warmth and low competence in process failure situations are most effective at increasing customers' service recovery cooperation intention. The findings further suggest that customers' cooperation intention is prone to tradeoffs between customers' perceptions of employees' warmth and competence as suggested by compensation effects in social cognition theory, such that the effectiveness of employees' warmth (competence) is curtailed by employees' competence (warmth).\nPractical implications: The findings of this study provide insights to hospitality managers for effective service recovery management. Hospitality companies can enhance customers' behavioral intentions by training employees to demonstrate appropriate warmth and competence combination that meet customers' expectations for a specific failure type.\nOriginality/value: This study argues that customer's service recovery cooperation intention depends on the combination of warmth and competence displayed by employees after a service failure. The expected combination of warmth and competence varies depending on the service failure context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evaluating emotion visualizations using AffectVis, an affect-aware dashboard for students	[ "Learning analytics", "Interactive learning environments", "Human-computer interface", "Visualization evaluation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Emotions are known to play an important role in learning (Kort et al., 2001; Trigwell et al., 2012). Emotions drive attention, which, in turn, drives learning and memory (Varlander, 2008). Emotions are often a more powerful determinant of our behavior than our brain's logical and rational processes (Sylwester, 1994). Furthermore, emotions play an essential role in studies on attitudes and motivation (Pintrich, 2003; Meyer and Turner, 2002). Several studies found that students experience a rich diversity of both positive and negative emotions in academic settings (Pekrun et al., 2002). Prior research has highlighted the importance of supporting learner awareness of these emotions (Ashkanasy and Dasborough, 2003). Information on affective states can, for instance, help students (or stimulate interest) to reflect on the type of emotions they felt, the activities that generated certain emotions or their evolution over time. By analyzing such information, students can take a pro-active role in regulating their learning as well as taking decisions on their improvement needs during learning processes, based for instance on information from studies that relate learning outcomes with affective states (Baker et al., 2010).\n2. Background: 2.1 Learning analytics\n3. General methodology: In this work, we followed the principles of Design Science in information systems research, which targets building and evaluating innovative artifacts to help understand and solve knowledge problems (Von Alan et al., 2004). Our artifact includes a learning dashboard that shows emotion-related data during a learning process. The goal of the dashboard is to support student awareness on their affective states during their learning activities.\n4. AffectVis: a visual learning dashboard of affective states and learning activities in projects: For our studies, we have developed four visualizations with the general objective of allowing learners to reflect on their affective states and their connection with specific learning activities. The visualizations are web based. Thus, the only tool needed to access them is a web browser with JavaScript capabilities.\n5. Pilot study with a small group of students with knowledge in information visualization: user study 1: The main purpose of this user study was to perform an initial exploratory analysis of the developed visualizations with a small number of students. The radial visualization and the timeline visualization were deployed and evaluated in this study. Based on feedback and input from students participating in this study, the visualizations were improved. Moreover, two additional visualizations were developed and deployed for the second, more elaborate, user study.\n6. Extended study with a larger group of students without knowledge in information visualization: user study 2: The second study was conducted with bachelor-level students at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. For the second user study, we improved the two visualizations based on the findings and suggestions of students of the pilot study. To address the difficulties of interpretation, the contrast of colors and the visibility of elements in both visualizations were improved. Interactivity was added to clarify the details of the visualizations: the radial visualization was adjusted to show the value of each bar when the mouse cursor hovered over it. The timeline was adjusted to offer the option for hiding and showing data series, etc. In addition, for this user study, we implemented two new visualizations with emphasis on individual and detailed information, as such information was indicated as relevant by students of the first user study. These visualizations are the heatmap and scatterplot visualization described in Section 4. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usability of the four visualizations, namely, the improved versions of the two visualizations used in user study 1, and the two new visualizations.\n7. Discussion: The results of our study provide useful insights for the usability of different visualizations for students for presenting emotion-related data. However, there are also several limitations that should be articulated. While we were able to assess the usability, measured by perceived usefulness and insight, with a relatively large number of students in user study 2, the limited number of students in user study 1 does not allow to draw strong conclusions from the survey results with this group as the suggestions from this study were mainly used as a basis to improve the visualization design for user study 2.\n8. Conclusion: The evaluation presented in this paper showed the potential of dashboards and visualizations to support students awareness of affective information linked to learning activities in an educational scenario. In general, students expressed that they \"liked seeing their emotion-related information linked to learning activities and their comparison with their peers.\"\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate four visualizations that represent affective states of students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An empirical-experimental study approach was used to assess the usability of affective state visualizations in a learning context. The first study was conducted with students who had knowledge of visualization techniques (n=10). The insights from this pilot study were used to improve the interpretability and ease of use of the visualizations. The second study was conducted with the improved visualizations with students who had no or limited knowledge of visualization techniques (n=105).\nFindings: The results indicate that usability, measured by perceived usefulness and insight, is overall acceptable. However, the findings also suggest that interpretability of some visualizations, in terms of the capability to support emotional awareness, still needs to be improved. The level of students' awareness of their emotions during learning activities based on the visualization interpretation varied depending on previous knowledge of information visualization techniques. Awareness was found to be high for the most frequently experienced emotions and activities that were the most frustrating, but lower for more complex insights such as interpreting differences with peers. Furthermore, simpler visualizations resulted in better outcomes than more complex techniques.\nOriginality/value: Detection of affective states of students and visualizations of these states in computer-based learning environments have been proposed to support student awareness and improve learning. However, the evaluation of visualizations of these affective states with students to support awareness in real life settings is an open issue.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Increasing the impact of SHRM on organizational performance: Why the firm's context needs to be considered	[ "Context", "Financial performance", "SHRM", "Employee well-being", "Dynamic fit" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: It is widely acknowledged in the literature that various factors possess scope to impact on organizational performance. Leadership is among those most widely touted. Innovation falls into the same bracket.\nHRM and company performance: Where human resource management (HRM) is concerned, the verdict is not quite as unanimous. In certain quarters, the jury is still out regarding the extent of its strategic role. But growing evidence exists to indicate that the link between strategic human resource management (SHRM) and performance might be considerably more significant than previously thought.\nHow different contextual mechanisms influence SHRM: In the first instance, there is the \"competitive mechanism\" that reflects the company's marketplace position in terms of such as products or services, competitor strengths and technology. The strength of its capabilities developed through access to unique resources is likewise important here.\nThe significance of various actors and types of fit: Context isn't determined by the mechanisms alone though. There is also substantial influence from the numerous \"actors\" that function within a firm. And since they are driven by different and often conflicting aspirations and agendas, the picture becomes one of increased complexity.\nComment: The review is based on: \"SHRM and context: why firms want to be as different as legitimately possible\", by Farndale and Paauwe (2018), published in Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance. An increasing number of scholars now acknowledge the strategic role played by HRM. However, its impact on firm performance is determined to some extent by previously ignored contextual factors. The effectiveness of a SHRM system increases when balance is achieved between these different elements of context and the function of various actors within the organization.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: The role of HRM is increasingly being viewed in strategic as well as functional terms. The impact of SHRM on firm performance is also determined by factors in its internal and external contexts. Balance between these contextual dimensions and input from various actors in the organization can help increase the overall effectiveness of a SHRM system.\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" } ]
Donald J. Urquhart and the integration of science with librarianship: Part 1	[ "Probability theory", "Document delivery", "Interlending", "Sciences", "Librarianship" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nUrquhart's career and scientific milieu: Born in 1909, Donald J. Urquhart obtained an undergraduate degree in physics and a doctorate in metallurgy at the University of Sheffield in the late 1920s and early 1930s. His first job was in the research department of English Steel, and in 1938 he obtained a job at the Science Museum Library (SML) in South Kensington, London. During the second world war he worked at the Admiralty and then at the Ministry of Supply. After the war, Urquhart returned to the SML, from where he moved in 1948 to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). As a representative of DSIR, Urquhart played a prominent role at the 1948 Royal Society Scientific Information Conference. In 1956 DSIR assigned Urquhart the task of creating the National Lending Library for Science and Technology (NLL), which evolved into the present-day British Library Document Supply Centre (BLDSC).Urquhart came of age during a period when science was making the transition from the principle of certainty to that of uncertainty. This transition had been occurring with increasing rapidity during the century prior to Urquhart's birth, and Kosko (1993, pp. 93-94) identifies Bertrand Russell's rediscovery of the classical Greek paradoxes at the basis of modern mathematics and Werner Heisenberg's discovery of the \"uncertainty principle\" of quantum physics in the early twentieth century as two key events in this transition. Uncertainty required new theories and methods. One of these was the development of probabilistic models. Here uncertainty caused the central problem to be the stability of phenomena. In his treatise on probability Keynes (1921, p. 391) recognized this by writing:The business of strengthening the argument chiefly consists in determining whether the alleged association is stable, when the accompanying conditions are varied.A massive two-volume compendium of papers on the probabilistic revolution dedicated a section consisting of three papers in its first volume to uncertainty, and, although the papers differed in context - the London insurance market, astronomical observations, and the social sciences - Daston (1987, p. 3) pointed out that each one centered on the stability of the phenomena. Another concept arising from the principle of uncertainty was set forth by Zadeh (1965), who postulated that sets are fuzzy. According to his theory, in contrast to a standard or \"crisp\" set, whose members are either fully within the set with a membership value of 1 or fully outside the set with a membership value of 0, members of a fuzzy set are only proportionally within the set with membership values ranging from 0 to 1. Urquhart dealt with the problems and consequences stemming from uncertainty in establishing the NLL and managing its journal collections. In doing so, he integrated science with librarianship.\nThe probabilistic revolution: Urquhart and probability\nThe bibliometric revolution: The probabilistic revolution, the bibliometric revolution, and Urquhart\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to analyze the historical significance of Donald J. Urquhart, who established the National Lending Library for Science and Technology (NLL) that later was merged into the British Library Lending Division (BLLD), now called the British Library Document Supply Centre (BLDSC).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper presents a short history of the probabilistic revolution, particularly as it developed in the UK in the form of biometric statistics due to Darwin's theory of evolution. It focuses on the overthrow of the normal paradigm, according to which frequency distributions in nature and society conform to the normal law of error. The paper discusses the importance of the Poisson distribution and its utilization in the construction of stochastic models that better describe reality. Here the focus is on the compound Poisson distribution in the form of the negative binomial distribution (NBD). The paper then shows how Urquhart extended the probabilistic revolution to librarianship by using the Poisson as the probabilistic model in his analyses of the 1956 external loans made by the Science Museum Library (SML) as well as in his management of the scientific and technical (sci/tech) journal collection of the NLL. Thanks to this, Urquhart can be considered as playing a pivotal role in the creation of bibliometrics or the statistical bases of modern library and information science. The paper relates how Urquhart's son and daughter-in-law, John A. and Norma C. Urquhart, completed Urquhart's probabilistic breakthrough by advancing for the first time the NBD as the model for library use in a study executed at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, connecting bibliometrics with biometrics. It concludes with a discussion of Urquhart's Law and its probabilistic implications for the use of sci/tech journals in a library system.\nFindings: - By being the first librarian to apply probability to the analysis of sci/tech journal use, Urquhart was instrumental in the creation of modern library and information science. His findings force a probabilistic re-conceptualization of sci/tech journal use in a library system that has great implications for the transition of sci/tech journals from locally held paper copies to shared electronic databases.\nOriginality/value: - Urquhart's significance is considered from the perspective of the development of science as a whole as well as library and information science in particular.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Design benchmarking, user behavior analysis and link-structure personalization in commercial web sites	[ "Design", "Benchmarking", "World wide web" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Web sites have become the companies' gateways for existing and potential customers. Customers, in search of products or services, freely move from one company to another with no extra cost. As competition is getting intensified on the web, there is a greater realization of the importance of design and usability of the web sites. The topic of web site design has many facets including site layout, page layout, navigation structure design, and feature analysis. Studies on web site design follow different standards while defining, classifying and comparing web site features. Some even confuse the infrastructure and tools used for creating and hosting a site with the features of web site. Thus, there exists an inherent need for classifying the web site features and finding their relative importance. Moreover, it is interesting to find whether the design is influenced by the products or the services offered by a company.Web sites usually contain enormous amounts of information spanning hundreds of pages. Without proper guidance, a visitor often wanders aimlessly without visiting important pages, loses interest, and leaves the site sooner than expected. Therefore, the web sites need efficient navigation structure that can aid the users to retrieve right information at the right time and thus increase competitiveness of a site. Researchers have recently suggested various personalization schemes that ostensibly make the visitor interested in the site and guide him or her to important pages. Studies have been conducted to provide unique navigation structure for the individual user using personalization techniques. Any personalization scheme is built on user behavior models. In fact a good user behavior model can make a personalization scheme successful. The statistics derived from a user behavior model can also help judging the effectiveness of a site.The topics of web site design and personalization are complementary to each other. They provide schemes for enhancing user's experience in the site and increase its competitiveness. While a good web site design helps to attract large number of visitor, when personalized it helps to retain a visitor for a considerable length of time. This paper provides two schemes - one for improving web site design and the other for personalizing navigation structure of a site.An attempt has been made to evaluate overall design of a commercial web site by comparing it with a benchmark. The benchmark is based on a survey of the web sites of some US Fortune 500 companies and top Indian companies. Besides this, the paper describes a web usage mining (WUM) model to understand user behavior in a commercial web site and presents a personalization system that provides a unique navigation structure for individual user based on the navigation history of the past users, user's activities within the session, and the knowledge of the Webmaster about the structure, content and commercial objectives of a web site.The rest of this paper has been organized as follows. The next section is a survey of the related work in the area of web site design and personalization. In the subsequent two sections we present:1. the design benchmarks to evaluate the commercial web sites; and2. a system to personalize link-structure of a commercial web site.Before concluding the paper we discuss the results from both the studies.\nRelated work: Studies on web site design follow different standards while defining, classifying and comparing web site features (Palmer and Griffith, 1998; Evans and King, 1999; Huizingh, 2000; Shneiderman, 2000; Awad, 2001). Shneiderman (2000) suggests differentiating web sites by the originators' identity: individual, group, university, corporation, non-profit organizations and government agencies. Studies are conducted specifically to see how different companies are using their web sites (Palmer and Griffith, 1998).The common approach for understanding user behavior is user preference surveys (Pitkow and Kehoe, 1996; Limayem et al., 2000). The samples used for these studies do not represent the entire user population as the web sites are globally accessible. A recent approach that overcomes this drawback is to apply WUM techniques on the web usage data generated during online transactions (Cooley, 2000; Mobasher et al., 2000; Mulvenna et al., 2000). These data include users' navigation data, registration details, ordering details, etc.Four major types of personalization schemes are discussed in the literature: manual decision rule based systems, collaborative filtering systems, content based filtering systems, and the systems based on WUM. Manual decision rule systems, such as Broadvision (www.broadvision.com), let web site administrators specify rules based on user demographics or static profiles (Mobasher et al., 2000). Collaborative filtering systems, such as Amazon.com uses to suggest books, are designed to provide relevant content to a user by combining his or her preferences with those from like-minded individuals (Goldberg et al., 1992). An example of a content-based filtering system is News Dude (Billsus and Pazzani, 2002). The system learns its user's news story preferences through a form and analyzes data along with the content of news articles already read to suggest relevant articles. Most of the personalization systems in these three categories are intrusive in nature. The personalization systems using WUM such as web personalizer (Mobasher et al., 2000) and adaptive web sites (Perkowitz and Etzioni, 2000) are becoming popular. These systems incorporate data mining techniques to discover interesting patterns in web usage data.\nCreating a benchmark for design evaluation: In this section we present a scheme that can be used to evaluate overall design of a commercial web site by comparing it with a benchmark. The benchmark is based on a survey of the web sites of some US Fortune 500 companies and top Indian companies (Jenamani et al., 2002a).A sample of 148 corporate web sites was surveyed to identify the design features of the sites. Of these sites, 77 belong to the first 200 of the US Fortune 500 group of companies and the remaining 71 sites belong to the top 200 companies of the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) list (as on January 2001). Based on their market offerings, the companies are categorized into four sub-groups: consumer durables, consumer non-durables, industrial products, and services. While searching for requisite features the study is restricted to the home page and the pages that are within 10 mouse clicks away from the home page. The survey started in March 2001 and continued for 2 months.A set of 34 features for design and feature analysis of a corporate web site have been identified. Most of these features are adopted from the works of the other researchers (Palmer and Griffith, 1998; Evans and King, 1999; Huizingh, 2000; Shneiderman, 2000; Awad, 2001) and some are collected from a preliminary survey of few web sites. The entire set of features is further classified into two broad categories: functional features and non-functional features. The functional features are defined to be a basic set of activities and purposes for the web site's existence. Non-functional features are a set of elements that help to perform these activities and achieve these purposes. Functional features are further classified into marketing features and informative features. Marketing features are classified under McCarthy's well-known 4 Ps - product, price, place of distribution and promotion. Informative features present the information that a company needs to announce to its existing and potential customers, and other site visitors. Non-functional features are further classified as presentation features and accessibility features. Presentation features, like multimedia features, graphics and text, are the tools, which a site uses to present its functional features to its visitors. Accessibility features help to enhance navigability, improve quality and locate functional features offered by the site.All the features, other than advertisement, page size, graphics size, foreground color, and background color, are measured in a yes/no-type binary scale, to indicate the presence or absence of a feature. Advertisement is measured using a 4-point scale: 0-nil, 1-minimum, 2-moderate, and 3-extensive. The extent of the advertisement was judged by:* the number of products advertised; and* the amount of space devoted for advertisement in a page.Page size and graphics size are measured in terms of kilobytes. Foreground color and background color are measured subjectively, using an 11-point scale.The study analyzes the data in four different ways:1. inter-category feature comparison of US Fortune 500 group;2. establishment of feature weights and site evaluation index (SIE);3. comparison of Indian and US Fortune 500 web sites; and4. establishing the benchmark.Methodologies for each of the above analysis are given below.Inter-category feature comparison of US fortune 500 group\nScheme for personalizing the link-structure of a commercial web site: In this section we describe a scheme for providing personalized navigation structure (link-structure) to each user. The foundation of the personalization algorithm used in the scheme is a user behavior model (Jenamani et al., 2002b; Jenamani et al., 2003).Modeling user behavior\nResults: In this section some interesting results of our work are presented. The results from the survey of commercial web sites appear followed by the results from the user behavior analysis and link-structure personalization in commercial web sites.Benchmarking for design evaluation of corporate web sites\nConclusions: A site needs to adopt innovative and important design features in order to be competitive. Personalization schemes - that provide online support services to the users' can increase the competitiveness. In this paper we presented a benchmark to evaluate commercial web site design, a stochastic model to study and understand user behavior, an algorithm to personalize link-structure of a commercial web site and a general framework to implement a link-structure personalization system. The pragmatic approach adopted in this paper for usability enhancement of the commercial web site makes it attractive from managerial point of view. Using the benchmark proposed in this model a webmaster can evaluate the current status of his web site. The sites with low SEI can be improved by adding features with high weight depending on the product offering of the company. Webmaster can implement link-structure personalization algorithm to improve site navigability. User behavior data can be mined to generate other valuable information.The work presented in the paper can be extended in various ways. New features characterizing non-functional requirements and probably requiring subjective judgment may be included. Metrics may be developed for factor evaluation based on quantitative measures. New models like Bayesian Neural Network models can be developed for user behavior analysis. Suitable models and data collection techniques can be developed to study customer potentiality of web visitor. The usability of the personalization technique may be tested. Content personalization techniques based on WUM should be developed. Reinforcement learning methods such as Q-learning should be applied to understand customer's within site behavior.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To create a benchmark for design evaluation of commercial web sites, to model customers' site navigation behavior, and to develop and implement algorithms for link-structure personalization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The principal methodology used for design benchmarking is a survey of corporate web sites of some US Fortune 500 companies and top Indian companies and statistical analysis of the data so collected. The principal methodological approach for modeling user behavior, user's interest and algorithms for link-structure personalization, is the development of a Markov decision process (MDP) in the overall framework of a semi-Markov model and implementing the same in a link-structure personalization system.\nFindings: - It is observed that the functional web site features significantly differ for the sites dealing with various product categories whereas the non-functional features do not. The over-stressed or under-stressed features in the Indian web sites are found. The statistics generated from the user behavior model are validated against the real life user behavior and found satisfactory. The appropriateness of the link-structure personalization algorithms is established by comparing the set of links generated by the algorithm with the links generated by the optimal policy of the underlying MDP.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The corporate that have been considered are conglomerates offering a number of products and services. But we categorize these sites based on their major product offering. Our approach of modeling the user behavior as a semi-Markov process is possible because of our advanced implementation infrastructure. Undesirable network effects like delays, bandwidth, etc. may not make such a model that attractive in a very traditional type of environment. But the data collected in such environment can still be mined after adequate pre-processing and appropriate normalization\nPractical implications: - Using the benchmark proposed in this model a webmaster can evaluate his web site. The sites with low site evaluation index can be improved by adding features with high weight depending on the product offering of the company. Webmaster can design the three level information architecture described in the paper and subsequently implement link-structure personalization algorithm to improve site navigability. Besides improving site navigability the user behavior data collected thereon can be mined to generate other valuable information.\nOriginality/value: - To assess and enhance the usability of an ecommerce site our work proposes: a benchmark to evaluate commercial web site design; a stochastic model to study and understand user behavior; an algorithm to personalize link-structure of a commercial web site, and a general framework to implement a link-structure personalization system.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Distressing events and future purchase decisions: Jewish consumers and the Holocaust	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Judaism", "Marketing", "Ethnic groups" ]	[ { "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.\n1. Introduction: Ethnicity plays an important role in the explanation and prediction of consumer decision-making and provides a powerful basis for the identity and community of its members (Penaloza and Gilly, 1999). Although a great deal of recent emphasis has been placed on understanding groups such as Hispanic consumers (see Penaloza, 1994), and African Americans (see Podoshen, 2008) surprisingly little attention has been paid to Jewish Americans. But the paucity of research on Jewish American consumers becomes even more surprising if one considers Hirschman's (1981) findings that the ethnicity effect in relation to consumption practices might be considerably greater for Jewish Americans than it is for other ethnic groups.What it means to be a Jewish American today extends beyond demographics. To a large degree, it rests emotionally on the collective experience of the Holocaust in which Jews were persecuted at the hands of Nazi Germany. Indeed, many Jewish immigrants living in the USA today arrived having fled systematic genocide, many more survived the concentration camps, and still others have experienced these atrocities vicariously as descendents of these immigrants. Ultimately though, anyone having a Jewish heritage can identify with the victims of the Holocaust. Thus, as members of an ethnic group, a community, or an enclave, Jewish Americans have been forced to cope with their inherent victimization and the degree of stress it most likely produces.How individuals attempt to cope with such stress is no doubt a complicated process. We suggest, however, that whatever coping strategies are employed, they can be understood in terms of a psychology of social exchange. Our primary focus is on one specific strategy that some Jewish Americans may employ to address their perceived victimization, that being personalized retaliation against the country thought to have perpetrated the inequity, namely Germany. Frequently this retaliation is in the form of a personalized boycott against the goods and services of the offending country. It is not uncommon for Jewish Americans to refrain from buying German-made products, thereby using the marketplace as a venue for restoring equity lost in the broader fabric of global society (Podoshen and Hunt, 2006). To examine the process by which Jewish Americans redress their victimization, we seek to explain how individuals respond to inequitable treatment, beyond vengeance, as consumers. We introduce the variable of how close the individual is to the stress-inducing event in terms of both time and place. More specifically, this research attempts to answer whether or not the event of the Holocaust still plays a role in Jewish consumer decision making today, and if this decision-making process has become a generalized response that carries over to succeeding generations of Jewish Americans. Further, we address the role that acculturation plays in this process. To this end, we present research that integrates the constructs of one-sided aggression, acculturation, and political boundaries to explain the purchasing decisions American Jews enact with regard to German made products - specifically automobiles.\n2. Literature review and background: The Jewish population in the USA is distinct in that it is generally more affluent than the nation as a whole and, as such, it commands proportionately more purchasing power than the rest of the USA (United Jewish Congress, 2002). Further, the size of the Jewish population in the USA is not inconsequential. Currently, 6.7 million people of Jewish descent live in the USA in 2.9 million households (United Jewish Congress, 2002). The age of the Jewish population is somewhat older than the rest of the country, with an average age of 41 compared to 36 for the rest of the population - with adults age 18 years and older making up 81 percent of this group (United Jewish Congress, 2002). Overall, these data describe a social force that demands considerable attention from marketers and social psychologists alike.Additionally, Hirschman (1981) has shown that American Jewish consumers engage in a comparatively high degree of information search prior to purchase. This suggests that their decision process may be generally more extensive than their non-Jewish counterparts, thus demanding greater effort on the part of marketers. It also is consistent with their higher level of education and income (United Jewish Congress, 2002).2.1 Jewish Americans as a subculture\n3. Hypotheses development: The argument advanced in this paper is that ethnic subculture, moderated by consumer acculturation level and a particular ethnically based stress inducing historical event, influences consumer decision making for those products manufactured by another group that consumers view as being negative. The product being used here is the automobile because this product is something that is typically not purchased impulsively, but rather is thought about for a great period of time and is frequently researched in great detail by the consumer. Automobile purchases are a high involvement purchase decision. An entire industry has been spawned that relates to the decision of purchasing (and being happy with) an automobile. Additionally, country of origin has long been a key attribute that is both advertised and widely known via word of mouth in relation to automobile production.This study looks specifically at the USA - the \"great melting pot\" where the citizens utilize \"dual ethnicity\" (i.e African-American, Irish-American, Jewish-American). Jews with roots in Eastern Europe are of particular interest because of the welcome they received in the 1300 and 1400s from leaders in Prussia and Poland, and later from the Hapsburgs in the 1800s. In many areas of Germany, Poland and Austria-Hungary, Jews were not considered to be second-class citizens. The change in this feeling about the status and perception of the Jews occurred very rapidly in the early part of the twentieth century when leaders of Russia and Germany used the Jews as a scapegoat for Eastern Europe's economic ills.3.1 Measurement of consumer acculturation and closeness to stressful event\n4. Methodology: This study utilized survey administration. Included in the survey were a number of questions related to automobile purchases, and cultural/family life in general, including acculturation scales (see the Appendix, Figure A1). Questions not related to the automobile purchase, but related to issues such as travel preferences, consumer decision-making, word of mouth and brand loyalty, were also contained in the questionnaire. One reason for this was to attempt to mask the key research question in this study, though the unrelated data provided were also utilized for further review and analysis.The final version of the questionnaire was pre-tested to determine acceptability. This pre-test included survey data from American Jewish consumers, Anglo-Americans, Latinos and African Americans.4.1 Universe and sampling frame\n5. Results: 5.1 H1\n6. Conclusions and managerial implications: 6.1 Discussion and future research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Understanding the role of ethnicity is key for marketers in multicultural nations such as the USA. Many ethnic groups retain a great deal of collective memories and experiences based on events in the past. Some of these experiences were stress-inducing, if not horrific. This paper aims to look at the buying process of US Jewish consumers in relation to the purchase of German products, more specifically automobiles. Going beyond animosity, this research seeks to look at the variables of acculturation and closeness to the Holocaust as possible factors in the purchase decision.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper utilizes survey data obtained from over 400 respondents with analysis performed using regression, chi-squared analysis, ANOVA and MANOVA.\nFindings: - The study shows that non-Jewish Americans are more likely to purchase German automobiles than Jewish Americans. Acculturation and familial closeness to the Holocaust play a role in the purchase decision among Jewish Americans, while income does not.\nPractical implications: - The paper helps firms plan marketing strategy where they may have a history involved in war or similar actions.\nOriginality/value: - Even though they have significant spending power, very little research has been done on American Jewish consumers. Additionally, as ethnically oriented violence still plagues the world, understanding the role distressing events play in the purchases of future generations is of paramount importance for global firms.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Accessing ideas to develop leadership and organization	[ "Ideas generation", "Cluster analysis", "Leadership", "Organizations", "Workplace" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nRole of ideas: Introduction\nIdeas in perspective: Idea measurement\nMethodology for accessing ideas: Action needed\nIdea cluster results: Cluster centres\nConclusion: This study set out to question, to understand, and to capture the role of ideas in the workplace. While the issue of the measurability and visibility of ideas can give rise to their apparent absence, avoidance or camouflage, this study suggests that the role of ideas in theory and practice is often overlooked. Indeed, the unintended absence of a formal role for ideas may give rise to an undue proliferation of theories, because we fail to recognize that successive anomalies may have points in common.To measure, group, and understand the role of ideas in the workplace is a means for unifying a wide range of theories of leadership, management and organization. This may be preparatory to addressing the adequacy of the theory and practice of leadership, organization development and management, and for developing people at all levels within the organization. This pilot survey suggests that it is possible to gather empirical information about ideas in the workplace. This is in contrast with other studies whose focus on condensing information into a smaller set of new, composite dimensions, or factors, may not adequately identify or suggest the underlying ideas that play a formative role in their observed outcomes.Were ideas to be properly considered a factor of competitive advantage, this study reports that there are clearly different dispositions towards the role of ideas in the workplace: they range through supportive to toxic clusters representing a positive to negative spectrum of workplace environments for ideas.The positive environment appears to arise from two sources: the localized individual performance of the respondent's manager; and the more general positive reinforcement of the organization, which is typically reinforced by the manager.Similarly, among those respondents reporting a less supportive workplace, the worst outcomes for ideas were in those workplaces where both the manager and the organization combined to discourage ideas. In otherwise toxic or unsupportive environments for ideas, there is also evidence that some managers and colleagues may provide counterbalancing support for ideas.There is a need for a unifying framework. The measured divergent roles for ideas, often unacknowledged, probably affect research outcomes, and the practice of mainstream theories of management, leadership and organizational development. So, while management and business enterprise often proclaim and extol particular ideas, outcomes, results, and their champions, there might be a tendency to overlook the broader qualities that unify what ideas do, and how they do it. This might include recognizing the role of ideas to exit an obsolete mindset, to create value, and to avoid the fragmented, process-driven, approaches unsupportive of leaders and followers.For further research, it is suggested that a new perspective about the role of ideas is required. There is a need for a theory of the role of ideas. Perhaps in witnessing the proliferation of theories, we see the outcome of a decline in their unifying role. If so, this needs to be redressed, perhaps in the manner of what has been called \"a single problem field\" (Kuhn, 1977, p. 229).This is a major task, because typically a novel theory emerges \"only after a pronounced failure in the normal problem-solving activity\" (Kuhn, 1962, p. 74). What we are looking at is a reconstruction of the field from new fundamentals, a reconstruction that changes some of the field's most elementary generalizations (Kuhn, 1962, p. 85). In the same way that the physical and natural worlds were unified in previous eras, by thinkers such as Copernicus, Newton and Darwin, perhaps a unification of the role of ideas may contribute to our understanding of our organizational world and its social framework.In the light of these pilot results, there are four implications for managers:1. When managers capture and localize the different (positive and negative) dispositions towards the role of ideas among business units and stakeholders, they are more likely to recognize and understand the status and validity of current mindsets. That is because the ideas perspective enables managers to cross information boundaries, to respond more positively to the situation at hand, and to develop new insights.2. By accessing this ideas perspective, managers will be pursing that which underlies, and has a formative role in competitive advantage, value propositions, and observed outcomes. That is because a role-of-idea-perspective overlaps the traditional approaches to leadership, management, organization, culture, task, process and vision.3. Using an ideas perspective, managers facilitate improvements in competitive advantage. Through dialogue and metrics about ideas, such as those illustrated, managers can make benchmark comparisons to improve performance and outcomes. As managers identify positive and negative idea sub-groups or clusters across colleagues, customers, suppliers and markets, they access knowledge that can be a source of improved performance.4. As managers become more engaged in the interaction and progression of ideas, they will use it to extend and enhance their management theory and practice. For example, the role of ideas, along the lines indicated, can be adopted for divisional, regional and global enterprises and their comparisons.