Split (2)

train · 145k rows

title stringlengths 6 301	keywords listlengths 0 23	messages listlengths 2 2
Confident, qualified and unlikely to quit: Training investment provides European Union competitive gain	[ "Training evaluation", "European Union", "Small to medium‐sized enterprises", "Labour mobility", "Self development", "Competitive advanatage" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIs training a battlefield?: Europe's competitiveness, or more specifically that of the European Union (EU), is once again high on the political agenda. The perennial comparisons with the US economy have been joined in more recent years by the challenges posed by the commercial awakening of China and India. Given the difficulty the EU has in making politically awkward decisions, continuing to spend on subsidizing training interventions provides an ideal opportunity to be seen to be responding.While the EU may dream about increased labor mobility, at least until election times when economic migration fuels insecurity and costs votes, for many employers the very last thing they need to see is their best people heading off to pastures new. Clearly there is a tension between national and supra-national competitiveness dreams of the EU and its member states and the European companies whose endeavors generate wealth. A mischievous question to ask of employers, however, is \"do you really want to employ only those people too under-skilled to get a job somewhere else?\"Companies, like all organizations, are made up of people who come together in a common cause to create something or service a need. As individuals there can well be motivation and dedication to the cause - great thinkers such as Maslow draw our attention to the higher levels of motivation that are sought once the basic needs of earning a pay check and paying the bills are achieved. Training may well bring some benefits to the organization, which from an individual perspective is nice but perhaps is not the highest priority when, in a world of variable job security, establishing a personal competitive position can be key. In being ready to step up or ship out, new skills are helpful, new credentials increasingly vital.\nThree key questions of training: The European Social Fund (ESF) has a number of \"structural objectives\" including seeking to ensure that young people are employable and helping workers adapt to changes in IT. Its Objective 4 Program is the mechanism by which training subsidies are being channeled to employed people who are facing change or redundancy. In the EU the \"social dimension\" and \"competitiveness\" dichotomy argument rages, yet the two are completely interdependent, and much of the ESF's money is spent in the hope of achieving some payback for the European Union.A survey conducted by academics of Leeds Metropolitan University has specifically examined the impact of training conducted with the financial support of ESF Objective 4 within small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. Although a very specific study, its findings appear universal with lessons for those investing in training on behalf of governments or corporations, and individuals investing their time and effort in the hope of getting ahead in life. Three major dimensions were addressed during the study.1. Do people gain in confidence? Self-awareness and self-esteem are key requirements in people being effective at work, but often a vital missing ingredient. Lack of self-worth and an inability to see one's impact on others are at the heart of many an organizational conflict - whether the symptoms are aggression, resistance to change, or an inability to listen. The good news from the study is that 61 percent of respondents stated they were more confident at work as a result of the training they had received.2. Do people gain a qualification? Training that provides or leads to a recognized qualification always appears more attractive. To mix metaphors in the hope of creating an offbeat mental image, a valid certificate is like a magnet that draws people, encouraging them to jump through all necessary hoops. With reduced job security combined with aspirations for growth, in an age of increasing credentialism, the reasons are obvious. Nearly 70 percent had achieved a qualification of some sort subsequent to or as a result of participating in the training, with literary and management skills being where achieving qualifications were most likely, and IT and new production technology the least likely.3. Are people more likely to quit their jobs? Around 9 percent of respondents were no longer with their employer and had moved on. The worst cause and effect was training relating to a new job with the same employer, which seems a little counter intuitive. The least impact was investment in vocational IT and management training. So the effect is small at best.\nIs the EU's money well spent?: So is the EU getting value for its training euros? It is a question that its detractors may believe is rarely asked - adding to budgets at times appears to be easier for Europe's politicians to agree on than cutting them. However, the indications are that the investment in training in the SME sector is money well spent.There are hurdles to overcome in working with small businesses. Those enterprises viewing themselves as \"high commitment\" work organizations find accepting the money and spending it on training staff a logical thing to do - one in keeping with their objectives. The skepticism comes from those who value flexibility above all - the flexibility to take on and release labor with the ebbs and flows of the demand for their products and services. For them \"unacceptable cost\" is proving to be the view, despite the sweeteners.The personal benefits from the training are being accepted and appreciated by the individuals provided with opportunities to learn, grow and be more marketable in a competitive jobs market. The people concerned were working in organizations where the training budget is rarely a priority for their leaders and opportunities can be scarce.The long-term competitiveness resulting from specific interventions is a cause and effect that can be difficult to prove. But given the consensus for specific investment in training at a corporate, national and supra-national level as a route to competitive advantage within a context of globalization and the knowledge economy then the spending looks set to continue. In terms of ESF Objective 4 meeting its specific goals, the study concludes that it does, and that more of the same is the recommended prescription for one of Europe's ails.\nComment: This article is a review of \"Different skills and their different effects on personal development: an investigation of European Social Fund Objective 4 financed training in SMEs in Britain\" by David Devins, Steve Johnson and John Sutherland. It is a paper written in the academic style, spending a good amount of time justifying the research approach and so on, as is to be expected. It is a limited study, again scope being an academic preoccupation, but useful for all that and worth reading through. The findings are generated from a specific study of EU funded training in small businesses in the UK, but the three major questions addressed are universal, with implications for both corporate training budgets and national competitiveness.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - Europe's competitiveness, or more specifically that of the European Union (EU), is once again high on the political agenda. The perennial comparisons with the US economy have been joined in more recent years by the challenges posed by the commercial awakening of China and India. Given the difficulty the EU has in making politically awkward decisions, continuing to spend on subsidizing training interventions provides an ideal opportunity to be seen to be responding.\nPractical implications: - Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brand new ventures? Insights on start-ups' branding practices	[ "Brands", "Business formation", "Entrepreneurialism", "Small to medium‐sized enterprises", "Switzerland" ]	[ { "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: The purpose of this paper is to analyze brand development strategies for start-ups: branding is a crucial activity for the successful establishment of a new company, that helps customer acquisition, retention and to build a favorable reputation. Although the literature on branding and corporate communication is vast, and studies about new ventures and entrepreneurship are numerous, the intersection of these two fields is still an under-explored area (Rode and Vallaster, 2005). Research on small business and branding has been defined to be in its \"infancy\" (Boyle, 2003; Krake, 2005), and even perceived as an \"oxymoron\" (Merrilees, 2007). This is partly due to a lack of understanding of the real meaning of branding. In fact, small businesses, such as local corner shops, may even fail to recognize that they are a brand (Merrilees, 2007).Keller (1998) proposes that brand strategy is not only for large organizations, and offers some apposite suggestions for small business branding. Wong and Merrilees (2005), followed by Ojasalo et al. (2008) argue that both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and big firms can build brands, but the ways in which they do so are different. Indeed, the specific area of start-up branding provides an interesting and unique context for brand studies for several reasons: first, at the creation of a company there is no established identity and reputation (Petkova et al., 2008) and internal structures still have to be built (Rode and Vallaster, 2005). Second, branding activities are of paramount importance for customer acquisition (Boyle, 2003) and therefore for the survival of the company. Third, start-ups typically have limited resources in terms of capital (Abimbola, 2001), know-how (Rode and Vallaster, 2005) and time (Wong and Merrilees, 2005). This is a general problem underlined by many of the analyzed ventures: since a good branding and communication strategy is not necessary to start a business, the entrepreneurs are usually more concentrated on financial and production issues. Although this approach is understandable in the logic of the entrepreneur, many companies (including those interviewed by us) later recognize that a clear brand vision is a sound investment for them, because the costs of subsequent changes to their corporate identity can be very high. In the words of the founder of one of the start-ups we have analyzed (e3): \"It is important to think about the communication from the beginning, otherwise you have to do it several times later\".With this work we intend to investigate start-up and entrepreneurial-specific branding issues: we focus on understanding the perceived relevance of the brand concept by entrepreneurs, the brand creation process (i.e. brand strategy and design) and the brand building activities employed. Furthermore we examine the most common problems (and mistakes) that young ventures face in the branding inception process. We adopt a case study approach and focus on the Swiss economy by analyzing 15 of the largest and most successful start-up companies of the country. The analysis of these topics has implications at theoretical level as it provides an understanding of the role of branding in the creation phase of a firm. From the managerial perspective, the findings suggest that new ventures should not be forced to compare their branding strategies to multinational firms: to provide guidance for entrepreneurs, we summarize the best practices emerged from the cases in an orientation framework and five key guidelines.The novelty of this research has to be found in the specific focus on the brand creation and development process for start-ups, including typical mistakes committed by the entrepreneurs, and secondly on the unique sample selection, which considers the largest new ventures (in terms of employees' number) in one country (Switzerland).In the next section, we briefly review the relevant, but scarce literature. We then outline the methodology adopted in our research, as well as the selection criteria for the case companies. Subsequently, we provide a comparative overview of the firms' branding activities, together with explanations of their most commonly encountered problems. We present theoretical implications and managerial guidelines by introducing a framework for start-ups' branding, based on a brand creation sequence and a classification of branding approaches of new ventures. Finally, we discuss the limitations of our work and provide future research directions.\n2. Branding new ventures: Branding is a vast and rapidly growing field. Entrepreneurs nevertheless can rarely find specific, tailored guidelines in the traditional branding literature (Merrilees, 2007), as it focuses largely on multinational companies and well established firms, and covers topics that are not yet highly relevant for new ventures, such as brand architecture, revitalizing, associations, extension, globalization and so forth (Fombrun and Shanley, 1990; Aaker, 1991, 1995; Keller, 1999; Balmer and Gray, 1999, 2003; de Chernatony, 2001, 2002; Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2002; Argenti and Forman, 2002; de Chernatony and McDonald, 2003; Wheeler, 2003 Kapferer, 2004). Young ventures have specific branding needs due to their lack of resources (Abimbola and Vallaster, 2007), lack of internal structures and processes (Rode and Vallaster, 2005), and fundamental need to build a reputation (Petkova et al., 2008) and find clients. Geissler and Will (2001) highlight that \"Contemporary management literature on entrepreneurship neglects corporate communication to a great extent\". This is particularly surprising because \"if start-ups or new ventures are not able to establish their corporate brand in the market within a relatively short time frame, they disappear from the market\" (Timmons, 1999). Nevertheless, entrepreneurship research offers a relatively good coverage of marketing issues specific to new and small enterprises (Zimmerer and Scarborough, 1998; Serazzi, 2001; Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2004; Williams, 2007), but Merrilees (2007) points out that branding has been missing from the literature on SMEs and entrepreneurship, with few notable exceptions that we will now review.2.1. Branding of start-ups\n3. Methodology: Building on the findings just illustrated, we develop our study by focusing specifically on branding factors that are unique to new ventures. We do so by selecting the most successful start-ups in a country, Switzerland, and investigate their approach to branding. Our main research questions are:* What is the perceived relevance of branding for start-ups?* How do they create the brand?* Which brand building activities do they decide to conduct and why?* What are the most common problems and mistakes they faced?We employ a case study methodology (Yin, 2003), based primarely on in-depth, semi-structured interviews in order to be able to understand (rather than simply measure) the reasons for conducting or not conducting certain brand activities, as we aim at theory building rather than theory testing. This methodology is in line with previous studies in the field of branding in general (de Chernatony and Dall'Olmo Riley, 1998) and of new ventures and SMEs branding in particular (Krake, 2005; Rode and Vallaster, 2005; Wong and Merrilees, 2005). The case studies are based mainly on in-depth interviews with both closed and open-ended questions with CEOs (eight) or communication managers (seven), and on logo, web site (colors, usability, traffic ranking) and document analysis (flyers, business cards, videos, newsletters, etc.). Each interview lasted at least one hour and was tape recorded.Our sample selection specifically includes the largest start-ups in the country. This choice allows us to analyze the branding practice of successful new companies within the same economic and regulatory environment. In order to be selected, the companies had to be established in Switzerland, since this study is aimed to investigate the Swiss context; therefore Swiss branches of international companies were excluded. Secondly, they had to be in existence since no longer than five years, as commonly defined in the entrepreneurship literature. The biggest Swiss ventures responding to these criteria were selected, with the help of a classification of Venturelab, an initiative of the Swiss Federal Agency for Innovation Promotion. The Venturelab bases companies' rating on the number of employees, as data on company' sales and turnover are not always available and consequently not comparable. The 20 biggest companies were contacted and invited to take part in the study. Of them, 15 agreed and were analyzed further with their collaboration (see Table I for details on each company). We believe the Swiss context can represent typical start-ups of a mature, open, moderately regulated, and small economy, which strive to grow without subsidies or governmental support and are consequently relying primarily on their marketing and branding activities to acquire customers and survive.We now provide a brief description of the selected population in order to contextualize the analysis (more details can be found in Table I). At the time of the data collection (2006), the number of employees ranged between 30 and 150. Following the common definition of SME (also adopted by the European Union, which defines small companies has having between ten and 49 employees, and medium-sized enterprises having between 50 and 249), our sample is constituted by five small and ten medium-sized enterprises. The vast majority (90 per cent) of these ventures are active in the service sector; interestingly half of the companies are in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry. A total of 65 per cent of the firms are business to business (B2B), only 10 per cent are business to consumer (B2C), and the remaining 25 per cent are mixed, since their products or services are provided both for businesses and for private consumers. Regarding the target market, about 60 per cent of the firms operate internationally. Half of the companies' turnover remain under 20 million CHF (approx. 18 million US$), and only one company has a turnover of over 60 million CHF (55 million US$).