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To measure, group, and understand the role of ideas in the workplace.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study carries out a cluster analysis of what managers say is happening to ideas in their workplace.\nFindings: - This pilot study finds that the role of ideas, their interaction, and progression across organizations and workplaces can be identified and measured. It provides a way of identifying group mindsets and a medium for understanding and addressing orthodoxy.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The main implication is to gain a practical understanding of the role of ideas in any group's performance. The questions about ideas are widely applicable across groups. The research was also limited by its sample size.\nPractical implications: - By identifying how ideas are currently addressed, the approach is available for a wide range of group situations in organizations and across disciplines. It can be used to recognize, harness and improve the contribution of disparate ideas to performance and outcomes.\nOriginality/value: - The article's originality is in its focus on the role of ideas in organization and society. The study highlights the role of idea interaction and progression, invaluable in integrating the development of the theory and practice of leadership, organization and management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Instructional leadership in Greek and English outstanding schools	[ "Instructional leadership", "England", "Professional development", "Greece", "School improvement", "Outstanding schools" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research and literature from different international contexts shows that there are two key influences on student learning: classroom practice and leadership (e.g. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2005; Leithwood and Jantzi, 2008; Robinson et al., 2008; Hallinger and Heck, 2011). These influences suggest that an instructional leadership (IL) focus is an important pathway for teachers' professional improvement and student learning. Policy makers' emerging emphasis on improving teaching and learning led to an interest in the concept of principal IL in the USA (e.g. Leithwood and Montgomery, 1982; Hallinger and Murphy, 1986; Marcoulides and Heck, 1992; Hallinger and Heck, 1996), and England (e.g. Day et al., 2001; Southworth, 2002; MacBeath and Swaffield, 2008). However, there has been very little discussion in Greece about how leadership is conceptualised by school practitioners and whether leadership contributes to school improvement (e.g. Demertzi et al., 2009).\nLiterature review: Perspectives on IL\nMethodology: A qualitative multiple case design allowed detailed data to be collected and compared, grounded in the meanings participants give within two dissimilar educational systems, using the interpretivist paradigm (Creswell, 2003) for the understanding of different \"socially constructed realities\" (Blaikie, 2000, p. 25). Treating each school as an individual case study in a particular context created a platform for presenting rich data of real-life events (Yin, 2009) generated from each case. The cross-case analysis of the four research case studies provided the potential for analytic generalisation (e.g. Bassey, 2007).\nFindings and discussion: In England, school A is a large faith-based secondary (11-18) school, with over 1,400 pupils and 140 teaching and support staff in central England. School B is a large (over 1,500 students and 117 teachers) National Support School with an Executive Headteacher, supporting two low-performing secondary schools. School C is a medium-sized (391 students) secondary school in a suburb of Athens with high socio-economic status and school D has 439 enrolled students. The latter's distinctive nature is that it is a model/experimental school in which staff teaching commitments are decreased due to its pilot nature.\nConclusion: This cross-country comparative study highlights the contrast between a highly centralised and a relatively decentralised context in influencing school improvement practices. There was evidence from the English schools and the literature that there is a shift from hierarchical to horizontal forms of IL in high performing schools in England whereas the centralised policy imperatives in Greece do not allow the flexibility to encourage shared LfL. In addition, another issue of differentiation is encapsulated in the nature of strategies adopted and the extent of implementation, subject to contextual differences.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine instructional leadership (IL) in outstanding secondary schools within a centralised (Greece) and a partially decentralised (England) education context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Since the purpose of the study is exploratory, the researchers adopt a qualitative approach, employing a series of four qualitative case studies with the purpose of examining the impact of IL on student learning, teachers' professional growth and school improvement, using the interpretivist paradigm. Semi-structured interviews with various data sets (stakeholders) within and outside the school, observation of leadership practices and meetings, and scrutiny of relevant macro and micro policy documents are employed to enhance methodological and respondent triangulation.\nFindings: Recognising that IL is not confined to the principals' leadership domain, a sense of shared and distributed leadership prevails in schools, while its implementation is inevitably linked to system constraints. The findings from the Greek schools link to the official expectations that principals operate as administrative rather than instructional leaders, while an unofficial instructional \"teacher leadership\" culture suggests potential for reconsidering leadership in Greek state schools. In contrast, the decentralisation of school activities creates the platform for the emergence of shared and distributed leadership within the English context, where school actors enact direct and indirect IL roles.\nOriginality/value: This cross-country comparative study demonstrates theoretical significance in its focus on the collaborative and reciprocal nature of IL, while its empirical contribution lies in generating new knowledge on how IL is contextually bounded.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Benchmarking Indian ceramic enterprises based on green supply chain management pressures, practices and performance	[ "Cluster analysis", "Benchmarking", "Green supply chain management", "Green practices", "Green performance", "Factor analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Ceramic enterprises in India came in existence about a century ago as traditional pottery making units. Now, Indian ceramic enterprises annually produce more than 100m tonnes of ceramic products consisting electric insulators, sanitary ware, tiles, potteries, tableware, etc. Indian ceramic market has grown rapidly during last decade. Its global production share has increased from 2.5 percent in 2008 to 6.65 percent in 2014 and it ranks number 3 in the world in term of annual production. India is also the third largest consumer of ceramic products because of the growth in real estate and power generation sectors (Sangwan et al., 2014). The large amount of production and consumption of ceramic products is responsible for the generation of solid waste during production and disposal of ceramic products. This solid waste is divided into two categories, namely, pre-kiln (green) and post-kiln (fired) wastes. Pre-kiln waste is recyclable because this is in semi-solid state but post-kiln waste is non-recyclable. The post-kiln waste is mainly responsible for environmental issues (Bhamu and Sangwan, 2015).\n2. Literature review and proposition development: The manufacturing sector is pressurized by the different stakeholders in their production systems to implement new paradigms like green supply chain management (GSCM) to reduce the consumption of natural resources and damage to the environment (Mathiyazhagan et al., 2014). Studies from different countries show that the impact of institutional pressures and implementation level of GSCM practices vary according to the size of the enterprise (Harms et al., 2012; Zhu, Sarkis, Cordeiro and Lai, 2008; Zhu, Sarkis, Lai and Geng, 2008). But, recently Dubey et al. (2017) found that enterprise size neither influences institutional pressures nor performance for sustainability benchmarking of Indian manufacturing enterprises. Therefore, more empirical studies are required to understand the size effect of enterprises on benchmarking.\n3. Research methodology: The research methodology adopted for the study is shown in Figure 1. It consists of identification of indicators for GSCM pressures, practices and performance measures through literature review, development of survey instrument, data collection, data analysis, factor analysis and cluster analysis for benchmarking.\n4. Results and discussion: This section presents the results of and discussion on the results of descriptive analysis, factor analysis and cluster analysis.\n5. Conclusions: This study has benchmarked the Indian ceramic enterprises based on the impact of GSCM pressures, implementation level of GSCM practices and improvement in GSCM performance taking enterprise size and export activity as control variables. The data for the empirical study have been collected from 233 Indian ceramic enterprises of different sizes and market orientation (partial export or zero export). This study has found that the impact of mimetic and IPs is high on large and medium enterprises and impact of CPs is high on small enterprises. It has also been found that the implementation of GSCM practices and improvement in GSCM performance is highest in large enterprises, high in medium enterprises and low in small enterprises. This study has identified that the enterprises involved in export activities have higher implementation level of GSCM practices and performing better than the non-exporting enterprises. Mostly large and medium enterprises are exporting their products. These export activities are the main reason behind the higher mimetic and IPs. The global competition has forced large and medium enterprise to produce the product according to global environmental standard/norms.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the impact of green supply chain management (GSCM) pressures, implementation level of GSCM practices and improvement in performance of the Indian ceramic enterprises. The paper also aims at benchmarking the Indian ceramic enterprises based on enterprise size and market orientation (export activity).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research is based on the empirical study of Indian ceramic industry. Propositions are developed to study: the impact of GSCM pressures, implementation level of GSCM practices, improvement in GSCM performance, and the effect of GSCM pressures on implementation of practices, and impact of GSCM practices on GSCM performance. Data are collected from Indian ceramic enterprises of different sizes. Exploratory factor analysis is performed to segregate the pressures, practices and performance variables into constructs. Two-step algorithm, with log-likelihood measures of distance and Bayesian information criterion, is used to decide the optimal number of clusters. These clusters are compared and benchmarked according to the enterprise size and export activity.\nFindings: This study finds that the implementation level of GSCM practices is higher in large- and medium-size enterprises as compared to small-size enterprises. Large- and medium-size enterprises have high impact of mimetic and informative pressures and small enterprises have high impact of coercive pressure (CP). Although the CP is high on small enterprises but due to the limited resources, these enterprises cannot afford to implement GSCM practices. The implementation of GSCM practices results into the improvement of environmental and operational performance but decrease in economic performance.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study will suggest the policy maker to encourage the diffusion mechanism through a collaborative partnership with larger enterprises to enhance the implementation level of GSCM practices in small-size enterprises.\nOriginality/value: The novelty of the paper are: it analyzes and benchmarks GSCM pressures, practice and performance for Indian ceramic enterprises by considering enterprises size and export activities as control variables, and it finds the effect of GSCM pressures on the implementation level of GSCM practices and improvement in enterprise performance for Indian ceramic enterprises.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Additive manufacturing in the wood-furniture sector: Sustainability of the technology, benefits and limitations of adoption	[ "Innovation", "3D printing", "Additive manufacturing", "Industry 4.0", "Advanced manufacturing technology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Currently the world economy is going through a period of transition and change in the manufacturing landscape. Jeremy Rifkin believes that the phase of digitization, the third, has just begun and has yet to fully show all its implications and its potential (Rifkin, 2011).\n2. Literature panorama on additive manufacturing: 2.1 Development of AM technologies\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sampling and data collection\n4. Results and discussion: 4.1 Sample profile\n5. Conclusions: This paper has evaluated the main advantages and disadvantages that AM technologies can bring to companies, considering those that are implementing them in the specific industry of wood-furniture. The research has highlighted how Italian 3D companies in the wood-furniture industry have a specific profile; they are companies aimed at innovating through the search for new products and product features, putting design and Made in Italy in the first place. They pay high attention to the image they convey to the market and are highly oriented to the final customer, and to the satisfaction of their needs. Vickery et al. (1997) defined four dimensions of manufacturing strength in the furniture industry: innovation, delivery, flexibility, and value, with the latter encompassing the combined effects of quality and cost. The study confirms that Italian businesses have a great tradition in this sector and also a strong ability to innovate, from an environmental and technological point of view. Wood-furniture companies have already begun the transition of their production systems from the paradigms of the linear economy to that one of the sustainable and circular economy, and are increasingly opening up to new production technologies (GreenItaly, 2016).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In the world economy there is the emergence of advanced manufacturing technologies that are enabling more cost and resource-efficient small-scale production. Among them, additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, is leading companies to rethink where and how they conduct their manufacturing activities. The purpose of this paper is to focus in the Italian wood-furniture industry to understand if the companies in this sector are investing in additive manufacturing techniques, to remain competitive in their reference markets. The research also attempts to investigate the potential sustainable benefits and limitations to the implementation of 3D printing in this specific sector, considering the companies that have already implemented this technology.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected using a structured questionnaire survey performed on a sample of 234 Italian companies in this sector; 76 companies claimed to use 3D printing in their production system. The questionnaire was distributed via computer-assisted web interviewing and it consisted of four sections.\nFindings: The research has highlighted how Italian 3D companies have a specific profile; they are companies aimed at innovating through the search for new products and product features, putting design and Made in Italy in the first place. They pay high attention to the image they communicate to the market and are highly oriented to the final customer, and to the satisfaction of its needs.\nOriginality/value: The study is attempting to expand a recent and unexplored research line on the possible advantages and disadvantages of the implementation of emerging production technologies such as 3D printing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An empirical investigation of ethnic food consumption: A perspective of majority ethnic group	[ "Acculturation", "Animosity", "Consumer racism", "Ethnic foods", "Halal foods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent decades, in a number of advanced western countries like Australia, Canada, America, UK and European countries; the immigration patterns have resulted in creation of large ethnic sub-cultural groups (see Euromonitor International, 2010a; Wohland et al., 2001). In this way many societies have become culturally plural which has resulted in emergence of ethno marketing (Badot and Cova, 1995; Pires et al., 2003). Research in domestic settings has shown that when different ethnic groups live together, they also harbor different kinds of animosities toward each other and toward products belonging to other ethnic groups (see, e.g. Shoham et al., 2006; Ouellet, 2007). Though marketing literature has extensively studied animosities related to products from other nations/countries (see, e.g. Bahaee and Pisani, 2009; Ang et al., 2004; Cicic et al., 2005; Kesic et al., 2005; Klein et al., 1998). But it is another stark reality that marketing literature has limited empirical research on consumption behavior regarding products of domestic/intra-national ethnic origin (see Shoham et al., 2006). There are handful studies which talk about resistances in consumption behavior (animosities, etc.) within domestic markets (see, e.g. Hinck, 2005; Shoham et al., 2006). Thus this author holds the view that undergoing animosity within markets holds significant importance for all the stakeholders including companies, governments and even consumers themselves. It is believed that once empirically studies, the results of this study will have practical significance for policy makers in government parlors, industry as well for literature. In marketing literature, this phenomenon has not been studied adequately from theoretical perspective. Schlegelmilch and Khan (2012) is the only study which has explored and investigated animosity with reference to religious endorsements including Halal endorsement of products in Austria (a country having non-Muslims as majority ethnic group). Hence this literary gap must be filled through empirical investigation like this manuscript. The main objective of this paper is to fill this literary gap by empirically working on all the possible resistances against (from majority ethnic groups) Halal foods in UK. This work is intended to provide a theoretical basis for this phenomenon for facilitating future researchers in the area of ethnic food consumption.\nMethod: Date collection and sampling\nStructural model: The research hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, using AMOS 20 (Arbuckle, 2010). The model shown in Figure 1 - yielded a kh2 of 129.6 (df=119). Since, the kh2 statistic may result in unreliable results as sample size and model complexity increases (Hair et al., 2010b), other fit indicators (RMSEA=0.008, CFI=0.99,TLI=0.996, NFI=0.97, IFI=0.99, RFI=0.95) were used to assess the model fit (Schumacker and Lomax, 2004; Diamantopoulos and Siguaw, 2000a; Hair et al., 2010a). Furthermore, the R2 values for each structural equation were estimated to further assess the models explanatory power. The resulting model fit indicates an acceptable model fit to the data.\nDiscussion: This study provides a very interesting perspective of ethnic food consumption in domestic markets by focussing on one of the growing ethnic food category, i.e. Halal in UK. This study has conceptualized that though ethnic foods are being used by majority ethnic group but at the same time this consumption is being affected by prevalent consumer resistances as well. Furthermore these resistance factors are being moderated by acculturation among consumers. This study is the first empirical assessment of intra-domestic consumption about Halal ethnic foods among majority ethnic group. Thus it provides fresh and vibrating strings of possible research avenues in domestic markets regarding different ethnic food consumptions. The findings support a notion that the resistances toward ethnic food consumption can be managed by understanding the possible animosities and CR. It further shows that ongoing acculturation is very helpful in reducing these resistances (animosity and racism) toward Halal ethnic food consumption.\nConclusion: This paper has contributed in the marketing literature in many ways. After pointing out the literary gaps and apprising the importance of ethnic markets in multicultural world, First, it is one of the first ever literary works which talked about acculturation and animosities of majority ethnic groups regarding minority-related food products in multicultural world. Second, it proposed and validated a model which will help the future researchers to study the concept of food acculturation in majority ethnic group regarding minority-related foods under possible animosities. The flexibility of model means that it can be applied to different kinds of minority-related foods in different markets. Third, this study will help future researchers in designing empirical research in ethnic food markets and in discarding the label of \"marketing myopia\" from marketing researchers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Due to globalization and latest immigration patterns, ethnic subgroups are emerging in almost all the advanced countries resulting in significant increase in ethnic food consumption; to which many issues are attached which are not adequately addressed in marketing literature. Recently, marketing researchers have started paying attention to different perspectives of ethnic consumption in intra-national contexts. Halal is one of such fastest growing ethnic food in western societies. The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively study Halal food consumption in majority ethnic groups in relation to possible resistances and acculturation in multicultural society of UK.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The questionnaire survey was used to collect data.\nFindings: The model was developed by using structural equation modeling (SEM) which shows that both consumer animosity and consumer racism negatively affect willingness to buy Halal food by majority ethnic groups whereas ongoing acculturation moderates these relationships.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study is use of a combination of convenience sampling and snowball sampling.\nPractical implications: The findings can guide ethnic researchers and food marketers to devise prudent marketing strategies to deal with ethnic food consumption issues.\nSocial implications: This study will bridge a gap in ensuring intercultural harmony by dealing with a market reality.\nOriginality/value: This work has a potential to instigate future research in much needed area of changing food consumption behavior in multicultural societies and its implications.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The multi-level effects of developmental opportunities, pay equity, and paternalistic leadership on organizational commitment	[ "Korea", "Organizational commitment", "Hierarchical linear modelling", "Paternalistic leadership", "Developmental opportunities", "Perceived pay equity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizations need highly committed employees to maintain a competitive advantage and enhance organizational effectiveness (Kell and Motowidlo, 2012). Organizational commitment is a psychological bond connecting employees to an organization, which leads to several positive outcomes of organizational effectiveness, including work behaviors, attitudes and employee retention (Chun et al., 2013; Kell and Motowidlo, 2012). Antecedents of organizational commitment have been increasingly investigated, including personal characteristics, job characteristics, group/leader relations and organizational culture (see reviews by Kell and Motowidlo, 2012; Meyer et al., 2012). In addition, researchers have identified several demographic variables that could have an effect on organizational commitment such as age, length of service and leadership style (Yahaya and Ebrahim, 2016). However, most research on organizational commitment has been conducted in Western cultural contexts with individualistic and low power distance cultural characteristics (Hofstede et al., 2010), although an increasing number of studies on organizational commitment have been recently conducted in non-Western cultures (Chai et al., 2017). Thus, more research is required in non-Western cultural contexts, particularly in Eastern cultures such as Korea with higher collectivism and power distance (Hofstede et al., 2010).\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: Organizational commitment\nMethods: Sample and data collection\nAnalyses: Preliminary data analysis\nResults: The results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses are reported in this section.\nDiscussion: Based on organizational support theory (Eisenberger et al., 1986), implicit leadership theory (Tsui, 1990) and multiple extant empirical studies, we anticipated that the HR practices of developmental opportunities and perceived pay equity and paternalistic leadership would positively impact organizational commitment in the Korean cultural context. We further aimed to determine how the relationships between these HR practices and commitment were moderated by paternalistic leadership at the team level using a cross-level test. In this study, developmental opportunities and perceived pay equity had a significant relationship with organizational commitment. However, paternalistic leadership at the team level had a non-significant association with commitment. We also found that paternalistic leadership negatively moderated the relationship between developmental opportunities and organizational commitment. Furthermore, the moderation effect of paternalistic leadership on the relationship between pay equity and organizational commitment was non-significant.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of developmental opportunities and perceived pay equity-and paternalistic leadership on affective organizational commitment and the moderating role of paternalistic leadership at the team level in a Korean context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Hierarchical linear modeling with a two-level design was used to analyze data collected from 844 employees and 59 work teams.\nFindings: The study identified that developmental opportunities and perceived pay equity were significantly associated with affective organizational commitment. However, paternalistic leadership was not significantly related to affective organizational commitment. The results also showed that the moderation effect of paternalistic leadership on the relationship between pay equity and organizational commitment was non-significant, and paternalistic leadership moderated the relationship between developmental opportunities and organizational commitment. In particular, the relationship of developmental opportunities with organizational commitment became weaker when the supervisor's paternalistic leadership was stronger.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results of this study supported the applicability of organizational support theory and previous empirical studies supporting the relationships between human resource (HR) practices and commitment, particularly in the Korean cultural context. The results have several practical implications for employers, mangers and HR practitioners in an East Asian cultural context.\nOriginality/value: This study extends the body of knowledge in leadership research by investigating the influences of two key factors of HR practices and a Confucianism-based indigenous leadership theory on organizational commitment. More importantly, the results can guide future cross-national or cross-organizational studies exploring the relationships among leadership, organizational culture and organizational effectiveness. This study also offers clearer empirical evidence for why and how developmental opportunities and perceived pay equity need to be enhanced in an East Asian cultural context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The export competitiveness of Italian coffee roasting industry	[ "Innovation", "Export performance", "Dynamic capabilities", "Coffee roasting industry", "Export competitiveness", "Export potential" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: International competitiveness is one of the most important topics in the economic and management literature, and it has traditionally been at the core of the agenda of academics, policy makers and practitioners in general.\nTheoretical background: The industry is the location where firms win or lose a competitive advantage and the basic unit of analysis for understanding competition is industry (Porter, 1990); moreover, the industry impacts the competitiveness of firms and countries.\nNew global landscape of the roasting industry: In the last decades, the worldwide coffee industry has undergone a deep structural transformation; in particular, four main trends have affected the demand side of the market:\nMethodology: competitiveness measures and data source: Several indicators have been developed in order to measure competitiveness; they can be divided into two broad groups: result-oriented indicators (or ex post indicators), based on trade data, and determinant-oriented indicators (or ex ante indicators), such as the legal and institutional framework of a country, the infrastructure, etc.\nExport competitiveness of Italian coffee roasting industry: results of the analysis: Italy plays an important role in the international coffee business, in terms of roasted coffee exports. Italian firms buy green coffee from the so-called \"exporting countries\" (in particular, India, Brazil, and Vietnam) and, after a process of transformation, they sell roasted coffee to \"importing countries\" all over the world[4]. In Italy, the sector counts over 700 firms-which are mostly micro-, small- and medium-sized-and 7,000 workers.\nThe possible causes of Italian loss of international competitiveness: the missing link of dynamic capabilities and innovation: Grounding on the previous analysis, we can say that the lack of innovation is the main factor behind the decrease in Italian competitiveness. The characteristics of the domestic market have played a significant role in explaining this result, intertwined with some other firms' strategic factors.\nConclusions: This paper constitutes the first attempt to study the evolution of the coffee industry in regards to the international competitive landscape and its contribution is three-fold, as indicated in the Introduction section.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the competitive position of Italian roasting firms in the international market, thus developing a multidimensional framework for measuring industry export competitiveness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Considering that the objective is to evaluate the export competitiveness of Italian roasting firms, the author chooses \"positive\" and \"ex-post\" indicators, combined in a multidimensional and a multivariable framework. The two dimensions of competitiveness implemented are competitive performance and competitive potential; the author used four indices to evaluate the first dimension (export market share, net export share, net export index, revealed comparative advantage) and three indices for the second dimension (unit export price, relative quality index, relative export growth).\nFindings: The evolution of the international context, with the emergence of new competitors and the spread of coffee consumption worldwide, creates new opportunities but also new challenges for Italian companies. In fact, both competitive performance and competitive potential have been worsening since the second half of the early twenty-first century because of the lack of innovation. A mix of external and internal factors explain this lack.\nPractical implications: In order to recover their international competitiveness, firms should leverage on the combination of \"traditional elements\"-such as Made in Italy effect and the rich technical know-how, depending on their long tradition in the espresso coffee market niche-with \"innovative elements,\" depending on new marketing skills and competences; these new elements could be developed internally or, most fruitfully, acquired externally, through collaboration with other firms. In this way, Italian businesses could improve the relative quality perceptions of their offering.\nSocial implications: Coffee roasting industry in Italy is a significant component of the Italian economic system and it contributes to the development of the Made in Italy abroad. Therefore, an improvement of its export competitiveness could be beneficial to the whole domestic market.\nOriginality/value: This paper constitutes the first attempt to study the evolution of the coffee industry in regards to the international competitive landscape. This is quite surprising, considering that coffee is one of the main segments of the food and beverage industry; it is the second most important commodity exchanged worldwide after oil and the third most popular beverage after water, tea and carbonated beverages. Then, the analysis of export competitiveness is developed combing two main research streams: the industrial organization literature and the strategic management literature. Moreover, this paper offers a methodological framework useful to measure export competitiveness also in other industries and countries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Advances in corporate brand, corporate heritage, corporate identity and corporate marketing scholarship	[ "Corporate brand", "Corporate marketing", "Corporate identity", "Corporate heritage" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and article structure: The timing and foci of this symposium are propitious. It is also auspicious because it marks several, critical milestones in the annals of corporate marketing research and scholarship apropos corporate identity, corporate brand, corporate heritage and corporate marketing scholarship.\nCelebrating four milestones and one revolution: What, precisely, are the four critical milestones and what is the marketing revolution mentioned above?\nReflections on corporate brand and corporate identity scholarship from 1995 to the present: In reflecting on the above, the author makes the following 18 reflections (one or two pertain to corporate marketing and corporate heritage). See Figure 1 which shows a visual representation of the 18 reflections:\nReflections on extant European Journal of Marketing special editions on the territory: Unquestionably, the EJM has played a pivotal role in fostering scholarship in the above fields. In particular, it has an enviable provenance vis-a-vis the special editions devoted to the broad corporate marketing territory.\nThe European Journal of Marketing symposium: advances in corporate brand and corporate identity scholarship and the third marketing revolution: The five articles constituting this symposium speak to the four celebratory events marked by this EJM symposium. As such, the five articles respectively focus on corporate identity, corporate marketing, corporate heritage and corporate brands. A brief synopsis of the above are given below.\nReflection: Reflecting on the past 20 years, it is agreeable to reflect on the progress made in the broad corporate identity, corporate branding and corporate marketing fields. Increasingly, these areas have occupied a central place in corporate marketing scholarship and practice. Unquestionably, the EJM has played a pivotal role apropos the above.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This article introduces the special symposium entitled \"Advances in corporate brand, corporate heritage, corporate identity and corporate marketing scholarship\" and provide a synopsis of the five articles constituting this symposium. By means of context, this article celebrates the anniversaries of four marketing milestones apropos the formal introduction of the corporate brand concept (1995), the formal introduction of the corporate heritage notion (2006), the first special edition (in this journal) devoted to corporate identity (1997) and the formal introduction of the corporate marketing philosophical approach (1998). The latter - corporate marketing - can be viewed as a revolution in marketing thought by noting that mutually beneficial company-stakeholder relationship can be based on corporate identities and corporate brands are not restricted to products and/or services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Taking a retrospective, this paper explains the four marketing milestones detailed above and notes the revolutionary notion of corporate marketing. All of the aforementioned have meaningfully advanced marketing scholarship over the last 20 years.\nFindings: This study provides 18 reflections of developments with the corporate brand and corporate identity fields. It also shows the seminal importance of European Journal of Marketing (EJM) special editions on the territory dating back to 1997.\nPractical implication: This paper discusses how corporate identity, corporate branding, corporate heritage, corporate identity and corporate marketing have, increasingly, become mainstream marketing concerns.\nOriginality/value: In marking these milestones, this celebratory EJM symposium comprises cutting-edge scholarship on the aforementioned areas, penned by renowned and prominent scholars from Australia, England, Germany and the USA.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Quantifying the degree of leanness and agility at any point within a supply chain	[ "Supply chain", "Data analysis", "Lean", "Agile", "Index" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Lean and agile principles are well established in all modern supply chain thinking. Lean supply chains are synonymous with commodity-type products aiming to reduce waste (e.g. Goldsby et al., 2006; Vonderembse et al., 2006), maximize utilization (e.g. Fisher, 1997) and driving continuous improvement (e.g. Wee and Wu, 2009). In contrast, agile principles are applied when the supply chain needs to respond rapidly to fluctuating demands, ensure premium quality and/or deal with products that have short lifespans (Yusuf et al., 2004). In most cases, however, few supply chains are completely lean, nor agile.\n2. Methodology: A wide range of industry supply chain data sets (see Table I) were sourced to evaluate a set of algorithms that are explained in Equations (1)-(4). All data resembled the daily handling of items at a particular point in a supply chain, such as tomatoes handled at a pack house, or sugarcane that crossed over a weigh bridge at a mill. Only relatively large operations were considered and were assessed for periods during which the supply chain did not undergo any large fundamental changes, such as a major expansion. All the data summarized in Table I originate from commercial transaction records between buyers, sellers and service providers. In all cases the measurements were well calibrated, audited and reconciled using accounting practices. It falls outside the scope of this paper to elaborate on the specific data gathering processes followed within each of the supply chains. Data from willing industry participants were used and there exists opportunities to widen this study.\n3. Results and discussion: Table II presents the seven indexes (l, U, L, A, c, , a) defined in this paper for the 16 different supply chains. These indexes provide a rich description concerning the nature of the various types of supply chain configurations. The supply chains range from a lean sugar refinery operation with little down time and running 50 per cent of its time at ceiling conditions, to more agile tomato pack houses with high levels of underutilized capacities.\n4. Conclusion: Although leanness and agility can sometimes be perceived as relatively complicated opposing philosophies, in this paper lean and agile principles are fundamentally linked to the supply chain's ability to deal with fluctuations in product flow at different points along the chain. A relatively simple and intuitive calculation towards the degrees of leanness and agility are proposed and tested. These indexes made sense in each supply chain that was analysed and prompted further explanations when certain supply chains, such as a rock supply chain, presented relatively high and unexpected agile conditions. Likewise, the handling of rejects in the supply chain demanded a high degree of agility, which makes sense, but is counter intuitive when the relative value of the product is being considered. The strength of the indexes presented in this paper revolve around their simplicity and, as supported by Christopher and Towill (2010), the ability to accommodate the notion that both lean and agile principles often need to be pursued within the same supply chain at the same time. The indexes are significantly less complicated compared to previous attempts by researchers to quantify leanness and/or agility (e.g. Karlsson and Ahlstrom, 1996; Sieger et al., 2000; Radnor and Boaden, 2004; Ray et al., 2006; Wan and Chen, 2006; Kumar and Ramakrishna, 2012; Behrouzi and Wong, 2013).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Not many researchers have attempted to numerically quantify a supply chain's degree of leanness or agility. Although focusing predominantly on food, the purpose of this paper is to propose a simple and universal methodology to quantify the degrees of leanness and agility at any point within any supply chain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Daily processing capacities of stochastic model runs and real supply chain data were projected onto a standardized Euclidean surface. Indexes that calculate, amongst others, the agility, leanness, baseline production and ceiling conditions were derived.\nFindings: The indexes were often well correlated across the various supply chains. Leanness correlates negatively with agility, as can be expected, however, these attributes do not stand opposed to each other. Most supply chains seem to exhibit both lean and agile attributes simultaneously. Sugar, various types of tomatoes, avocado and onion supply chains are discussed and compared. Although a large amount of data were analysed, there exists an opportunity to widen this study significantly.\nOriginality/value: This paper presents a unique and simple approach to quantify the degree of supply chain leanness and agility. Although these terms are often used, only a few authors have made attempts to quantify these attributes and in most cases the approaches are relatively cumbersome. The relatively simple indexes create an opportunity for supply chain management to measure, evaluate and communicate their strategies along the supply chain and between different chains.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Awareness and attitude towards corporate social responsibility: A study of MBA students in Rajasthan	[ "Ethics", "Corporate social responsibility", "Social accountability", "Environment protection" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. It is also known by different names such as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, sustainable responsible business (SRB), corporate social performance and corporate social opportunity. It is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of the society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment. Gray et al. (1996) defined CSR as the \"process of communicating the social and environmental effects of organizations' economic actions to particular interest groups within a society and to society at large\". It encompasses charitable activities in the field of healthcare, different forms of health camps, voluntary blood donation, education of the underprivileged, welfare of the physically challenged, organic farming, livelihood programs, slum rehabilitation, disaster management, etc. and also deals with sensitive issues like child labour, girl child, road safety, women wellness, and minority development.\nLiterature review: Despite differences of opinion about the efficacy of CSR, there is a general consensus among academics, policy makers, and practitioners that corporations operate with a social sanction that requires that they operate within the norms and mores of the societies in which they exist. CSR increasingly receives attention from managers and researchers, especially in the area of consumer perception. However, most of this research was conducted in the context of developed countries. Compared with the growing body of literature on the nature of and consequences of CSR, however, the matter of how to improve the companies' level of CSR has received relatively limited attention. Nonetheless, CSR research in the recent past has primarily focused on identifying the ideal \"how to carry out CSR\". Scholars have paid considerable attention in studying the relationship between CSR and firm performance. Yet, little empirical research demonstrates what actually shapes or drives CSR and which prominent areas should an organisation focus on while striving to be a good corporate citizen. Through the literature review we are trying to identify the relevant factors and concerned areas which require attention.\nResearch objectives: To find out the awareness and attitude of the management students of Rajasthan state towards CSR.\nResearch methodology: A survey was conducted taking respondents as business school students of Rajasthan. Based on previous research in related areas, a questionnaire was designed to measure the attitude of the management students towards the concept of CSR. The required information was collected through the structured questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of 41 statements relevant to the type of information that was to be extracted from the respondents in order to fulfil the objectives of the study.\nSample and data collection: As an exploratory research, judgmental sampling has been used. The universe of this study was Rajasthan. The age group of the target population varied from 20 to 25. In order to get the answer on the research questions, 350 questionnaires were randomly distributed to 350 students of various B-schools situated in Rajasthan. Out of 350 respondents, 64 percent of respondents were male and rests 36 percent comprised of female students. Of the 350 questionnaires distributed, 294 filled and completed questionnaires were found suitable for the study, representing a response rate of 84 percent.\nSurvey instrument: The questionnaire items represent eight categories namely humanitarian concerns, fair business and transparency, accountability towards stakeholders, global standards, social accountability, CG, ethical commitment and environment protection and sustainability. The developed questionnaire included 41 variables where four variables was used to measure humanitarian concerns, four variables to fair business and transparency, eight variables to accountability towards stakeholders, four variables to global standards, four variables to social accountability, seven variables to CG, seven variables to ethical commitment and four variables to environment protection and sustainability. Respondents were asked to indicate the degrees of agreement with each of the items on five-point Likert scale from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree.\nData analysis: For the analysis and interpretation of the data, the technique of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) has been used. This technique has been particularly used to extract the minimum number of factors that will explain the maximum amount of variance in the collected data. The data provided were then examined using various statistical tools such as descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), Kaiser-Maiyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett's Sphericity test, reliability statistics using Cronbach's a and EFA.\nResults: First the suitability of data for the purpose of EFA was tested using two analyses, namely KMO test and Bartlett's test of sphericity. The KMO measure of sampling adequacy is a statistic which indicates the proportion of variance in the variables which might be caused by new factors. High values generally indicate that an EFA may be useful with the data. If the value is less than 0.50, the results of the factor analysis probably will not be very useful. The KMO measure of sampling adequacy came to as 0.805, which was acceptable for the purpose of the analysis. Bartlett's test of sphericity was found to be significant (p=0.000) with kh2 and degree of freedom as 4,340.686 and 820, respectively. This primarily suggests that the correlation matrix is not positive definite.\nRotated component (factor) matrix: The idea of rotation is to reduce the number factors on which the variables under investigation have high loadings. Rotation does not actually change anything but makes the interpretation of the analysis easier. Looking at Table XII, we can see that all the items of variable named humanitarian concerns (i.e. hc2, hc3, and hc4) are substantially loaded under component 5, likewise all the items of variable named fair business and transparency (i.e. fbt2, fbt3, and fbt4) are substantially loaded under component 6 and so on. These factors can be used as variables for further analysis.\nFindings: The management students are concerned with the way the companies should consider CSR. For the management students, eight factors matters the most when it comes to following of CSR by the corporate houses in India. The eight factors are: humanitarian concerns (Galbreath, 2010), Fair business and transparency, accountability towards stakeholders (Carroll, 1991; Freeman et al., 2007), global standards (Dashwood, 2005), social accountability (Donham, 1927), CG (Sternberg, 2004; Aguilera, 2005; Wise and Mahhoob, 2007), ethical commitment and environment protection and sustainability (Ingram, 1978; Abbott, 1979; Hackston and Milne, 1996; Deegan and Rankin, 1997; Webb et al., 2009; Waller and Lanis, 2009). These eight factors, if incorporated in CSR, will explain 61.451 percent of variance in the collected data, which means that it will fulfil the 61.451 percent expectations of the management students from the business.\nSuggestions: The findings revealed that the B-school students want Indian organisations to follow international standards with respect to CSR. This perception of the student's community shows that the domestic business organisations are not so sensitive to societal needs as compared to their foreign counterparts. Hence, the domestic organisations should try to benchmark their CSR initiatives with the global players. Although lack of funds and other contextual differences might be a hindering factor, none the less such benchmarking would form a positive image about the corporations in the mind of the future managers. \"Accountability towards stakeholders\" has evolved as an important factor in the present study because value chain social impacts are significantly affected by the company's activities in the ordinary course of business. The respondents perceived that company had a major liability towards the various stakeholders including employees, society, and customers, etc. An organisation might be taking various initiatives in line with their CSR policies, however, those initiatives are not disclosed and hence there is a lack of awareness among the general masses about the various philanthropic activities. A proper disclosure mechanism might be formulated (like publishing of various initiatives in major print/electronic media on a biannual basis) to reach to the masses. This would improve the overall image of the corporation.\nConclusion: The prevailing approaches to CSR are fragmented and disconnected from business and strategy. Hence, the organisations are not able to obscure many of the opportunities to benefit society. Results of this study provided a new insight into the relationship between business and society that does not treat corporate success and social welfare as a zero-sum game. Rather organisations can analyze their prospects for social responsibility using the strategic intent that guide their core business choices. This would lead to discover that CSR can be more than a cost, a constraint, or a charitable deed and hence it can be a source of opportunity, innovation, and competitive advantage.\nLimitations: Limitation of this study is the relatively small sample size. This is a concern both in terms of external validity and statistical power. First, it is difficult to generalize results from an experiment employing a small student sample to a larger, more representative population. Thus, the robustness of the results from this study needs to be tested in future studies conducted with a larger, more representative sample. Second, a small sample size tends to be associated with a relatively low statistical power.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper is an attempt to explore the awareness and attitude of the management students towards corporate social responsibility (CSR). Students are perceived as future managers of the corporate world and their perception about CSR is deemed important to business organisations. The students can make companies understand their responsibility towards various stakeholders. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By doing a review of past literature, an appropriate scale consisting of forty-one items has been developed to measure the dimensions of CSR. Data were collected from 294 students of various business schools situated in Rajasthan (India). The data collected was subjected to exploratory factor analysis to extract the main dimensions that would bring out the attitudes of the students towards CSR.\nFindings: Results revealed that the companies should pay attention to accountability towards stakeholders, corporate governance, ethical commitment and humanitarian concerns besides fulfilling other responsibilities as covered under the eight factors identified in the study.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper used survey data from small sample of management students in a limited geographic area. Hence, it might be difficult to generalize the results to a larger, more representative population. The research also suggests how corporations can make CSR an integral part of the business organisation.\nPractical implications: The dimensions identified in the study if incorporated by the business in its day-to-day operations can make it socially responsible as well as socially acceptable in the true sense.\nOriginality/value: This research makes an empirical contribution to identify the factors which management students expect business enterprises should do to be justified as socially responsible corporate citizens.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of supply chain integration on brand equity	[ "Brand equity", "Supply chain management", "Intangible assets" ]	[ { "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: The modern business environment has advanced the importance of intangible firm assets as a sustainable firm advantage. This includes brands and brand equity, with much scholarly attention devoted to brand equity recently (e.g. Aaker, 1991, 1992; Baldinger, 1990; Byron, 1995; Farquhar, 1990; Hsieh, 2004; Kim and Kim, 2004; Leone et al., 2006; Shocker, 1993; Sloot et al., 2005). Brand equity has been conceptualized in similar, yet slightly differing ways by many authors. Park and Srinivasan (1994) describe brand equity as the \"added value endowed by the brand to the product\" (p. 271). Rust et al. (2004b) incorporate the customer's perspective, stating that brand equity is \"the sum of customers' assessments of a brand's intangible qualities, positive or negative\" (p. 3). Keller (1993) also incorporates the customer into the conceptualization of brand equity, defining \"customer-based brand equity\" as the \"differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand\" (p. 2). While details of the conceptualizations of this construct may differ, the overall importance of brand equity to the value of a firm is unmistakable. Of the two perspectives, this study adopts Rust et al.'s (2004b) view. We believe this approach is more effective in exploring brand equity in the context of supply chain management as it allows more realistic, effective assessment of brand equity in the business to business nature of supply chain activities.However, studies that explore how a firm's supply chain activities affect its brand equity are sparse in the literature. While the role of supply chain in serving the customers is drawing increasingly more attention from scholars and managers, supply chain activities as potential contributing factors of brand equity merit research attention. Supply chain activities play a crucial role in enhancing brand equity as such activities carried out in an efficient manner imply effective communications, and thus coordination among supply chain members regarding the market and customer preferences, and eventually help respond to changes in the market and customers preferences ahead of the competing supply chain. The effective supply chain activities are likely to cultivate favorable attitude of the customers toward the brand enhancing its brand equity.Thus, as an exploratory study on the link between brand equity and supply chain activities, this study examines the relationships between specific characteristics of a firm's supply chain with brand equity. In particular, the impact of interfirm integration and responsiveness in the supply chain on brand equity is investigated. Drawing upon a dynamic capabilities framework (Teece and Pisano, 1994; Teece et al., 1997; Eisenhardt and Martin 2000), we propose that interfirm systems integration and interfirm activity integration are antecedents of supply chain responsiveness. Together, these are intangible assets of the firm that positively impact brand equity, and ultimately firm performance. This study is unique in that it investigates the relationship between a firm's supply chain and brand equity, making contributions to the relevant literature. That is, it offers to the brand literature empirical evidence as to the role of a firm's supply chain activities in improving brand equity. Moreover, for the supply chain literature, this study relates a firm's supply chain activities to a key marketing tool, the firm's brand.The next section describes the constructs contained in the model and outlines the overall conceptual framework. The research hypotheses are then detailed. A description of the research methodology is provided, followed by the results. The results are then discussed, as well as managerial implications. Lastly, limitations and suggestions for future research are provided.\nModel and hypotheses: The conceptual model in this study is framed by the dynamic capabilities view (Teece and Pisano, 1994; Teece et al., 1997; Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000) and is depicted in Figure 1.Dynamic capabilities are those abilities that allow the firm to integrate, develop and reconfigure competencies in response to the volatile external environment (Teece and Pisano, 1994). Interfirm systems integration, interfirm activity integration, and supply chain responsiveness are each important functions that a firm must excel at when interacting with partnering firms. A firm must be able to react quickly to a changing environment when interacting with members of its supply chain. Hence, developing strategies that optimize the value of these relationships should lead to enhanced competitive advantage. Eisenhardt and Martin (2000) state that \"dynamic capabilities rely on more real-time information, cross-functional relationships and intensive communication among those involved with the external market\" (p. 1112). Therefore, interfirm systems and activity integration, as well as supply chain responsiveness, can be viewed as dynamic capabilities specific to the firm from which competitive advantage can be derived. As such, utilizing these dynamic capabilities should lead to overall enhanced firm performance. To explore such relationships, this study identifies supply chain responsiveness as a supply-chain specific mediating variable of the relationship between supply chain integration and brand equity. Each study variable is discussed below.Supply chain integration\nResearch methodology: Measures\nDiscussion: Previous studies on brand equity have examined the construct predominantly from a customer perspective without looking at the relationships beyond the firm-customer level. In this study we have gone beyond the firm-customer relationship to look at the impact of supply chain integration and supply chain responsiveness on brand equity. The results of the analysis show the impact of intangible assets in the supply chain on brand equity and market performance.We hypothesized that both activity integration and systems integration would have a positive impact on supply chain responsiveness. As hypothesized, the results of the analysis demonstrate that both integration constructs did positively impact supply chain responsiveness. This is to be expected as the more integrated the supply chain partners, the more likely it is that the entire supply chain can react in a timely and effective manner to challenges arising in the external environment. If partners are closely planning and forecasting together, they are also able to learn from each other and complement each other.We also hypothesized that both activity integration and systems integration would affect brand equity positively. The results show that only systems integration is positively associated with brand equity. As the supply chain communication systems become more integrated, the firm is more capable of reacting to the needs to the customer and boosting its brand's subjective assessment in the minds of the customer.An interesting result is the insignificant impact of interfirm activity integration on brand equity. One plausible explanation for this interesting finding is the mediating role of supply chain responsiveness between interfirm activity integration and brand equity. That is, rather than having a direct impact, its impact on brand equity is totally mediated by supply chain responsiveness. Interfirm activity integration affects brand equity positively but through supply chain responsiveness. The result is not surprising in that all such interfirm activity integration ultimately enhances the responsiveness of their supply chain. However, further studies are required to confirm this explanation.We found that supply chain responsiveness affects brand equity positively. The more effective the supply chain response is, the greater the brand equity is. This finding is significant in that, to our knowledge, the result is the first empirical evidence revealing that supply chain responsiveness leads to greater brand equity.Unsurprisingly, we found a positive impact of brand equity on market performance. This was expected as brand equity is positioned as an intermediate marketing outcome. There are several previous studies that have linked various dimensions of brand equity to market performance (e.g. Allenby and Rossi, 1991; Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). Our study confirms that there is a positive effect of brand equity on a firm's market performance as measured by sales growth, market share and market development.The results also indicate that brand equity mediates the impact of supply chain responsiveness on market performance. Along with the significant direct effect of supply chain responsiveness on market performance, this is an interesting result as it suggests supply chain responsiveness has both direct and indirect impacts on market performance, revealing the importance of managing supply chain responsiveness in enhancing firm market performance. Toward this end, this study contributes to the literature by identifying not only the relationships among supply chain responsiveness, brand equity, and market performance, but also the antecedents of supply chain responsiveness, allowing managers to supervise their supply chain responsiveness more effectively.\nManagerial implications: This study provides a number of important implications for managers. First, the study results reveal the importance of integration with supply chain partners if they want to develop a responsive supply chain. In the modern dynamic marketplace speed is key and the only way to ensure that you remain ahead of the competition is to become timely and efficient in your response to the fast changing environment and competition.In addition, the study was able to show the importance of supply chain relationships to brand equity. Managers are often prone to thinking that the only relationship of any importance to brand equity is the one between the brand and the customer. However, the study results show that in fact developing effective relationships throughout the supply chain is crucial in enhancing a firm's brand equity. If the customer sees the supply chain as being efficient, this will enhance the brand equity. Managers should not completely assume that it is only downstream marketing efforts that impact brand equity. Upstream actions and processes are also crucial.The study results further show that system integration and activity integration have distinctive roles in inducing better firm performance. Interestingly, the literature does not consider those two types of interfirm integration in supply chain as distinctive concepts. The literature typically considers supply chain system implementation as an enabling condition (e.g. Kim et al., 2005, 2006) but no substantial research attention has paid to interfirm system integration as a managerially meaningful concept. Accordingly, managers often do not view them as different concept in supply chain. Although affecting each other in practice, they are clearly different concepts as demonstrated in the measurement model of this study. Furthermore, their role in enhancing firm performance is not comparable according to the results. Managers are advised to consider this study finding and recognize interfirm integration as a multidimensional concept with at least two dimensions as reported in this study: system integration and activity integration.System integration deserves managers' attention. It has a direct impact on not only supply chain responsiveness but also brand equity. For managers who are seeking to enhance their firm's standing in the market, improving their system for interfirm collaborative activities is a promising avenue to consider as such improvements in the systems lead directly to better responsiveness of the supply chain as well as the firm's brand equity. It is particularly meaningful as both of those are affecting its market performance directly.To improve how a firm's brand is recognized in the market, managers are advised to pay attention to the role of supply chain responsiveness. This study hypothesized that firm brand equity is enhanced directly by both supply chain responsiveness and activity integration. However, the effects of activity integration on brand equity are materialized only through supply chain responsiveness according to the results. It is managerially noteworthy as the results indicate that supply chain responsiveness that measures a firm's supply chain ability to capture market forces and changes to serve its customers better is more effective in improving market and customer-embedded brand equity than activity integration that captures how well a firm plans for the market along with its partners. That is, a market oriented supply chain activities is a more effective tool to manage a firm's brand equity than a firm-oriented activity.Finally, the results show that brand equity affects market performance positively. Obviously, brand equity is a valuable intangible asset to the firm that leads to its market performance as developing and managing supply chains help not only deliver the goods efficiently to the customers but also enhance a firm's brand equity and, ultimately, its sales growth, market share, and market development.\nLimitations and future research: As an exploratory study, there are several limitations to acknowledge. First, this study relied on single informants from each business unit in exploring the current framework; this framework includes brand equity, which could be measured more reliably through a dyadic data collection involving both the sellers and buyers/customers. Future research should consider collecting data from multiple informants including the customers/buyers in addition to the sellers to better assess a firm's brand equity. Second, we only examined interfirm systems integration, interfirm activity integration and responsiveness as antecedents of brand equity in this study. However, we believe there are other supply chain antecedents of brand equity that can also be considered in future studies such as goal alignment and power distribution between supply chain partners. Such variables have demonstrated in the literature a significant role in enhancing interfirm relationships, (Hart and Saunders, 1997; Johnson et al., 1993; Kim et al., 2004; Luo, 2002) and, therefore, we believe that they can play a role in supply chain context that this study explored. Furthermore, there are multiple exogenous or moderating variables that affect our dependent variable, brand equity, directly as an antecedent and indirectly as a moderator. Future research should incorporate such exogenous variables more explicitly. Potential exogenous variables may consider include product quality, market positioning, and industry practices.Extending the framework of this study, future study may explore the impact of a firm's supply chain integration and responsiveness on customer equity (Gupta et al., 2004; Lemon et al., 2001; Rust et al., 2004a), a newly emerging construct in the marketing literature. Customer equity, which is most firms' ultimate goal, is driven dynamically by brand equity, value equity, and relationship equity of the firm. Therefore, incorporating such equity variables together will allow an investigation on how a firm's supply chain activities influence a firm's ultimate goal more dynamically. In this way the focus of the results would go beyond focusing on the brand, what the firm offers, to focusing on the customers, what the market is seeking.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - As measuring returns on intangible assets has become more and more crucial in the contemporary business environment, this study seeks to explore the impact of a firm's supply-chain specific intangible assets on firm performance, drawing on the dynamic capabilities view of the firm.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - As an exploratory study that links supply chain activities with firm brand, the study investigates how a firm's supply chain characteristics, such as interfirm activity integration, interfirm system integration, and supply chain responsiveness, affect brand equity and ultimately firm performance, based on responses from 184 US supply chain managers.\nFindings: - The results of the study indicate that both interfirm system integration and supply chain responsiveness have a direct positive effect on brand equity. However, the effect of interfirm activity integration on brand equity is totally mediated by supply chain responsiveness.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study relied on a single informant from each business unit in testing the study framework, investigating a selected few supply chain specific antecedents of brand equity only. The supply chain specific characteristics of the firm the study explored deserve more research attention in the literature as they directly or indirectly help enhance brand equity. Supply chain integration is multidimensional: interfirm activity integration and interfirm system integration. The effect of interfirm activity integration on brand equity is totally mediated by supply chain responsiveness.\nPractical implications: - Managers should understand the importance of their supply chain activities in improving and managing brand equity.\nOriginality/value: - The study explores supply chain specific antecedents of a firm's brand equity for the first time.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Prioritizing tactical quality improvement: An action research study	[ "Quality improvement", "Action research", "Shopfloor", "Operations and production management", "Plastics industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since, the early 1900s researchers have studied and identified variation in manufacturing processes that reduce product quality and increase the overall cost of quality. Subsequently, several tools were developed to assist managers and workers in reducing variation and improving various processes such as statistical process control (SPC), Pareto analysis, cause-and-effect diagrams, and the Taguchi loss function (Deming, 1986; Robinson, 1986; Taguchi, 1986). While valuable, these quality tools suffer from two shortcomings. First, they assume that all process defects are equally important, and second, they assume that adequate resources exist in real-world firms to repair any quality defects when they occur. In our experience in real-world firms, we found that these assumptions are not always valid. The dynamics of a real production environment often prevent immediate resolution of all process problems, thereby requiring a worker or supervisor to prioritize which quality issues and defects will be resolved first. For example, line operators who have responsibility for more than one machine or production line may often be faced with multiple quality defects occurring simultaneously. In most instances, this forces the line operator to prioritize which quality problems will receive attention first. This method presupposes that line operators have the wherewithal to prioritize quality improvement efforts that best benefit the company. In our survey of line operators in the plastics, electronics, and recreation industries we found that they rarely consider the impact of their decisions on the overall quality performance. In other words, line operators prioritized defect repairs based on their own preferences without regard to how it impacts the company. We found that operators often repaired the problems in the order in which they occurred, or focused quality improvement efforts on the problem with the shortest repair time (Hales, 2000), regardless of its severity, or impact on overall performance. Performing repairs in this manner may not lead to the lowest overall quality costs or reduction in the number of defects. A review of many of the quality tools such as SPC, Cause-and-Effect diagrams, etc. found that they provide little assistance to shop floor workers or supervisors faced with multiple, simultaneously occurring, product defects. These tools are either excessively myopic - they fail to consider more than one dimension of a problem - or provide no method for prioritizing quality efforts that reflect the reality of their importance.The purpose of this study is to provide one tool for prioritizing quality improvement efforts on the shop floor that reduces the number of quality defects and the overall cost of quality (COQ) of the process. We first describe and then demonstrate the method for prioritizing quality improvement that considers two dimensions to a quality problem - namely the number of production lines affected by a product defect and the frequency with which the defect occurs. The method, called the binary sorting algorithm (BSA), prioritizes quality improvement efforts using these two factors. Using this data, it ranks product defects in a manner that guides line operators to apply quality improvement efforts. To our knowledge, this is the first study to apply a multi-dimensional methodology to prioritizing quality improvement efforts on the shop floor.\nLiterature review: The literature is replete with procedures to develop and prioritize quality control improvement initiatives. They include COQ based systems (Moen, 1998) such as the prevention, appraisal, and failure model (PAF) (Feigenbaum, 1974); number and percentage of defects-based systems such as SPC (Deming, 1986); overall impact on performance-based systems such as Pareto Analysis (ABC) (Nicholas, 1998) and the Taguchi loss function (Taguchi, 1986); and solution-based systems such as cause-and-effect diagrams (Robinson, 1998).The PAF and ABC tools work well at the strategic level - to identify general areas of improvement based on specific criteria. PAF prioritizes quality efforts to minimize expected prevention, appraisal, and failure costs. This method suggests that a firm should focus its resources on the type of defect that reduces overall production cost. The literature implies that focusing resources in this manner leads to the lowest overall production costs (Moen, 1998). However, the use of PAF requires a large data set and is reliant on a firm's ability to accurately specify all of the costs of quality, which is often impossible or expensive to do. Even when accurate costs can be estimated they are normally available only on a periodic basis - which is not timely enough to prioritize day-to-day efforts. More contemporary techniques such as activity-based costing (Letza and Gadd, 1994), use information that is usually available only on a periodic basis - such as weekly or monthly. Cost-based systems focus on single resources or problems. In other words, a cost-based system can identify the costs of failure (or potential failure) classified by problem, resource, or customer, but not all three. In contrast, ABC analysis, with its easy computations and use of small data sets, can be performed much faster than PAF; however, ABC focuses only on a single dimension of a problem - such as the frequency or percentage of defects.SPC methods use timely information that lead to quick identification of a problem at the shop floor level. Like ABC, SPC focuses only on a single dimension and treats all process problems with equal importance. In other words, based on SPC, a technician may focus efforts to solve a problem on a relatively minor process while ignoring a more critical process.Cause-and-effect diagrams are used to identify the causes of quality defects. They are not designed to prioritize improvement efforts on the shop floor - which is the ultimate purpose of this study. In addition, the procedure is unidimensional with only a single problem addressed in each diagram.The Taguchi loss function (Taguchi, 1986) suggests prioritizing quality efforts based on the largest deviation of actual process specifications from the target specifications. Taguchi proposes that the greater the deviation from target, the higher the probability of failure and increased defect rates and quality costs. The loss function requires a relatively large data set to accurately evaluate the impact of off-target specifications, and requires analytical skills not normally taught to line operators.Another technique to prioritize quality problems was developed by the Standard Plastics Institute (SPI) in the 1970s. SPI provided guidelines to prioritize defects as Type 1, 2, and 3, depending on severity (SPI, 1974). In this model, defects designated as Type 1 represented flaws in finished goods that would ultimately cause the products to be scrapped. Type 2 defects represented flaws that were primarily aesthetic, and which could be easily reworked or for which the customer would accept a limited quantity. Type 3 defects were classified as minor, which rarely resulted in scrapped or returns-from-customer. Therefore, Type 1 defects were repaired first, then Type 2, etc ... . The purpose of this technique was to minimize the overall COQ by minimizing the scrap-from-line rate and customer returns. The problem with this approach, and the reason for its ultimate abandonment, was that it was blamed for institutionalizing defects, and ran counter to the Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy of finding permanent solutions to quality problems (Deming, 1986).The above literature provides various approaches to prioritizing quality improvement efforts based on COQ, the number of defects, potential impact on performance, and potential losses. However, they all suffer from one or more limitations. First, either the data required to conduct the analysis is difficult to accurately obtain or is available only on a periodic basis. To prioritize day-to-day efforts, the data must be obtained quickly, and not only on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Second, some methods, such as COQ and the Taguchi loss function, were designed as strategic tools that require large data sets that are not available to shop floor personnel. Third, all methods discussed only considered a single dimension of quality, and therefore do not consider the relative importance of repairing one defect over that of another. Fourth, techniques such as SPI prioritize quality improvement based on local conditions and not the potential impact on overall performance.These issues are important because we find that, in real-world companies, equipment operators are often responsible for more than one piece of equipment or production line and must choose between competing priorities when repairing defects. We found that 70 percent of the operators prioritize defect repairs based on which one occurred first or the one with the shortest repair time (Hales, 2000), regardless of its severity, or impact on overall performance. In some cases, we found that supervisors were responsible for prioritizing quality improvement efforts. We found that they often focused on local conditions and gave higher priority to defects that resulted in the scrapping of products versus those that could be reworked rather than overall impact on the process. The problem with these approaches is that they attack process problems haphazardly, without consideration for their effect on overall quality performance or costs.Purpose of the study\nMethodology: The methodology used in this paper is an action-research approach conducted in three separate companies and industries. The first study was conducted at a single-site, large plastics manufacturing company. The second study was conducted at a mid-sized, electronic-component manufacturer. The third study was conducted in a small job-shop that manufactures recreation equipment. All three companies were based in the southern US and were chosen for this study because they allowed line operators to prioritize quality improvement efforts on a daily basis. Prior efforts to institutionalize formal selection methods on the shop floor in all three companies had failed because of the dynamic environment in which each company operated. To address how the limitations of reliability and validity presented by action-based, participant-observer research were handled in this study, we briefly discuss each issue in the next section. The first author of this paper acted as a participant-observer for the study. In a prior agreement with the three companies, the firm names will not be revealed.The Rationale for action-research\nResults: Discussion on performance in the three firms\nConclusions: The use of the BSA method to reduce overall scrap-from-line and COQ worked in two of the three companies studied. The BSA worked in manufacturing environments that were relatively complex - with at least 20 productions lines and a minimum of 12 categories of defects and 300 SKU's. We found that the algorithm worked because it was able to prioritize quality improvement efforts based on overall impact on the shop floor. The prioritization was based on the frequency of the quality defects and their concentration on specific production lines.The BSA did not work in the smaller job shop - and actually harmed performance. We propose that the level of manufacturing complexity was low enough for workers to easily track and verbally share where defects were occurring; therefore, the BSA did not contribute to the knowledge of quality defects. This suggests that the 20 percent scrap-from-line was created not by a lack of worker knowledge of quality defects, but by other factors. We observed that the high level of competition between workers had inhibited information-sharing and cooperation that could have dispersed knowledge of quality problems throughout the plant. Since, the BSA does not address cooperation and information dispersion, it was unable to improve performance. This suggests that only complex environments may benefit from the algorithm.We conclude that the main implication for managers is that a formal method for prioritizing process improvement efforts at the shop floor level has been developed, demonstrated, and shown to significantly reduce quality in complex environments. As this study is exploratory and the first application of the BSA algorithm in prioritizing process improvement efforts at the tactical level, it could provide a valuable tool to workers and supervisors - regardless of the industry.