\n4. Results: This section describes the branding sensitivity, approaches and brand-building activities of the 15 start-ups and their managers, following the order of the previously defined research questions: perceived relevance of branding, brand creation and brand building activities. In each sub-section we include a review of the most common mistakes and problems faced by the companies. The concise aggregated results of branding activities, as emerged from the interviews, web site and document analysis are presented in Figure 1. The size of the squares in the table represents the scope of each activity: a small square represents a small investment and a big square represents a greater one. An extensive description of the data collection method and analysis is available on request from the authors.4.1. Brand relevance\n5. Discussion: From the conducted research and based on the comparison of the branding activities with existing literature, we highlight the theoretical implications of our work. We then propose a recommended brand creation sequence and a classification of brand orientation based on the findings. We finally derive some tentative recommendations for entrepreneurs regarding the brand creation process.5.1. Implications\n6. Conclusions: This paper makes a contribution by extending the limited existing literature on start-up and new business branding, but many aspects still need to be further investigated. Limitations of our study include the focus on only one country, and the lack of comparison between the branding activities of the most successful companies and those that are less successful, for which a quantitative study might be more suitable. Another limitation is related to the qualitative method employed, which does not allow the generalization of the findings. The novelty of our research lies in having investigated branding issues that are specific for newly created companies, such as the creation of a new brand with limited budget, lack of reputation and no existing customer base. Furthermore, at best of our knowledge, no other studies have analyzed the branding activities of the largest start-ups in a country, nor the mistakes and problems encountered by the entrepreneurs.Our work adds to existing literature by questioning the assumption that guidelines for brand building activities, developed for multinational firms, can be equally applied to start-ups. We have highlighted the difference in approaches, as emerged from the comparison of the empirical investigation with existing theories and have consequently proposed a framework and guidelines. Our work aimed to give theoretical and pragmatic insights, by providing a framework for guiding the brand development process in start-ups, as emerged from the best practices of the analyzed companies. We have as well presented five key recommendations to provide concrete orientation for start-up brand builders. We believe this topic to be crucial because \"the key to a successful start-up [...] is to find financiers, customers, employees and favourable position in the industry networks. A prerequisite for that is to attract attention and building a strong corporate brand\" (Geissler and Will, 2001, p. 1).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to shed light on the specificity of branding approaches for young companies for the reason that branding is a crucial activity for the survival and success of a newly established firm as it facilitates finding and maintain customers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Adopting a case study methodology, mainly through in-depth interviews with CEOs and communication managers, 15 of the largest and most successful start-up companies of Switzerland were analyzed.\nFindings: - The paper establishes an overview on the current practices and rational of the brand building activities choices, and on the emblematic pitfalls regarding branding of new ventures. It suggests that young companies should not be forced to compare their branding strategies to multinational firms and proposes a framework and key guidelines for start-up branding.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Given that this study focuses specifically on Switzerland, the findings might not be fully applicable to different economic situations. Nevertheless analyzing the biggest start-ups of a single country allows salient comparisons of the approaches towards branding within the same environment.\nPractical implications: - The proposed framework and guidelines can be relevant for future entrepreneurs and brand consultants, to orient and better motivate their decisions toward branding creations and development for new and young ventures.\nOriginality/value: - This research investigates branding issues that are specific for newly created companies, in order to support them in making informed decisions on branding activities, a crucial activity for the survival of start-ups, given their lack of resources and fundamental need to find and maintain clients.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Participative decision-making and job satisfaction for teachers in the UAE	[ "Job satisfaction", "Gender", "Nationality", "Participative decision making", "Public and private school" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Teachers often understand the challenges involved with educating children and running a school even better than do school administrators or policy-makers (Bacharach et al., 1990). It is essential that researchers study teachers' job satisfaction (JS) and participative decision making (PDM), as teachers are the implementers of the decisions made concerning education (Mohammed, 2011). Many studies have elucidated the importance of studying employees' JS and how it influences the organization by practicing good or bad behaviour and taking on or shirking responsibilities (De Nobile and McCormick, 2005; Xu and Shen, 2007; Ngotngamwong, 2012). Several studies have found that teacher JS not only influences teachers' commitment and performance but also increases student's learning (Shann, 1998; Adams, 2010). Previous studies have also found that happy teachers (teachers with high JS) appear to be more committed to improving the educational environment (Shann, 1998; Adams, 2010). Chen (2008) defined JS as an employee's feelings, attitudes or preferences towards his or her work. JS is also considered to be an indicator of a well-functioning school (Khan and Mirza, 2012). Numerous studies have indicated the importance of PDM and its effect on JS (Conway, 1976; Henderson, 1976; Bacharach et al., 1990; Kuku and Taylor, 2002). Teachers' JS or TJS has been the focus of research because of the effects of JS on urban teachers' performance and students' achievements (Shann, 1998). Shann (1998) recommended that principals improve teachers' JS by increasing teachers' participation in decision making in their respective schools. Somech (2010) also highlighted the aggregating concept of PDM in schools and the effects of the implementation of this concept on school effectiveness. Mehta et al. (2010) reported that the PDM of the members of the school community can facilitate successful educational management.\n2. Context of this study: This study was conducted in Abu Dhabi's public and private schools. Abu Dhabi is the largest Emirate in the UAE. The UAE's formal educational system started more than 40 years ago, with many development projects in the educational field both federally and locally (Bradshaw et al., 2004). In the last ten years, an ambitious school reform plan was launched by the Abu Dhabi government in the UAE, seeking to achieve significant educational development. To this end, the ADEC was established (Gallagher, 2011). Through the leadership of the ADEC, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi looks to become one of the five most advanced learning systems in the world and thereby drive national development (ADEC, 2012a). ADEC established the NSM, which is considered a change in the education field in Abu Dhabi. The policy of NSM illustrates big changes in employee conduct, organization of school time, management and support of teachers, student and family engagement, classroom instruction, special education, assessment, and school services (ADEC, 2012a). In the educational district, with 268 public schools and 183 private schools (UAE National Bureau of Statistics, 2013), the NSM is considered a new approach to education with a focus on creating bi-literate students who can use both English and Arabic to listen, speak, read and write (Gallagher, 2011).\n3. Theoretical discussion: PDM, in general, is a process in which managers share power with their followers when making decisions (Kazi, 2009). In education, PDM allows school members to contribute to successful educational management (Mehta et al., 2010). Kazi (2009) believed that followers' JS would be increased by participating in decision-making processes. JS is defined as the extent to which people like or dislike their jobs (Lo and Ramayah, 2011). Chen (2008) described JS as representing employees' feelings, attitudes or preferences towards their work. In education, especially in schools, teachers' JS positively affects teachers' commitment and performance. In this way, it also affects educational development (Shann, 1998; Adams, 2010). In 2012, a study by ADEC showed that teachers' satisfaction increased from 70 per cent in 2009 to 80 per cent with the implementation of the most recent changes in ADEC schools. This study included 8,017 teachers from Abu Dhabi public schools and aimed to measure their satisfaction with the school leadership, environment, pupils' behaviour, parent involvement and professional development (ADEC, 2012b).\n4. Methodology: This research has adopted a quantitative research method, as in Aliaga and Gunderson (2002), in which phenomena are explained by collecting and then mathematically analysing numerical data. One of greatest advantages of using a quantitative method is that the study itself is then independent of the researcher, as noted by Creswell (2003) and Leedy and Ormrod (2001).\n5. Results and discussion: As shown in Table V, we found that there are no differences between male and female teachers in decision-making participation regarding decisions about planning the learning objectives for the lessons, developing tools and procedures to assess learning students' progress and developing reports. These decisions are usually made by both male and female teachers.\n6. Conclusions: In the present study, we examined the effect of gender, school type and nationality on teachers' PDM and JS. As we mentioned previously, our results supported most of those of previous studies but differed from a few. We found that there are differences in teachers' participation in making decisions in their schools based on gender, where male teachers are generally participate more in decision making, especially for the managerial decisions. Overall, school type has no significant effect on teacher JS. Moreover, there were no significant differences between teachers in public and private schools for instructional decision making, and public-school teachers participated more in managerial decision making in their schools. Additionally, Emirati and non-Emirati teachers did not differ in participation in making instructional decisions in their schools, although Emirati teachers participated more heavily in managerial decisions than expatriate teachers. This study found that there were significant differences between male and female teachers' JS, with male teachers reporting higher JS in this study. There were similarities between teacher JS in both public and private schools. Private-school teachers reported higher satisfaction about their career future and community relationship than their public-school peers, whereas public-school teachers were more satisfied by the physical facilities and instructional materials in their schools than private-school teachers. Non-Emirati teachers expressed more satisfaction concerning school administration and career future, among other issues, whereas Emirati teachers were more satisfied by the availability of appropriate instructional materials and equipment. This study recommends increasing teachers' engagement, especially that of female teachers, in both instructional and managerial decisions, and greater awareness by the schools' leadership of the benefit of teachers' PDM.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Knowledge of teachers' participative decision making (PDM) and job satisfaction (JS) is important, as teachers comprise most of a school's staff. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of teacher gender, nationality and school type on teachers' PDM and JS in Abu Dhabi's schools and to determine whether there any significant differences in PDM and teachers' JS among teachers of different genders, school types and nationalities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was used to collect data for the study by measuring each responding teacher's involvement in making school decisions in both the instructional and managerial domains and JS. The questionnaire was distributed among teachers in 28 different schools around the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.\nFindings: The primary results demonstrated that teachers' PDM differs by teacher gender, nationality and school type, whereas teacher's JS differs by teacher gender and nationality, with school type having in general no significant effect on teacher JS.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to literature on the UAE educational field, educational leadership and school management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leasehold enfranchisement and graphs of relativity	[ "Property rights", "Graphs of relativity", "Leasehold enfranchisement", "Leasehold valuation", "Statistical solutions", "Statutory valuations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper examines a device used in valuations for leasehold enfranchisement known as the graphs of relativity. Leasehold enfranchisement is a process by which a tenant in possession of a long lease at low rent is able to compel the freeholder to sell him the land. In Britain, most of the properties affected are residential though the process also includes some properties with business premises or a commercial component. Typically the tenant is a person though it is also possible for companies to enfranchise.\nWhat is leasehold enfranchisement?: It is rare for the British government to intervene in contracts freely negotiated between willing parties who were fully informed of the circumstances of the transaction. Usually intervention in contracts takes place only if there are asymmetries in information or if one party can be argued not to have given its informed consent. It is rarer still for the British government to intervene retrospectively to change the terms in contracts freely negotiated decades earlier. Yet this is what has happened with leasehold enfranchisement starting with the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. Under this legislation tenants with long leases of houses of low-value gained the right compulsorily to acquire the freehold of their properties against the wishes of their landlord and contrary to the terms of the lease. They are obliged to compensate the landlord for his losses but the landlord is unable to refuse to sell. His interest can be acquired compulsorily. Subsequent legislation has extended the range of properties subject to enfranchisement.\nWhy was leasehold enfranchisement introduced?: So why did leasehold enfranchisement come about? The answer lies in the way in which many British towns and cities were developed. A common method was for the landowner to lease land for residential development to a developer rather than to sell it outright or to develop the land himself. The developer would be granted a building lease at a peppercorn rent (that is a rent for a small nominal amount) for a short period of time that would enable him to build on the land. If he did not carry out the development so within the given time, the building lease would lapse and the landlord could offer the land to another developer. The building lease typically contained covenants which set out what could and could not be built, sometimes in considerable detail. In this way the landowner could protect the value of his remaining land from being undermined by housing of poor quality being built in close proximity. Undesirable activities could be prohibited. Once the house was built, the developer would go through the surrender and renewal of the lease in which the building lease would be replaced by a conventional long lease, perhaps 99 or 125 years. The landowner was entitled to a ground rent and retained the reversionary interest in the property when the lease came to an end. The developer had the right to the profit rent of the difference between the ground rent and the rack rent of the house he had built. The length of the lease was such as to enable the developer to recoup his outlay on the house and make a profit. The developer could sell the lease to an investor or owner occupier or, as many builders did, retain the lease as an investment, often to provide for his dependants when he died.\nLeasehold enfranchisement legislation: Leasehold enfranchisement, as was mentioned above, was introduced by the Leasehold Reform Act, 1967. This gave residential leaseholders of low-value houses the right to compel the freeholder to sell them the freehold. It provided for the tenant's improvements to be disregarded in arriving at the open market value. It also provided for tenants to require an extension of the lease. Only tenants occupying a house as their residence could take advantage of the legislation, which did not apply to flats or maisonettes. The issue of what exactly constituted a \"house\" has been an issue contested in the courts but the idea was that the house should be divided vertically from any other house. The tenant had to have occupied the house as his residence for five years (or five years in the last ten years). The tenancy had to be a long one (exceeding 21 years) at a low rent. The Act only applied to houses with a rateable value of not more than PS200 (PS400 in Greater London). The freehold was to be acquired on \"fair terms\". The price to be paid for the house and premises was that it might be expected to realise if sold in the open marker by a willing seller on the assumption that the vendor was selling an estate in fee simple subject to the tenancy as if the Act conferred no rights to acquire the freehold or extend the tenancy. This has often been interpreted as meaning that the valuation should take place in a \"no Act world\" but, as Baum et al. (2007, p. 96) have noted, the assumption in the legislation is not that there is a \"no Act world\", merely that the Act does not apply to the house being enfranchised. Intermediate tenancies between the occupier and the freeholder would also be compulsorily acquired. The Lands Tribunal was to adjudicate in disputes over the price.\nGraphs of relativity: Leasehold reform requires the valuation of the freeholder's interest so that fair compensation for his loss can be determined can be determined. In outline, the freeholder's interest ought to comprise:\nWhat can be done?: One must be realistic about the possible outcomes from further research into graphs of relativity given that previous attempts have not been able to achieve the objective of producing definitive results. One possible solution would be to produce a graph of relativity based on a sample that is closer to the size of the underlying population. This would have the merit of making it difficult for practitioners who base their valuations on smaller samples to argue the superiority of their graph. There is the practical issue of whether it is possible to compile such a sample that is closer in size to the population that is not unduly dependent on a particular source, such as valuation tribunal decisions, rather than one that is representative of different sources and property types. The other is that the resulting graph will be the product of a best fit line so there will be a sample error at each point. It is possible that this sample error will be too great to be acceptable either to practitioners or tribunals and still provide scope for dispute and challenge.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine a device used in leasehold enfranchisement valuations known as the graph of relativity, which shows the percentage of the freehold value of a dwelling that a lease of a given unexpired term comprises. There are a number of such graphs in existence put forward by practitioners based on their experience and as a result of research but they contain different values. The paper explores why this might be the case and how this issue can be resolved.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper examines the literature on graphs of relativity and the various graphs that have been published and critically examines the methodologies behind them to see if these account for the differences between them.\nFindings: There are different methodologies that have been employed in producing the graphs, including transaction evidence, the opinions of practitioners, and tribunal decisions, and these may account for some of the differences. Many of the graphs are based upon relatively small samples, particularly at specific points on the graphs, so there are likely to be differences as a result of sampling errors. The graphs mix together properties with different characteristics, which could be a further source of variability.\nPractical implications: Further research is needed to produce a more definitive graph of relativity based on a larger sample of properties and that reflects the differences between properties.\nOriginality/value: The paper challenges the notion that there is a single graph of relativity in which the length of the lease term remaining is the only significant variable and argues that there are likely to be multiple graphs of relativity that reflect the risks associated with investing in leasehold property.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What do we know about information security governance? "From the basement to the boardroom": towards digital security governance	[ "Technology", "Information security governance", "Literature review", "Digitalisation", "Cyber", "Digital security governance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The information security (from now on referred to as IS or just security) landscape has shifted \"from the basement to the boardroom\", that is, from a narrowly focused technical issue towards a strategic business issue and a top priority item for the board (McFadzean et al., 2007; Johnston and Hale, 2009; Kayworth and Whitten, 2012; Knapp et al., 2009; Soomro et al., 2016). The strategic approach towards the IS phenomenon is commonly referred to as information security governance (ISG) (Nicho, 2018). Today's organisations face increasingly dynamic environments and have to deal with a new and disruptive world that gladly embraces technology. This literature review reveals that in the context of the current ISG approaches, the technological impact dictates a need for change, mainly in the following ways (see also Table I).\n2. Methodology: The intention of the authors was to conduct a systematic literature review of the ISG literature. However, given limited empirical papers in ISG research, this paper is more conceptually organised. The methodology used in this paper is as follows.\n3. Definitions, perspectives and models: The lens provided in the introduction of this paper (Table I) demonstrates the change in the ISG contextual boundaries towards embedded business and inter-organisational ISG approaches. In this explorative section, the aim is to structure the current body of knowledge on the ISG concept and to examine its underlying definitions, perspectives and models.\n4. Tensions \"from the basement to the boardroom\" in a digital era: The analyses in the previous sections show the changing landscape of ISG. However, both ISG research and practice have adopted only a limited approach to address the challenges of the digital era. This can be considered a \"gap\" that occurs between the intersection of the current common body of knowledge in ISG (state A) and the changing contextual boundaries towards a state B: DSG. Based on the literature review, an important insight is that ISG or is not the same as DSG. The latter is about achieving resilience by embedding security in the business and in all of the related business dimensions and organisational factors as a whole (machines, people, objects, processes, etc.). Frequently used terms such as integration and IT alignment become superfluous in such environments. To gain a deeper understanding of the gap between ISG and DSG, the authors observed the tensions that were revealed in the extant literature and that originate from the following three key challenges that are described in the introduction (Table I). Discussing the tensions facilitates cumulative knowledge building and contributes to further developing ISG research. The tensions are as follows (Table IV).\n5. Discussion and agenda for further research: The literature review indicates that ISG demands a digital business-oriented approach. ISG approaches should adapt to changing boundaries, i.e. technology-driven organisations that leave no room for distance between security and business (Soomro et al., 2016; Shahim, 2017). Through this lens, most of the relevant practices of ISG potentially lie in disciplines other than IT and security (Bobbert, 2018). Hence, ISG research should broaden its horizons and borrow relevant theories from related research fields. Organisational theories are especially suggested for gaining a deeper understanding of organisational factors that play a role in almost any security breach (Leveson et al., 2009). The following theories are suggested.\n6. Implications: The objective of this study is to examine and structure the ISG literature. We have fulfilled this objective by emphasising the tensions that exist at the intersection of the rapidly changing business climate and the current body of knowledge in ISG. The originality of the paper is mainly demonstrated by providing a novel \"digital lens\" for studying and further understanding the ISG concept in the current digital era.\n7. Concluding remarks: Our literature review shows that security has shifted from a narrow-focused isolated issue towards a strategic business issue with \"from the basement to the boardroom\" implications. Tensions are identified and considered \"gaps\" that occur between DSG and the current common body of knowledge in ISG. We believe that, by studying ISG through a \"digital lens\", we have challenged underlying assumptions that lead to the introduction of the DSG concept. Our key takeaway is that protecting the organisation is important, but organizations must also develop strategies to ensure resilient businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that digitalization can bring.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the information security governance (ISG) literature and emphasises the tensions that exist at the intersection of the rapidly changing business climate and the current body of knowledge on ISG.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The intention of the authors was to conduct a systematic literature review. However, owing to limited empirical papers in ISG research, this paper is more conceptually organised.\nFindings: This paper shows that security has shifted from a narrow-focused isolated issue towards a strategic business issue with \"from the basement to the boardroom\" implications. The key takeaway is that protecting the organisation is important, but organizations must also develop strategies to ensure resilient businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that digitalization can bring.\nResearch limitations/implications: The concept of DSG is a new research territory that addresses the limitations and gaps of traditional ISG approaches in a digital context. To this extent, organisational theories are suggested to help build knowledge that offers a deeper understanding than that provided by the too often used practical approaches in ISG research.\nPractical implications: This paper supports practitioners and decision makers by providing a deeper understanding of how organisations and their security approaches are actually affected by digitalisation.\nSocial implications: This paper helps individuals to understand that they have increasing rights with regard to privacy and security and a say in what parties they assign business to.\nOriginality/value: This paper makes a novel contribution to ISG research. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt to review and structure the ISG literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Feature mining and analysis of gray privacy products	[ "Gray privacy products", "Female underwear", "Online reviews", "Feature mining", "Outlier", "Social network analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Consumers are typically more inclined to buy underwear in offline physical stores. However, a quick online search indicates that underwear also has a large online market. For instance, according to China textile economic information network, the annual sales of China's underwear market in 2017 is more than 100 billion, and it is growing at a rate of nearly 20 per cent every year. In the entire market, the share of woman's underwear accounts for about 60 per cent with the market size exceeding Y=50bn.\n2. Prior literature and theoretical foundations: This section reviews prior literature related to online customer reviews, privacy computing, and social network theories, indicates the research gap and highlights the contributions of our study. In addition, this section proposes a formal research framework of gray privacy products based on prior literature.\n3. Research method and process: This section outlines our research method and process. Specifically, this section uses woman's underwear as an example to demonstrate the process of mining online reviews of gray privacy products and derives useful information for businesses and consumers.\n4. Data analysis: This section details our data analysis and research findings. Feature mining refers to mining a subset of an optimal evaluation criterion from the original comment feature set. It can also be described as a given learning algorithm L based on a data set S with n features X1, X2, ..., Xn, with the category mark Y, and with the example space conforming to the distribution D. Then, an optimal feature subset Xnyd is a subset of features that makes a certain condition J = J(L, S) optimal.\n5. Conclusion: This research formally defines the concept of gray privacy products and explains the degree of privacy. Then, taking woman's underwear as an example, this study performs data mining on the user review information of Tmall's flagship store Victoria's Secret, identifies the content of product reviews and uses the characteristics of product reviews to study the factors affecting users' choice of privacy products. The identified factors can provide a reference for sellers' product and service improvement.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Excavating valuable outlier information of gray privacy products, the purpose of this study takes the online reviews of women's underwear as an example, explores the outlier characteristics of online commentary data, and analyzes the online consumer behavior of consumers' gray privacy products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research adopts the social network analysis method to analyze online reviews. Based on the online reviews collected from women's underwear flagship store Victoria's Secret at Tmall, this study performs word segmentation and word frequency analysis. Using the fuzzy query method, the research builds the corresponding co-word matrix and conducts co-occurrence analysis to summarize the factors affecting consumers' purchase behavior of female underwear.\nFindings: Establishing a formal framework of gray privacy products, this paper confirms the commonalities among consumers with respect to their perceptions of gray privacy products, shows that consumers have high privacy concerns about the disclosure or secondary use of personal private information when shopping gray privacy products, and demonstrates the big difference between online reviews of gray privacy products and their consumer descriptions.\nOriginality/value: The research lays a solid foundation for future research in gray privacy products. The factors identified in this study provide a practical reference for the continuous improvement of gray privacy products and services.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The invisible identity in a visible world: how religiosity mediates consumer culture and the marketplace	[ "Religiosity", "Cluster analysis", "Brand preference", "Self-categorization", "Self-transformation", "Religious", "Non-religious" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The intersections of the sacred vs profane, mundane vs mystical and religious vs secular are embedded in everyday life and necessitate religious and non-religious individuals alike to navigate the consumption landscape as a self-identity project. Regardless of consumers' disposition toward the marketplace, few can escape the market permanently (Kozinets, 2002). As a result, individuals learn to perform consumption functions coherent with ones' religiosity and identity (Karatas and Sandikci, 2013). Religiosity refers to \"a person's degree of adherence to the beliefs, doctrines, and practices of a particular religion\" (Dube and Wingfield, 2008, p. 503). Some work has been done in the study of religion and religiosity. Scholars have examined the effects of religiosity on dominion and stewardship toward the environment and subsequent sustainable behaviors (Leary et al., 2016), the effects of religious institutions on forming the marketing systems (Mittelstaedt, 2002) and the effects of religiosity on globalization and business strategy (Laczniak and Klein, 2010). Past consumer research on religion and the marketplace have also revealed how religion shapes the marketplace (Blankson et al., 2018; Izberk-Bilgin, 2012), how marketplace impacts religion (Drenten and McManus, 2016; Willson et al., 2013), how religion becomes a part of the consumer culture (Veer and Shankar, 2011), how consumption cycles within the context of religion and the interactive and reciprocal role of religion in shaping consumer behaviors and market systems (Belk et al., 1989; Cayla and Elson, 2012).\nReligiosity, self-identification and consumption: Religiosity\nMethodology: The study context of this research is in a city located in the southern Bible Belt of the USA. Wichita Falls, Texas, has an approximate population of 100,000, and here the citizens are thought to be more religious than the general US population (Locke, 2017). This context is appropriate for this study because the focus is to understand how religiosity and religious consumptions influence brand preference and identification of the self. Wichita Falls represents cities where 40-45 per cent of the world population lives and that are \"sprinkled almost continuously over the globe\" (Clancey, 2004, p. 2337). These provincial cities have a unique competitive advantage in its quality of life, marked by \"cultural smallness\" and traditionalism that gush forth indigenous creativity (Bell and Jayne, 2009), organic economic growth and consumer activism.\nConsumers of religion typology: Consumers of religions were classified using k-means cluster analysis with z scores obtained for the products, services, media, and practices consumption variables. This method is appropriate to minimize the variance within cluster, and the distance between the clusters are not critical (Punj and Stewart, 1983). From the literature review, four groups were specified in the clustering process. The cluster results showed: media [F (3,305) = 162.150, p < 0.000], practice [F (3,305) = 271.389, p < 0.000], services [F (3,305) = 155.910, p < 0.000] and products [F (3,305) = 284.517, p < 0.000]. (Please refer to Table IV.) A critical look at the cluster results in Figure 1 reveal that the first group has low frequencies in all the intangible consumption (media, practices, services) but high on tangible consumption (products). We name this cluster as the self-categorization group because these individuals are externally religious. The second cluster has low frequency on all four aspects of consumption (media, practices, services and products). Relatively speaking, this group is called non-religious. The third cluster has high frequency on all the intangible consumption constructs (media, practices, services) but low on the tangible consumption (product). This group shows less concern for external demonstration of their religiosity but focuses on the cognitive aspect of religiosity. As the literature suggests, this is the self-transformation group. Finally, the fourth cluster shows high frequency on all four areas of religious consumptions (media, practices, services and products). Naturally, these are the most religious consumer group. The final cluster resulted in four groups: the self-categorization (52 cases), non-religious (110 cases), self-transformation (79 cases) and religious (68 cases). Please see Figure 1 and Table IV depicting the religious consumption behaviors of the four groups.\nHypotheses testing: H1 stated that the four group of consumers (non-religious, religious, self-transformation and self-categorization) differ in terms of (a) life satisfaction, (b) materialism, (c) religious brand preference, (d) spending on religious products and (e) monetary donation. ANOVA with Scheffe test revealed that life satisfaction is significant (F = 2.589, p = 0.053; Meannon-religious = 4.116, Meanreligious = 4.468, Meanself-transformation = 4.147 and Meanself-categorization = 4.195), supporting H1a, with post hoc analysis showed significant difference (p = 0.072; Meannon-religious = 4.116; Meanreligious = 4.468). Materialism is not significant (F = 0.705, p > 0.05). Thus, H2a is not supported. Religious brand preference is significant (F = 20.784, p < 0.05; Meannon-religious = 3.299, Meanreligious = 4.787, Meanself-transformation = 4.311 and Meanself-categorization = 4.318), supporting H1c, with post hoc analysis showed significant differences (p < 0.05; Meannon-religious = 3.299; Meanself-categorization = 4.318), (p < 0.05; Meanreligious = 4.787; Meanself-categorization = 4.318), (p < 0.05; Meannon-religious = 3.299; Meanself-transformation = 4.311), (p < 0.05; Meannon-religious = 3.299; Meanreligious = 4.787). Similarly, spending on religious products is significant ((F = 4.373, p < 0.05; Meannon-religious = 22.009, Meanreligious = 152.870, Meanself-transformation = 127.950, and Meanself-categorization = 240.000), supporting H1d, with post hoc analysis showed significant difference (p < 0.05; Meannon-religious = 22.009 and Meanself-categorization = 240.000). Monetary donation is significant (F = 9.783, p < 0.05; Meannon-religious = 234.932, Meanreligious = 1,416.489, Meanself-transformation = 1,813.852 and Meanself-categorization = 608.021), supporting H1e, with post hoc analysis showed significant differences (p < 0.05; Meannon-religious = 234.932 and Meanself-transformation =1,813.852), (p < 0.05; Meannon-religious = 234.932; Meanreligious =1,416.489), (p < 0.05; Meanself-categorization = 608.021; Meanself-transformation = 1,813.852). In short, H1a, H1c, H1d and H1e are supported, but H1b is not. (Please see Table V.)\nDiscussion: The convergence of consumption, self-identification and religious attitudes and behaviors proffer an essentially subjective concept useful in understanding the existential reflection and supernatural orientation that individuals may seek in the marketplace. This research presented four invisible identities (religious, non-religious, self-categorization and self-transformation) that are visibly different in terms of life satisfaction, religious brand preference, spending on religious products and monetary donations. These groups of consumers shape the marketplace through the derived utility of their religious consumption based on their self-identification, which in turn influences their attitudes and behaviors in the marketplace. This triadic relationship is dynamic, relative, evolving and purposeful.