\nFuture research: To estimate generalizability, the study should be replicated in other industries and countries with varying degrees of manufacturing complexity. Cultures that support a greater degree of cooperation and information-sharing among line operators may find the information about clusters of defects redundant and of limited value.Another interesting finding from this study centered on the type of equipment used to manufacture plastic bottles. This study showed that certain types of equipment from specific manufacturers tended to produce bottles with certain types of defects, i.e. that manufacturer X's machine frequently produced parts with uneven wall thickness, while manufacturer Y's equipment usually produced bottles with uneven neck finishes. This occurred regardless of the shift, operator assignment, or SKU being produced. This means that the BSA could be used to suggest engineering modifications to equipment that consistently exhibit certain quality defects in the products they manufacture. This finding provides an extension of the use of BSA beyond our original objectives. Future research should test these propositions to determine generalizability across industries and firms. Lastly, we used defect rate and COQ as our performance criteria, which are only two measures of manufacturing performance. The impact of the BSA on flow time and job tardiness should also be examined.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to test a method for improving decision-making at a tactical level - i.e. at the shop floor level. This is done by testing the use of the binary sorting algorithm (BSA) to improve decisions concerning quality improvement efforts among machine operators in a plastics manufacturer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The method used was the \"action-research\" approach since the researchers were actively involved in the training, implementation, and use of the BSA.\nFindings: - It was found that using the BSA to prioritize quality improvement efforts by machine operators reduced the \"scrap-from-line\" rate in a plastics manufacturer.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study should be replicated in different companies and industries using multiple methods because action-research is limited in its generalizability. Also, since the researchers are actively involved in the process, our observations could not be considered objective.\nOriginality/value: - To the authors' knowledge, this is the first application of the BSA to improve decision-making at a tactical shop-floor level in a manufacturing company.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Employee empowerment and job satisfaction in urban Malaysia: Connecting the dots with context and organizational change management	[ "Job satisfaction", "Power distance", "Malaysia", "Employee empowerment", "Organizational hierarchy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One of the most significant factors known to affect organizational performance is employees' level of job satisfaction (Jiang et al., 2011; Paille, 2011; Zhang and Bartol, 2010). Extant literature suggests that job satisfaction refers to employees' sense of fulfillment and enjoyment at the workplace, and determines their commitment to, and concern for, the organization (Hosie et al., 2013; Olcer, 2015; Top et al., 2015). Scholars have argued that job satisfaction is not only due to material factors, such as reward and promotion, but also reflects the autonomy enjoyed by employees in decision-making and implementation processes as a result of empowerment. An empowering organization emphasizes information-sharing, discretion and individual participation, thus enhancing employees' feeling of self-confidence (Joo and Shim, 2010; Spreitzer et al., 1997). Li et al. (2016) proposed that empowerment improves employees' feeling of thriving at work, which can also increase job satisfaction. This explains why the relationship between employee empowerment and job satisfaction has gained much research interest, especially over the past two decades (Carless 2004; Olcer, 2015; Pelit et al., 2011; Seibert et al., 2004).\n2. Employee empowerment and job satisfaction: Employee empowerment can be considered as enabling relations of power through a process that fosters employees' sense of control and competence (Ashcraft and Kedrowicz, 2002; Conger and Kanungo, 1988; Spreitzer et al., 1997). When employees are empowered, they often become self-motivated and committed individuals who will expend maximum effort in their work and generate better performance (Ke and Zhang, 2010; Thomas and Velthouse, 1990). This phenomenon is evident in the study by Li et al. (2016), which demonstrated that empowering leadership increases employees' sense of thriving at work, thus inducing behaviors which support organizational change. Other studies (Bish et al., 2015; Miller, 2002) suggest that in periods of intense change and uncertainty, an empowering leadership drives change diffusion throughout all levels of the organization.\n3. Organizational and socio-cultural contexts: Trends in employee turnover and brain drain among Malaysian professionals (Malaysia Economic Monitor, 2011; Wahab, 2014) suggest that improving job satisfaction is a critical problem for employers in this country. Additionally, a number of related studies, for example by Beh (2014), Ismail et al. (2014), and Santhapparaj and Syed (2005), indicate that there are gaps in workplace practices, such as recruitment, training and compensation, between the public and private sectors and between different industries, which may contribute to unequal levels of empowerment and job satisfaction among diverse groups of workers. Furthermore, with a foreign direct investment of approximately US$8 billion flowing into the country (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2016), there is intense competition between local and foreign-owned enterprises for skilled human capital.\n4. Methodology: A quantitative approach was adopted in this study as it facilitates the examination of a larger and more representative set of data (Fowler, 2002; Kumar, 2012). In the following sub-sections, we discuss the survey instrument, sampling method and statistical techniques used in data collection and analysis.\n5. Findings: Results of the frequency analysis and hypotheses-testing are presented in the following sub-sections.\n6. Discussion and implications: In this section, the above results of hypotheses-testing are discussed in relation to the research questions, particularly their implications for organizational change management in urban Malaysia and other emerging markets.\n7. Suggestions for future research: This study applied snowball sampling in the exploration of the research questions. The resulting sample was limited in size and rather homogeneous (only employees in the capital city were involved). With a larger and more heterogeneous sample, it would be possible to conduct multi-level analyses, where the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction can be re-tested across sub-groups to see whether it is generalizable to a more diverse workforce. In this manner, multi-level analyses would help to produce a deeper understanding of the effect of employee empowerment on job satisfaction in Malaysia by identifying which contextual factors moderate the relationship between the two variables. Furthermore, taking up the earlier mentioned work by Bish et al. (2015) about the influence of leadership on change diffusion, the possible effects of employee empowerment and job satisfaction on employees' response to change should also be of interest in future studies.\n8. Conclusion: The current study has attempted to investigate the relationship between employee empowerment and job satisfaction in the context of urban Malaysia, which is fast developing yet struggling with high employee turnover and brain drain. From the analysis, it is found that the theoretical link between empowerment and job satisfaction is indeed tenable in the urban Malaysian environment. This finding holds considerable implications for organizational change management in Malaysia since empowerment has the capacity to build employees' self-efficacy which improves their productivity and innovativeness. It also suggests that empowerment is a powerful strategy for Malaysian organizations competing to retain talented employees in times of rapid change.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The topic of employee empowerment and job satisfaction, and its implications for organizational change management, is underexplored in developing countries. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the two variables in the context of urban Malaysia as an emerging market. Differences in empowerment and job satisfaction in relation to organizational and socio-cultural environments were also assessed. The findings are then discussed in terms of their implications for organizational change management in Malaysia and other emerging countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using survey data gathered from 125 local employees working in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction was tested using correlation and regression analyses. ANOVA tests were used to determine differences in empowerment and satisfaction among sub-groups divided according to four factors in the organizational and socio-cultural environments, namely, form of ownership, job sector, type of industry and organizational hierarchy.\nFindings: The results demonstrate that employee empowerment has a strong positive effect on job satisfaction. However, significant differences in employee empowerment and job satisfaction between higher and lower levels of the organizational hierarchy raise concerns about organizational change diffusion and the sustainability of strategic changes.\nResearch limitations/implications: Empirical evidences are provided for the generalizability of the theoretical link between employee empowerment and job satisfaction in the urban Malaysian context. Nevertheless, the findings have highlighted the need to further examine specific issues faced by employees in lower levels of the organizational hierarchy which affect their rates of empowerment and satisfaction in a rapidly changing environment.\nPractical implications: Implications on power relations between managers and their subordinates are discussed, as well as on succession and goal-sharing during periods of intense organizational change.\nOriginality/value: By demonstrating the influence of organizational hierarchy on employee empowerment and job satisfaction in a non-western setting, this study has contributed new insights on the role of socio-culture and power relations in organizational change management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Profiling causative factors leading to construction project delays in the United Arab Emirates	[ "Project management", "United Arab Emirates", "Construction industry", "Construction delay", "Construction practitioners", "Delivery of projects" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Delivery of projects in a timely manner is one of the most important needs of clients of the construction industry. However, it still remains a highly challenging undertaking in many countries across the globe (Flyvbjerg, 2014; Ochieng, Price and Moore, 2013). Such delays usually come with and lead to far reaching consequences in the form of adversarial relationships, mistrust, litigation, arbitration, cash flow problems and a general feeling of trepidation towards other stakeholders (Ahmed et al., 2003). Previous efforts have yielded very little and this is evident in the persistence of the problem. It can be argued that the problem is likely to be more pronounced in areas where development pressure is the highest, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the construction sector is said to have reached an unparalleled position in the last decade. Moreover, the problems of construction delays may differ from one region to another due to numerous social, economic and cultural factors. The UAE construction industry has reached an unparalleled position in the last decade (Business Monitor International (BMI), 2013). Considering the high contribution to overall economy and development the construction industry is an important sector in the UAE (BMI, 2013). Thus, it is important to identify the most significant causes of delay in the UAE construction industry to be able to find ways to avoid them, or at least, mitigate their impact. According to BMI (2013), the UAE's construction industry value was forecasted at approximately $41 bn in 2013, representing a real value annual growth of 4.5 per cent. In Dubai alone, the property and construction sector contributed 21 per cent of the Emirate's GDP growth in the first half of 2013 - putting it second only to the retail and wholesale sector.\n2. Appraisal of construction delays: A successful construction project is said to be one that has accomplished its technical performance, maintained its schedule and remained within budgetary provision (Frimpong et al., 2003). Delays are usually accompanied by cost overruns. These have a debilitating effect in terms of adversarial relationships, mistrust, litigation, arbitration, cash flow problems and a general feeling of trepidation towards other stakeholders (Ahmed et al., 2003). The Latham (1994) report suggested that ensuring timely delivery of projects is one of the important needs of clients of the construction industry. According to Ahmed et al. (2003), delays on construction projects are a universal phenomenon. When projects are delayed, they are either extended or accelerated and therefore, incur additional cost. To the client, delay means loss of revenue through non-availability of production facilities and rentable space or a dependence on present facilities. In some cases, delay causes higher overhead costs to the contractor because of longer work period, higher material costs through inflation, and due to labour cost increases. Completing projects on time is an indicator of efficiency, but the construction process is subject to many variables and unpredictable factors, which result from many sources (Assaf and Al-Hejji, 2006). Love et al. (2013) suggested that two different viewpoints exist with regard to cost overrun. According to Love et al. (2013), within the infrastructure and transport literature, cost overruns are invariably calculated from the decision to build. In contrast, within the construction and engineering management literature, cost overruns are determined from contract award.\n3. Other construction delay issues: From the reviewed literature, other construction delay issues were identified. These were classified into four categories.\n4. Method: There are different methods and approaches that have previously been adopted by various researchers on the subject of construction project delays as detailed in Table III.\n5. Findings: The findings are presented below under seven categories drawn from the raw quantitative data. The seven categories are summarised below.\n6. Discussion: This paper examined the attitudes and experiences of construction delay amongst clients and senior construction practitioners in UAE. The findings from this study show that the construction industry has always suffered from fragmentation owing to the temporary nature of project execution (Sullivan and Harris, 1985). The effects of fragmentation can be mitigated, by adopting a project strategy which will combine the skills of individuals and groups from contributing organisations so as to have the best balance of resources available at the right time. In this study, the following were identified as top construction delay variables in UAE:\n7. Conclusion: The present study was designed to identify the most significant causes of delays in the UAE construction industry. The study has unveiled a number of important causes of construction delays in the UAE, ranging from unrealistic contract durations to poor labour productivity, with consultants and clients seemingly shouldering the bulk of the \"blame game\". It was evident, however, that all the three main stakeholders in a construction project (clients, consultants and contractors) need to change their existing practices in order to ensure timely delivery of projects. A comparison against previous international literatures on project delays was conducted in an attempt to determine differences in causes based on geographic, cultural and socio-economic factors. The causative factors of project delays obtained through survey were compared against the top-five important factors from previous studies (see Table II). The research confirms that delays are country specific and appear to be time related hence they should be viewed within the social, economic and cultural settings of the UAE. The results are not fully comparable to any of the studies which support Sambasivan and Soon (2007) findings that \"the effects of delays in construction projects can be country-specific\". Further, it also appear to be time related since an earlier study by Faridi and El-Sayegh (2006) on the UAE is significantly different. In order to successfully address issues of project delays, the casual factors need to be clearly understood at the planning phase. There are a number of important changes which need to be made in UAE. Methods should be put in place to reduce long and bureaucratic processes within the client's organisations, not only to fulfil the requirements of the contract but also to suit fast-track projects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: A voluminous amount of research has been conducted on project delay in the recent past; however, the persistence of the problem demands that a relentless quest for solutions is upheld. It can be argued that the problem is likely to be more pronounced in areas where development pressure is the highest. One such area is the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the construction industry is said to have reached an unparalleled position in the last decade. The purpose of this paper is to identify the most significant causes of delays in the UAE construction industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted targeting three key types of stakeholders, namely clients, contractors and consultants. Validity and reliability were achieved by first assessing the plausibility of construction delay variables in UAE. The verification took place after the interpretation of quantitative data, this involved presenting the findings to the main participants. The validation took place after the verification process. Rigour was achieved by engaging participants previously engaged in UAE and focussing on verification and validation, this included responsiveness of the researchers during group discussions, methodological coherence, appropriate sampling frame and data analysis.\nFindings: From the analysis, the study unveiled a number of important causes of construction delays in the UAE, ranging from unrealistic contract durations to poor labour productivity, with consultants and clients seemingly shouldering the bulk of the \"blame game\". It was evident that all the three main stakeholders in a construction project (clients, consultants and contractors) need to change their existing practices in order to ensure timely delivery of projects. The research also confirms that delays are country specific and appear to be time related hence they should be viewed within the social, economic and cultural settings of the UAE.\nResearch limitations/implications: A major limitation of the current study was the use of a single approach to facilitate data collection.\nPractical implications: It was evident that practitioners need to change their existing practices in order to ensure timely delivery of projects. Continuous coordination and relationship between practitioners are required through the project life cycle in order to solve problems and develop project performance.\nOriginality/value: As suggested in this study methods should be put in place to reduce long and bureaucratic processes within the client's organisations, not only to fulfil the requirements of the contract but also to suite fast-track projects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Volition and motivations influence on weight maintenance	[ "Physical activity", "Exercise", "Lifestyle behaviours", "Motivation (psychology)", "Self-regulation", "Weight loss", "Psychology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Effective interventions for obesity are a widely discussed topic because obesity is a growing health threat in most countries in the world. The health consequences of obesity are an increased risk for non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders and cancer, as well as a number of psychological illnesses such as depression, distorted body image, eating disorders and low self-esteem (World Health Organization, 2015). While realizing that relying solely on BMI as a health indicator has been suggested to have several limitations (Campos et al., 2006; Monaghan, 2007), in Denmark, for example, obesity defined as a BMI30 has increased significantly in the last two decades. In 2000, approximately 10 percent of individuals over 16 years of age had a BMI of over 30 kg/m2. This is an increase of almost 75 percent in just 13 years, when compared with previous reports. Since 2000, the number of obese individuals has increased to 14 percent in 2013 (Sundhedsstyrelsen, 2014). Numerous studies on how to facilitate obese individuals' weight loss process has shown that the biggest challenge is not to achieve a weight loss but rather to maintain the weight loss (Anderson et al., 2001; Christiansen et al., 2007). The National Weight Control Registry provided evidence that most successful weight maintainers are women and that they are characterized by a high amount of physical activity and self-weighing (Catenacci et al., 2008; Thomas et al., 2014). It has been suggested that one way of overcoming obesity is through intensive lifestyle interventions (ILIs). ILIs have been shown to be successful in assisting obese individuals obtain a weight loss of approximately 1 percent each week over a three-month period (Christiansen et al., 2007). In short, the definition of an ILI is that the intervention includes exercise classes, an experience of a calorie restricted healthy diet, psychological assistance during the intervention and with the following period in mind, and finally that the participants live and experience a healthy lifestyle in a community of like-minded people in a controlled environment where lifestyle change is the focus every day.\nMethod: The ILI\nResults: Volition\nDiscussion: This qualitative study explored successful and unsuccessful weight maintainers' post ILI experiences. These experiences were categorized in eight themes which were viewed through the theoretical lens of SDT and PSI theory. The psychological construct volition (PSI theory) and motivation (SDT) provided a sound theoretical explanation for all eight themes. The successful and unsuccessful weight maintainers' experiences differed both across and within the themes. This study revealed how important it is that one develops both one's motivation concerning healthy life style and also volitional skills in order to be able to engage in actions that are goal oriented even when the motivation toward this action possess a low level of self-determination. In addition it is important to refrain from goal opposing behavior even when motivation toward these activities is characterized by autonomous motivation.\nConclusion: This study explored the experiences of individuals with obesity and the challenges they faced during a period of weight maintenance following an ILI. Important challenges were adjusting life after the intervention, controlling \"unhealthy\" food intake and having situations control behavior. According to PSIT overcoming such challenges requires a wide range of volitional skills, e.g. impulse control. Clear differences were seen between successful and unsuccessful weight maintainers with regards to these skills. Other challenges were making weight reduction one's own project, seeking social support, self-monitoring, choosing exercise activities and eating and exercising for positive consequences. In meeting such challenges, motivation is important, and examples were explained based on the basic psychological needs and motivation quality described in the SDT. Only the successful weight maintainers expressed awareness of motivational strategies. Based on theoretical interpretations of the participants' experiences, through the process of retroduction, a theoretical model was developed. The model illuminates how the more self-determined the motivation toward a goal opposing behavior is, the higher the volitional intensity in order to refrain from engaging in it is needed. Likewise the less self-determined the motivation toward a goal-oriented behavior is, the higher the volitional intensity needed to engage in it is. This model lays the foundation for future intervention studies as well as applied recommendations for practitioners working with individuals wishing to overcome obesity.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how the psychological constructs volition and motivation influence successful and unsuccessful weight maintainers' experiences during the difficult period following an intensive lifestyle intervention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Post lifestyle intervention semi-structured interviews with 11 successful and four unsuccessful weight maintainers were conducted.\nFindings: The eight themes that emerged and the differences between successful and unsuccessful maintainers were theoretically explained applying the self-determination theory (motivation) and the personal systems interaction (volition).\nPractical implications: The study validates and coheres with previous findings on the importance of self-regulation and autonomous motivation for weight loss maintenance. Additionally, the study's findings expand the literature by explaining both empirically and theoretically how the quality of motivation concerning an activity influences the level of volitional intensity needed when wanting to either engage in goal oriented or refrain from goal opposing activities.\nOriginality/value: Developing effective obesity interventions has become essential, as obesity is a growing health threat in most countries in the world. However, there is a gap in the literature with regards to qualitative psychological studies with a clear theoretical framework informing intervention development.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Distributed leadership to mobilise capacity for accreditation research	[ "Leadership", "Health services", "Safety", "Patient care", "Qualitative research", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Many international inquiries have analysed cases in which patient safety has been compromised. A supra-analysis of eight inquiries in six countries furthered understanding about an important insight (Hindle et al., 2006): organisational or system failure can frequently be attributed to poor responses to early warning signs. Recommendations from inquiries have contributed to an increased focus on patient safety. While improvements have been made (Braithwaite et al., 2007; Westbrook et al., 2007), many challenges remain for struggling professionals, organisations and systems, and academics who provide empirical evidence to support improved practice. One is how to provide leadership to build capacity for quality and safety research. Recognition that leadership can be a distributed or collective accomplishment (Gronn, 2002), rather than the actions of one person, offers a conceptual schema by which to apprehend this challenge.Examining the practice and challenges of collective or distributed leadership models has been called for (Bennett et al., 2003; Gronn, 2002; Hiller et al., 2006; Woods et al., 2004) as a way of approaching the shared, multiple-interactive nature of the social phenomenon of leading. Creating a map of the evolving history of practice (Hung et al., 2005; Moss, 2004) and understanding how to replicate positive practices (Mohr and Batalden, 2002) and processes (Langley et al., 2003) in different settings is needed to address patient safety concerns. The importance of, and necessity for, quality and safety research has been identified previously (Meyer et al., 2003; Meyer and Eisenberg, 2002; Perneger, 2006; Stevens, 2005; Tamuz et al., 2004; Walshe, 2007) and is the focus of an increasing range of conferences, for example the first European Conference on Patient Safety Research (Patient Safety Research, 2007).One strategy to address quality and safety is through accreditation of health organisations. Accreditation involves assessing health services' performance against pre-determined standards and has been linked to improving patient safety (Shaw, 2003). While the need for research into accreditation has been expressed for some time (Scrivens, 1997; Shaw, 2003), resources have not been forthcoming and capacity remains under-developed. This descriptive-normative paper is at the intersection of these concerns: the need for accreditation research, the need to understand the efficacy of accreditation as a contributor to patient safety and the need to examine the conduct of distributed leadership in creating the strong stakeholder partnerships required for complex research strategies.\nAim: In this paper, we highlight how the capacity for accreditation research can be realised by drawing upon the experience of a range of stakeholders who together provided collaboratively-oriented leadership to mobilise, and enact, a collaborative research partnership. We draw on the concept of distributed leadership, which has three distinctive aspects (Woods et al., 2004): it is an emergent property of a group or network of interacting individuals; there is an openness of boundaries of leadership; and leadership expertise is spread amongst those involved. Theoretically, these components can realise a concertive dynamic that is greater than the sum of the parts. To meet the aim of articulating this empirically we discuss how academic, industry and government stakeholders were engaged in a collaborative research partnership to examine a widespread and mature accreditation program, that of the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS).Across three diachronic phases we trace how distributed leadership mobilised a collaborative research partnership, negotiated the complex socio-political dynamics of the emerging research network and promoted reciprocity to construct the research design and then enact the research paper. One way to contextualise this narrative is in terms of an innovation journey following Van de Ven et al. (1999) who examined fourteen longitudinal innovations over seventeen years. This is a journey of complexity, involving navigation through an iterative process with many potential and actual barriers and enablers. We establish in the paper a catalogue of the lessons learned, and distil from these lessons two principles for leadership to maximise others' opportunities to mobilise capacity for quality and safety research - or, more broadly, other kinds of multi-stakeholder alliances.\nMethod: Research design\nFindings: The mobilising of the collaborative research partnership to examine the ACHS's health care accreditation system, which realised the capacity for accreditation research, went through three discernible phases: identifying partnerships; bottom-up engagement; and enacting a reciprocal research collaboration. The first phase emphasises the leadership associated with mobilising people to deal with an under-explored problem (Fullan, 2001). The second phase builds upon this beginning. The focus is on overcoming problems by enacting sustainable leadership (Hargreaves and Fink, 2006) to continue the momentum of the partnership. The third phase is the display of leadership which promoted teamwork and participation to enact the study (Marquardt, 2005). Each of these phases in the journey is detailed in turn.Phase one: identifying partnerships\nDiscussion: Improving quality and safety through undertaking accreditation research is recognised as an important goal; however, achieving success is a journey fraught with many pitfalls, just as Van de Ven et al.'s(1999) model of innovation journeys would predict. Overall, the collaboration described here has been successful in achieving this goal. The collaboration has created extensive industry and researcher capacity for quality and safety research, focused on examining the accreditation of health services, and positioned itself between the need for theoretically-driven and empirically-relevant research on the one hand and the more practical needs of industry participants to strengthen and improve accreditation processes on the other. Across three phases an effective collaboration was realised based on the strengths of partners (Meyer et al., 2003), which meant limited resources were utilised efficiently (Frankel et al., 2003). The outcomes and lessons learned from each phase of the collaboration are detailed in Table I. Drawing upon these lessons two key principles for leadership to maximise opportunity to mobilise capacity for quality and safety research can be articulated. The value of learning from successful projects has previously been noted and described as educational leadership (Hargreaves and Fink, 2006).First, building successful collaborations requires distributed leadership, with the preparedness and persistence to negotiate with potential stakeholders to mould discrete interests into mutually constituted objectives. Considerable time, effort and resources are required to build relationships between stakeholders in order to promote understanding of different needs and interests. Distributed leadership (Woods et al., 2004) is a key determinant in achieving such outcomes (Uhl-Bien et al., 2007) particularly when dealing with complex adaptive systems as illustrated here. In this case the leadership was emergent and distributed as the research collaboration evolved. Individuals from both academia and industry, the Director and the PRC, respectively, enacted dynamic leadership (Goleman, 2000; Greenfield, 2007) and boundary spanning roles which facilitated the construction of a \"community of practice\" (Wenger, 1998) focused on accreditation research. These actions enabled the initial collaboration to become strengthened despite obstacles and setbacks. Furthermore, the leadership cohorts, in expanding the network of stakeholders and refocusing the research at various points, meant expertise was leveraged and competitive funding was secured. Then the research team, individually and collectively, came to the fore in displaying leadership that continued to enact the collaborative approach established as they implemented the study. The distributed leadership exemplification described in this paper builds on findings from previous research (Bickmore, 2001; Gronn, 2002). These studies noted the importance of informal leadership positions and the necessity for a range of opportunities for their demonstration.Nevertheless, coordination of mutually constituted but often contested interests remains a challenge. Collaboration between independent organisations and strong-minded individuals means there will be both co-operation and divergence of opinions but no formal authority structure to negotiate within (Gulati and Singh, 1998). Hence, the necessity to ensure, as occurred here, that the collaboration remains characterised by openness, transparency, respect and trust (Frankel et al., 2003; Gulati and Singh, 1998). In essence, the main constants are ongoing negotiations and uncertainty, and there is no guarantee of success along the way. A tolerance for ambiguity and a willingness to engage with a multiplicity of differing and sometimes opposing views are paramount attributes of leadership in this mode.Second, the distributed leadership of successful collaborations, variously labelled as \"a contractual alliance\" (Gulati and Singh, 1998), \"reciprocal dependency\" (Smith Ring and Van de Ven, 1992) or \"research consortia\" (Ouchi and Kremen-Bolton, 1988), is mutually reinforcing and beneficial to partners if they practice reciprocity (Lincoln and Guba, 1985). In turn, the context of reciprocity sustains the conditions under which the distributed leadership thrives (Woods et al., 2004). Attending to reciprocity reinforces roles while simultaneously enabling integration without enmeshment. That is, to provide something different and of value to another requires an individual to act from his or her role while enacting empathy and mutuality; accomplishing this promotes collaboration across permeable boundaries. In game theory reciprocity is known as non-zero sum outcomes, and in group dynamics this is modelled as win:win, with a goal of optimising a payoff matrix. The stakeholder benefits for the industry partners have been for them to participate actively in the generation and transmission of an empirical evidence base for health care accreditation and patient safety (Meyer and Eisenberg, 2002; Runciman, 2002). In effect the partners have increased their social capital (Gulati, 1998) locally and internationally. Similarly, the academic research centre has gained through completing a major research project with significant presentations and publications, numbering 48 to date, including the release of a generalisable multi-method, multi-level, collaborative, social-organisation model for undertaking health services research (Braithwaite et al., 2006). In these ways the collaboration has increased the credibility of the stakeholders within their respective communities.There are no shortcuts to mobilise capacity successfully for quality and safety research, or any kind of multi-partner, cross-disciplinary alliance. Distributed leadership that enacts reciprocity is necessary. Perseverance, commitment and continual negotiation are the hallmarks of such leadership. While demanding of the parties involved, the outcome ultimately is a significant contribution to constructing a safer health system.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Inquiries into healthcare organisations have highlighted organisational or system failure, attributed to poor responses to early warning signs. One response, and challenge, is for professionals and academics to build capacity for quality and safety research to provide evidence for improved systems. However, such collaborations and capacity building do not occur easily as there are many stakeholders. Leadership is necessary to unite differences into a common goal. The lessons learned and principles arising from the experience of providing distributed leadership to mobilise capacity for quality and safety research when researching health care accreditation in Australia are presented.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A case study structured by temporal bracketing that presents a narrative account of multi-stakeholder perspectives. Data are collected using in-depth informal interviews with key informants and ethno-document analysis.\nFindings: - Distributed leadership enabled a collaborative research partnership to be realised. The leadership harnessed the relative strengths of partners and accounted for, and balanced, the interests of stakeholder participants involved. Across three phases, leadership and the research partnership was enacted: identifying partnerships, bottom-up engagement and enacting the research collaboration.\nPractical implications: - Two principles to maximise opportunities to mobilise capacity for quality and safety research have been identified. First, successful collaborations, particularly multi-faceted inter-related partnerships, require distributed leadership. Second, the leadership-stakeholder enactment can promote reciprocity so that the collaboration becomes mutually reinforcing and beneficial to partners.\nOriginality/value: - The paper addresses the need to understand the practice and challenges of distributed leadership and how to replicate positive practices to implement patient safety research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An attention-based view on service orientation in the business strategy of manufacturing companies	[ "Management strategy", "Managers", "Service industries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Increasing the service orientation in the business strategy of manufacturing companies is considered as an attractive way of creating new competitive advantages and compensating for decreasing product margins (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003; Sawhney et al., 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Neu and Brown, 2005; Simon, 1993; Baveja et al., 2004). Manufacturing companies associated with low service orientation in the business strategy focus their total offering on products, with only few services that are offered to few customers and which are given little emphasis. Profits and revenue are generated mainly through the company's core products and the contribution of services is quite low in terms of revenue, profit, and customer satisfaction. Manufacturing companies associated with a high service orientation in the business strategy put strong emphasis on services, leading to a higher number of services that are offered to the majority of customers. Consequently, the main part of total value creation stems from services (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003; Homburg et al., 2002). These manufacturing companies typically achieve share of service revenue to total revenue of about 40 to 50 percent, and share of service profit to total profit of about 70 to 80 percent.As illustrated in Figure 1, the first type of manufacturing company can be interpreted as product-oriented because they offer products and services with dominating products. The second type of company is considered as service-oriented because their product and service offering is dominated by services (Kotler, 1984; Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003; Neu and Brown, 2005). The black line in Figure 1 presents a major strategic hurdle confronting firms that facilitate the organizational move from being product-oriented toward being service-oriented (Kotler, 1984; Martin and Horne, 1992; Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003; Neu and Brown, 2005; Brax, 2005; Belz et al., 1997). Typical challenges associated with this strategic hurdle start with sufficient motivation of managers to explore service opportunities (Gebauer et al., 2006), and end with a broad range of success factors including organizational structure, culture, processes, and measurement systems for implementing a service orientation of the business strategy (Martin and Horne, 1992; Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003; Sawhney et al., 2004; Neu and Brown, 2005; Vandermerwe and Rada, 1988; Brax, 2005).Despite substantial research on service orientation, most manufacturing companies are still struggling to formulate and implement a service orientation in the business strategy for overcoming the hurdle. Based on the attention-based theory, the present article addresses the neglected role of focus of attention and situated attention as key elements of attention-based theory on the service orientation in the business strategy of manufacturing companies. Thus, this article answers the following research question: How does the focus of attention and situated attention contribute to the formulation and implementation of the service orientation in the business strategy?The paper is divided into five parts. First, the research question is substantiated through a critical discussion of existing literature. The research framework and hypothesis are then explained, followed by presentations of research methodology and results. Finally, the managerial and theoretical implications are discussed, as well as some limitations.