\nContribution: From the behavioral perspective, our study extends and modifies prior understanding of religiosity, the marketplace, consumer culture and the interactive and reciprocal role of religiosity in consumers' searches for identity. Religion addresses the nature of existence. Religiosity provides a blueprint for existence. Together, religion and religiosity answer the why and how questions, whereas consumption makes senses of the \"what\" questions. In this religiosity-consumer identity-marketplace nexus, consumption is a way for consumers to experience and immerse themselves in the sacred to solidify, communicate, transform, improve and transport who they are.\nLimitation and future research: The study provides preliminary information on how faith-based marketing practices influence consumer culture and religious consumption. Responding to the needs to have greater diversity of representation in types of religion (Drenten and McManus, 2016), this investigation accounts for both the religiously unaffiliated and affiliated in a positivistic view. The study also limits itself to one medium-sized city. Although half of the world population resides in such cities, the needs to include multiple cities and metropolitan areas would improve generalizability of the findings.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to offer a systematic view of religious consumption and its iterative influences on consumers, as well as their differences in attitudes, values and behaviors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a mixed-method approach - both qualitative and quantitative - the study develops religious self-transformation and self-categorization scales to empirically evaluate the hypotheses.\nFindings: The convergence of consumption, self-identification and religious attitudes and behaviors proffer an essentially subjective concept useful in understanding the existential reflection and supernatural orientation that individuals may seek through consumption. Cluster analysis (based on product, services, media and practices) reveals four quadrants. The non-religious (religious) group has low (high) consumption in all four consumption categories Self-categorization (self-transformation) group has high (low) level of product consumption, but low (high) in all three other categories. This research presented four invisible identities that are visibly different in terms of life satisfaction, religious brand preference, dollars spending on religious products and monetary donation.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research only considers one medium-size city as opposed to all types of cities. All religious affiliated and nonaffiliated respondents are included in the total sample.\nPractical implications: The study offers new insights into the triadic relationship between religious self-identification, religious consumption, and the marketplace that can be used in branding, segmentation, targeting, positioning, and persuasive advertising, public relation and social media, and services marketing.\nSocial implications: Religion addresses the nature of existence. In this religion-consumer-brand nexus, consumption is a way for consumers to experience and immense themselves in the sacred to solidify, communicate, transform, improve and transport who they are capitalizing on religious self-identification can affectively promote positive social change.\nOriginality/value: This work proposes four invisible identities that are different in consumption of religious products and services in terms of patterns and purposes. These groups of consumers shape the marketplace through the derived utility of their religious consumption based on their self-identification, which in turn influences their religious brand preference.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of IT in KM: where are we now and where are we heading?	[ "Computers", "Knowledge management", "Social networks", "Portals" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: In the last five to six years, we have seen plenty of knowledge management (KM) projects come and go. Many of these projects were successful and organizations are still leveraging benefits from their KM systems. However, it is also fair to say that a considerable proportion of KM projects/initiatives have failed. In retrospect, many of the KM projects that commenced in the past are primarily driven by the adoption of technologies. Technologies such as search engines, retrieval and classification tools, e-collaboration tools, portals and content management systems. One of the lessons learnt from these failures is that technology alone should not be the primary driver for any KM projects/initiatives and that an appropriate balance of technology, process, people and content is instrumental to the continued success of any KM deployment. Technology, however, can act as a \"catalyst\" (i.e. an accelerator) for the introduction and initial buy-in of a KM program but, in order to be successful, this accelerated adoption has to be aligned with a defined KM strategy and supported by a change program.On the technologies for supporting KM, as mentioned above, during the 1990s, these technologies tend to be discrete, distinct from each other and not aligned with defined business processes. When implemented, a user may have to operate separate systems in order to accomplish his/her task (e.g. location of company procedures/methodologies, discussion with peers and sharing material with peers).\n2 Evolution of KM technologies: Over the last five years, there have been two significant changes in landscape of KM technologies. First, due to advancements in open standards, these technologies have become far more interoperable and less platform dependent. As a consequence, many of these technologies are now componentized and can be embedded seamlessly into other enterprise applications. For example, a search engine can be incorporated as part of an e-collaboration suite and a portal usually provides a document management component. The second change is the bundling of the market offerings by the vendors of commercial KM technologies. KM solutions in the marketplace today are likely to be a collection of complementary technologies that aim at execution of a specific process (e.g. collaborative product development), a solution (e.g. problem resolution and service support by a contact center) or a particular industry (e.g. wealth management portal in financial services). This change is brought about by the consolidation of vendors in the market as well as the realization that embedding knowledge in processes is a critical success factor in nearly all KM initiatives (Eppler et al., 1999; Seely, 2002).So where is KM technologies heading towards in the next five years? There can be three generalizations. First, given the enormous focus on business process management (BPM) these few years and the increasing focus of process-based knowledge management, we should expect an increasing alignment of KM technologies/solutions with process management tools. The location of relevant information, re-useable assets, stakeholders (e.g. subject matter experts, sponsor, partners etc.) should be automatic when a process is initiated (Lewis, 2002). Furthermore, business processes will become less and less structured in the future, they may only last a few weeks, spread across organizations, and users will be given powerful tools to create, adjust and dismantle their processes (Seely, 2002). Second, there is the emergence of personal networks in the society. These personal networks manifest in the form of personal knowledge grids (where an individual can coordinate an array of resources to support the capturing and sharing of knowledge at the personal level), social networks (which there are already abundant tools to help identify the concentration and flow of knowledge), and personal applications (software applications developed/selected by an individual to support his/her daily work tasks yet these applications can also operate independently as well as in conjunction with enterprise KM applications) (Tsui, 2002). Third, KM will become more and more \"on-demand\" (or \"just-in-time\"). Large-scale long-term KM programs still exist but, at the same time, organizations realize that they need to become more agile and adaptive in order to capitalize on strategic opportunities (Lewis, 2002; Morey, 2001; Davenport and Glaser, 2002; Snowden, 2002; Snowden, 2003). Increasingly, KM technologies will operate on infrastructures, both technical and content-wise, that support the rapid deployment of relevant tools and systems for ad hoc, intensive and inter-organizational collaborations. Some of these tools are now available and gaining popularity in the market, notably peer-to-peer (P2P) collaboration tools (Tsui 2002), information retrieval and filtering tools, personal voice over IP (VoIP) communication systems, and taxonomy tools that groups relevant e-mail messages, documents and contact names on desktops.\n3 Papers in the special issue: Altogether nine papers have been accepted for publication in this special issue. The collective themes of these papers certainly reflect and reinforce the observations on the past and current trend of KM technologies. These papers critically explore the changing role of technologies for KM, the embodiment of knowledge in business process management and execution, social network analyses and artificial intelligence reasoning systems, the nature of inter-organizational collaborations, and the fusion between local and global knowledge in multi-national corporations.Chi and Holsapple presented a comprehensive framework that identifies the various types of inter-organizational collaboration systems. While most existing work address the technological and relationship aspects, their model focuses on the types of knowledge sharing, participative decision-making and conflict governance that underpin inter-organizational collaborations. The findings of the paper shed light on a deeper understanding of the processes and learning involved in such collaborations and, ultimately, led to better alignment and choice of technologies to support different types of inter-organizational collaborations.Through the use of a case study on the project management and R&D efforts of a large multi-national corporation, Davis explores the challenges and solutions involved in fostering knowledge sharing and management aspects at the global and local levels of the organization. Some of the key issues include the generation of knowledge at the local level, the verification and passing on such knowledge from the local to the global level, and maintaining the local-global divide yet ensuring that the knowledge is up to date and not duplicated. In his study, he has found four generic roles in the organization that are instrumental to the success in maintaining the local-global divide of knowledge.Edwards, Shaw and Collier conducted workshops with ten organizations to ascertain their KM initiatives/systems. Their key findings from these workshops are that only three of the ten organizations have a KM program that is technology-driven and even so, organizations are utilizing general IT tools (e.g. e-mail, bulletin boards, information databases) to support KM initiatives rather than KM-specific technologies. Other issues unveiled include the tension between decentralization and centralization of IT decisions and the contrast between providing (pushing) information to users and users requesting (pulling) information from databases and repositories.The role of technologies in KM has always been a debatable topic, both in academia and industry. As mentioned earlier, the general perception is that technology was a driver in many of the KM projects in the late 1990s but nowadays organizations are treating the process and people aspects as critical success factors in any KM initiatives. Holsapple, again, presented another paper examining the critical role of computer-based technology (CBT) in KM. He argued that both the inclusive and exclusive perspectives of separating knowledge from information completely ignored or under-estimated the contributions of CBT to KM. He further proposed a third perspective that is to subdivide the representation and processing of various types of knowledge by a computer system. Through this new perspective, which is further substantiated by observations with several renowned e-business/commerce systems, one can gain a stronger appreciation of how CBT can add value to KM.The majority of KM systems in implementation are on capturing, searching, and distributing knowledge (e.g. search engines, portals, collaboration systems, intellectual capital reporting tools). Tools/systems that foster the accumulation of social capital are rare. Iske and Boersma remedies this imbalance by outlining a proprietary-developed question-answering system that facilitates not only the encapsulation of core knowledge into a repository but also linking up users with subject matter experts and thereby reducing ongoing help desk support costs and time. Furthermore, the authors have also discussed the cultural issues and impact on the deployment of their system as well as developed a detail quantitative model that computes and ranks the importance of knowledge in the entire knowledge value chain of an organization.Knowledge audit is a technique that is often applied by organizations to ascertain what knowledge the organization already has what else is needed to accomplish corporate objectives. Social network analysis (SNA) is a key step in any knowledge audit. Liebowitz defined the analytic process hierarchy (AHP) technique that can be used to measure the requirements and preferences of an individual or department in the network. Findings from using the APH technique can, for example, be used to better channel relevant information to individuals, help understand decision-making in an organization, and contribute to better process design and management. A comprehensive list of SNA tools is also outlined in his paper.Information technology can accomplish a lot more than mere storing and retrieving data. Over the decades, advancements in artificial intelligence and other information processing techniques lead to the verification and generalization of stored data, as well as the discovery of new actionable knowledge. Lau et al. demonstrated, via a research prototype, the use of a hybrid neural network and online analytical processing (OLAP) algorithm to capture, process procurement data and generate recommendation for suitable supplier(s) in an online supply chain network. This application clearly demonstrates and reinforces the trend of embedding data and discovering new knowledge in business processes that spread across multiple organizations.In the pursuit to become a real time enterprise (RTE), many organizations have invested heavily on KM and related technologies. Unfortunately, based on experience gained in the last ten years, most of these organizations failed and very few become a truly RTE. Malholtra critically explored the dichotomy between the technology-push and strategy-pull approaches in organizational investments in KM technologies. With justifications and case studies, the paper outlined the reasons that the form and function of a RTE, and the contrast between the ends and means of achieving performance outcomes hold the key to understand why some organizations are so successful in harnessing embedded knowledge in their business model and processes, both at the intra and inter levels.More on business processes, Lock Lee focused on the possible synergy between business processes and business practice in an organizational setting. Business processes are normally centrally defined and structured. Business practice, on the other hand, occurs at the operational level and involves a lot of tacit knowledge. Furthermore, on many occasions, complex decisions are also needed when executing a process. Lock Lee proposed a two cycle model of interaction based on communities of practice to foster an appropriate mix of process and practice to achieve optimal organizational performance. Once again, this paper reinforces the importance of embedding and sharing knowledge in business processes as well as shed light on how to align existing KM tools to support and enhance decision-making in organizations at the process level.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To provide a summary of the major trends in the evolution of knowledge management (KM) technologies in the last five years.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Drawing from a range of literature published in the academic and industry arenas including the articles accepted in the special issue, the author also applied his own personal experience and practice knowledge in the field to summarize the three major trends in the use of KM technologies for the workplace and individual knowledge workers.\nFindings: - First, KM is becoming more and more process-centric and relevant technologies are gradually being aligned to support process-based KM activities. Second, there is the emergence of personal networks and applications. Third, knowledge sharing and capturing are becoming more instantaneous (i.e. on-demand and just-in-time).\nPractical implications: - KM is becoming more and more just-in-time. Large-scale KM programmes still prevail but, in future, the technical infrastructure and information content of these programmes also need to support ad hoc, spontaneous but intensive intra- and inter-organizational collaborations.\nOriginality/value: - While most articles on KM technologies tend to focus on individual technique(s)/system(s), this paper provides a succinct and high-level summary of the evolution of KM technologies from a commercial and practical perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Using strategic communities to foster inter-organizational collaboration	[ "Action-research", "Healthcare sector", "Bottom-up change strategy", "Inter-organizational change", "Inter-organizational collaboration", "Strategic communities" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Implementing change in independent but complementary public organizations is a major challenge. That is particularly so in public healthcare systems (Parmelli et al., 2011; Dufour and Steane, 2013). This paper has two main purposes: to report on an experiment in building up inter-organizational collaboration between healthcare organizations; and to identify how structure and some of the components of the strategic community (SC) approach to organizational change can have a long-term impact on inter-organizational collaboration.\nResearch context: As in most developed countries around the world the healthcare system in Quebec is made of large number of self-governing institutions that do have a complementary mission. However, each of them is typically concerned about and concentrates primarily on the care episodes and services under its own jurisdiction.