\nLiterature review: Service orientation in the business strategy of manufacturing firms\nResearch framework and hypotheses development: The former discussion of service orientation in the business strategy of manufacturing firms and the attention-based view are used for the hypotheses development. The hypotheses development is split in two different parts:1. main effects between external environment, service orientation of the business strategy, performance; and2. moderating effects of focus of attention and situated attention.Main effects between external environment, service orientation of the business strategy, performance\nResearch methodology: Data sample and analysis\nResults: The overall fit measures suggest that the hypothesized model provides a good data fit. The kh2-degrees of freedom ratio yielded strong results (kh2/df=1.322, p<0.001) and the other overall measures (GFI=0.95; AGFI=0.91; NFI=0.96; TLI=0.98; CFI=0.99; RMSEA=0.029) meet the requirements suggested in the relevant literature (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988). As depicted in Figure 3, the first two hypotheses on the relationship between competitive intensity and/or customer expectation and service orientation of the business strategy (H1: g1=0.16, p<0.05; H2: g2=0.20, p<0.01) are supported in terms of significance of effect. The hypothesized positive association between service orientation in business strategy and overall profitability is supported (H3: g3=0.17, p<0.01). The size of all three effects remains quite low. Once support for the main effects was established, the next step was to consider the hypothesized moderator effects of management attention to the service business. As shown in Table IV, hypotheses H4, H5 and H6 are also supported. The association between the competitive intensity and service orientation in business strategy only becomes slightly stronger as the focus of the management attention to the service business increases. In contrast, increasing focus of attention strongly enhances the positive association between customer expectations and the service orientation of business strategy. High focus of managerial attention is concomitant with a strong impact of customer expectations on service orientation of the business strategy. By contrast, in terms of low focus of attention, customer expectations have a significantly smaller impact on the service orientation of business strategy. The results also suggest that situated managerial attention moderates the relationship between the service orientation of business strategy and overall profitability. Again, high-situated attention is concomitant with a very strong impact of the service orientation of business strategy on overall profitability. By contrast, in terms of low situated attention, the business strategy has significantly less impact on overall profitability.Interestingly, the estimated effects differ according to the strategic position. As illustrated in Table IV, the main effects on strategy-implantation are not significant for all three positions. H1 is only significant for product-oriented companies and companies that are currently switching toward the service orientation, whereas H2 is only significant for switching companies and service-oriented companies. H3 is found to be significant for all three positions. H3 is strongly moderated by the situated attention for all three strategic positions. The main effect on competitive intensity is moderated significantly by the focus of attention for product-oriented companies. The moderating effects also play an essential role for manufacturing companies currently switching from product to service dominated offerings and for service-oriented companies. For service-oriented companies, the focus of attention moderates also the positive association between customer expectation and service orientation in the business strategy.\nDiscussion: Research contribution\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This article seeks to answer the following research question: How does the focus of attention and situated attention contribute to the formulation and implementation of the service orientation in the business strategy?\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Structural equation modelling is used as a research methodology.\nFindings: - The paper suggests that the formation and implementation of service orientation in the business strategy is influenced strongly by managerial attention.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The results suggest that a survey is suitable for investigating managerial cognition and attention, but future research should benefit from obtaining data on managerial attention through interviews or secondary data such as company documents.\nPractical implications: - The main effect on strategy implementation and the moderating role of situated attention suggest that managers should be aware of the potential inertia by implementing a service-oriented business strategy. The main effects for strategy formulation suggest that the formulation of a service-oriented business strategy is triggered through decreasing product margins in the case of product-oriented companies, whereas it is triggered by increasing customer expectations for service-oriented companies.\nOriginality/value: - The study examines the moderating effects of focus of managerial attention and situated management attention on the service orientation of business strategy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Environmental impacts and certification: evidence from the Milan World Expo 2015	[ "Environmental impact", "Mega-event", "Environmental certification", "Expo 2015", "Residents attitude" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Sustainable event management (also known as event greening) refers to the staging of an event with particular concern for environmental impacts. Despite a number of sporting events using event greening over the past two decades (e.g. the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee received the UNEP Global 500 Award for setting environmental standards), environmental certifications have only recently appeared as a way to manage environmental impacts. The 2012 London Olympics was the first mega sporting event to be endowed with a certification for event sustainability (CES). According to Muller's (2015) criteria for classification of events, the Milan World Expo 2015 is a mega-event because of its number of visitors (22 million tickets sold), cost (EUR6bn) and capital investment (EUR14-18bn) (Mincuzzi, 2015). The World Expo 2015 is the first universal exposition with a CES that complies with the international standard of ISO 20121 because of its environmental management system (EMS). The theme of the World Expo 2015, \"Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life\", revolves mainly around environmental sustainability. Literature on the role of CES in managing event impacts is virtually absent (Case, 2013; Getz and Page, 2016; Holmes et al., 2015). Indeed, most of the existing studies on event impacts have prioritized economic (Case et al., 2010) at the expense of socio-cultural and environmental impacts (Davies et al., 2013; Getz and Page, 2016; Holmes et al., 2015). Accordingly, the aims of this study are twofold. First, we investigate residents' perceptions of the environmental impacts of the Milan World Expo 2015 as well as their awareness and perceptions of the CES. Second, we examine if residents' perceptions of event impacts and environmental certification can predict their overall attitude toward the event.\nEvents sustainability: The concept of sustainability and sustainable tourism\nMethods: The Expo 2015 and its environmental commitments\nFindings: Demographic profile\nDiscussion and conclusions: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine residents' perceptions of environmental impacts and certification for the Milan World Expo 2015 as well as their overall attitude toward the mega-event.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey of Milan residents based on a convenience sample led to 221 useable questionnaires.\nFindings: Residents perceived that the Expo will have minimal negative and positive environmental impacts. A minority of residents were aware of the environmental certification of the event. The less agreeable residents were with the perceived negative environmental impacts of the event, the more agreeable they were that a certification of event sustainability should limit the damage to the natural environment. Residents' perceptions of the certification were positively related to their overall attitude toward the event.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings cannot be generalized to other mega-events but have several managerial implications in relation to the need for information provision to residents and better communication of the certification by event organizers and planners.\nOriginality/value: Despite rising concerns about environmental issues related to hosting mega-events, there is no research on perceptions of a certification of event sustainability by residents.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Corporate volunteering: what is in it for knowledge creation?	[ "Development", "Knowledge creation", "Learning", "Corporate volunteering" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Knowledge creation in its various forms is mentioned by different sources as an outcome of corporate volunteering. In today's economy, where knowledge is one of the main assets of successful business and where social involvement is an inevitable condition, we should not overlook the possibility of engaging in corporate volunteering as a way to develop and improve human capital. Organizations, however, are still learning how to adapt these programs to find the best balance for all stakeholders. Nevertheless, the question \"how can corporate volunteering initiatives make strategic contributions to an organization?\" remains unanswered. Therefore, in practice, the perceived strategic value of corporate volunteering, such as knowledge creation, is far greater than the real input in maximizing this value and making it sustainable (Allen et al., 2011).\nMethodology: The study was conducted in a Dutch organization in the knowledge sector. During this project, volunteers worked together to design and build a three-day Sunday program on publishing for children from underprivileged families. In this program, children had an opportunity to participate in the process of putting together a journal issue: from gathering information to text editing and, finally, publishing the journal. We conducted 26 semi-structured interviews with volunteers involved in this project, the data from which we then inductively analyzed using a case study research strategy (Yin, 1994). Specifically, we explored the data to identify codes and categories and drew on the Nonaka's (1994) dynamic theory of knowledge creation to make sense of these emerging codes and categories. We ended up identifying two main broad themes, i.e. \"developing in different directions\" and \"project conditions and individual means\" around which we structured our findings that could be used by project managers to cultivate and improve the knowledge-creation processes through corporate volunteering.\nFindings: Corporate volunteering projects differ from research and development or innovation-oriented projects, as their purpose is societal contribution rather than knowledge generation. For this reason, it is important to elaborate on knowledge-related outcomes of these projects.\nConclusion: As our research shows, corporate volunteering projects can be strategically managed to facilitate knowledge creation for the organization. Specifically, project managers should consider the optimization of the following design features: time frame and space, skill variety, interdepartmental design, informal atmosphere and provision of support to volunteers. Unfortunately, nowadays, the corporate sector tends to emphasize the perceived strategic value of corporate volunteering rather than to actually try to maximize its value and make it sustainable. As there is no one particular model that works for everyone, each corporate volunteering project needs to be designed in response to the specific needs of the business. A suggested practical implication would then be to make an effort to facilitate the development of such projects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper addresses the issue of knowledge creation in organizational environment by exploring the kind of knowledge that is created through corporate volunteering and how these knowledge creation processes could be strategically managed to add value to overall corporate knowledge-creation process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper reports a qualitative case study of a single corporate volunteering project in The Netherlands.\nFindings: Corporate volunteering mainly contributes to intrinsic knowledge creation. This process could be influenced by addressing design-related aspects of corporate volunteering, such as time frame and space, skill-oriented design, interdepartmental design, informal atmosphere and perceived support.\nOriginality/value: The paper explores corporate volunteering from the perspective of knowledge being created in this process.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing brand presence through social media: the case of UK football clubs	[ "Social media", "Relationship marketing", "Social networking", "Football" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Social media sites have become an important digital meeting place for friends and acquaintances, and their reach has grown significantly in the last few years (Halliday and Vrusias, 2011; Harrigan, 2011). Social media is a broad term often used to encapsulate the applications that enable increasingly popular social activities, such as blogging, micro-blogging, social networking, photo-sharing and video-sharing (Centeno et al., 2009). For example, the UK Facebook population reached 30.1 m as of July 2012 (\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Social media\n3. Method: 3.1 Research design\n4. Findings and discussion: This section presents the findings of this study generated from the interviews with key informants and supported by insights from desk research. First, the perceptions of club representatives regarding the issues associated with their club's engagement with social media are outlined. Next, attention switches to club representative's understanding of the potential benefits of engagement in social media. Findings are discussed in the light of previous literature. Overall, three main issues with social media and four key perceived benefits were identified in this study (see Figure 1).\n5. Conclusions and recommendations: 5.1 Summary\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute knowledge on the issues and benefits associated with managing brand presence and relationships through social media. UK football clubs are big businesses, with committed communities of fans, so are an ideal context from which to develop an understanding of the issues and challenges facing organisations as they seek to protect and promote their brand online.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Due to the emergent nature of social media, and the criticality of the relationships between clubs and their fans, an exploratory study using a multiple case study approach was used to gather rich insights into the phenomenon.\nFindings: Clubs agreed that further development of social media strategies had potential to deliver interaction and engagement, community growth and belonging, traffic flow to official web sites and commercial gain. However, in developing their social media strategies they had two key concerns. The first concern was the control of the brand presence and image in social media, and how to respond to the opportunities that social media present to fans to impact on the brand. The second concern was how to strike an appropriate balance between strategies that deliver short-term revenue, and those that build longer term brand loyalty.\nOriginality/value: This research is the first to offer insights into the issues facing organisations when developing their social media strategy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Squaring the circle of healthcare supplies	[ "Systems theory", "Healthcare", "Process management", "Audit", "Healthcare improvement", "Quick scan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumer demand for quality products and services at lowest cost, and new opportunities presented by modern information systems, conspire to make commercial supply chain management very challenging (Coronado Mondragon et al., 2011). Further burden is added in the healthcare sector, where anxiety over medical errors and patient safety (McFadden et al., 2006) determines that the supply chain imperative is provision of accurate, reliable medical supplies for assured patient wellbeing (Beier, 1995; Chen et al., 2013). Healthcare systems in many countries also face intense pressure to become highly efficient due to a combination of tightening budgets, supply chain vulnerabilities, and escalating health delivery costs (Bhakoo et al., 2012). Supplies typically comprise the second largest cost component of hospital expenditure, at around 30-45 per cent, and supply chain-related issues consume some 55 per cent of their total operational budget (HFMA, 2008; Kowalski, 2009; Schneller and Smeltzer, 2006). Viewed in this light, it is clear that hospital supplies management is a critical core competence.\nA systems approach to effective healthcare delivery: Elmaghraby (1966) describes a system as \"a collection of interacting elements that operate to achieve a common goal\", and Mouly (1969) states that systems engineering is \"the art and technique of building practical working systems, artefacts and organisations\". Figure 1 presents a systems engineering exploitation model for the healthcare industry that combines knowledge with action via systems engineering. The two \"flywheels\" in the figure are linked by systems engineers who regularly observe, select, link, adapt, and extend both fields of endeavour to create practical working systems. Thus, the audit activity indicated in the centre of the diagram plays a critical role because it adds both to the knowledge store of systems concepts (left-hand-side of the diagram) and it also identifies the healthcare process improvement initiatives likely to deliver best practice performance (right-hand-side of the diagram).\nSupply chain performance measurement: Systems engineering originated in the chemical industry (Campbell, 1958), leading to a considerable carryover of philosophy from continuous flow processes to the movement of discrete objects (Parnaby and Towill, 2008). Parnaby's (1979) concept of a manufacturing system (CMS) emphasises the importance of a systems approach by highlighting how an integrated dynamic control mechanism, with appropriate interfacing and handovers between the core processes of business units, is critical for the successful smooth operation of the enterprise (Towill, 1997); a goal that is also often referred to as \"Swift and Even Flow\" (Schmenner and Swink, 1998). Indeed, Spear (2005) confirms that an integrated systems approach was a philosophy underpinning the successful transfer of Toyota Production Systems principles and practices to healthcare delivery.\nResearch methodology: Achieving in-depth understanding of why hospitals struggle to improve their supplies processes requires onsite investigation and reflection of how the combined interactions of individual elements are driving the \"overall systems purpose objective\" (Parnaby, 1995). Parnaby states that a combination of \"soft\" methods and \"hard\" technology elements is critical for achieving system-level competitiveness - with the traditional western focus preferring technical elements over the softer ones favoured in the east. Childerhouse and Towill (2011) argue that the various sources of uncertainty that collectively describe the level of supply chain maturity/sophistication can only be reliably determined via an onsite audit, and Worthington et al. (2010) highlight the importance of researching alongside practitioners to be able to gain detailed inside knowledge. Thus the onsite quick scan audit methodology (QSAM) utilised for the present studies involves a team of experienced researchers assisted by a \"champion\" from the host organisation.\nFindings: Demographics\nDiscussion: Forty years ago service industries were described as primitive, slow, and inefficient compared to their manufacturing counterparts (Levitt, 1972), and it appears that little has changed. The present study applied the QSAM in eight Australasian hospitals, from which it may be concluded that much uncertainty is being experienced and the supply chains appear to be very complex. This finding is in agreement with Spear (2005) who points out that ambiguity is a main barrier to process improvement in hospitals, requiring ad hoc workarounds to meet patients' immediate needs but not resolving the underlying problems. Clearly, hospital value streams in the public sector are underachieving compared to those in the European automotive sector (Childerhouse and Towill, 2004).\nConclusion: QSAM is a rigorous, multidisciplinary audit approach that enables managers to understand the inherent complexity of their supply chains and identify opportunities for improvement. By providing an unbiased and rigorously researched set of recommendations for improving supply chain performance, it also provides the academe with the opportunity to observe and benefit from exposure to \"real time\" industrial research situations (Bohme et al., 2008). The authors agree with the assertion by Salama et al. (2009) that a supply chain audit provides the fundamental foundation for improvement programmes and can provide understanding of how constituent parts of the organisation interact. By consistently measuring and benchmarking supply chain performance, best practices worthy of transfer can also be identified. Hence, future work will be aimed at developing theory that can assist hard-pressed healthcare professionals to make people-based, seamless healthcare delivery systems a reality.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use a systems lens to assess the comparative performance of healthcare supply chains and provide guidance for their improvement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A well-established and rigorous multi-method audit methodology, based on the uncertainty circle model, yields an objective assessment of value stream performance in eight Australasian public sector hospitals. Cause-effect analysis identifies the major barriers to achieving smooth, seamless flows. Potentially high-leverage remedial actions identified using systems thinking are examined with the aid of an exemplar case.\nFindings: The majority of the healthcare value streams studied are underperforming compared with those in the European automotive industry. Every public hospital appears to be caught in the grip of vicious circles of system uncertainty, in large part being caused by problems of their own making. The single exception is making good progress towards seamless functional integration, which has been achieved by elevating supply chain management to a core competence; having a clearly articulated supply chain vision; adopting a systems approach; and, managing supplies with accurate information.\nResearch limitations/implications: The small number of cases limits the generalisability of the findings at this time.\nPractical implications: Hospital supply chain managers endeavouring to achieve smooth and seamless supply flows should attempt to elevate the status of supplies management within their organisation to that of a core competence, and should use accurate information to manage their value streams holistically as a set of interwoven processes. A four-level prism model is proposed as a useful framework for thus improving healthcare supply delivery systems.\nOriginality/value: Material flow concepts originally developed to provide objective assessments of value stream performance in commercial settings are adapted for use in a healthcare setting. The ability to identify exemplar organisations via a context-free uncertainty measure, and to use systems thinking to identify high-leverage solutions, supports the transfer of appropriate best practices even between organisations in dissimilar business and economic settings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Making the most of that all-important job interview: Employers who do their homework get the best results	[ "Performance", "Recruitment", "Interviews" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Good employee-selection decisions benefit the employer, supervisor, colleagues, the candidate who is hired and even those who are not. Selecting the wrong candidate can be costly in terms of supervisor time, team morale, staffing levels, complaints, retraining, transfers and termination. In addition, there are the possible costs of recruiting and training a replacement worker.\nStructured interviews: Structured interviews contain several elements to help ensure that the interview is systematically job related. An effective structured interview depends on good planning, relevant questions and an objective interviewer.\nBehavioral interviews: Traditional interview questions may include such generalities as: \"Tell me about yourself.\" Behavioral interviewing is more probing and works differently.\nExperience-based interviews: Experience-based interviews ask the respondents to relate how what they have done in the past is relevant to the current vacancy. The underlying principle is that the best predictor of future performance is past performance in similar situations.\nSituational interviews: Situational interview questions present the interviewee with hypothetical situations that may occur on the job and ask how the interviewee would respond. The use of situational questions is based on the assumption that the way a candidate says he or she will handle a problem is most likely how he or she would actually behave in that situation. Hypothetical questions must represent \"real\" job expectations. However, while hypothetical questions have their place, people may not always give responses that reflect their real-life experience or true behavior.\nConclusion: It is important that employers learn how to conduct effective interviews that follow all legal mandates and produce reliable results. Research indicates that the chances of employers making the best selection decisions are greatly improved through careful interview preparation and through using effective interview questions and techniques.\nNote: Choi Sang Long has more than 18 years of management experience in various industries. He is also a consultant, researcher, speaker and facilitator specializing in human resource management. Choi Sang Long can be contacted at: slchoijb1@gmail.com\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how employers can get the best results from job interviews.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper considers the relative merits of structured interviews, behavioral interviews, experience-based interviews and situational interviews.\nFindings: This paper explains that each type of interview has its place, dependent on the type of job to be filled.\nPractical implications: It is revealed that proper preparation by employers can help them to get the most suitable candidates.\nOriginality/value: This paper reveals how employers can learn to conduct effective interviews that produce reliable results.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managerial overconfidence and corporate takeovers	[ "Take‐overs", "Acquisitions and mergers", "Returns", "Managers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Mergers and acquisitions have been the subject of considerable research in financial economics. Yet, despite the substantial development of this literature, existing merger theories have difficulties reconciling the stylized facts about mergers with the payment of cash[1]. Two of the most important stylized facts about mergers are the following:1. combined returns to shareholders are usually positive (see the recent survey by Andrade et al., 2001); and2. returns to the acquirer are, on average, not positive (Andrade et al., 2001; Fuller et al., 2002).These two stylized facts are difficult to reconcile theoretically.The neoclassical theory of mergers, which sees mergers as an efficiency-improving response to various industry shocks, such as antitrust policy or deregulation (Mitchell and Mulherin, 1996; Jovanovic and Rousseau, 2002), can explain the first stylized fact. It can also explain why mergers concentrate in industries for which a regime shift of a technological or regulatory nature can be identified (Mitchell and Mulherin, 1996; Andrade et al., 2001; Andrade and Stafford, 2004). However, it has difficulties explaining non-positive abnormal returns to acquirers. Managerial merger theories based on managerial self-interest or hubris can explain the second stylized fact (Jensen, 1986; Roll, 1986). However, they cannot explain the positive combined returns to shareholders.These observations suggest that it might be promising to combine elements of the neoclassical and the managerial merger theories. This paper provides a theory of mergers that combines elements of these two merger theories and reconciles the above two stylized facts. Our theory has three basic elements:1. Takeover deals are an efficient response of industry members to industry shocks, which usually result in positive merger synergies.2. Outside investors do not know about the forthcoming merger activities until the announcement of the takeover. The managers usually have private information that outside investors do not have. Therefore, the investors usually do not learn about the positive merger synergy until the announcement of the takeover.3. The managers of participating firms are overconfident about the merger synergy[2]. On the announcement of the takeover, the investors will receive a lot of information on the merger synergy, which is composed of private information caused by asymmetric information and distorted information caused by managerial overconfidence. Therefore, rational investors will realize that managers are overconfident about the merger synergy, and screen out the distorted information, which will probably result in negative abnormal returns to bidding shareholders.Our theory helps explain merger waves, the announcement effects of takeovers, and the impact of the restructuring mechanism on the announcement effects of takeovers[3]. The model generates implications that are consistent with the available empirical evidence and yields a number of new predictions. Notably, the model predicts that:* mergers take place periodically, and are positively related to product market demand;* abnormal returns to bidding shareholders can be negative if the degree of managerial overconfidence about merger synergy is high;* abnormal returns to bidding shareholders are negatively correlated with the degree of managerial overconfidence;* combined returns to shareholders are usually positive if the degree of managerial overconfidence is not particularly high;* abnormal returns to target shareholders are positively correlated with bidder size;* abnormal returns to bidding shareholders are inversely related to bidder size with a low degree of managerial overconfidence;* both the bidder's and the target's abnormal returns are positively correlated with the growth rate of stochastic output price and the volatility of the growth rate of stochastic output price in the industry; and* the strategic resistance of target managers to some tender offers slows down the acquisition process, increases abnormal returns to target shareholders, and decreases abnormal returns to bidding shareholders.The analysis in the present paper relates to several articles in the literature. This paper combines the characteristics of the neoclassical and managerial hubris theories. Compared to them, our model is more powerful in interpreting the facts about mergers. Our model reconciles the above two stylized facts. Importantly, our model also allows us to relate shareholder returns to the degree of managerial overconfidence and restructuring mechanisms. These additional predictions are unique to our model.Shleifer and Vishny (2003) consider a zero-sum game (in the long run) with exogenous timing. In their framework, outside investors do not incorporate the potential surplus associated with the takeover in the stock market valuations of participating firms. Therefore, the announcement of a takeover generates abnormal announcement returns. The present paper extends the model of Shleifer and Vishny (2003) in several important dimensions. First, the timing and terms of the takeover are determined endogenously as the solution to an option exercise game. Second, we examine the impact of restructuring mechanisms and industry characteristics on the abnormal returns of participating firms. Finally, we examine the relationship between the abnormal returns of participating firms and bidder size.The paper that is most closely related to the present analysis is Morellec and Zhdanov (2005). They also analyze the announcement effects of takeovers using a real options setting with endogenous timing. One essential difference between the two models is that their analysis relies on a strong assumption that the managers of participating firms have complete information about the underlying parameters of takeovers. This implies that in their model the investors will accept all the information from managers, and both the bidders and the targets obtain significant and positive abnormal returns during the announcement of takeovers where there is a single bidder. Another important point of departure is that we examine the impact of restructuring mechanisms on the timing, terms and abnormal returns of takeovers. Third, we examine the impact of industry characteristics on the abnormal returns of participating firms. Finally, we examine the relationship between the abnormal returns of participating firms and bidder size. Our paper thus extends and complements the results derived by Morellec and Zhdanov (2005).The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the assumptions of the model. Section 3 explores the timing and abnormal returns of mergers. Section 4 compares the timing, terms and abnormal returns between merger and hostile takeover. Section 5 concludes.\n2. Model assumptions: Our model is based on the following assumptions.Assumption 1. The investors do not know about the takeover activity until the announcement of takeovers.Assumption 1 implies that outside investors do not incorporate the potential surplus associated with the takeover in the stock market valuations of participating firms until the announcement of the takeover.Assumption 2. Takeover deals are an efficient response of industry members to industry shocks.Assumption 2 indicates that there are usually positive merger synergies in response to industry shocks.Assumption 3. The managers of participating firms have consistent information over the merger activity, and are overconfident about the merger synergy s of the takeover deal.Assumption 3 implies that, on the announcement of takeovers, the rational investors will realize that the managers are overconfident about the merger synergy, and screen the distorted information caused by managerial overconfidence. Then they have a consistent estimation of the merger synergy s' of the takeover deal. Combined with Assumption 2, we obtain s>s'>0.Assumption 4. There are two firms (i=0,1) in the same industry which combine to give a merged firm. The firms' equity value is determined by a stochastic variable pt.Assumption 4 implies that share prices of the two firms before and after the takeover are affected by a common source of uncertainty. Following Lambrecht (2004), this uncertainty could, for example, be linked to shocks in output demand, output prices or production costs. Without loss of generality, we assume that pt represents the output price level. This assumption also implies that the firms remain subject to the same source of uncertainty before and after the merger, which indicates that we are primarily focusing on horizontal mergers.Assumption 5. Both firms are price takers. The output price, pt, follows a geometric Brownian motion: Equation 1 For constants, m<r, s>0. zt is a standard Brownian motion and r denotes the risk-free rate of interest. We define d=r-u which is the shortfall rate.Assumption 6. The merger activity is irreversible, and each firm incurs a fixed cost denoted by Ai when merging.Following Lambrecht (2004), the merger cost refers to fees paid to investment bankers and lawyers. As to the bidders, it also includes the cost of restructuring and integrating the two companies. These are typically one-off costs that, once incurred, are sunk.Assumption 7. thpt and ppt respectively denote rates of profit flow for the target's and acquirer's shareholders before takeover.For the merger synergy, the shareholders' rates of profit flow of the merged firm estimated by the managers and investors after takeover are respectively (s+1)(p+th)pt and (s'+1)(p+th)pt.\n3. The timing and abnormal returns of mergers: 3.1 The timing and terms of mergers\n4. Comparisons between mergers and hostile takeovers: 4.1 The comparisons of timing and terms between mergers and hostile takeovers\n5. Conclusions: This paper has presented a dynamic model of takeovers based on managerial overconfidence. It contributes to the rapidly growing field of corporate investment studies that model for managerial overconfidence. A good deal of empirical evidence appears to be consistent with this kind of study.Based on the effect of managerial overconfidence on merger synergy, we incorporate strategic interaction between the bidder and the target. Our model can explain merger waves, the announcement effects of takeovers, the impact of bidder size and restructuring mechanism on the announcement effects of takeovers. The announcement effects and the impact of restructuring mechanism on the announcement effects of takeovers derived in this paper are consistent with empirical evidence. It is of particular note that the model predicts that:* combined returns to shareholders are usually positive if the degree of managerial overconfidence is not particularly high;* returns to bidding shareholders can be negative when there is a high degree of managerial overconfidence;* abnormal returns to bidding shareholders are inversely related to bidder size when there is a low degree of managerial overconfidence; and* the strategic resistance of target managers to some tender offers slows the acquisition process, increases abnormal returns to target shareholders, and decreases abnormal returns to bidding shareholders.In addition, the model generates new predictions relating abnormal returns to bidding and target shareholders to industry characteristics and the degree of managerial overconfidence.Further research could be aimed at testing empirically some of the resulting hypotheses. Theoretical extensions could incorporate multiple bidders and divesture options into the model.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to model the announcement returns of merging firms based on managerial overconfidence about merger synergy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper applies continuous-time real options techniques and game theoretic concepts. Managerial overconfidence and strategic interaction between the bidder and the target are incorporated into the model.\nFindings: - This model implies that: abnormal returns to bidding shareholders will be negative with a high degree of managerial overconfidence; combined returns to shareholders are usually positive; and both the bidder's and the target's abnormal returns are related to industry characteristics, the degree of managerial overconfidence, and the way merger synergies are divided.\nOriginality/value: - This paper, for the first time, reconciles theoretically the following stylized facts: combined returns to shareholders are usually positive; and returns to the acquirer are, on average, not positive. In addition, the model generates new predictions relating these returns to industry characteristics and the degree of managerial overconfidence.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"And the BAFTA goes to [...]": the assurance role of the auditor in the film awards ceremony	[ "Impression management", "Auditor", "Assurance services", "BAFTA", "Goffman", "Scrutineer" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Every February in London, a ceremonial ritual occurs which captures the eye of the world's media. This annual event is the film awards ceremony of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Graced by the presence of BAFTA's President, HRH Prince William, together with a glittering array of A-list film stars, and watched by millions of television viewers[1], this alluring affair certainly earns its credentials as a media extravaganza. On the red carpet outside London's Royal Opera House, where the event is staged, over 350 accredited media personnel are in attendance to capture every glamorous pose, while inside, the media room can accommodate up to 200 journalists. The ceremony itself, like the American Oscars, offers not only an opportunity to celebrate the established and rising stars of the entertainment world, but also to comment on the latest fashion trends (Cosgrave, 2007) and celebrity gossip (Haastrup, 2008). In sum, this celebration of artistic talent is a medium by which we worship at the altar of popular culture. It also reflects that culture, each ceremony capturing the mood of that particular context at that particular moment in time, \"the mores, the humour, the politics - in short the zeitgeist\" (Levy, 2003, p. 18).\n2. The auditor as assurance provider: Recent years have witnessed a host of insightful studies on the theory and practice of audit. Concepts which we have come to associate with the term audit, such as notions of trust, independence, comfort and legitimacy have been unpacked and deliberated upon with careful consideration. Hence, there has been a very fruitful attempt to move beyond an unproblematic acceptance of audit, and to recognize the richness of \"understanding auditing in its social and organizational context\" (Kirkham, 1992, p. 309).\n3. Goffman's dramaturgical framework: Goffman's seminal work, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, provides an invaluable platform from which to view the structure of social encounters. Goffman's (1959) fundamental premise within this thesis is that when an individual appears before others, s/he will convey an impression in an attempt to project a particular definition of the situation. Drawing upon dramaturgical terminology, Goffman (1959, p. 26) refers to the activity associated with the individual's conveying of an impression as a \"performance\", and those for whom the performance is enacted as the \"audience\". A performance is fostered through the use of \"front\", in other words, through the deployment of expressive equipment such as furniture and other physical props that construct the setting for the unfolding action (Goffman, 1959, p. 32). Front also encompasses a more personal character in terms of the clothing, sex, age and race of the performer (Goffman, 1959, p. 34). To put this in context, the stereotypical front of the accountant would be the bespectacled male in a business suit seated at a desk, calculator in hand.\n4. Methodology: The research methodology employed in this paper consists of a case study of the BAFTA organization. The case study is a well established method within accounting research (Humphrey and Scapens, 1996). In addition to interviewing BAFTA staff, the 36 interviews conducted during the study encompass representatives from BAFTA's Official Scrutineers Deloitte, BAFTA film voting members, BAFTA award winners, BAFTA sponsors and the film industry. This diversity of scope was a specific attempt to provide insights from the broad range of interested parties that constitute \"the audience\" (Goffman, 1959) for the auditor's assurance performance.\n5. Case study: the BAFTA: BAFTA is a British charitable organization supporting, developing and promoting the art forms of the moving image (comprising film, television and video games) by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. The Academy was founded in London in 1947 by a group of leading players in British film production. Under the chairmanship of famed Film Director David Lean, its initial scope was confined to rewarding contributions to the British film industry, and hence was named simply the British Film Academy. In 1958, the Academy merged with the Guild of Television Producers and Directors to form The Society of Film and Television Arts. Finally, the Academy was renamed the BAFTA in 1976 on moving to its new headquarters on London's Piccadilly, where it remains to this day[3]. Since then, the abbreviation of BAFTA has entered common parlance, particularly in light of the popular televised award ceremonies which the Academy hosts each year.\n6. The performance of assurance provision: Deloitte and the role of Official Scrutineer: Deloitte has acted as BAFTA's Official Scrutineer since 2007[5]. Andrew Evans, Director at Deloitte (London) is responsible for overseeing this task. All quotes within this section arise from an interview conducted with him in September 2012.\n7. Choosing the performers: BAFTA and the choice of a Big Four audit firm: The focus behind interviews with BAFTA personnel was to explore why this organization, a well established and respected academy in its own right, felt the need to employ a firm of auditors to play the role of Official Scutineer. According to Kevin Price, BAFTA's Chief Operating Officer, one of the prime functions of the scrutineer's involvement is to ensure the accuracy of the voting process, and the results thereof:\n8. Delivering a successful performance: views from the \"audience\": In this section, views from the \"audience\", those stakeholders who have an interest in the auditor's performance are collected. These include: BAFTA voting members, sponsors, award winners and industry commentators.\n9. Discussion: the impression management role of the auditor as assurance provider: BAFTA provides a perfect illustration of a trusted organization with an honourable reputation. Its status is a product of its rich heritage, encompassing its early origins as the creation of celebrated Film Director David Lean, together with its contemporary royal connections, boasting HRH Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, as its President. With such an impeccable pedigree, it is not surprising that access to membership needs to be controlled and that significant global sponsors are eager to associate themselves with the BAFTA brand. In addition, BAFTA, is an example of what Lampel and Meyer (2008) refer to as a field-configuring event. As discussed in a previous section, such events actively shape the contours of their domain and influence the cannon of the field. BAFTA awards carry a weight which influences careers and decisions within the film industry.\n10. Concluding comments: Pentland (2000, p. 311) has queried: \"what kinds of practices are emerging under the general category of 'audit' and who is performing this work?\" In their study of the audit of MBA rankings, Free et al. (2009) have provided a fascinating example of this type of assurance based work and how auditors have come to expand their repertoire beyond the mere provision of financial based audit. This paper has similarly sought to respond to Pentland's (2000) call by examining the role of the auditor as Official Scutineer in the film awards industry.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the Official Scrutineer in the annual film awards ceremony of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), a role currently occupied by the audit firm Deloitte. The case of BAFTA provides an illustrative example of the increasing demand for discretionary assurance services from audit firms (Free et al., 2009), which in turn is reflective of Power's (1997) \"audit society\". It showcases the power of audit as a legitimating tool. The paper seeks to understand the role of the auditor as assurance provider by drawing upon Goffman's (1959) dramaturgical framework. Viewing the auditor as \"performer\" and a range of interested stakeholders (BAFTA voting members, sponsors, award winners and industry commentators) as the \"audience\", this theoretical lens facilitates insights into the nature of assurance provision.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper gathers interview data from within the case organization (BAFTA), it's Official Scrutineers (Deloitte), BAFTA voting members, sponsors, award winners and film industry commentators.\nFindings: Drawing on Goffman's (1959) work on impression management to inform its theoretical argumentation, the analysis of results from 36 interviews indicates that Deloitte are highly effective in delivering a successful performance to their audience; they convey a very convincing impression of trust and assurance. The paper therefore suggests the importance of performance ritual in the auditor's role as assurance provider. Additionally, it argues that such a performance may be particularly effective, in the eyes of the audience, when played by a well known audit firm.\nOriginality/value: The paper highlights the expanding territorial scope of assurance provision by audit firms. By focusing on a glamorous media event, it also furthers an understanding of the role of accounting within the domain of popular culture.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Swedish healthcare management practices and quality improvement work: development trends	[ "Management technique", "Health services", "Quality", "Sweden" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Swedish healthcare system produces high quality healthcare for a reasonable cost (Nolte and McKee, 2003). Like other western industrialised countries, the service faces at least three management challenges:1. Demographic changes (Nolte and McKee, 2003).2. Medical and technological advances (Swedish Code of Statutes, 1976; Bourgeois et al., 1978; Borgert, 1992; Banta and Luce, 1993; Cutler and McCellan, 2001; Anell, 2005; Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and The National Board of Health and Welfare, 2007).3. Citizen expectations as demanding and well-informed healthcare co-actors (Anell, 2005).At the same time, financial resources allocated to healthcare are not expected to increase. A general opinion is that strategies other than financial increases have to be considered. Even though the Swedish healthcare system is indeed a national one, it is decentralised (Borgert, 1992). A total of 21 county councils have far-reaching responsibilities for financing and providing healthcare for their citizens (Swedish Code of Statutes, 1976). The decentralised system enables organisational differences as well as local healthcare reform (Anell, 2005). Variation also includes medical and financial results (Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and The National Board of Health and Welfare, 2007).Management and leadership skills and systems play a fundamental part when coping with these somewhat conflicting challenges. It is generally claimed that increased effectiveness is about continually transforming and changing operations to meet changing conditions. It is also about making flexible, successive adaptations to changing treatment needs and new technology and knowledge, as well as changing values and lifestyles.Enhancing our understanding how healthcare organisation staff deal with these pressures is important, which raise several questions. What are the developmental trends in management practices and improvement work in healthcare organisations? What kind of work is done to deal with changing demands for care? These are central questions that we aim to answer in this article. There appears to be a gap in research that explicitly studies developmental trends in healthcare management practices. We identify empirical research that provide evidence as case studies over short-term periods (Thompson et al., 2003). Organisation theory and management practice textbooks often describe managerial development over long time spans, ranging from scientific management traditions to postmodernism and neo-institutionalism (Scott and Davis, 2006). These overviews make important contributions about general, theoretical development. However, we have not identified any empirical studies comparing and analysing quality improvement trends over time in healthcare organisations.In 2003, we studied how Swedish healthcare staff worked with improvement activities. We developed \"internal collaborative strategy\" (ICS) as a way to represent how improvement is viewed generally. Our research into the ICS internal aspect suggests that most activities are both derived and performed from within the healthcare organisation. Improvement drivers were mainly good ideas from organisation staff, notably their perceptions of dysfunctional daily work and problems regarding work environment. The ICS collaborative aspects revealed that many organisation members, with different organisational roles, participated in the improvement work - both planning and executing. In this article, we present results after studying developmental trends between 2003 and 2007. Our work compares results from the questionnaire sent to Swedish healthcare leaders in 2003 and a re-measurement in 2007. The research questions we aim to answer are:RQ1 What are the significant differences in general opinions about improvement work?RQ2 What are the significant differences in drivers for change?RQ3 What are the results of change initiatives?\nStudy design and data: Our study used a modified questionnaire originally developed in 2003 (see Olsson et al., 2003). The previous survey was developed at the Swedish Federation of County Councils' request by quality improvement practitioners and researchers through a four-step process:1. A draft questionnaire based on experts' ideas and the change management literature.2. The draft questionnaire was discussed with clinical facilitators from Skelleftea Medical Services and tested with a small group of healthcare managers there.3. After improving the questionnaire according to comments and experiences from that test, the modified questionnaire was tested among a small group of managers.4. We constructed the final questionnaire using these test experiences.The model, which is the base for our study, is related to an organisation's internal structure and processes. Van de Ven et al. (2000) and Porras and Robertson (1992) suggest several aspects that should be taken into account when studying this internal dimension. Based on these ideas, the following were considered:* Organisational conditions. Define organisation structure in terms of location, size, type and people engaged in improvements.* Barriers to change. Cover various organisational barriers that may cause difficulties conducting change initiatives.* Problem areas. Define a range of organisational problems as perceived by members.* Method. The means by which staff undertake efforts to solve their problems, which includes ideas and methods ranging from education and problem analysis to introducing new medical technologies.* Outcomes. Describes interventions' results.The second survey, developed in 2007, added:* Comprehensive dimension measurements.* Measurements related to process management.* Measurements related to patient safety.* Refined methods section by adding quality improvement tools.\nData collection and analysis: We surveyed all primary healthcare centre (n=1,031) and hospital department (n=1,542) managers, spring 2007. The survey was carried out by Linfab Company (www.linfab.se) staff who identified respondents through a healthcare provider database. Participation was based on informed consent and respondents were granted confidentiality. The sole criterion for inclusion was that the primary care centre/department provides direct services to patients (labs with no patient contact, for example, were excluded). The questionnaire, along with an instructional letter from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions was mailed to managers at primary healthcare centres and hospital departments during February/March. Reminders were mailed to non-responders. Later, reminders were also given by telephone and fax. After three unsuccessful attempts at telephone contact, non-responding managers were mailed another questionnaire as a final reminder. About one-third of respondents replied without reminders before the deadline. We stopped collecting data on 8 May 2007, even though responses were still arriving. By this date questionnaires had been returned: 454 (44 per cent) from primary healthcare centres and 725 (47 per cent) from hospital departments (46 per cent overall response rate). Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 15 and MS Excel for Windows 2000.\nNon-responders: We chose a qualitative, non-respondent analysis. We found that the address registry used to identify the population was inadequate. Consequently, organisational changes and staff turnovers were not fully reflected in the address list. This accounted for 150 non-responders who were removed from the total sample. Additionally, through follow up interviews with some non-responders, we identified major reasons for not responding:* they did not answer because they lacked time;* questionnaire length and difficulty;* some non-responders felt that the survey's subject did not concern them and that they should not have been included in the sample; and* some non-responders stated that they were simply not interested.\nResults: We compared information from 2007 and 2003 and noted several important developmental trends. Broadly, we see a widening scope for improvement work in healthcare systems. There is for example more external influence on the leaders in their improvement work. In particular, we see that higher management decisions, the patient's voice and policymaker decisions increasingly influencing and shaping quality improvement efforts.\nResponder characteristics: Respondent and their organisational unit characteristics are similar to the 2003 study. In 84 per cent of cases, the organisation head answered the questions compared to 88 per cent in 2003, whereas 5 per cent were assistant heads compared to 7 per cent. Of all respondents, 55 per cent were female (compared to 51 per cent in 2003). Organisation sizes are shown in Figure 1 - distributions are almost identical - half have between 21-100 employees.On the question \"What share of the physicians in your setting have been actively involved in your improvement work over the past 12 months?\" and the question \"What share of your employees have been involved in your improvement work over the past 12 months?\", about 34 per cent indicated that 81 to 100 per cent staff or physicians were involved compared to 35 per cent in 2003.\nGeneral ideas about improvement work: The general opinion about Swedish healthcare improvement work in 2007 is similar to 2003. Table I shows respondents, means and standard deviations for all statements posted under the theme \"To what extent do you think the following statements agree with general opinion regarding improvement work in your organisational unit?\". Results show that only one question differs (p<0.05): \"The guidance available for improvement work is insufficient\". Thus, practitioners experienced a slight improvement on how to organise and structure improvement work. As in the 2003 survey, improvement work is considered positively, it meets current daily operation needs and yields distinctive results. All these variables have a relatively high rating in the two measurements from 2003 and 2007.\nChange drivers: The \"drivers for change\" theme in the questionnaire is based on aspects that influence change initiatives. To characterise changes between 2003 and 2007, we distinguished between forces that come from within and outside the organisation. This categorisation is based on findings from the 2003 study, in which we identified several internal change drivers (Olsson et al., 2003). The present study's framework is based on three different change drivers. First, the organisational inner context consists of structure, activities, problem areas, applications and improvement methods within the organisation. Second, the organisational outer context is related to the organisation's immediate environmental aspects such as patients, higher management and other healthcare providers. Third, the external environment, which, through policy makers and various professional organisations, influences improvement activities within the organisations we studied.Answers to the question \"To what extent have the following items been driving forces for your improvement work?\" are shown in Table II. This comparison between 2003 and 2007 is based on 11 variables, which we ranked in order by the differences in their means. Table II shows the variable, its categorisation, respondents (n), means, standard deviation (SD) and significance. The most important change driver trends are derived from patient needs/complaints, decisions from higher-level managers and directives from official authorities. Also, healthcare quality problems and the fact that daily work does not function optimally show significance change. Additionally, problems regarding healthcare access have slightly increased. Drivers that show no significant difference are financial problems; that is, financial issues have not changed in any direction. This driver is also low ranked (10 of 11) with a mean of 2.85 (on a scale from 1 to 5). No significant change is identified for the medical innovation driver. Two drivers: desire to increase market share; and problems regarding staff/work environment, have not changed since 2003. \"Good ideas from employees\" is the only driver that shows a significant decrease since 2003.\nMethods/concepts for improving change initiatives: Some questions asked to what extent respondents assess that their organisation has been using different methods/concepts. In total, this theme includes 34 variables. In this study, we classified these methods/concepts into seven categories (Table III).Table IV shows the methods/concepts that increased in use between 2003 and 2007. Table V summarises methods/concepts unchanged and Table VI reveals methods/concepts decreasing in use between 2003-2007. Each table presents the method/concept, category, respondents (n), mean, SD and significance. Presentation order is based on rank - i.e. differences in 2007 and 2003 means.Significant positive trend\nDiscussion: We describe quality improvement developmental trends in the Swedish healthcare system by analysing and comparing results from two surveys using a longitudinal approach. The overall picture reveals similarities between the two surveys and that there are some important changes. A general aspect is the tendency toward increased external pressure on the leaders in their improvement work. Higher management decisions, patient pressure and policymaker decisions have an increasing influence that shape healthcare manager choices about where to focus improvement efforts. This increased pressure from outside the organisation is a significant shift from the internal collaborative strategy (ICS) elaborated in Olsson et al. (2003). Furthermore, respondents have not changed their views about improvement work generally.\nImprovement trends and logic: Data analysis shows three major trend lines: take-control logic; practice-based improvement; and patient-centeredness.Take-control logic\nConclusion: Higher management decisions, patient pressure and policymaker decisions shape healthcare manager choices about where to focus improvement efforts. We identify three trends prevalent in contemporary Swedish healthcare: take-control logics; practice-based improvement, and patient-centeredness. In a study by Olsson et al. (2007), items specifically attributed to staff conducting successful improvement were identified. This strategy featured in the Patient Centered Task Alignment (PTCA) report (Olsson et al., 2007). Organisations' PTCA patterns share similar characteristics with the growing developmental trends viewed in this study. For example, one PTCA attribute is that external pressures have impact on internal action. This is one finding indicating that Swedish healthcare organisations may be moving from an internal collaborative strategy to a patient-centred task-aligned change strategy. Further research is needed to: explore this argument's validity; test hypotheses regarding organisational structural differences, characteristics and improvement work; and assess county council level data and to compare them with other data sources.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine developmental trends in healthcare organisation management practice and improvement work.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Primary healthcare centre (n=1,031) and clinical hospital department (n=1,542) managers were surveyed in spring 2007 (response rate 46 per cent). This article compares results from this survey with a study in 2003. A theoretical framework based on organisational inner context, organisational outer context, external environment and outcomes form the analytical base. Comparisons were made using independent two-sample t-tests.\nFindings: - A general aspect, identified empirically, is the tendency toward increased external pressure on leaders in their improvement work. Higher management decisions, patient pressure and decisions made by policymakers increasingly influence and shape the choices made by healthcare managers about where to focus improvement efforts. Three different trends are empirically identified and elaborated: take-control logic; practice-based improvement; and patient-centeredness.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Healthcare leaders should carefully design new management control systems that support healthcare micro systems. Findings support the general assumption that staff increasingly tend to focus organisational changes on management control.\nOriginality/value: - This study extends management research with a unique survey. Through two measurements made in 2003 and 2007, several important trends about how healthcare organisations are managed and developed are identified.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do payday loans help the working poor?	[ "Marketing", "Financial services", "Payday loans" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Poverty and its associated problems such as malnutrition and poor health (Pena and Bacallao, 2002), social marginalization (Cummins, 2004), and the lack of access to traditional financial institutions (Koku, 2009) have been the subject of many studies and international symposia. Most extant studies have focussed on the poor in developing countries. However, because poverty knows no boundaries, problems experienced by the poor are present everywhere: Yet the plight of the poor in advanced countries seems to attract less attention both in the global war against poverty and in the marketing literature on financial services to the poor.\nWho are the working poor?: According to the US' Census Bureau's 2011 report, 46.2 million people or 15.0 percent of the US population lived below the poverty level (The Economist, 2012). The level of poverty is defined variously by different organizations. The World Bank defines \"extreme poverty\" as those living on less than $1.25 per day and \"moderate poverty\" as those living on less than $2.00 per day (Ravallion et al., 2009). In contrast, the US Government's definitions are more nuanced; specifically, they take into consideration such factors as family size and the presence of, and number of, young children. Generally, the federal definition of the poverty level for an individual is $11,702 in annual income (which is about 44 percent of median income for singles) or $23,201 annual income for a family of four which is about 30 percent of median income for families (The Economist, 2012).\nPayday loans: as an alternative financial market for the working poor: The payday loan market in the USA has a direct impact on consumption decisions and has major implications for the marketing activities of many business organizations. Yet only limited efforts in the marketing literature - and most strikingly in the journals that are dedicated to marketing and financial institutions - have been directed at understanding the problems that plague the payday loan market. To many advocates of the free market system, the existence of the payday loan market that caters largely to the working poor is evidence that the system works and that the market is responding to fill unmet needs. However, to many who are concerned about workers' welfare and consumer rights, the existence of the payday loan market is compelling evidence of the absence of a level playing field for the working poor.\nPayday loans: key empirical findings: Perhaps because of the legal underpinnings, most of the studies conducted on the payday loan industry have been conducted in the field of consumer law and finance, and not in marketing. However, the fact that payday loan institutions directly impact consumer needs suggests an urgent need for marketers also to study the industry.\nShould the operations of payday loans be curtailed?: On the basis of the argument that payday loans are predatory and encourage people to overborrow, public policy measures in a number of states were put in place to restrict access to payday loans. In 2007, between thirteen to 18 of 50 states sought to prohibit payday loans and did so by capping interest rates for a two-week payday loan at 36 percent APR or less; alternatively, they imposed an outright ban on higher APRs (see Lawrence and Elliehausen, 2008; King and Parrish, 2007).\nInformation disclosure: A major policy question related to the patronage of payday loan operations is whether payday loan customers are being given the legally mandated information regarding loan terms. In other words, do payday loan stores disclose information consistent with the TILA 1968 which requires lenders to disclose the terms of their loans in clear and easily understandable language so that borrowers can make rational choices)? The answer to this question seems to be in the affirmative.\nDemand drivers of the payday loan market: What factors drive the demand side in the payday loan market? Many economists and policy makers have grappled with this question because its understanding is essential for developing effective policies that govern the workings of this \"market.\" Skiba and Tobacman (2011) address this question by analyzing a proprietary data set provided by a payday loan firm in Texas. The data covered a four-year period (September 2000 through August 2004) and included such information as customer demographics, employment information, and banking information - all of which are routinely collected during a typical payday loan application process. The authors also collected detailed administrative records that contained information on payday borrowing, repayment, and default.\nDoes the payday loan industry make unbridled profits?: If payday loan interest rates are as high as alleged by critics (see Montezemolo, 2013; Skiba and Tobacman, 2011) then the industry must be very profitable, all else being equal. The astronomical explosion in the number of payday loan stores from 200 in 1990 to 30,000 in 2004 would seem to support this view (see Skiba and Tobacman, 2011). This dramatic increase also supports critics of the industry who advocate a cap on the industry's interest rate using the argument that the payday loan industry is making unbridled profits.\nPublic and managerial policies and implications: What should the government do, and what can it do to help the working poor? Furthermore, what should traditional financial institutions do? These are important questions that must be addressed. The fact that many states are trying to cap the lending rates of payday loans is indicative of the willingness of policy makers to do something. However, is capping the lending rate the best approach to solve the credit needs of the working poor?\nThe potential role of CSR: Believers in the free market system would argue that corporations are only responsible to their shareholders and have the fiduciary duty to make the maximum possible profit (Friedman, 1967). This view is increasingly being challenged by those who believe that corporations have an equally important obligation to entities other than shareholders. The theory of CSR which emerged about six decades ago was described by Bowen (1953) as \"the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society\" (Bowen, 1953, p. 44, quoted by Carroll, 1999).\nConclusion: The standard model in which traditional financial institutions require borrowers to provide collateral and liquidity in order to obtain loans is dated and unnecessarily eliminates a large segment of the working poor from the pool of borrowers. This dated approach must be revised for public policy reasons. An innovative way of lending to the working poor that does not dehumanize them is a must. It is also clear from the actions that several states have taken to solve this problem by placing a cap on the lending rates charged by payday loans, that policy makers are willing to do something about this huge social problem. What is missing are marketing studies that provide policy guidance in this regard.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: to examine the plight of a particular segment of the poor - the working poor - in the USA relative to their exclusion from traditional financial markets and their patronage of the payday loan market; and to propose a framework that offers guidance to law makers in making laws/crafting policies that help the working poor gain better access to credit.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper that reviews the literature on the payday loan market and uses its findings to propose a strategy to ameliorate the plight of the working poor.\nFindings: The study integrates the findings of studies on the payday loan market with theories of corporate social responsibility. Using these findings the authors develop a framework that can guide policy makers in making policies that address the exclusion of the working poor from financial markets.\nResearch limitations/implications: As a conceptual paper based on theories, the study does not provide empirical validation. The paper develops a framework that could guide policy makers as they consider legislation to address the financial exclusion of the poor, particularly with regard to payday loans.\nPractical implications: The paper proposes a policy framework to solve the \"debt treadmill\" problems of the working poor.\nSocial implications: The consequent improvement of the financial conditions of the working poor improves society in general.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the knowledge, this is the first marketing paper that has proposed a structural framework to address the exclusion of the working poor from the credit markets.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Investigating community members' eWOM effects in Facebook fan page	[ "Virtual community", "Social influence", "Sense of virtual community", "EWOM effects" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the marketing-related literature produced over the past 50 years, numerous scholars have argued that word-of-mouth (WOM) was a crucial research topic (Arndt, 1967; Brooks, 1957; Holmes and Lett, 1977; Lin, 2008; Martilla, 1971; Martin and Lueg, 2013; Sheth, 1971). WOM exerted considerable influence on the market (Martin and Lueg 2013; Whyte, 1954) particularly the promotion and distribution of products. Thus, employing the WOM effect is a more effective marketing approach than implementing traditional ones. Granitz and Ward (1996) pointed out that WOM and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) have different degree of impact. eWOM can deliver the message through not only one to one and one to many, but also non-synchronized. eWOM referred to the phenomenon in which consumers trusted the reviews provided by other consumers who had the same interests as they did, rather than trusted advertisers or marketers (Blackshaw, 2006; Sen and Lerman, 2007). WOM has gradually replaced the tradition of past general marketing communication tools-eWOM under operation with the internet (Trusov et al., 2009). Scholars in the field of advertisement discipline started to concern eWOM (Plummer, 2007). eWOM credibility in communities would be the main base to affect individuals processing these information cues (Weisfeld-Spolter et al., 2014). WOM is the most crucial factor that influences consumers' adoption of product information. Specifically, the influence exerted by WOM on consumer brand switching is: first, seven times greater than that exerted by newspapers; second, four times greater than that exerted by sellers' promotion; and three, two times greater than that exerted by advertisement broadcasting (Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955). Additionally, in the process of facilitating consumers' attitude changed from negative, to neutral and then to positive, the effect produced by WOM dissemination was nine times more than that produced by advertisements (Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955). The influence of WOM on the decision-making process of consumers has been widely known by the researchers and practitioners. Moreover, with the advent of the internet, the WOM effect has become more crucial (Bickart and Schindler, 2001; Dellarocas, 2003; Henning-Thurau et al., 2004; Lee and Youn, 2009; Sun et al., 2006).\n2. Literature review and research hypotheses: 2.1. Community website and Facebook fans page\n3. Research methodology: 3.1. Research model\n4. Results: This study used AMOS software of 17.0 versions to carry out CFA of measurement and structure model.\n5. Conclusions and discussion: 5.1. Conclusions and key findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the model of enhancing the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) effects through the virtual community by discussing the relationship among sense of virtual community, social influence and eWOM effects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research adopted structural equation modeling to test the proposed model, and the structural model showed a good fit. This research sample consisted of 492 members who have used Facebook for at least half-a-year.\nFindings: The results indicated that sense of virtual community had effects on normative influence, informative influence, and perceived eWOM review credibility. Both social influence and perceived eWOM review credibility had effects on eWOM review adoption. Social influence in virtual community partially mediated the relationship between virtual community members' sense of virtual community and perceived eWOM review credibility. Virtual community members' perceived eWOM review credibility partially mediated the relationship between normative/informative influence and eWOM review adoption.\nPractical implications: This study discussed conclusions and managerial implications of the findings.\nOriginality/value: This research filled a void that most of the previous studies in this area focussed on a single social interaction perspective. The authors argued that community studies should incorporate and distinguish SOVC and social influence factors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An exploratory study of the achievement of the twenty-first century skills in higher education	[ "Information literacy", "Higher education", "Globalization", "Skills" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Our modern world has been witnessing dramatic developments in the various domains of life that have brought about considerable challenges for educational systems worldwide. Owing to shift from the age of industrial economy to a new age based on information technology, educational planners and practitioners have been challenged to equip their graduates with the requisite skills and competencies for employability and success in the age informatics where knowledge and technology play a pivotal role in living up to the challenges of global economy and knowledge society.\nStatement of the problem: The changing characteristics of the new generation coupled with closing/reversing of the gender gap in higher education suggest the need for investigating the efficacy of higher education in preparing the new generation of college graduates for employability and success in an increasingly complex and interdependent world. This paper reports the results of a survey study of the achievement of the twenty-first century skills in higher education as perceived by the graduating class of a well-established university that follows the American system of education and has been operating in an international context for over one-and-a-half century. Specifically, the following questions are addressed:* What do last year college students at the study site think of the efficacy of their undergraduate college education in preparing them for the twenty-first century skills needed for employment?* What types of skills are achieved better than other types?* Are there gender discrepancies in the achievement of skills?\nMethod: Study context and participants\nResults: The results reveal the following patterns of interest. First, generally speaking, the participants perceived that their undergraduate study at the institution of higher learning under investigation has equipped them quite well with certain skills needed for employment in the twenty-first century. Specifically, 90.30 percent strongly agreed or agreed that they can read critically, 89.30 percent think and reason logically, 86.30 percent work in teams, 85.7 percent evaluate information critically and competently, 82.30 percent access information efficiently and critically, and 81.60 percent use information accurately and creatively. Second, about two-thirds of the participants were satisfied that they have adequate preparation in a number of important twenty-first century skills. For instance, 79.10 percent strongly agreed or agreed that they can plan, design, execute, and evaluate solutions. Likewise, 79.1 percent reported that they believe they have strong interactive skills in writing and 77.50 percent in oral communication; meanwhile, 78.00 percent considered that their curiosity about the world has increased. Third, however, considerable percentages of the respondents either disagreed or remained undecided regarding their mastery of a number of skills needed for employment in the age of global economy. For example, 18.00 percent either strongly disagreed or disagreed and 22.70 percent were undecided whether they can solve complex mathematics problems. Similarly, 14.90 percent either strongly disagreed or disagreed and 24.20 percent were undecided about their ability to solve complex problems in science. Also, it should be noted that 10.80 percent either strongly disagreed or disagreed and 23.20 percent were undecided if they can use imagery to communicate; whereas, 17.00 percent either strongly disagree or disagreed and 28.90 percent were undecided if they can produce products with real world applications.Rank order of skill clusters\nConclusion: The present study reported the results of a survey that covered a sample of last year graduating students at a well-established institution of higher learning that follows the American model of education in an international context. The results revealed that high percentages of the respondents (82.30-90.30 percent) considered that they were prepared to read critically, write persuasively, and think and reason logically. A possible explanation of these positive results could be traced back to many determinants and context specific factors that include:* rigorous admission criteria of students based on the results of standardized tests and high school records;* a well-developed and effective required system of communication skills course; and* more emphasis on integrating literacy skills and critical thinking across the curriculum.The skills of critical reading, proficient writing, and logical reasoning constitute the basics of literacy and are very important for employability at a time where the threshold of literacy is getting higher given that all professions now require effective and efficient communication skills as well as abilities to define problems clearly and perform important everyday tasks.Similarly, considerable percentages of the respondents (77.50-79.10 percent) reported that they were prepared to design and execute solutions as well as have developed good interactive communicative written and oral communication skills. These findings corroborate those discussed above regarding the development of reading and writing skills as well as suggest that the academic programs at this institution are up-to-date and effective in equipping graduates with a number of important twenty-first century skills given that employees in the various domains of production and services are expected to use their communicative abilities and competencies to retrieve and use information effectively and competently in order to provide complex services, devise action plans, and deliver useful solutions.However, it should be noted that considerable percentages of the respondents reported that they have not developed the abilities to solve complex problems in mathematics (18.00 percent) and sciences (14.90 percent), nor can they use imagery to communicate (23.20 percent) or produce products with real world application (17 percent). Awareness about global and cross-cultural issues was also under achieved in the context of the present study, which underscores the needs for better planning and more intensive instruction in the sciences and the mathematics and in general education and global issues. This is particularly important given the complexity and interdependence of our modern world. The results also suggest that the cohort of the undergraduate students who participated in the present study may not be so geared towards information technology as expected given that the participants can be considered \"digital natives\" par excellence. Although these participants have been immersed in technology for all of their lives, a considerable percentage of them (23.20 percent) reported that they cannot use imagery to communicate. These findings are not in agreement with the characteristics of the digital natives as described by Frand (2000) and Prenksy (2001); which suggests that the theory of the \"universal digital native\" may not be as robust as claimed given that certain contextual variables may impact the characteristics, learning styles, and orientation of learners and thereby their development and achievement of skills.The results of the study also revealed that while males and females differed in their perceptions of the degrees of their achievement of technical skills and global and cross-cultural awareness, there were no statistically significant differences in their perceptions of the achievement of the skills clusters of visual information, inventive thinking, and social interaction. A possible explanation of these findings may be attributed to variations in the fields of study by gender whereby more female students tend to major in the social sciences and arts despite of closing the enrollment gender gap in the context of the present study.The study has a number of general implications for college administrators, curriculum planners, program coordinators and implementers, and instructors. Chief among these implications is the need to identify and map out the twenty-first century skills needed for employability into college curricula and course offerings and see to it that the skills are properly targeted and assessed upon completion of academic programs. Meanwhile, the implications specific to the context of the present study center around the need for continuity in developing the scientific and technical literacy skills as well as giving more attention to the development of visual literacy, problem solving, mathematics, science, global awareness, and cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.Finally, it should be noted that the results of the present study ought to be interpreted with caution due to the following limitations in design and methodology. First, the results cannot be generalized to all institutions of higher learning given that the sample was not representative of the population of graduating college students in the country. Second, the data were basically self-reported and, as such, should be looked at as perceptions rather than facts. These perceptions should be corroborated by interview evidence and other triangulated data sources.Future research is needed to further validate the emerging results from this exploratory study as well as investigate their possible causes and determinants. Likewise, more studies are needed on different populations with representative samples of learners from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survey study of the achievement of twenty-first century skills in higher education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study employs a quantitative survey design.