\nMethodology: Participatory action-research is at the same time a research methodology and a strategy for change. The process is made of several cycles of problem solving and cogeneration of knowledge involving organization members and researchers working together (Whyte et al., 1991). This methodology is one of the open research approaches of the pragmatic epistemological perspective in management sciences (Robson, 2011). It is considered particularly well suited for studying and implementing organizational change (Marshall, 2011).\nFindings: This section describes the structure put into place, the way it worked and the achievements in three main healthcare areas. Between 2007 and 2011, three strategic communities were put into place in order to improve the organization and delivery of services in three important areas: oncology; mental health - adult; and mental health - pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). In average they counted ten members. Most of those members were recognized as leaders in their field. They were all from the operating core carrying out the basic work and tasks associated with producing the services of their organization.\nThe starting point and main results of the three SCs: As already pointed out between 2007 and 2011, three strategic communities were successfully put into place in order to improve the organization and delivery of services in three important areas: oncology; mental health - adult; and mental health - PDD.\nThe inter-organizational collaboration: an analysis: The following analysis is structured around Thomson and Perry's five key processes. It aims to improve our understanding of the processes that can help inter-institutional collaboration.\nOriginality, value, and implications: The SC approach as developed and experimented in this action-research project appears to be innovative. It has the potential to establish and maintain collaboration, particularly when the inter-institutional situation has greatly deteriorated and the partners acknowledge that they cannot solve problems on their own. The SC fosters contact and communication between participants, maintains links between collaborating organizations, encourages members to respect their commitments, manages conflicts and never loses sight of common interests. Furthermore, it builds and supports confidence, facilitates the work, and evaluates continuously, just so many activities that are considered important in nourishing collaboration (Axelsson and Axelsson, 2006). Further research is needed to test the suitability of SC in other contexts (i.e. suicide prevention, drug abuse, etc.) and identify ways of maintaining inter-organizational collaboration when SC is dismantled at the end of the project.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is: to report on an experiment in building up inter-organizational collaboration between healthcare organizations; and to identify how structure and some of the components of the strategic community (SC) approach to organizational change can have a long-term impact on inter-organizational collaboration.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper resulted from participative action-research held from 2007 to 2013. A systematic collection of data (field notes, 746 hours of observations, proceedings, 186 interviews, journals, focus groups, discussion forums) was conducted in the various cycles of the action-research.\nFindings: Adapted to the healthcare sector, the SC has taken the form of a temporary inter-organizational collaboration structure composed of health professionals, first-level managers, general practitioners, specialized doctors, and non-profit organization representatives. The SC approach appeared to be an efficient strategy for taking action.\nPractical implications: The SC approach appeared to be appropriate for cases where the inter-organizational collaboration had clearly declined, where several other attempts had failed, and where the care trajectory involved vulnerable clients who had to travel between different service points for the required care.\nOriginality/value: This study illustrates how SC helps to significantly improve inter-organizational collaboration in the healthcare sector. It likewise acknowledges the relevance of Thomson and Perry's (2006) work in analyzing and emphasizing the dimensions required to ensure successful inter-organizational collaboration.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Employees' perceptions of company values and objectives and employer-employee relationships: A theoretical model	[ "Stakeholder analysis", "Corporate identity", "Corporate image", "Employee attitudes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nContext and problem statement: Corporate identity management and stakeholder and/or relationship management is without a doubt two of the most important fields within corporate communication, both in academic circles as well as in practice (van den Bosch et al., 2004).There have also been a number of studies linking effective corporate identity management to a good reputation and ultimately good relationships with stakeholders. This has especially been the case with visual corporate identity elements and external stakeholder relationships as well as behavior and communication of corporate identity elements and stakeholder relationships (Grunig, 1993; Ledingham and Bruning, 1998; Grunig and Hon, 1999; Alesandri, 2001; Cornelissen and Elving, 2003; Steyn et al., 2004; Garman, 2006; Denize and Young, 2007). It is thus not surprising that companies spend large amounts of resources on creating modern and unique visual corporate identities in order to distinguish themselves from their competition. However, no examples of research on the link between non-visual corporate identity elements and stakeholder relationships could be traced. Some authors do emphasize the strategic importance of corporate identity with regard to their internal stakeholders. According to Alessandri (2001, p. 177), a company's corporate identity is aimed at a strategically planned and purposeful presentation of itself for the purpose of gaining a positive corporate image and ultimately a favorable reputation over time. Alessandri (2001) also refers to the observable and measurable nature of a corporate identity; the way the company presents itself. Here, reference is made to the importance of the company behaviour.According to Stuart (2003), more and more attention is given to what the company is and how it wants to position itself in relation to all its stakeholder groups, especially internal stakeholders such as employees. The ideal situation for any company would be to establish a desired look and feel of the company, but also allowing all stakeholder groups to identify with the company as a whole thus establishing favorable stakeholder relationships.Holtzhausen's (2008) PhD study found, in contrast to previous studies, that the visual corporate identity did not impact on employer-employee relationships. However, the non-visual elements, especially the company values and objectives did influence employer-employee relationships. In accordance with this research done by Holtzhausen (2008), Balmer (2008) has indicated an increased emphasis on the \"deeper notions\" of corporate identity in terms of a \"company's traits\" and less importance on visual components of the corporate identity.Based on the findings of Holtzhausen's study, this paper aims to develop a model indicating the impact of corporate identity management on employer-employee relationships. This will be done by means of a literature review and analysis of Holtzhausen's study.\nTheoretical framework: The theoretical model proposed in this paper has its roots in the theory of corporate identity management as well as relationship management and consequently the relationship between employees' perceptions of the corporate identity and the perceptions of their relationship with their employer.The question arises that when we are in fact interested in relationship management why study corporate identity and not corporate image or reputation, as reputation is often linked to relationship management (Bronn, 2007; Tustin, 2007). However, unlike corporate image that is seen as the stakeholders' perceptions of a company's corporate identity, corporate identity can be controlled by the company itself and thus managed. Reputation is even more difficult to manage, as reputation develops over time based on various stakeholders' images (perceptions or opinions) of a company (Tustin, 2007). A positive image or good reputation thus starts with sound corporate identity management.Corporate identity management\nRelationship between corporate identity elements and the quality and type of employer-employee relationships: The assumptions in the proposed model (Figure 1) is based on the findings of Holtzhausen's (2008) PhD study[1].Holtzhausen (2008) investigated the relationship between employees' perceptions of symbolic corporate identity elements and employer employee relationships at a South African Mining Company with an endorsed corporate identity. The results of Holtzhausen's study are not discussed here, only findings that are directly relevant to the current model will be highlighted.Holtzhausen (2008) found no correlations between any of the visual corporate identity elements and the quality or type of relationships. Our model on corporate identity management thus assumes that the management of the non-visual symbolic elements is more important when internal stakeholders are at stake. This might not hold true for external stakeholders were the visual elements for recall and association are more important. It would, however, seem that employees are less concerned about how the company visually represents itself, the company's behavior towards the employees is more important when determining the quality and type of relationship with employees.The second assumption is that objectives concerning the well-being of the employees have a profound impact on employer-employee relationships. The company studied in Holtzhausen's studied had the following objectives: profit making, accountability, socio-economic empowerment, safe working environment and healthy working environment. Only the objectives profit making and long-term planning did not impact on a relationship dimension. Furthermore, the mere knowledge of company objectives already had a connection with employer-employee relationships. It was especially when employees perceived the company to effectively achieve its objectives, that some of these objectives positively influenced employer-employee relationships. In terms of our model this assumes that when an organization could effectively communicate its objectives to employees, this should already benefit employer-employee relationships, but when these objectives are substantiated by the organizations behavior, this positive impact on employer-employee relationships should even be bigger.In the Holtzhausen (2008) study, the effect of the company values was smaller than the objectives, but this could be ascribed to the particular definition of values. Values were defined as unification (the extent to which the employees felt that all the business unites were part of the company) and family feeling (the extent to which employees felt part of the company). Many organizations define their values more in line with what was described as objectives in this study as evident from a study by Cai and Wheale (2004) emphasizing that a company's strength lies in the shared values between the company and its various stakeholders and the confidence that the company will adhere to these \"promises\".Against this background we further outline the impact of non-visual corporate identity elements regarding the general assessment of the relationship, relationship type, and relationship dimensions:1. General assessment of relationship. It assumed that both values and objectives influence employer-employee relationships.2. Relationship type. It was established in the literature review that the quality of the relationship is improved once the relationship starts moving in the direction of a communal relationship. Holtzhausen (2008) found no correlations between corporate identity elements and an exhange relationship. The relevance thereof for our current model is that it could be concluded that the symbolic elements contribute to the furthering of a communal relationship. The objective of achieving a healthy working environment had the highest correlation with a communal relationship, while the objective accountability and socio economic work environment also correlated with a communal relationship. These findings are also inline with Kearns' (1998) viewpoint that a sincere interest in the viewpoints and welfare of stakeholders is the underlying principle that can transform company-stakeholder relationships into mutually beneficial relationships.3. Dimensions of quality of relationships:* Trust. Kearns (1998) expressed the view that the more a company expresses its concern for its stakeholders, the greater the potential for trust. If a company wishes to establish trust between itself and its stakeholders it needs to manage its stakeholders with visible concern for their viewpoints, needs, preferences and feelings already. Holtzhausen's study confirmed thus and we therefore assume that especially the achievement of organizational objectives considering employees enhances trust in employer-employee relationships.* Control mutuality. Employees that perceive the company taking them into consideration and listening to their comments are objectives that increase the levels of control mutuality in the organization.* Commitment. This dimension is strongly influenced by the company's value system. Whenever employees feel the organization lives up to its values it creates a sense of commitment to the relationship between the organization and its employees.* Relationship satisfaction. According to Holtzhausen (2008), the achievement of the company's objectives also impact positively on the level of satisfaction.\nConclusion: This paper proposes a preliminary model indicating the importance of corporate identity management for internal stakeholder relationships. The main proposition is that the non-visual elements of the corporate identity impact on employer-employee relationships and thus needs special attention when managing employer-employee relationships.This model is based on the results of one specific study and further empirical verification still has to be done. This, however, opens the door for further research especially regarding the impacts of company values and objectives of employer-employee relationships.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a model indicating the impact of corporate identity management on managing relationships with employees in organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is an analytical paper consisting of a literature study of relevant literature, and results based on a PhD study.\nFindings: - A preliminary model is proposed indicating that non-visual corporate identity elements, especially organizational values and objectives impact on employer-employee relationships.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This is a theoretical paper and still needs to be empirically verified.\nOriginality/value: - This is a conceptual paper contributing to the body of knowledge regarding corporate identity and relationship management. More specifically it fills a niche referring to communication with internal stakeholders regarding corporate identity with the aim of relationship management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
From charity to social enterprise: the marketization of social care	[ "Austerity", "Neoliberalism", "Personalisation", "Self-directed support", "Social Policy", "Third-sector hybrids" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The business model of social enterprise, i.e. a social purpose-driven organisation that trades goods and services commercially and reinvests any profit, is regarded politically as an attractive economic solution to delivering public services, particularly in health and social care (Mazzei and Roy 2017; Hazenberg and Hall, 2016; Roy et al., 2013, 2017). Scotland has an active social enterprise sector (Coburn, 2015), with an engaged political will to support, invest in and grow the sector (Mazzei and Roy, 2017) and now has its own ten-year government-led Social Enterprise Strategy (Scottish Government, 2016a). This support has not emerged organically based on the evidence of effectiveness from the sector. Instead, just as the efficiency drive of new public management was pursued at the expense of other classic values like quality and resilience (Jorgensen and Anderson, 2011), the political pursuit of neoliberalist shrinking of the state through austerity measures adopted by the UK Government has facilitated the marketization of social care. The epitome of this shift is presented in the evolution of the personalisation agenda from disability activists demanding choice and control in the 1970s through to today, where policy legislates choice and control through devolving an individual's budget, thus facilitating a commercial market for health and social care delivery (Williams-Findlay, 2015; Boxall et al., 2009; Roulstone and Morgan, 2009). Social enterprise's involvement as a political tool and commercial model for this shift from state provision to third-sector delivery has been described as the social enterprization of welfare systems (Sepulveda, 2015). Exploration of the marketization of welfare is not new, however, and self-directed support (SDS) in Scotland offers just one current example of its manifestation.\n2. Literature review: The personalisation agenda has been viewed as neoliberalist policy which opens the market to competition by reducing the role of the state in social care provision while exploiting that as an opportunity to cut budgets (e.g. Roulstone and Morgan, 2009; Featherstone et al., 2012). This literature review presents the development of the personalisation agenda in the UK, before considering the discourse of neoliberalism and how terms like neoliberalism and austerity draw critical focus away from the issues around the poor implementation of policies in social work (e.g. Duffy, 2010). The review then proceeds to explore the organisational response to this \"new\" situation through the lens of hybridity.\n3. Methodology and data collection: The research team were given access to the managers, staff and clients of a national Scottish charity over a four-month period. Amongst a range of services provided by the charity across Scotland, it delivers residential and respite services to children with physical and learning disabilities in three Scottish rural local authorities. This care was at the time of data collection delivered almost entirely under a block contract from the local authority. The organisation then liaised with caregivers to plan their care timetable for the year, including respite.\n4. Emerging themes: This section introduces the findings which have arisen because of the proposed changed in strategic direction of the organisation due to the introduction of SDS and are all related to hybridity. The findings are arranged in four sub-sections based on themes that emerged from the qualitative data generated from the interviews: the practical delivery of care; tensions between care and quality, the care workforce and the parent perspective. Each sub-section uses direct quotes from research participants to highlight key points, apart from the parent's perspective where to preserve anonymity no quotes are used in case these can identify the individual. These key themes are linked back to the relevant literature in the following discussion section.