\nFindings: - The findings indicate that the basic scientific and technological skills of reading critically and writing persuasively as well as accessing and using information efficiently have been achieved to a great extent in the context of the study; whereas, mathematical and scientific skills and global awareness and cross-cultural issues still need more attention. Variations in the level of mastery as well as gender differences in the achievement of certain skills clusters were also identified and discussed in light of the robustness of the theory of the \"universal digital native\".\nResearch limitations/implications: - The results cannot be generalized into other contexts and the data were basically self-reported and not corroborated by evidence from triangulated sources.\nPractical implications: - Effective dealing with the basic and technological skills should be continued; however, more attention should be given to the development of the skills in mathematics and the sciences. Likewise, the visual-literacy skills and the levels of global awareness and cross-cultural understanding and appreciation should be improved.\nOriginality/value: - This exploratory study fills a knowledge gap and may set the stage for further research into the extent to which the twenty-first century skills are being realized by institutions of higher learning given the scarcity or non-existence of this research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Price regulation and cost accounting: the case of the Portuguese seaport sector	[ "Case study", "Portugal", "Cost accounting", "Price regulation", "Seaports" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Seaports play a crucial role in world trade, linking industries, their supply chains and markets which they operate in. According to Carvalho (2007), about 96 per cent of the world trade is carried by sea. In Portugal around 68 per cent of imports and 43 per cent of exports were carried by sea (IPTM, 2009). Moreover, in 2011, the Portuguese total sea trade throughput was above 66 million[1], a number that has constantly increased over the last decade, showing the importance of maritime transport and of the seaport sector.\n2 Theoretical background: a stakeholder approach: The stakeholders concept is well-established in every discipline related to management. It essentially implies the identification of the individuals and groups that can be affected by an organisation's actions. The organisation itself is conceptualised as a group of stakeholders, and its purpose becomes that of managing their interests, needs and viewpoints (Mitchell et al., 1997; Friedman and Miles, 2001). Broadly, this theory is concerned with how managers and stakeholders actually behave and how they view their actions and roles. One can also say that it regards how an organisation's governance model takes into consideration the stakeholders involved.\n3 Research process: data and methods: The present paper describes and discusses the application of a qualitative case study methodology to establish a set of common principles to be used by Portuguese SA in calculating costs of the main services they provide. Since the model derives from the empirical work carried out, it follows an inductive approach. In particular, the research addresses the case of the Portuguese seaport sector, therefore involving multiple organisations and being a holistic case study (Vieira et al., 2009).\n4 Issues related to financial accounting information: When the research contract was negotiated, a substantial reform was starting in Portuguese business accounting standards towards the adoption of IFRS[8]. As business corporations, SA were obviously about to be affected by this new financial accounting and reporting system - SNC, with expected considerable changes in recognition and measurement criteria, hence impacting in service costing.\n5 The proposed method: The case-study approach made the consulting team realise that, although SA managers were aware of the seminal importance of developing cost accounting systems, they were also conscious of major difficulties in the process. Furthermore, they were alert to the fact that, despite seaports operational revenues were already clearly identified (according to tariffs typology as well as in terms of business areas and/or market segments), they could not be compared with the same types of costs, since these were still very difficult to get according to the same classifications. Consequently, the practice in most Portuguese SA was not producing enough information on costs to prepare an analytical operating account. This analytical account would undoubtedly be very useful both to SA management and to the regulator that, in this way, could assess how adequate each tariff would be, by comparing it to the cost incurred for the service provision (AECA, 2006).\n6 Conclusion: In line with recent developments in clinical research, in this project we adopted a strategy that has fostered a collaborative and interactive process in which advisors/consultants and clients were regarded as co-producers of knowledge (Ter Bogt and Van Helden, 2011). The level of involvement and feedback thus obtained was essential to derive a costing system proposal which both regulator and SA have considered to be useful and meaningful. Given some important disparities in the operational organisation of seaports, the common acceptance of a set of rules regarding minimum levels of harmonisation in computing tariffs based on cost coverage was, indeed, a crucial factor in building up a good technical solution. Yet, as it happens in complex environments, the effectiveness of the solution developed and the level of satisfaction of the various stakeholders need to be evaluated in a couple of years.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a stakeholder approach based on a case-study research was used to define a method to be applied across the Portuguese seaport administrations (SA) in order to justify the tariffs to be charged for a variety of services provided by these entities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study involved both the Portuguese maritime transport regulator (IPTM) and the SA in the various stages that led to the proposition of a new method to be applied in cost calculation and reporting. Acting as consultant-researchers, the authors have used a multiplicity of data sources (e.g. regulations, reports and interviews), while involving users and providers of information in the design of the proposed method.\nFindings: The common acceptance of a set of rules regarding minimum levels of harmonisation in computing tariffs based on cost coverage was possible thanks to a strategy that has fostered a collaborative and interactive process engaging consultants and clients. The defined method respects the main principles and good practices of cost accounting, namely those related to cost traceability, classification and controllability. Moreover, it specifies how certain elements (e.g. depreciation, external services and personnel charges) with impact on cost structures of seaports should be measured according to the new financial accounting standards. The technical solution proposed represents a good compromise, while cost accounting systems in Portuguese SA are still under development.\nOriginality/value: The paper describes the application of a case-study methodology to the resolution of a problem where requirements of customisation and harmonisation were essential to enhance the quality of the solution, as perceived by both the regulator and SA.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mapping talent development in tourism and hospitality: a literature review	[ "Hospitality", "Tourism", "Human resources", "Talent development", "Talent", "Talent management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Globally, the tourism and hospitality industry is the largest and fastest growing, contributing significantly to the economic and social development of many nations. One of the greatest benefits of tourism to the host country is employment creation (Liu and Wall, 2005). The industry provides a wide variety of jobs across the employment spectrum (World Travel and Tourism Council [WTTC], 2016) in a range of organizations. Employment within travel and tourism is projected to grow at 2 per cent per year than most other major industries (WTTC, 2015) providing employment for one in ten people globally (WTTC, 2018).\nMethod: An integrative literature review method (Torraco, 2005, 2016) was used to identify and analyze studies relevant to TM and TD in tourism and hospitality. Literature review benefits from a topic that has not been comprehensively reviewed (Torraco, 2016). To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review of the literature on managing and developing talent in tourism and hospitality. Previous research on TM and TD has been fragmented with emphasis on specific areas such as education (Barron, 2008; Scott and Revis, 2008), management development issues (D'Annunzio-Green, 2018; Watson, 2008), retention and recruitment (Deery, 2008; Christensen Hughes and Rog, 2008) and skills training (Baum, 2008). A literature review represents the growth of knowledge on the topic by reviewing, critiquing and synthesizing the literature through a reconceptualization of the topic (Torraco, 2016). The knowledge gained from the literature review is organized and re-conceptualized using the TD map proposed by Garavan et al. (2012) that serves as a theoretical perspective of the topic under study (Torraco, 2005).\nResults: The findings from the literature reviewed are presented within the key dimensions of the TD map proposed by Garavan et al. (2012). Table II provides a summary of the key elements of the TD map.\nTalent development time frame: Traditional TD strategies are typically slow (Garavan et al., 2012). TD in tourism and hospitality appears to be more traditionally-paced than accelerated. Training is a major component of TD in tourism and hospitality organizations. Development activities for hospitality managers historically occur in the earlier years of managers' careers (Watson, 2008). While larger tourism corporations increasingly invest in skills training to improve employee ability to meet changing customer demands (Johnson et al., 2018), generally, in tourism SMEs training assumes an ad hoc, unstructured approach, and normally occurs informally on the job, in the absence of a training needs analysis (Beaver and Hutchings, 2005). Training initiatives are often considered unaffordable time-consuming luxury and regarded as a cost rather than an investment in SMEs (Kotey and Slade, 2005; Nolan, 2002). Small business owners with minimal formal business education are oblivious to the development needs of employees and lack the urgency to participate in training and development activities. However, managers who are highly trained are more likely to take action to invest in employee training and development (Nolan, 2002). With the majority of SMEs operating in an unstructured way, the general approach toward training also fits into an informal pattern (Jameson, 2000; Chung and D'Annunzio-Green, 2018). Though training is often viewed as non-urgent in smaller firms, research suggests that top performing SMEs increasingly invest in development initiatives (Beaver and Hutchings, 2005) because of positive individual and organizational outcomes linked to learning (Johnson et al., 2018). More recent research in tourism SMEs suggests that managers have a clear commitment toward development of employees and the \"absence of formalized TM practices, however, does not imply the lack of strategies in place for people management and development\" (Chung and D'Annunzio-Green, 2018, p. 101). Growing competition and constant change in a global market has reinforced the importance of learning in tourism and hospitality organizations in general as a critical success and survival factor.\nDiscussion and implications: The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of the scope of TD activities and practices in tourism and hospitality. According to Baum (2008), developing talent within tourism and hospitality is unique and should not be necessarily compared with other industries because of the personality and makeup of the industry in which a wide range of skills set and competencies ranging from executive/managerial levels to unskilled job tasks are needed to ensure the efficient and successful operation of the industry. The industry is unique, in that, it is characterized by high service orientation. Consequently, managing and developing talent are critical for service organizations because services are intangible and inseparable (Kandampully, 2000). Services are performances that create value, packaged in the form of deeds and actions that customers are unable to feel or touch in the same way as tangible goods before purchasing (Gronroos, 2007). Goods are produced, then sold and consumed, whereas services are sold, then produced and consumed simultaneously, which explains the inseparability of the role of the service provider and consumer (Kandampully, 2000). While it is possible to manufacture goods in a factory and later deliver to customers, service providers and customers are not separated during the delivery process and consumption of the service. These characteristics of service make employee talent vital for service organizations (Baum, 2008). The unique service orientation of tourism and hospitality also helps to explain the emotional and aesthetic labor that the industry is known for, and the rare bundle of skills set, including, the strong communication and interpersonal skills (Baum, 2008) needed to facilitate the delivery of excellent service to diverse and changing customer needs.\nConclusions: The success of today's organizations is largely reliant on the effective identification, management and development of talent. Investing in TD strategies is important to ensure there is sufficient talent in the pipeline. As tourism and hospitality employees are encouraged to have a global mindset to deliver quality service to diverse customers from various cultures, it is important to assume a global TM approach where talents are recruited, developed, rewarded and retained on a global level. By creating a brand, tourism and hospitality organizations will attract superior talents to the industry. Managing and developing talent should be a strategic priority in tourism and hospitality organizations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the scope of talent development (TD) strategies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry contexts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Because the literature on talent management and TD in tourism and hospitality is limited and fragmented, an integrative literature review method was used to identify and analyze relevant studies to create a more comprehensive representation of the industry's talent strategies.\nFindings: Findings from the literature review showed that by nature, the context of tourism and hospitality is complex and the meaning of talent in this industry is not necessarily comparable to other industry sectors (Baum, 2008). While most industries adopt a more exclusive approach to develop talent, an inclusive approach may be more ideal for tourism and hospitality especially in light of the importance of frontline employees for business success. More robust management structures and human resource systems are needed especially in small and medium tourism enterprises to aid the facilitation of TD. A partnership approach involving strong commitment between education, industry and government should be necessitated to implement and sustain TD considering the importance of the industry to nation's economic and social advancement.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study adds to the body of literature on TD in tourism and hospitality. Future research opportunities should explore both qualitative and quantitative methods to provide empirical evidence and to further build on the literature.\nPractical implications: Generally, organizations place emphasis on the development of technical skills, however, managers and leaders of tourism organizations should focus on developing both technical and generic competencies especially for frontline employees to ensure that a positive image of the organization is consistently demonstrated. TD can influence employees' emotional labor; therefore, increased and quality emotional labor training can impact the types of strategies that employees use during guest encounters to promote quality service.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes a comprehensive review of the literature on TD in the tourism and hospitality context. The TD map provides more focused direction and will aid in the establishment of TD strategies and practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Empirical research in business process management - analysis of an emerging field of research	[ "Business process re‐engineering", "Research", "Literature" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Business process management (BPM) has been an intensely discussed topic in the information systems (IS) research field as well as in practice since the late 1980s. Although earlier works have discussed the idea of process orientation (Nordsieck, 1934), they did not lead to a comprehensive realization of identified potentials. Later on the contributions of Porter (1985), Davenport (1993), Hammer and Champy (1993) and Scheer (1994) have had a considerable impact on the following research and the practical application of provided concepts.Meanwhile BPM has reached a certain maturity. The amount of literature concerning BPM, the existence of specialized journals (e.g. the Business Process Management Journal) and conferences (e.g. the BPM-Conference in the seventh year) as well as the institutionalization of degree programs specialized in BPM at several universities evidence that it is not a temporary fashion but an evolving trend in management science. Furthermore, an increase of practical application of the concept can be stated by the actual development of the business process management systems market and its expected growth in the future (Ko et al., 2009).In the context of the application of BPM methods a certain amount of experience has been produced and documented in empirical research contributions. As empirical contributions support BPM research in the context of theory construction as well as in the context of reviewing success of designed artefacts it builds an important part in the development process of BPM in general. The importance of empirical research is also stressed by the fact that the first workshop for empirical research in BPM (ER-BPM) has been offered at the BPM conference 2009.The analysis of empirical work in BPM which is conducted in this paper can identify well-studied fields and research gaps, applied methods and further interesting evidence concerning empirical BPM research. Thus, it can make an interesting contribution to the further development of BPM research.There is a number of articles providing a literature review in the context of BPM research. These articles differ from this contribution in regard to substantial characteristics. The works of Zairi and Sinclair (1995) and Lee and Dale (1998) review BPM literature with a focus on conceptual contributions.The works of O'Neill and Sohal (1999), Armistead et al. (1999), Paper and Chang (2005), Hung (2006), Al-Mudimigh (2007), Bandara et al. (2005), Bandara (2007), Moller et al. (2007), Abdolvand et al. (2008), Ghodeswar and Vaidyanathan (2008), Tiwari et al. (2008) and Ko et al. (2009) review literature dealing with empirical findings in BPM research. However, these works do not focus on empirical aspects contained in the reviewed literature. They mostly concentrate on different research questions and do thus not provide a comprehensive examination of empirical research in BPM.Related work has mainly concentrated on different research topics. Furthermore, the applied research methodology has often not been explained.This contribution has an extended focus because a large set of empirical primary studies in BPM has been considered for a comprehensive survey in order to study the development of the field of research. Moreover, it is based on a transparent research methodology which will be explained in Section 3. Owing to our best knowledge a comparable review of empirical research in BPM has currently not been undertaken.This paper's purpose is a comprehensive survey of the development and trends in empirical research in BPM by reviewing empirical contributions systematically on the basis of a developed reference framework. Scientometric methods which analyze literature in a quantitative and descriptive way (van Raan, 1997) build the basis for the analysis from a superordinated perspective. Besides the presentation of BPM research development the underlying methodologies of reviewed articles will be examined in order to provide an overview of applied methods in empirical BPM research. In general qualitative research methods mark the beginning of empirical research in a certain field. By investigating applied research methodologies the maturity of empirical research can be studied. The identification of trends can provide important information about the further development of the research field. The following questions are of particular importance for the presented article:Q1. How has empirical research in the field of BPM developed in recent years and which trends can be identified within this development?Q2. Which research methods have been applied in empirical studies in BPM?Q3. Which conclusions for the empirical research in BPM can be deduced from these findings?Our contribution is structured as follows: in Section 2 a set of fundamental terms is introduced. Section 3 expatiates upon the applied research method and the utilized reference framework of the following literature review. Section 4 describes the findings of the literature review while Section 5 discusses them and presents implications as well as limitations of our research. Section 6 summarizes the results, provides an outlook and poses further research questions in the context.\n2 Business process management: The concept of BPM has been defined very differently. In general BPM is a management principle which companies apply in order to sustain their competitive advantage (Hung, 2006). It focuses on business processes. A business process is a sequence of executions in a business context based on the purpose of creating goods and services (Scheer, 1999). BPM subsumes a set of methods, techniques and software tools supporting the design, enactment, control and analysis of operational business processes in order to facilitate an optimized value creation (van der Aalst et al., 2003). Thus, a goal-oriented management of business processes and the achievement of strategic and operative objectives of a company can be realized.In earlier phases of BPM development two different concepts were differentiated. The concept of business process reengineering, which has paled in comparison to evolutionary approaches, describes a radical redesign of business processes as a singular transformation (Hammer and Champy, 1993).Evolutionary improvement of business processes as a continuous transformation with several phases is of higher relevance for actual BPM efforts (Weske, 2007). This continuous improvement is typically conceptualized by a BPM life cycle. The life cycle and its different phase descriptions vary depending on the authors dealing with the issue. Table I shows different definitions of the BPM life cycle which can be found in literature.Although the number and nomenclature of the phases is different the presented definitions do not vary fundamentally. The several phases are often partitioned differently. In the following the BPM life cycle which is shown by Figure 1 is considered as an aggregation of the presented life cycle concepts:* strategy development regarding the management of business processes;* definition and modeling of relevant processes;* implementation of processes in an organization;* execution of implemented processes;* monitoring and controlling of the process execution; and* optimization and improvement of processes.\n3 Research approach: 3.1 Research method\n4 Empirical research in BPM: 4.1 Review of empirical literature in BPM from the meta-perspective\n5 Discussion and implications: The findings of the article present certain trends in the field of empirical BPM research and thus certain trends in BPM research in general:* From the meta-perspective an increase in BPM-related empirical research has been stated. This increase is certainly connected with a growing popularity of BPM research in general and empirical research in BPM as well as to the developing maturity of the research field. Several peaks in the development of the number of empirical contributions in BPM are connected with temporarily hyped topics like BPR in the middle of the 1990s. Nevertheless, a constant increase can be stated in general.The biggest part of empirical articles in BPM has appeared in unranked journals. Empirical research in BPM has reached top-class journals only to a moderate extent so far. An increase of articles in ranked journals can be expected with growing popularity and proceeding maturity of the research field.Empirical BPM research has been conducted in different regions to a different extent. The preponderance of a certain research paradigm in the different regions can be stated which supports the assumption that \"different elements\" in the IS community \"have different profiles in terms of their research and publication expectations\" (Galliers and Whitley, 2007).* From the content-based perspective empirical BPM approaches are more often applied in the industry context as the competitiveness of companies is mostly important in BPM. Nevertheless, the interest in BPM methods and technologies and the practical application in the administration context have increased in recent years. A further growing importance of these methods and technologies for the public administration sector is to be expected as BPM can support initiatives for the improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of public administrations as well. As public administration strives for different goals, e.g. the improvement of service quality instead of the improvement of competitiveness, the preconditions for BPM in public administration differ from those in the industry. This has also to be considered in the context of further empirical research. In general the presented development lets us expect further increase in empirical BPM research concerning the public context.Both in industry and in public administration organizational and technological aspects are more often studied than interorganizational aspects. This can be explained by the potential which can be offered by organizational and business process-related change and the introduction of technological innovations which businesses often try to realize. Interorganizational concepts instead are not widely distributed and intensely applied so far.* Methodical perspective: As empirical BPM research supports the design and evaluation of technological artefacts on the one hand and a better understanding of organizational matters in BPM on the other hand the increase of empirical research can be seen as a positive development for the research field. The construction of theories and the evaluation of artefacts are thus rendered possible. The findings document the research interest for both aspects. The relations of the different empirical approaches show that in design science case study approaches are the most commonly used method to evaluate BPM-artefacts. Survey methodologies are only of importance for well-established artefacts which are widely diffused among practical users. In behavioural science there is also a higher number of case studies. Case study approaches support the development of theories. Survey methodologies support theory testing instead. The presented numbers of case studies and surveys show that on the one hand the construction of theories is still more important in empirical BPM research but existing cause-and-effect relations have already been tested.It could be argued that only a limited population of articles has been reviewed in the study and not the whole set of available empirical works. Nevertheless, the conduction of a systematic literature review in two internationally leading databases provides a comprehensive sample of journal articles which supports meaningful and significant analyses. The quality and fit of the examined articles have been assured by checking the content which supports an improved quality of developed findings. The reference framework has built the basis for the conducted analyses and has been strictly applied.Furthermore, other interesting aspects and dependencies which have not been considered in the presentation of the findings could have been deduced from the collected data. Nevertheless, by sticking to the reference framework the article provides a comprehensive overview of common and interesting scientometric, thematic and methodical aspects of empirical BPM research.\n6 Summary and outlook: The presented article has introduced empirical research as an emerging field in BPM by making the following contributions:* the developed reference framework has supported a comprehensive analysis of empirical BPM articles in order to identify interesting trends in BPM research from a meta-perspective, a content-based and a methodical perspective;* the contribution of empirical approaches for both BPM research following the behavioural as well as the design science paradigm has been stated and further explained; and* findings have been discussed and implications have been presented.The findings reveal certain preferences for empirical research and utilized methods depending on different variables. Nevertheless, a growing importance of the topic and a crescive interest in using differentiated empirical methodologies becomes manifest.In practice BPM gains in importance which supports the collection and creation of empirical evidence. As empirical research permits and is aimed at discovering relations between important variables in the field of research and at developing theories the growing effort in empirical BPM research will probably lead to a stronger theory construction. Theories in BPM and in the field of IS in general as well as underlying hypotheses an reference frameworks are highly relevant for research as well as for practice as they try to describe reliable knowledge, mostly on the basis of cause-and-effect relations. Thus, they can provide important information for companies how to apply existing methods and best practice process models as well as BPM tools in an effective and efficient way. For research purposes theories can support further development of useful IT artefacts as modelling methods, reference models and BPM tools on the basis of approved and reliable methods according to the design science paradigm. In order to support such a development existent empirical evidence has to be applied for theory construction as well as further empirical evidence has to be created. Adequate and reliable methods for the construction of theories are needed as well as the further development and useful application of adequate research methods for the generation of valid empirical evidence have to be expedited. Figure 8 shows the described relations.We argue that in the future higher standards in methodology of empirical BPM articles will probably be furthered. Empirical evidence will in the future be represented in ranked IS journals to a bigger extent. The findings of our research support such an assumption. Future empirical BPM research will have to meet the high methodological standards of highly ranked IS journals which also enhances the quality of the generated research results.Further research questions and interesting issues in the context can be formulated according to three perspectives:1. From a theoretic perspective an interesting research question is how empirical contributions can be condensed in order to support and to expedite the construction of theories in BPM.2. From a thematic perspective further examination of the development of certain fields is of interest. Future research could apply the developed reference framework for further literature reviews in order to be able to compare the findings and to measure progress. An increase of the rather low number of interorganizationally oriented works is to be expected. This hypothesis can be supported by the proceeding efforts in the context of interorganizational business integration.3. From a methodical perspective the development of applied research designs has furthermore to be examined. So far most of the contributions aim at developing theories on the basis of case study research. The more the research field proceeds a higher rate of theory-testing studies is to be expected.As the design science paradigm gains more and more importance in BPM-related IS-research appropriate empirical methods are needed to evaluate designed artefacts. The development of specific evaluation methods in the design science context will be an interesting issue for future research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims at providing a survey of the development of empirical research in business process management (BPM). It seeks to study trends in empirical BPM research and applied methodologies by means of a developed framework in order to identify the status quo and to assess the probable future development of the research field.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In order to analyse the development of the research field a systematic literature review of empirical journal articles in the BPM context is conducted. The retrieved literature is analyzed by means of scientometric methods and a developed reference framework.\nFindings: - The steadily growing number of published articles in empirical BPM research shows an increase in interest in the research field. Research interests, applied methodologies, the underlying research paradigm and the level of maturity of empirical BPM research differ depending on regional aspects. BPM gains importance in the industry as well as in the public administration context.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The findings are based on a sample of 355 articles and not on an exhaustive amount of available empirical research contributions. Nevertheless, significant analyses can be conducted. Future research could apply the developed reference framework for further literature reviews in order to be able to compare the findings and to measure progress.\nOriginality/value: - The presented literature review gives an overview of trends in empirical BPM research. The developed and strictly applied reference framework supports a systematic analysis of contributions and can thus draw a significant picture of the state-of-the-art of the research field. To the best knowledge of the authors no such survey has currently been undertaken.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Diversity and inclusion depend on effective engagement: It is everyone's business to ensure that progress is maintained	[ "Equal opportunities", "Inclusion", "Organizational performance", "Diversity", "Corporate culture" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Fixed Graphic\nThe need for effective engagement: The growth in globalisation in today's society has resulted in communities and organizations that are now more heterogeneous. An increase in foreign investment, trading and cross-cultural team-working and interactions are characteristics of the day. This, coupled with a change in social attitudes toward individuals and groups who would otherwise be stigmatized, are some of the reasons why there needs to be effective engagement in diversity and inclusion.\nPerformance indicators for diversity and inclusiveness: A survey conducted as part of a power-of-diversity program (www.thepowerofdiversity.com) by Charlotte Sweeney Associates (www.charlottesweeney.com) highlighted that 87 per cent of city workers do not believe that their company's efforts on diversity and inclusion have any impact on them at all. The survey also showed that although employers may have made a commitment from the top of their organization to create a diverse and inclusive workforce, leaders' and managers' actions are often not consistent with this.\nSharing stories can be more compelling than data: Nonetheless, although senior-level commitment and a strategy are the first steps in this engagement process, the implementation and embedding of a culture that supports the strategy is a challenge for most organizations.\nLeaders of diversity and inclusion can be anywhere in your business: As an organization's culture cannot be driven solely by its senior leaders and line managers and needs the engagement of all members of staff there needs to be recognition that this should also be the case for diversity and inclusion. Employees as key resources are stakeholders and therefore have a duty of care to drive diversity in order to ensure that all can feel included. This arguably is subject to being valued and respected by the employer and colleagues. But an ability to respect others depends on understanding what respect means for them.\nA critical race perspective: Critical race theory (CRT) was the focus of Christine Yates's presentation. She confirmed that the concept emerged in America in the 1970s in response to lawyers, activists and legal scholars' realizing that apparent gains from the civil rights movement had stalled. As in the UK, previous (legal) victories have been eroded and advances rolled back. Equally true for the UK is that \"[...] anti-racist research and policies have proved unable to keep pace with increasingly racist and exclusionary [...] policies that operate beneath a veneer of professed tolerance and diversity\" (David Gillborn, IOE).\nConclusion: The creation of a unified approach to diversity and inclusion, which is embedded in the business ethics of the organization, can have a sustainable positive impact on the health and well-being of individuals, business and society. Abundant Sun, a global organizational-diversity consultancy (www.abundantsun.com) offers a structured transformational process that enables organizations to enhance performance and achieve business improvement drive while making a real contribution to its diversity and ethical outcomes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Highlights some of the things that can be done to ensure that organizations embed diversity and inclusion.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Considers the need for effective engagement, the importance of performance indicators for diversity and inclusion and the key role of sharing stories. Discusses, too, how critical race theory could help to bring about improvements.\nFindings: Advances the view that a transformational process that supports employees with the knowledge and sustainable skills needed to improve business performance via ethical means will form a significant part of future-proofing organizations.\nPractical implications: Argues that, to achieve this organizations have to drive home the message that diversity and inclusion are everyone's business.\nSocial implications: Advances the view that a unified approach to diversity and inclusion, which is embedded in the business ethics of the organization, can have a sustainable positive impact on the health and well-being of individuals, business and society.\nOriginality/value: Considers diversity and inclusion from diverse perspectives and draws conclusions that can help organizations to perform better in these areas.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Copula-based reliability analysis of gamma degradation process and Weibull failure time	[ "Copula function", "Degradation process", "Gamma process", "General dependency structure", "Hard failure time", "Reliability function" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: According to the failure mechanism, data that pertain to failure time data and a failure-evolving process on each individual (called in some contents wear or degradation (Z(t))) are characterized as hard and soft failures. Hard failure causes instant product failure, which is characterized as both complete and sudden, and cannot be forecasted by prior testing or examination. The impact of these failures may be large in terms of both safety and finance. They may be caused by defects, blunders, and errors in assembling (as infant failure) or stress that exceeds strength. On the other hand, soft failure occurs when a measurable physical degradation reaches a critical threshold level (z0), which is often specified by industrial standards. Soft failures can be predicted by prior testing or examination, although the recognition of the (gradual) failures requires comparison of the actual device performance with a performance specification, which may be difficult in certain cases. Hence, we can define soft failure as follows:\n2. Basic concepts and definitions: The degradation of a product over time is often stochastic and monotone. The gamma process is a popular stochastic process model for degradation analysis of such products. Here, we consider the gamma process.\n3. Assumptions and notation: We make some assumptions as follows:\n4. The proposed method: 4.1 Maximum likelihood estimation\n5. Simulation study: In this section, we conducted a simulation study to evaluate the proposed method. We supposed that the hard failure times (T1) come from a Weibull distribution with parameters a1, b1 and increments of degradation (Z) follow gamma distributions with parameters a2, b2. For different sample sizes n=30, 50, 100, 500, 700, given parameter values a1=5, b1=2, a2=3, b2=0.6, th=-15 and threshold value z0=15, we generated n bivariate random samples with B=1,000 replications based on the following steps.