\n5. Discussion: This paper examines the beginning of a transition towards greater hybridity in one national charity in Scotland, and uncovers considerable reluctance to this forced marketization of social care delivery to children with complex needs. This reluctance is evidenced in the comments of staff and parents interviewed in the study. Parents expressed concern that SDS is a way for local authorities to save money, and the slow uptake of SDS suggests that these parents are not alone in their resistance to taking up the SDS option. The parents in this study attributed SDS policy to local authorities instead of the government, supporting Featherstone et al.'s (2012) suggestion that a neoliberalist government's approach to devolving power to local authorities can enable the responsibility and accountability to be placed at local level, leaving the national policymakers disassociated from blame and/or failure and allowing them to retain their power.\n6. Conclusions: The reduction in available financial resources (Scottish Government and Cosla, 2010; Audit Scotland, 2015) puts all affected institutions and organisations under pressure, and this study found the effects of this were seen by both parents and staff in the organisation even before the introduction of SDS. This may have influenced the emergence of what this paper terms passive resistance to SDS policy which emerged amongst the stakeholders, including staff and parents. Five reasons for this resistance were found, namely:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In Scotland, the self-directed support (SDS) legislation is a catch-all payment system which brings challenges to local authorities, service delivery organisations and the service users it is intended to empower. Set against a backdrop of cuts to local authorities and third-sector funding, this policy presents third-sector organisations with both the opportunities and challenges of commercialising their activities to become more sustainable. The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence of the challenges faced by one charity as it engages in a process of hybridity to accommodate changes in its funding due to the introduction of SDS.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper utilises a case study approach. The paper captures the experiences and views of managers, staff and parents advocating for their children through interviews with a purposive sample from each group. The challenges of gathering data and giving a voice to caregivers advocating for children with complex needs are discussed, particularly the difficulties in accessing a hard to reach group.\nFindings: The findings identifies issues which have arisen because of the proposed changed in strategic direction of the organisation due to the introduction of SDS and are all related to hybridity. The findings are arranged in four sub-sections based on the themes that emerged from the qualitative data generated from the interviews: the practical delivery of care; tensions between care and quality, the care workforce, and the parent perspective.\nResearch limitations/implications: SDS policy has had unexpected impacts and reactions whilst rolling out across regions in Scotland, but policymakers and those involved in the care sector, including consumers, face significant challenges in gathering evidence not only from the vulnerable populations this policy affects but also from organisations already under pressure from austerity-led cuts. This paper presents the challenges to organisations involved in caring for children with complex needs, who are a particularly neglected group of stakeholders.\nPractical implications: Organically arising barriers to organisational transition from charity to social enterprise are presented, as staff and caregivers react to the prospect of SDS uptake affecting their organisation. Proactive attempts to embrace a hybrid approach by the organisation are analysed.\nSocial implications: Understanding how social care organisations and clients are reacting to the implementation of individual payments as opposed to the previous system of block contracts is crucial as the sector faces very real prospects of organisations closing when individuals are able to pick and choose care. A policy based on choice and control for the consumer risks removing choice through a loss of services in the marketplace, leaving vulnerable populations at risk.\nOriginality/value: This study is unique. No research has been done exploring the transition of charities servicing children with complex needs in anticipation of self-directed payments creating an open market. The paper further contributes to the existing knowledge regarding hybrid organisations within the third sector.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants of micro and small enterprises growth in Kenya	[ "Kenya", "Growth", "Developing countries", "Investment climate", "MSEs", "Sub-Saharan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Micro and small enterprises (MSEs), defined as firms employing less than 50 employees (McPherson, 1996; Kushnir et al., 2010), can potentially contribute to private sector led growth and employment creation in developing countries (Ayyagari et al., 2014; Hallberg, 2001; Rocha, 2012). In Kenya a national baseline survey of MSEs in 1999 shows that there were 1.3 million MSEs employing 2.4 million people, with the sector accounting for 18.4 percent of national gross domestic product (Central Bureau of Statistics, 1999). The statistics from the baseline survey thus shows that MSEs on average employ 1.8 (approximately two) persons, therefore calling for policies to promote growth of MSEs to create more jobs given their sheer number. Recent statistics shows that MSEs in Kenya within formal sector account for 75 and 42 percent of establishments and employment, respectively (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2013). However, it is imperative to note that a large number of MSEs operate informally (Central Bureau of Statistics, 1999) and formal sector statistics therefore reflect only a partial picture.\nLiterature review: Theoretical literature\nMethodology: Conceptual framework\nResults and discussions: Descriptive statistics\nConclusion: The purpose of this paper was to investigate determinants of MSE growth in Kenya. Limited growth of MSEs in developing countries stifles their envisaged contributions to the economy in terms of employment and contribution to gross domestic product. Growth constraints facing MSEs in developing countries are anchored on empirical evidence on size distributions of enterprises, commonly termed as \"missing middle\" to reflect limited transformation of MSEs into competitive medium size firms. Using firm-level survey data for 2,536 MSEs in Kenya, this paper has shown that both investment climate variables and firm-specific factors affect MSE growth. With regards to investment climate variables, positive entrepreneur perception of the court system, access to formal credit, connections to piped water and electricity, and lower incidences of crime positively affect MSE growth. Policies targeting growth of MSEs in Kenya have often focused on these issues as part of the policy agenda. Given that the highlighted investment variables still stifle MSE growth, there is need to evaluate the extent of policy implementations. It is possible to have good policies but weak implementation, which weakens realization of policy goals. With regards to firm-specific variables, joint ownership, entrepreneur education and years of business experience positively affect MSE growth, consistent with resource-based theory of firm growth. The findings imply that to holistically address MSE growth, complementary interventions targeting both investment climate and internal resources should be employed. MSE growth policies should target to achieve access to formal credit, lower incidences of crime, access to basic utilities, and efficient, affordable judicial systems that instil confidence in entrepreneurs. These policy efforts targeted at business environment should be corroborated by measures to enhance MSE internal capabilities such as business skills and promotion of joint ownership to aid in resource pooling.\nSuggestions for future research: Two suggestions are imperative for future research. The first relates to survey approach, and the second relates to empirical analyses. With regards to the survey approach, future surveys should employ longitudinal approach to data collection to aid in investigation of dynamic relationships of factors affecting MSE performance. Related to this, there is also need for more frequent national-level surveys to track and analyze impacts of policy reforms on MSE performance in developing countries. For the case of Kenya, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics - the national statistical agency, has embarked on carrying out a comprehensive national-level survey of micro, small and medium enterprises at the time of writing this paper. Though the new survey is still cross-sectional, it can however still provide insights in light of recent policy developments.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of investment climate and firm-specific variables on the growth of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Kenya.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper utilized a cross-section survey data of 2,536 MSEs in Kenya. Using the sales growth as the dependent variable, the paper tests the hypotheses that investment climate variables - entrepreneur perception of fairness and affordability of the courts in dealing with commercial disputes, access to formal credit, connections to utilities, crime incidences; and firm-specific resources affect MSE growth.\nFindings: Positive entrepreneur perception of the fairness and affordability of the courts, access to formal credit, connections to utilities, lower incidences of crime, entrepreneur education and experience positively affect MSE growth.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although the context of the study is Kenya, the study has relevance to other developing countries especially Sub-Saharan Africa due to institutional similarities. The paper, however, uses cross-sectional data, which unlike panel data, do not allow for establishing dynamic relationships. This could be a potential area for further research.\nOriginality/value: The paper is among the first to establish effects of entrepreneur perception on MSE growth with regards the court system in dealing with business disputes in terms of fairness, timeliness, affordability and enforcement. The paper also extends limited extant research on MSE growth constraints with regards to incidences of insecurity, access to bank credit, connections to utilities and internal resources.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Hobson's choice: the effects of research evaluation on academics' writing practices in England	[ "Higher education", "Qualitative research", "Research evaluation", "Epistemology", "REF", "Academic writing", "Knowledge creation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Almost every aspect of an academic's work is mediated by writing, both in terms of the day-to-day tasks that consume their time and in terms of their scholarship over the course of a career. This writing and the practices around it are changing as the demands of academic life have changed. Transformations in higher education, including the introduction of a more managerialist approach, have altered the nature of the writing demands faced by academics (Clarke and Newman, 1997; Deem et al., 2007). One of the most significant of these demands on academics' writing practices relates to systems for evaluating research quality, which, in the UK, where the current study is located, takes the form of the national research excellence framework (REF). This national exercise in assessing research quality is conducted every five to six years, with the aim of rating research quality in order to enable higher education funding bodies to allocate funding accordingly (REF, 2014). The REF is based on a system of peer review, with research outputs being submitted to a panel of experts, who read them and assign a star rating from one to four to each, four being the highest. The scores for all research submitted in a given department are aggregated and government funding allocated accordingly. Institutions publicise their departments' scores on the REF in order to demonstrate their quality and attract students. A high score on the REF therefore links to university rankings and league tables, which in turn affect an institution's ability to attract income from tuition fees.\nResearch evaluation and its effects: Both institutional and individual research excellence are constructs whose meanings are situated within the social and political contexts in which they are used, and both the notion of \"excellence\" and the means by which it is used to assess research have been extensively critiqued on an ideological level. Moore et al. (2016), for example, have argued that excellence includes a comparative element, and is primarily, therefore, a rhetorical device for claiming value across institutions and disciplines rather than a meaningful way of describing the inherent qualities of any given piece of work. Strathern (1997, 2000) has argued that research audit systems tend to conflate the quality of research itself and the quality of departments or research centres. Similarly, Wilmott (2011) and Burrows (2012) argued that evaluation tools such as journal lists and the h-index have come to enact academic value in ways for which they were never designed.\nMethods: In order to explore how policies around research evaluation might interact with factors such as institutional context and disciplinary cultures to influence academics' writing, participants were recruited from three different institutions and three different disciplines in England. One of the institutions was a large research-intensive Russell Group university (Russell Group), one was a newer, also research-intensive university, established in the 1960s and located on a green campus outside the nearest town (Plate Glass), and the third was a former polytechnic, a teaching-focussed institution that was awarded university status in 1992 (post-1992).\nResults and discussion: The results of the project reveal tensions between the forms of knowledge that were valued for the purposes of the national REF and those that were valued by the academics themselves. These had a powerful influence on the choices available to academics about which forms of writing to prioritise and where to publish their research. The effects of research evaluation systems were unevenly distributed across disciplines, institutions and academic age groups, with implications for disciplinary values and career mobility. The following three sections discuss first findings about the close link between academics' career success and the understanding of knowledge creation that underlies the REF and then the epistemic effects of research evaluation systems in two disciplines. This is followed by an analysis of interview data on the effects of the REF on writing for non-academic audiences.\nConclusions: This study has shown that writing is not only a key activity in the day-to-day business of being an academic, but also a means by which academics' professional competence is assessed. To have a certain number of publications of specified quality is not only to be \"REF-able\", but also to be employable and promotable, and, ironically, to gain access to the time and support necessary to facilitate the production of good quality research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of research evaluation policies and their interpretation on academics' writing practices in three different higher education institutions and across three different disciplines. Specifically, the paper discusses how England's national research excellence framework (REF) and institutional responses to it shape the decisions academics make about their writing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 49 academics at three English universities were interviewed. The academics were from one Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics discipline (mathematics), one humanities discipline (history) and one applied discipline (marketing). Repeated semi-structured interviews focussed on different aspects of academics' writing practices. Heads of departments and administrative staff were also interviewed. Data were coded using the qualitative data analysis software, ATLAS.ti.\nFindings: Academics' ability to succeed in their career was closely tied to their ability to meet quantitative and qualitative targets driven by research evaluation systems, but these were predicated on an unrealistic understanding of knowledge creation. Research evaluation systems limited the epistemic choices available to academics, partly because they pushed academics' writing towards genres and publication venues that conflicted with disciplinary traditions and partly because they were evenly distributed across institutions and age groups.\nOriginality/value: This work fills a gap in the literature by offering empirical and qualitative findings on the effects of research evaluation systems in context. It is also one of the only papers to focus on the ways in which individuals' academic writing practices in particular are shaped by such systems.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Applying complexity theory to solve hospitality contrarian case conundrums: Illuminating happy-low and unhappy-high performing frontline service employees	[ "Hospitality management", "Human resource management", "Complexity theory", "Frontline", "Happiness", "Hotel and catering management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Warr (2007) and Fisher (2010) emphasize three principal domains of happiness:\n2. Employee work-domain happiness and managers' assessment of employee performance: Lyubomirsky et al. (2005) provide an extensive meta-analysis of general and specific categories of happiness and success. Their overall assessments of work-life happiness and success indicate a small-to-medium effect size (a weighted mean r = 0.20 for 19 cross-sectional studies and a weighted r = 0.05 for 11 longitudinal studies).\n3. Configurational theory of antecedents and outcomes of employee happiness-at-work and manager's assessment of job performance: Heretofore happiness-success research and modeling makes use almost exclusively of symmetric tests of statistical hypotheses - tests such as ANOVA, MRA and structural equation modeling (SEM). Such statistical tools implicitly assume and test symmetrical theory; that is, a high value in an independent variable (i.e. X, one construct or an equation containing several constructs) relates closely with a high value in a dependent variable (Y) and a low value in the same independent variable relates closely with a low value in the same dependent variable. The symmetric perspective builds from the assumption of sufficiency and necessity of the relationship between X and Y - for Y to be high, X must be high; for Y to be low, X must be low.\n4. Method: The main study includes the use and merging of two files of survey data. Employees and their immediate supervisors of a large-size hospitality service business-group participated in the study. Employees completed a survey covering demographics, work facet-specific information and a happiness-at-work scale; their supervisors completed IRP and CDERP scales on the performance assessments of these same employees. All surveys were coded by a matched employee-supervisor number, and all completed surveys were collected by a team of university professors in-person and did not go through the business group's mail distribution center.