\n6. Conclusion and further research: In this paper, we considered the problem of reliability estimation where the products are failed due to one hard failure or reaching to a specific level of degradation. The failure time is defined to be which one occurs earlier. The hard failure is assumed to be dependent on the degradation level of product. Frank copula is applied to define this dependency. Moreover, we assume that hard failure time follow Weibull distribution and underlying degradation process is gamma. Under model assumptions, the reliability function is derived in a closed form and its MLE is given. The simulation studies show that ignoring the dependency between hard failure and degradation could lead to underestimation results. Therefore, the practitioner should pay attention to the dependency between hard failure and degradation that is common in practice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is the reliability analysis for systems with dependent gamma degradation process and Weibull failure time.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Consider a life testing experiment in which a sample of n devices starts to operate at t=0 and the data are available on failure time and failure-evolving process on each individual, called in some contents wear or degradation. Ignoring the between performance characteristics dependency structure may lead us to different reliability estimations, while the dependency justly exists. In previous research, dependency between the degradation process and hard failure time has been studied in limited detail (special closed form expression). Thereafter, the dependency between two degradation processes with the same structure (gamma process) in a system is considered using the copula function.\nFindings: The results indicate that ignoring the dependency structure may lead us to different reliability estimations while the dependency justly exists.\nOriginality/value: This study gives some contributions that evaluate reliability metrics with more than one failure mechanism that may not be independent and possibly follow a different distribution function. The authors have used the copula function as a basis to develop a proposal model and analysis methods. In addition, the authors discussed the identifiability of the copula. Finally, simulation data were used to review the suggested approach.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Are corporate office buildings priced differently?	[ "Market segmentation", "Property valuation", "Building adaptability", "Hedonic modelling", "Office properties", "Price determinants" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Understanding the drivers of real estate prices is a key matter for real estate developers and investors. With this in mind, researchers continue to improve hedonic pricing techniques to quantify the determinants of real estate value and to estimate the impact of such determinants on rent and prices (Wen et al., 2017). Estimated coefficients in these models are typically assumed to remain constant throughout entire study areas or property-type segments, implying that the market under consideration is sufficiently homogeneous to be analyzed on a stand-alone basis provided that sufficient controls are already included in the estimated models (e.g. Wheeler, 2014; McCord et al., 2012).\nRelated literature: Office buildings are not commodities: each has unique features that appeal different users, lenders and landlords. The confluence of location, function (degree to which a property can physically accommodate different occupier demands and configurations), form (exterior and interior design, finish quality, and configuration of common and private areas) and cost drive suitability for any given user. At the same time, different occupiers may not necessarily weight these features in similar ways.\nExistence of segments in office markets: The law of one price implies that identical assets will be sold or leased for identical prices. Any temporarily divergent price in a particular market gives rise to arbitrage opportunities. The actions of arbitrageurs would then, in turn, eliminate the mispricing. In the real estate market, arbitrage can occur both in the investment market through the buying and selling of real estate assets and in the space market through the location choices of occupiers. However, a number of studies have presented empirical evidence that the law of one price is violated where arbitrage is inhibited either due to market barriers, perceptions of differential product characteristics (Isard, 1977) or limits to rational arbitrage behavior (Owen and Richard, 2003).\nTheoretical background: Urban locational theory suggests that the relative prices between intra-urban regions remain stable overtime irrespective of cyclical oscillations in absolute prices - constant ratio hypothesis (Alonso, 1964). Such stability is associated to the large degree of mobility of office occupiers, a high price elasticity of demand and arbitrage opportunities in a situation of mispricing (DiPasquale and Wheaton, 1996). In the context of office properties, larger and smaller office users could theoretically arbitrage rental price differentials based on relocation costs associated with rent determinants. That being the case, there would be similarity in their hedonic schedules.\nMethod: Before proceeding to the empirical estimates, we present details about the construction of the baseline data set and some stylized facts about corporate and smaller occupier office properties in the Brazilian market. We then introduce the techniques used to formally test whether their pricing is similar.\nEmpirical results: Table IV reports regression results of Equation (4). Standard errors in all estimates are clustered at submarket level as in Reichardt et al. (2012). Regression (I) highlights the significance and sign directions of building attributes and locational submarkets. All else equal, larger and older properties carry a rent premium and discount, respectively, relative to other properties (e.g. Bollinger et al., 1998). Among the control variables, A class assets have a positive link with our left-hand side variable and this link is larger than that of B class properties.\nRobustness test: While an examination of coefficients reveals some evidence of differing shadow prices, it does not formally test the null hypothesis that individual parameters are similar across the corporate and smaller tenant segments. The existence of similarity in each regression coefficient estimate is examined by use of the Wald kh2 test. The null hypothesis for each Wald test is bi(Corporate) = bi(SmallerTenant), where coefficient i=1 to k. Adan and Fuerst (2015) employ a similar procedure to compare the effect of different energy efficiency measures in reducing household energy and gas consumption.\nConclusion: The impact of locational, physical features and economic variables on office rent levels has been the subject of many previous studies. While it is widely recognized that rents vary based on these covariates, fewer studies actually explain how occupier's motives may also affect pricing. This research investigates whether the effect associated with these classic rent determinants can be generalized or whether they are fragmented across two niches of the office market: corporate and smaller occupiers. This segmentation breakdown enables us to better address why corporate office rents are different.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: While broader property-type categories of real estate markets have been scrutinized at microeconomic level in some segments - namely, residential, retail, industrial and hospitality, there is limited evidence showing that local office markets can be viewed as monolithic and economically integrated entities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how occupiers differ in their willingness to pay for principal office rent determinants in the corporate and non-corporate sectors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A sample of properties located in the largest office market in Latin America is partitioned based on the average size of leasable units. This approach captures interactions between different groups of investors and occupiers, and is commonly adopted by local market practitioners due to lack of detailed information on market participants. The pricing schedules for these two groups of buildings are then empirically compared through hedonic regression analysis and parameter stability tests.\nFindings: The regressions show that corporate and smaller occupier properties form distinct spatial and non-spatial submarkets, but that their temporal patterns are quite similar. Thus, these property-type segments can be classified as imperfect substitutes with distinct pricing schemes, but not as a unique market, as their pricing schedules are not generalizable.\nPractical implications: The results imply that \"office properties\" are too complex and disparate to be reliably examined with a simple aggregate approach as practiced in developed office market research since the 1980s. The fragmented reality of office properties has important implications for investment decisions and real estate valuation.\nOriginality/value: This paper shows that the corporate office market exhibits distinct characteristics and key determinants of office price and rent valuation differ significantly between the corporate and non-corporate segments. The corollary of these findings is that market studies that require reliable estimates of price drivers may be enriched by modeling these two segmented markets separately. It is also important to note that this distinction cuts across the established A/B/C office space quality classification.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consumer perceptions of store brands versus national brands	[ "Brand loyalty", "Stores and supermarkets", "Brand equity" ]	[ { "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.\n1. Introduction: Store or retailer brands have made significant inroads into the packaged goods market in the 1980s and 1990s with the average market share of store brands increasing from 15.3 percent in 1988 to 20 percent in 1998 (Corstjens and Lal, 2000; Dunne and Narasimhan, 1999; Hoch, 1996). According to Quelch and Harding (1996), there are more private labels - \"store brand\" goods - on the market than ever before. Especially in Europe, store brand penetration is extremely large, with Belgium occupying a third place after UK and Switzerland with a store brand market share of more than 40 percent since 2001 (Fitzell, 1992; Hoch, 1996; Van Ossel and Versteylen, 2002).Retailer brands have clearly evolved throughout time. According to Dunne and Narasimhan (1999), private labels are no longer simply category killers. In fact, they now play a range of roles, with different implications for manufacturers and retailers alike. Burt (2000) indicates that the typical brand product range of the late 1970s and early 1980s comprised a three-tier structure of leading manufacturer brands, seen as the high-quality/high-price alternative; retailer brands, generally positioned as a mid-quality/mid-price alternative; and a \"generic\" range offering acceptable quality for a low price. He argues that there is an evolution from private labels offering the consumer a lower quality product alternative for a lower price, to retail brands offering a true quality brand alternative, reflecting the application of a clear marketing approach in the retail environment. Effective marketing of store brands can create a captive clientele and make the chain less vulnerable to price pressures or aggressive attacks by the competition (Dick et al., 1995). Several real-life examples illustrate that this new type of retailer brand is clearly gaining ground. One example is the success of the private label \"President's Choice\" of Loblaws, the largest Canadian grocery chain, showing that premium private labels are viable and that they can be a major competitive force in the consumer goods industry (Dunne and Narasimhan, 1999).In spite of the emergence and growing importance of store brands, most previous conceptual and empirical research has been focused on national brands (Steenkamp and Dekimpe, 1997). Although store brand mechanisms have often been discussed in the business press, only recently have they been systematically investigated in theoretical and/or empirical research (Ailawadi, 2001). The limited amount of academic research that has been conducted on store brands has taken two basic approaches: some studies examined correlates of store brand proneness, others were oriented towards experimentally investigating store brand attitudes and strength (Richardson et al., 1996). With respect to the second type of research, Cotterill et al. (2000) state that surprisingly little research has been conducted addressing the issue of the increasingly intense competitive interaction between private labels and national brands. Most previous empirical research has focused on the variation in market share of private label products across categories. Richardson (1997) supports this identified gap, indicating that the question whether store brands are perceived to be just another brand in the market has received little attention in the marketing literature over the past three decades. Until now, hardly any study incorporates the differences in positioning objectives of retailers and national brand manufacturers. Nevertheless, as is true for any brand, positioning of a store brand can exert an important influence on its performance (Sayman et al., 2002).In response to the concerns raised above, the objective of this study is threefold. First, we want to assess how four store brands that are differently positioned compare to one national brand in terms of perceived brand equity. Brand equity has been conceptualized in a variety of ways (Aaker, 1991; Erdem and Swait, 1998; Fournier, 1998; Keller, 1998). In line with common measurement approaches (Park and Srinivasan, 1994; Van Osselaar and Alba, 2003; Yoo et al., 2000), we define brand equity as the incremental utility or value added to a product by its brand name. In other words, to which extent is a store brand name able to create a perceived difference as opposed to a manufacturer brand name? Second, we want to investigate whether brand equity of store versus national brands is determined by current brand loyalty towards these brands. Third, we want to find out whether store patronage has an influence on brand equity in the mind of the consumer. Across these three objectives, we want to describe the impact of the retailers' positioning strategies on the results generated.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: The creation and maintenance of brands is becoming more important in today's highly competitive environment (Seetharaman et al., 2001). In consumer marketing, brands often provide the primary points of differentiation between competitive offerings, and as such they can be critical to the success of retailers and manufacturers. Hence, it is important that the management of brands is approached strategically (Wood, 2000). To do this, the concept of brand equity is an essential element to consider. Brand equity has attracted increasing attention in the marketing literature over the last decade. Broniarczyk and Gershoff (2003) still stress the importance of brand equity nowadays. Shapiro (1982) already demonstrated that positive brand equity provides goodwill value in the face of uncertainty. In case of high brand equity, consumers are more likely to believe extreme advertising claims (Goldberg and Hartwick, 1990) and high equity brands reduce the negative impact on consumer choice of an unattractive sales promotion (Simonson et al., 1994). Finally, a high equity brand limits consumers' negative inferences after a price increase (Campbell, 1999).Yoo et al. (2000) suggest that any marketing action has the potential to affect brand equity as brand equity represents the effect of accumulated marketing investments into the brand. In their research, they studied price, price promotions, distribution intensity, store image, and advertising expenditures as elements potentially affecting brand equity. Simon and Sullivan (1993) additionally refer to advertising share, sales force and marketing research expenditures, age of the brand, order of entry, and product portfolio as brand equity sources. Other marketing activities being proposed as antecedents of brand equity are the use of public relations, slogans or jingles, symbols and packages (Aaker, 1991), warranties (Boulding and Kirmani, 1993), company image, country of origin, promotional effects (Keller, 1993), and brand-naming strategy (Keller et al., 1998).While most studies on brand equity relate to brand equity of manufacturer brands (e.g. Lassar et al., 1995), retailer brands can also enjoy brand equity. In this study, we are particularly interested in the differential impact of marketing mix elements used by manufacturers versus stores expressed by the equity of their brands. While store image will be predominantly important as a source of brand equity for store brands, advertising will be a dominant factor in creating national brands that reveal strong brand equity. Our first research objective will be achieved by assessing the main effects of store versus manufacturer brands on perceived brand equity, while the second and third research objectives pertain to the interaction effects of brand loyalty and store loyalty on perceived brand equity.2.1. Main effects\n3. Method: 3.1. Context\n4. Results: The outcome of the blind taste test was rather surprising: market leader and manufacturer brand Minute Maid turned out to be the least preferred juice, while the GB juice ranked number one. The taste preference score for the GB juice was statistically significantly higher than the scores obtained for Colruyt and Minute Maid. This result confirms the common belief that private label products can offer the same or even better quality than national brands, but at a lower price. Next, we compare the blind taste test results with the non-blind taste test results and comment upon the main and interaction effects hypothesized.4.1. Main effects\n5. Summary and managerial implications: Store brands versus national brands: who wins the battle for brand equity? Our results clearly indicate that the national brand (Minute Maid in our study) is still quite powerful compared to the store brands despite all the efforts made by these store brands. The test of the main effects of store versus national brands suggests that only for the national brand the non-blind (branded) taste score was significantly higher than the blind (unbranded) taste score. This finding would support the idea that especially national brands enjoy a favorable level of brand equity: when the consumer is aware of the brand, he/she apparently holds some strong and favorable brand associations in memory (Keller, 1993). This implies that for these brands, consumers make a distinction between the characteristics related to the product (taste) and those associated to the brand. This distinction between the product and the brand is supported by the classic definition of the brand as an addition to the product, which enables its identification (Aaker, 1991). It is important for manufacturers to create these positive associations, either by the initial choice of the brand name or symbol or by a solid integration of these brand identities into the supporting marketing program.Our second research question was aimed at providing insights in the moderating role of current brand loyalty. An interesting finding pertaining to this research question is the fact that consumers who are loyal to one of the store brands (Delhaize) exhibit a strong level of brand equity of the Delhaize store brand. These consumers give higher scores to the branded than to the unbranded product. This finding supports the idea that some store brands are no longer simple category killers, but are comparable to national brands (Dunne and Narasimhan, 1999). This finding refines our previous finding that only national brands enjoy brand equity. This strong appeal of the Delhaize brand is reflected in the pricing of its private label orange juice at a six per cent premium over Minute Maid. Moreover, at store level - that is all food, not just juices - private label accounts for 35 percent of sales or index 120 versus the country average within Delhaize stores. Therefore, we believe that the Delhaize juice is not a mere private label, but that it can claim to be approaching the power of a national brand. It is a fine example of a food retailer that has chosen for a clear brand identity. Its brand values are clearly reflected in its retail marketing mix. It has installed everyday fair pricing instead of the high/low strategy of Carrefour and the guaranteed lowest price of Colruyt, it uses stylish visual merchandising, frequent sampling of food products, and extensive cross-merchandising, and it uses more theme advertising, communicating the brand values - \"while others talk price, we talk quality\" - instead of price oriented action communication (sales promotions driving traffic and short-term sales). Moreover, its product range and private label policy is very much in line with these brand values. First of all, Delhaize complements its regular private label products, offering equal quality as the national brands but at a discount, with premium and specialty private label items, particularly in the destination categories. Second, Delhaize has created sub-brands with their own design and brand name. A first example is the \"Delhaize Delice\" fruit and vegetables quality label. Thirdly, Delhaize is constantly looking for high-quality branded food suppliers that are unknown in Belgium. They are introduced at the expense of (less rotating) national brands that can claim high brand awareness but limited brand loyalty.Our third research question involved an assessment of the moderating role of store loyalty. Our findings clearly support the hypothesis that store loyalty moderates perceived brand equity of store brands. Our results demonstrate that for three out of four store brands, brand equity is present when consumers are loyal to the store carrying the store brand. It is commonly accepted that store brands can create store loyalty (Dick et al., 1996), while our study reveals that a reverse relationship also exists, since store loyal consumers are prone to purchase grocery items of the store brand.Concluding, strong brands integrate both functional and emotional benefits that are relevant to the consumer, build on concrete and abstract attributes, are sufficiently known, and are perceived to be different from competition. Therefore, retailers should dare to go beyond the purely functional attributes. Just like Coca-Cola is selling \"fun\" instead of a thirst quencher, a supermarket should not simply sell food. Supermarkets can offer their shoppers a feeling of enjoyment, hedonism, social recognition, and health. At the same time, food retailers should always keep in mind that grocery shopping is a low involvement consumer activity. The orange juice private label test has shown that the way consumers perceive and judge manufacturer and retailer brands can be very similar (Minute Maid versus Delhaize). However, the way national versus store brands build their brand equity is fundamentally different. Manufacturers sell products to consumers, while retailers sell a service to shoppers. Therefore, manufacturers rely heavily on traditional mass media, while retailers engage much more in experience marketing. That is why to retailers the branding of their private label products should be a means to an end. Private label is part of the total store experience and helps to build the store brand. The resulting synergies in brand image will in turn help to drive the sales, brand equity and hence the gross margin of the product retailer brands. For manufacturers, the opposite is true: the products are the focal point of their branding efforts.\n6. Limitations and directions for future research: A first limitation is related to the fact that we have focused on an experience oriented product category as opposed to a search oriented product category. Evidence has been accumulated that consumers buy fewer private label brands if a product category's benefits require actual trial or experience instead of searching through package label or other search information (Batra and Sinha, 2000). Moreover, brand equity is most prevalent in situations characterized by high levels of uncertainty (Shapiro, 1982). As a result, our findings could be different when investigating more search-oriented product categories. Moreover, in line with our first limitation, we acknowledge that our findings may not be generalizable to other product categories and other countries. In product categories that may be viewed as hedonic products, such as chocolate or beer, other factors might moderate the role of the brand. The current study was conducted in Belgium where store brands play an important role. Findings might be different for American brands. Third, another potential limitation refers to the methodology applied. All taste testing methodologies must address the problem of reliability, since all tasks combine the process of tasting with a judgment. The traditional solution has been to minimize the probability of guessing correctly by repeating the test. However, in doing so, a respondent might become bored and other testing factors might disturb the results. Finally, the single dependent variable of taste ratings was used as a proxy for brand equity. It is clear that by using additional measures of brand equity our results could have been strengthened.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The objective of this study is threefold. First, the authors want to use taste tests to assess how four store brands that are differently positioned compare to one national brand in terms of perceived brand equity. Second, the authors want to investigate whether brand equity of store versus national brands is determined by current brand loyalty towards these brands. Third, they want to find out whether store patronage has an influence on perceived brand equity of store versus national brands.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A total of 225 consumers were involved in a repeated measures design involving two within-subject factors: a blind and non-blind taste test of five orange juice brands. Across our three objectives, we describe the impact of the retailers' positioning strategies on the results generated.\nFindings: - The results confirm the common belief that private label products can offer the same or even better quality than national brands, but at a lower price.\nOriginality/value: - Until now, hardly any study incorporates the differences in positioning objectives of retailers and national brand manufacturers. Nevertheless, as is true for any brand, positioning of a store brand can exert an important influence on its performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A procedure model for process oriented e-government projects	[ "Electronics industry", "Business process re‐engineering", "Modelling", "Project management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: From the beginning of the 1990s, public administration has been confronted by a series of new demands. Society has been transformed by the influence of new technologies. There is a conspicuous trend towards growing individualisation, whereby there are increasing demands by individuals on the state, to provide solutions to a variety of problems. Simultaneously, in the context of national and international competition, efficient and effective state activity and support for entrepreneurial activities in a region or country are becoming an increasingly decisive factor in location decisions. No one has yet succeeded in improving the performance capability of the state, in a manner and degree that is commensurate with the increasing number of responsibilities. A modernisation and performance gap has arisen because of the difference between the volume of work and performance (Budaus and Schwiering, 1999).For some years, the term, \"electronic government\" (e-government), coined from e-business, has been universally proposed as a way of closing this gap. It has outgrown the orbit of scientific debate and has increasingly become an object of strategies for modernising administration. The core of e-government is the execution of administrative processes (Langkabel, 2000, p. 6; von Lucke and Reinermann, 2000, p. 1). In order to support the implementation of a process by means of information and communication technology, the following definition has been formulated by Becker et al. (2003):E-government entails the simplification and implementation of information, communication and transaction processes, in order to achieve, by means of information and communication technology, an administrative service, within and between authorities and, likewise, between authorities and private individuals or companies.In recent years, many businesses have already initiated and successfully undertaken measures to strengthen the organisation of business processes. At the same time, the academic disciplines of business management studies and business information technology have taken up this issue (Hammer and Champy, 1993; Davenport, 1993; Earl, 1994). Commensurately, fields such as process modelling, workflow management or process cost calculation demonstrate a deep understanding of theory and have consequently attained a high standard of development.However, the practical application of this knowledge, acquired in the domain of administration, has only occurred to a limited degree. Alongside an insufficient translation of theoretical knowledge into practice, the urgent practical challenges of process management, for example, and the design of procedure models for specific domains, have not so far been adequately taken up by the relevant academic disciplines and conceptualised soundly.The purpose of this paper is to stimulate an improvement in the situation outlined above. Our objective here is the presentation of a procedural model for the implementation of process modelling projects in public administration. Where relevant, these statements are underpinned with evidence from a case study, which modelled the municipal building consent procedures of the Emsdetten city administration. Emsdetten has about 25,000 inhabitants and is one of over 13,000 municipalities in Germany. Owing to the administrative structure in Germany (consisting of the federal, state and local level) and the legislation the organisation and the tasks of the municipalities are quite similar throughout the country which makes Emsdetten, a representative example.As an introduction we first provide an overview of related work. The following sections form the procedure model for process-oriented e-government projects.In preparation of process modelling, we describe how modelling projects in the public administration should be prepared and which modelling methods best suit formulated requirements.In identification of target environments, we show how the target environments for modelling projects can be identified. Based on a public service classification scheme we, therefore, introduce a two-phase procedure comprising the successive application of the portfolio analysis and the profile method.In modelling of current situation and analysis of weakness, we describe how we modelled the current situation of the selected building application process in the Emsdetten administration and the weaknesses we identified.Based on the identified weaknesses, we derived improved optimised target processes which are described in target modelling and process optimisation.\nRelated work: Business process modelling and business process reengineering (BPR) are the dominating topics in the discussion of enterprise modernisation (Harrington, 1991; Davenport, 1993; Hammer and Champy, 1993).Several methods, techniques and tools have been developed and implemented to support process-oriented reorganisation (Keen, 1991; Mayer et al., 1995; Kettinger et al., 1997; Scheer, 2000).Modernisation efforts are also undertaken in the area of public administrations (House and Shull, 1989). In the recent years, the basic idea of an e-government vision has emerged, and governments have taken promising steps to deploy e-government services (Lenk and Traunmueller, 2001; Jones, 2001; Gronlund, 2002; Scherlis and Eisenberg, 2003; Chen, 2003). The discussion of public administration modernisation and e-government is often limited to the provision of online services and public administrations' internet portals (Lenk, 1997). Big steps towards an integrated European e-government were taken within the eGOV project, funded by the European Commission. Within this project, an integrated platform for online one-stop government was specified, developed, deployed and evaluated. Based on \"life-events\" the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of public administrations' services were improved (Tambouris, 2001; Krenner, 2002; Wimmer, 2002).Other research activities focus an interoperability aspect of inter-organisational services within the context of e-government. The research project InfoCITIZEN, funded by the European Commission, aims to establishing a common enterprise architecture among public administrations, and to deploy a distributed, internet-based information system (Peristeras and Tarabanis, 2000; Tarabanis et al., 2003).Another approach is presented by Klischewski and Wetzel. The so-called Service flow Management is introduced as a generic concept to coordinate cross-organisational e-government processes (Klischewski, 2001; Wetzel and Klischewski, 2002). The research is exemplified by the case of citizens applying for postal vote through the web portal of the city state of Hamburg, Germany (Klischewski and Wetzel, 2001).Much remains to be done, both optimisation of services delivered via internet (e.g. one-stop-government), and the optimisation of public administrations' internal and inter-organisational processes (Naschold and Daley, 1999; Traunmueller and Wimmer, 2001; Klischewski and Lenk, 2002).The following procedure model underlined by the case study shows one approach how the optimisation of administration's processes can be done.\nPreparation of process modelling: As a rule, comprehensive preparation is essential for process modelling, because, on the one hand, the model design is characterised by a high degree of process complexity, and on the other hand, the information model is characterised by a high degree of object complexity. When considering the aim of the modelling (\"why\" modelling should be done), it is necessary to determine both the object of modelling (\"what\" should be modelled), and the modelling methods and tools (\"how\" modelling should be done).Modelling objective\nIdentification of target environments: Before the first modelling process, relevant problem areas should, first and foremost be identified, classified and then prioritised with respect to financial and personnel resource constraints.Classification of existing services\nModelling of current situation and analysis of weaknesses: In the process of modelling and analysing the current situation, the \"state of play\" is captured, analysed and evaluated according to the level of the attainment of the goals pursued. Thus, this modelling promotes administrative transparency and an understanding of specialist issues and problems. It forms a basis for identifying weak points and the interrelated potential improvements.In terms of the case study, the building consent procedure was analysed and documented in an interview phase that lasted a number of weeks. In Figure 5, the analysis in the Emsdetten city administration is presented as an example of the current process \"receipt and classification\".The following characteristics or weaknesses are readily evident from the process models:Transferring from one employee to another\nTarget modelling and process optimisation: To rectify weaknesses, a range of different measures was devised on the basis of target processes derived from the current processes and strategies recommended by the Civic Office Division for Administration Simplification (KGSt, 2001, p. 39).Introduction of building conferences\nConclusions and suggested directions for further research: The procedural model and the proposed modelling technology have proven effective in achieving objectives and appropriate and correct for the case study. Despite some remaining developmental barriers, process management in an e-government context, is a viable mechanism for advancing efforts to modernise an administration. The case study shows, however, that growing demands on modelling methods arising from the distinctive features of the e-government domain are not being fully met by existing applications and further research is needed. Not all weaknesses are directly recognisable from the process models, and not all improvement measures are reflected in altered target process models. For instance, the bilaterality (of client and administration) and decentralisation cannot be depicted adequately.Moreover, it is clear that there are considerable structural analogies amongst various administrative processes within a civic authority, and to a greater extent with similar processes between authorities. In moving towards an extensive process-oriented and IT-supported modernisation of an administration, the development of a reference process model as a store of domain knowledge has the potential to significantly reduce the complexity of e-government projects and to simplify their implementation by means of an orientation around reference processes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To provide guidelines in the form of a procedural model for e-government-indicated business process reengineering (BPR) projects in public administrations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A range of recently published works, which aim to provide practical advice for process-oriented e-government projects, were analysed. Additionally, experiences from several practical e-government projects were taken into account. The procedural model developed was then tested and evaluated.\nFindings: - There is a lack of process orientation in public administrations. Additionally, existing processes are regularly not applicable to e-government. Therefore, e-government projects in practice are not always able to fully implement transactional processes. Part of the value potentially added by e-government is hence not exploited. One of the main reasons for the lack of process orientation is that there are few BPR methodologies applied and verified in public administrations.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The procedural model has not been tested for all different political and administrative systems. Certain national characteristics might lead to additional adaptations of the model which have been suggested.\nPractical implications: - The procedural model is very useful and has been validated in several practical projects.\nOriginality/value: - This paper fulfils an identified need for BPR methodologies in public administrations, especially in the move towards e-government.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leadership and management in UK medical school curricula	[ "Curriculum", "Leadership", "Management", "Medical management", "Medical schools", "Medical leadership and management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Engagement in medical leadership and management (MLM) has been shown to improve health outcomes, lower patient morbidity and mortality, improve patient satisfaction and lead to higher levels of staff engagement (West et al., 2015; Spurgeon et al., 2015). Leadership and management competencies are required from the moment one begins work in the hospital as a qualified doctor, in junior roles such managing inpatients on a day to day basis, to organising outpatient clinics, or even a whole department as a senior clinician (George et al., 2013). As a result, MLM is embedded in both undergraduate and postgraduate curricula worldwide, and MLM competencies are seen as key outcomes for medical graduates (McKimm and Swanwick, 2011).\nMethods: This study involved the use of a semi-structured questionnaire distributed nationally by a network of university representatives at the FMLM. Representatives conducted interviews specifically with medical school faculty staff responsible for leadership and management in the curriculum.\nResults: Data were collected from 25 of the 33 UK medical schools from 2 January to 21 April 2015 (76 per cent response rate, Figure 1). The majority of medical schools recruited with a mixed undergraduate and postgraduate entry (18/25). Two medical schools were postgraduate only, and five undergraduate only.\nDiscussion: This study is the first in-depth insight into MLM teaching practices in UK undergraduate medical curricula, with over 70 per cent of medical schools surveyed. The high response rate suggests that using a national student network is an efficient way to conduct wide-reaching evaluations of teaching curricula and could be used to assess other aspects of the medical school curricula. In the context of growing appreciation of the importance of MLM in the delivery of high quality and safe healthcare, our findings are relevant for educators, leaders and students alike.\nConclusions: This study builds on the limited knowledge regarding MLM education in UK medical schools, through surveys of faculty staff conducted by an innovative student-led national collaboration. Currently, there is inclusion of MLM in medical school curricula, but limited integration, which may impact on the MLM competence of new medical graduates. Worldwide, there are instances of good MLM teaching but more work is needed to highlight areas of best practice and help change the attitudes of today's students into tomorrow's leaders.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Although medical leadership and management (MLM) is increasingly being recognised as important to improving healthcare outcomes, little is understood about current training of medical students in MLM skills and behaviours in the UK. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative study used validated structured interviews with expert faculty members from medical schools across the UK to ascertain MLM framework integration, teaching methods employed, evaluation methods and barriers to improvement.\nFindings: Data were collected from 25 of the 33 UK medical schools (76 per cent response rate), with 23/25 reporting that MLM content is included in their curriculum. More medical schools assessed MLM competencies on admission than at any other time of the curriculum. Only 12 schools had evaluated MLM teaching at the time of data collection. The majority of medical schools reported barriers, including overfilled curricula and reluctance of staff to teach. Whilst 88 per cent of schools planned to increase MLM content over the next two years, there was a lack of consensus on proposed teaching content and methods.\nResearch limitations/implications: There is widespread inclusion of MLM in UK medical schools' curricula, despite the existence of barriers. This study identified substantial heterogeneity in MLM teaching and assessment methods which does not meet students' desired modes of delivery. Examples of national undergraduate MLM teaching exist worldwide, and lessons can be taken from these.\nOriginality/value: This is the first national evaluation of MLM in undergraduate medical school curricula in the UK, highlighting continuing challenges with executing MLM content despite numerous frameworks and international examples of successful execution.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

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