\n5. Findings: The findings here do not include responses for four cases of data. The four cases are employees in the oldest age group (>= 56 years of age). The four members in the oldest age group had significantly lower happiness, IPR and CDERP scores in comparison to the cases in the three age groups prior to this group. Age as an antecedent condition in the configural analyses plays no role in the models with the inclusion of the above 55 years-of-age group. Possibly the findings for the oldest age group members indicates that the business group needs to devote special attention and nurturing to the oldest-aged frontline employees.\n6. Discussion, limitations and contributions: The study here contributes to moving beyond the issues of whether or not happiness-at-work influences job performance, the size of the effect of this relationship and whether or not the impact is always positive. The study contributes to theory and research by proposing that the impact of employee happiness-at-work on manager's assessment of employee performance depends on configurations of employee demographics and employees' judgments of work facet-specific factors. Rather than looking narrowly at happiness-at-work and managers' assessments of employee work-performance, a more complex in-depth stance is necessary to learn the combinations of conditions whereby high happiness associates with very high as well as very low performance. Separately, theory and empirical reports need to consider the configurations associating with very low happiness and very low versus very high managers' assessments of employee work performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to advance a configural asymmetric theory of the complex antecedents to hospitality employee happiness-at-work and managers' assessments of employees' quality of work performance. The study transcends variable and case-level analyses to go beyond prior statistical findings of small-to-medium effect sizes of happiness-performance relationships; the study here identifies antecedent paths involving high-versus-low happy employees associating with high-versus-low managers' assessments of these employees' performances.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study merges data from surveys of employees (n = 247) and surveys completed by their managers (n = 43) and by using qualitative comparative analysis via the software program, fsQCA.com. The study analyzes data from Janfusan Fancyworld, the largest (in revenues and number of employees) tourism business group in Taiwan; Janfusan Fancyworld includes tourist hotels, amusement parks, restaurants and additional firms in related service sectors.\nFindings: The findings support the four tenets of configural analysis and theory construction: recognize equifinality of different solutions for the same outcome, test for asymmetric solutions, test for causal asymmetric outcomes for very high versus very low happiness and work performance and embrace complexity.\nResearch limitations/implications: Additional research in other firms and additional countries is necessary to confirm the usefulness of examining algorithms for predicting very high (low) happiness and very high (low) quality of work performance. The implications are substantial that configural theory and research will resolve perplexing happiness-performance conundrums.\nPractical implications: The study provides useful case-level algorithms involving employees' demographic characteristics and their assessments of work facet-specifics which are useful for explaining very high happiness-at-work and high quality of work performance (as assessed by managers) - as well as algorithms explaining very low happiness and very low quality of work performance.\nOriginality/value: The study is the first to propose and test the tenets of configural theory in the context of hospitality frontline service employees' happiness-at-work and managers' assessments of these employees' quality of work performances.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Internship as a criterion for South African educators' registration	[ "South Africa", "Burnout", "Internship", "Job demands", "Workload", "Roles of educators" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Education worldwide is in a stage of transformation. In our country, on the one hand, the South African Schools Act (27/1996) has been paving the way for national transformation across schools. On the other hand, the complexities and challenges of transforming the South African education system affect the management of curriculum implementation. In order to ensure that all South Africans receive flexible lifelong learning, education, and training of a high quality, certain specialised activities and responsibilities are assigned to educators in an equitable manner. Section 4 of The Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998 (South Africa, 1998), specifies the terms and conditions of employment of educators. To compound the workload of educators, the norms and standards of educators in the National Education Policy Act (27 of 1995), stipulate that an educator has to fulfil seven roles. The nature of these roles requires that educators acquire numerous practical, foundational, and reflexive competences. Acquiring these competences results in an increased workload and could, therefore, become a salient stressor that might exhaust employees' mental and physical resources.\nThe seven roles of educators: The educator will mediate learning in a manner which is sensitive to the diverse needs of learners, including those with barriers to learning; construct learning environments that are appropriately contextualised and inspirational; communicate effectively showing recognition of and respect for the differences of others. In addition, an educator will demonstrate sound knowledge of subject content and various principles, strategies and resources appropriate to teaching in the South African context (South Africa, Department of Education, 2000, p. 13).\nThe use of internships to alleviate educators' workload: Despite the crucial role of educators in fostering, among other things, the cognitive well-being of learners, addressing educator stress that emanates from an increasing workload remains a daunting challenge.\nTheoretical framework of the research: This research is built on the theoretical framework of the job demands-resources model (JD-R) and aims to extend the understanding of job demands related to the teaching profession. In addition, the research focus is on exploring the merits of the READ model, as an internship model, to alleviate job-related stress and job demands. In support of the JD-R model (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007, p. 309) and the Dual-process model (Bakker et al., 2003, p. 393) this research aims to highlight the fact that teaching has its own risk factors associated with job-related stress and job demands (Bakker and Demerouti, 2012). The lack of available resources to achieve goals, reduce job demands, and stimulate personal growth and development, might affect well-being at work (Bakker and Demerouti, 2012). These resources could inter alia refer to salary, career opportunities, job security, supportive team climate, role clarity, and participation in decision-making, autonomy, and performance feedback (Demerouti and Bakker, 2011, p. 1). Job demands can be high in order to provide a challenge, but resources are required to reduce stress and buffer the impact of strain, burnout, and motivation related to job demands (Demerouti and Bakker, 2011, p. 1), all of which influence the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom.\nResearch method: Research design\nData analysis: In this section, the empirical findings of the pilot study are reported and interpreted.\nConclusion: In order to ensure that all South Africans receive flexible, lifelong learning, education and training of a high quality, certain specialised activities and responsibilities are assigned to educators in an equitable manner. The participants in this pilot research study indicated that the increase in their administrative workload has a negative impact on their professional well-being. According to the participants, they are overwhelmed by the various prescribed ways of compiling documentation as well as assessment policy requirements that are difficult to achieve (Van Tonder, 2008, p. 154). Educators are expected to design and manage both formative and summative assessment and keep detailed and diagnostic records of learner performance (Potenza, 2002). With larger classes, reporting learner performance becomes more difficult. The reporting of learner performance leads to distress when executing administrative activities (Ingvarson et al., 2005, p. 192).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible use of internships to support educators with the increase in their administrative, professional workload.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research utilised a mixed method approach. Quantitative and qualitative data was gathered. Pragmatism was the research paradigm. Two structured Likert scale questionnaires were used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposefully selected in-service educators from schools.\nFindings: The participants in this study indicated that the increase in their administrative workload impacted negatively on their well-being, they were overwhelmed by the amount of documentation they had to compile, they indicated that assessment was difficult, that they did not have time to constantly adapt to changes, that they had limited opportunities for professional development. Educators said they suffered from anxiety, had high stress levels, were moody, physically and emotionally exhausted and considered to leave the profession.\nPractical implications: The implementation of an internship model could impact positively on educators' administrative workload. It could lead to a decrease in educators' administrative workload; lower stress levels and increased learner performance. Student educators will have opportunities to experience how a school operates, get feedback on their teaching skills, learn to discipline learners, attend meetings and serve as part of an educational team.\nOriginality/value: In the light of the findings of this research it seems that the implementation of an internship model would provide opportunities to expose student educators to a real-life work experience and opportunities to work together with experienced educators acting as mentors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Media positioning: comparing organizations' standing in the news	[ "Corporations", "Public organizations", "External communication", "Media positioning", "Media relations", "Non-governmental organizations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For organizations, the news media can be fascinating and frightening at the same time (Schillemans and Jacobs, 2011). Media coverage about an organization is usually not valued for its own sake, but for its supposed consequences. Favorable media coverage may improve an organization's reputation, improve relationships with stakeholders, and lead to strategic advantages (Deephouse, 2000). But media coverage can also put pressure on an organization to comply with societal expectations (Brammer and Millington, 2006). While negative coverage is considered as one of the biggest threats to reputation (Pharoah, 2003), research shows mixed results regarding the consequences of negative news (Meadows and Meadows, 2016; Verhoeven, 2016; Kiousis et al., 2007). Organizations thus consider their appearance in the media usually as highly relevant mainly because of assumed consequences for organizational reputation or public legitimacy (Einwiller et al., 2010; Van Ruler and Vercic, 2005).\nThe positioning of organizations in the news: Although developed in the context of political communication, the theory of agenda setting can help to understand how organizational media coverage affects organizational reputation (Carroll and McCombs, 2003; Kiousis et al., 2007; McCombs, 2005). First-level agenda setting describes how the prominence or salience of objects, such as political parties, candidates but also organizations, in the news translates into public awareness of these objects (e.g. Kiousis et al., 2006). Second-level agenda setting links objects to specific attributes and, thus, not only predicts public awareness about organizations or other objects but also what audiences think about these organizations (e.g. Meijer and Kleinnijenhuis, 2006). A distinction is made between substantive attributes that place organizations in a specific context and affective attitudes that add a valence dimension to agenda-setting effects (Carroll and McCombs, 2003). In sum, the three dimensions that matter most about organizational media coverage according to agenda-setting theory are prominence, context, and evaluation. While these aspects have often been analyzed to assess media effects, they can also be used to compare the positioning of different organizations in the media. The following sections will elaborate on these three dimensions and discuss how the media positioning of corporations, public organizations, and NGO might differ.\nMethod: A quantitative content analysis of the media coverage of 61 Dutch organizations was conducted. The data form part of a larger study that also included a survey among communication professionals (Jacobs and Wonneberger, 2017). The selection of organizations for the present study was guided by several theoretically informed selection criteria that were applied to ensure high variation of media attention within different institutional settings: with companies, public organizations, and NGOs three different types of organizations were chosen. The companies were selected from the Dutch Elsevier top 500 list, a list that is comparable to the Fortune 500. The public organizations were selected on the criterion of operating at arms-length distance from the central government as these fulfill public tasks while having more freedom in their (communication) strategies compared to less autonomous organizations. Agencies of Dutch ministries and quasi-autonomous NGOs (quangos) fit this criterion. A list of well-known national NGOs operating in societal, political and environmental areas served as a basis to select this third type of organization. For each group of organizations a selection was made to reach variation in scope (international, national, regional/local), size (number of employees) and sector. The final sample consisted of 18 companies, 20 public organizations and 23 NGOs.\nResults: About 53 percent of all coded articles referred to a corporation (n=1,329). Public organizations ranked second with 30 percent (n=751) followed by NGOs with 17 percent (n=440). According to the models on the article level that account for intra-organizational variation (see Table I), corporations and NGOs differ the most with six significant differences. Public organizations and NGOs differ in fours aspects. Public organizations and corporations differ in three aspects and can, thus, be considered as most similar. The models on the level of the organization revealed a slightly different picture (Table II). Especially NGOs' representation in the media differed from corporations and public organizations while the latter two were rather similar in most respects.\nConclusions and discussion: Studying the content of media coverage is in general an important prerequisite for the formulation of communication strategies by corporate communication professionals. Next to that, this study adds to our knowledge on how different types of organizations are positioned in the news, thus allowing corporate communication professionals to compare their own type of organization with their fellows and other types of organizations to enhance organizational reflecting and learning. Based on agenda-setting theory, this study proposes a typology of organizational media positioning consisting of the three dimensions prominence, context, and evaluation. A content analysis of national media coverage about Dutch organizations allowed to compare companies, public organizations, and NGOs with regard to these three dimensions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Visibility in the media is considered important for organizations, as it is alleged to affect their reputation, public legitimacy, and stakeholder relations. Strategies for media relations often discern corporations, public organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The media attention for those organizations is, however, often studied in isolation. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of media positioning to compare media coverage for corporations, public organizations, and NGOs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative content analysis of the media coverage of 61 Dutch organizations was conducted. The comparison focused on three aspects of media positioning: prominence, context, and evaluation.\nFindings: Public organizations and corporations were most similar, whereas corporations and NGOs differed most strongly in their media positioning. Corporations appeared most prominently in the media. While corporations and public organizations were more often related to organizational issues, NGOs were more often linked to substantial issues and received more positive coverage.\nOriginality/value: Insight into the content, amount, and tone of organizational media coverage is crucial for the formulation of public relations strategies by corporate communication professionals. The analysis shows whether and how the prominence, context, and evaluation differs among corporations, public organizations, and NGOs. The findings shed light on institutional factors that affect the visibility of different types of organizations, thus enabling future scholars in the field of visibility analyses in corporate communication to refine theories on drivers and characteristics of media coverage regarding different types of organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Volunteer overseas development workers: the hero's adventure and personal transformation	[ "Expatriates", "Volunteers", "Developing countries", "New Zealand", "Aid agencies", "Individual development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The tsunami in January 2005 highlighted the number of people involved in overseas development work. Many qualified individuals took time out from their regular work in order to travel round the world to help. Web sites list details of 280 UK based not-for-profit aid organisations and 29,500 world-wide aid organisations which offer development and aid jobs overseas (www.sussex.ac.uk). Even when there is no emergency, first-world aid organisations routinely recruit volunteers willing to work abroad, unpaid, in third-world conditions, for long periods. Many individuals therefore spend significant periods away from home and careers voluntarily engaged in aid work. In terms of Western images of career advancement, such excursions interrupt regular life and career progression, and appear to be foolhardy.Furthermore, while a substantial literature has been developed concerning \"expatriate assignment\" within corporate boundaries (Arthur and Bennett, 1995; Caligiuri, 1997; Downes and Thomas, 1999; Oddou, 1991; Ones and Viswesvaran, 1997; Porter and Tansky, 1999), little is known about the personal dynamics of international volunteer work, or its longer-term effects on careers and lives.In this paper, we seek to explore the factors leading individuals to volunteer for overseas development assignments, their experience of these assignments and the effects on them in terms of personal change and potential career development. First, we consider the meagre existing research. Next we outline relevant theoretical schema derived from the literature. We then report on the objectives, method and findings from a longitudinal study of 48 development workers assigned by the New Zealand agency VSA (Volunteer Service Abroad). Finally we summarise and discuss these findings.\nPrevious research: Research on the career effects of volunteer work overseas is limited. Retrospective studies by VSO (1998), the British Volunteer Service Overseas organisation, and AVA in Australia (Reark Research, 1998) suggest that the majority of volunteers considered that their assignments had influenced their personal development and/or career progress positively, but that around 10 per cent felt it had hindered them. Over half the volunteers in both studies returned to their old job or similar work following the assignment, but many used the experiences as a basis for major change, including career progression into professional aid work. Overall, the results suggested that the assignment caused short-term disruption to volunteers' careers, but had long-term benefits for many.These studies are relatively uninformative because they are shallow, large-sample surveys. They provide potentially generalisable statistical data but give little information on the reality of volunteer experience or its effects on the individual, particularly the individual's learning.In a longitudinal qualitative study, Starr (1994) considered the lives and attitudes of 21 Peace Corps volunteers 20 years after their assignments. The volunteer experience was typically viewed retrospectively as a \"turning point in their life course\" (Starr, 1994, p. 137) volunteers had used the time as a \"sanctioned withdrawal from conventional society in order to discover their true self and prepare for adult commitment\" (Starr, 1994, p. 146). However, the average age of these volunteers at the time of their assignment was only 22, and they were mainly straight out of college, with assignments as teacher aides, quite different from the type of volunteer and assignment that aid organisations typically sponsor today.Expatriate assignment theory\nResearch study: Objectives\nResults: Phase 1: background characteristics and motivation\nDiscussion and conclusion: The metaphor of the hero's journey facilitated understanding of the overseas development aspect of the participants' careers. It was evident that the volunteers understood their assignments not only as altruistic endeavours but as opportunities for challenge, adventure and life change. For many volunteers the timing had the essence of the hero's \"call to adventure\" (Campbell, 1968). For others, in mid life, the reality that life was half over made them re-look at what they wanted from their lives and attempt to live out a dream.At mid point the experiences of volunteers were challenging and dynamic. Themes related to challenge and trial dominated the accounts while beginnings of some elements of success were also reported. \"Hero talk\" was identified. The main challenges experienced by volunteers related to physical difficulties, cultural attitudes and psychological questioning of themselves and the assignment. Themes of the hero's mastery were the acquisition of personal and technical skills, awareness and discovery of self, cross-cultural adaptation and profound changes in values, leading some to question the assumption of \"first world\" superiority. This is in keeping with the AVA (Reark Research, 1998) study which showed that 68 per cent of volunteers thought that the experience had a major impact on them. This was an important outcome of the VSA experience which was not fully expected by the volunteers themselves and may not be fully understood by VSA recruiters and future employers.The process of the hero's journey appeared very similar to that experienced by expatriate managers and academics (Osland, 1990, 1995; Richardson and McKenna, 2002), with all three groups having in common their travel to live in foreign cultures. Volunteers' evaluations of their experiences also suggest that they experience the \"boon\" or \"transformation\" - the reward for the hero to bring back to their own country (Campbell, 1968). Only those few who returned early said they had not changed or learned in some way.The results suggest that volunteers have a protean career and are driven by internal values, have a strong identity and are self-directed yet also adaptable and open to experience. Openness to experience facilitates identity exploration which in turn may lead to greater self awareness and further openness to experience (Costa and McCrae, 1985). Openness also suggests qualities of personal flexibility and tolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty, key factors in the ability to manage change. Participants' descriptions of their VSA experience were full of examples of a willingness to be flexible, tolerant and explore their own \"other\" selves, and the protean attribute of being able to \"take stock and self reflect\" (Briscoe and Hall, 2002).How unique or different are the stories told by these volunteers from those of people whose careers are conducted in less exotic locations? This study did not attempt to compare volunteers with other groups. Data gathered by Arthur et al. (1999) show such patterns in many recent career histories. However, volunteering overseas creates major disjunctions in career and life, and these disjunctions appeared to be transformational for many volunteers.Knowledge of the personality and protean characteristics of volunteers and the \"hero's journey\" characteristics of typical assignments may be useful for HR consideration both by volunteers and by agencies before decisions are made regarding recruitment for, and organisation and supervision of, voluntary assignments, and may also carry some applicability to \"expatriate assignments\" organised by companies.For any organisation which is selecting staff, a candidate's CV which states that they have done overseas development work is likely to indicate that they have enhanced their personal skills, cross cultural communications skills, sense of self awareness well as heightened and expanded their relevant technical skills.For volunteers, overseas service represents an arduous challenge that demands adaptability, cross-cultural sensitivity and perseverance but promises major opportunities for self-development and personal transformation. Potential volunteers may consider the experiences of prior volunteers and their own personalities and preferences and ask themselves whether they are ready for such a major, if temporary, upheaval in their lives. Agencies may benefit from considering the \"job description\" and \"person specification\" of our data, and the potential use of psychometric instruments and appropriate interview orientation and supervision techniques to improve the human resource management of their volunteers. Our descriptive data may provide some degree of generalisation to the nature of volunteer work in third-world-settings, and the \"hero's adventure\" a useful template for all parties to use.This article suggests further avenues for research into the career experiences of overseas development workers, both paid and unpaid. Such research would be an acknowledgement of the experiences of the increasing workforce involved. It would assist agencies and volunteers to understand the process volunteers go through, the personal characteristics required, the assistance needed by volunteers, and the personal development likely to ensue. Understanding of individual self directed expatriate career experience in development work would deepen and be made more relevant to all those involved.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to provide new information about overseas volunteer development workers undertaking projects in underdeveloped countries, specifically, their backgrounds, personalities, values and previous experience, motivations, experiences, learning and \"transformation\" gained, and possible impact on further career; the degree of fit of experiences to the archetypal \"hero's adventure\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper presents a longitudinal study of a cohort of 48 New Zealand volunteers starting work on NZ aid organisation Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) assignments in 2001. This included structured interviews and administration of the NEO- PR personality inventory and the Schein Career orientation Inventory pre-departure and on return and an e-mail survey halfway through the assignment. Data analysis was largely qualitative using NVivo software.\nFindings: - Volunteers had high levels of openness and agreeableness, and career anchors of dedication to a cause and pure challenge. The majority of volunteers fitted the main characteristics of the \"hero's adventure\" model, duplicating results for business expatriates by Osland and academic expatriates by Richardson. Key features were motivations of adventure and altruism, descriptions of trials and tribulations during the project, feelings of success, new skill and personal transformations in identity and values.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This is a mainly qualitative study of small sample from specific national location. Longer-term follow-up needed.\nPractical implications: - The paper provides valuable information for potential volunteers, for aid organisations selecting and supporting them and potential employers of volunteers.\nOriginality/value: - Volunteer development work is increasingly common, is undertaken by thousands in third-world countries, and is a potentially life-changing experience, but research on it is very limited. This is the first in-depth study, where findings paint a vivid picture of its nature and effects on the individual.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Reshaping mental models - enabling innovation through service design	[ "Innovation", "Service design", "Mental models", "Institutional work", "Service ecosystems", "Institutional arrangements" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: \"If a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory. If a revolution destroys a systematic government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves in the succeeding government. There's so much talk about the system. And so little understanding\" (Pirsig, 1974).\nA macro-level perspective on innovation in service ecosystems: Institutional arrangements\nA micro-level perspective on innovation in service ecosystems: Mental models\nConceptualizing the micro-macro relations of innovation in service ecosystems through service design: This paper takes an integrative approach to conceptualization that brings dispersed existent knowledge together into a unified framework (MacInnis, 2011). The conceptual framework leverages the oscillating foci of the service ecosystem perspective (Chandler and Vargo, 2011) to bring together connected concepts. Based on the review of related theory, it is recognized that institutional arrangements, normally examined at a macro-level, are inextricably linked to actors' mental models at the micro-level. Actors' mental models uphold institutional arrangements and institutional arrangements reinforce actors' mental models. As such, there is ongoing interplay between these two concepts as they co-construct and mutually constitute each other. Thus, to realize innovation in service ecosystems through institutional work, actors' must reshape their mental models. Service design practices have been recognized as a means of engaging actors in institutional work and have been linked with changes in actors' mental models. Figure 1 zooms in and out of the innovation process in service ecosystems, showing how reshaping mental models through service design practices at a micro-level can enable changes in institutional arrangements at a macro-level.\nMethods: Research design\nFindings: Based on the analysis of data from Experio Lab, this section provides details on how service design practices are reshaping the mental models of actors in the Swedish healthcare system. First, the different types of service design practices that contribute to changing mental models and their enabling conditions are described. Then, narratives from the field are used to contextualize these practices and illuminate the relationship between these practices in reshaping mental models.\nImplications and future research: This section considers the implications of this paper to service research and practice, as well as the limitations and opportunities for future research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how service design practices reshape mental models to enable innovation. Mental models are actors' assumptions and beliefs that guide their behavior and interpretation of their environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper offers a conceptual framework for innovation in service ecosystems through service design that connects the macro view of innovation as changing institutional arrangements with the micro view of innovation as reshaping actors' mental models. Furthermore, through an 18-month ethnographic study of service design practices in the context of healthcare, how service design practices reshape mental models to enable innovation is investigated.\nFindings: This research highlights that service design reshapes mental models through the practices of sensing surprise, perceiving multiples and embodying alternatives. This paper delineates the enabling conditions for these practices to occur, such as coaching, diverse participation and supportive physical materials.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study brings forward the underappreciated role of actors' mental models in innovation. It highlights that innovation in service ecosystems is not simply about actors making changes to their external context but also actors shifting their own assumptions and beliefs.\nPractical implications: This paper offers insights for service managers and service designers interested in supporting innovation on how to catalyze shifts in actors' mental models by creating the conditions for specific service design practices.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first to shed light on the central role of actors' mental models in innovation and identify the service design practices that reshape mental models.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The comparison of causal relationships of job stress between Thai immigrant employees with and without rearing their aging parents	[ "Job stress", "Thai immigrant employees", "Causal relationship", "Aging parents" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The survey conducted by WHO on employee population of about 1,900 million people regarding worldwide risk of problems related to their work showed that there are 160 million employees experiencing illness. There are 8 percent of them who have occupational stress, which is the same as Thai employees who suffer stress and anxiety the most (32.24 percent) and were in working age of 26-30 years in 2014[1]. The occupational stress is a disadvantage resulting in the loss of working potential and in mental health illnesses[1]. The development of Thai society focuses on industrial society under globalization, which has become the turning point of society, with economic changes in Thailand including Thai immigrant employees[2] under AEC policies[3]. A survey disclosed that Thai immigrant employees still tended to work in the same regions, rather than in different regions[4, 5].\nMaterials and methods: Sample and recruitment\nResults: Participant personnel and job stresses are presented in Tables I and II. Then, the model fit of the causal relationship was deemed acceptable, as shown in Table III. In this causal relationship among Thai immigrant employees who either supported their aging parents or did not, the addition of various factors increased the explanation of variance in job stress by 53.1 percent (p-value < 0.01), and 43.9 percent (p-value < 0.01), respectively (Table III). This model showed a mediating effect of causal factor (i.e. with/without rearing aging parents) on the relationship between working conditions, wages, distance, and job stress (Figure 1).\nDiscussion: This highlights that the empirical study is the first and outstanding research finding of Thailand because Thai immigrant employees who looked after their aging parents are less stress than immigrant employees without rearing their aging parents due to blood bonding in Thai society. Therefore, employers should set up activities (i.e. exercise, entertainment, and relaxation) to reduce job stress. In addition, it can increase the labor productivity.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The occupational stress is a disadvantage resulting in mental health illnesses that have been found when looking at those migrants who were young adults and migrated to work in the urban areas, leaving behind their aging parents to live alone at home. The purpose of this paper is to compare the causal relationships of job stress between Thai immigrant employees with and without rearing aging parents.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research was a cross-sectional survey. The sample for this study included 600 Thai immigrant employees (300 cases per group) in 2016. Measures included individual characteristics, working conditions, and a Thai Job Content Questionnaire (Thai-JCQ) on related job stress. The model was verified using a path model by Mplus software.\nFindings: The distance traveled between the house and the workplace, wages, working conditions had a direct effect on job stress. Working conditions among Thai immigrants employees with rearing aging parents had the most direct effect on job stress with a standardized regression weight of 0.552 (p-value <0.05) as well as working conditions among their without rearing aging parents had the most direct effect on job stress with a standardized regression weight of -0.292.\nOriginality/value: This research demonstrated that working conditions were an important factor.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Lean implementation in Indian process industries - some empirical evidence	[ "India", "Lean manufacturing", "Performance improvement", "Process industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the present era of fierce competition, manufacturing organizations relentlessly make efforts to improve their performance for successful survival (Hokoma et al., 2008). According to Ghosh (2013), Indian manufacturing companies are also feeling the heat of competition after the introduction of open market policies and industrial liberalization. Competition has intensified in all sectors whether it is service sector, discrete manufacturing or process manufacturing. Upadhye et al. (2010) underline that intense competition has motivated Indian manufacturing organizations to search methods to reduce cost and to deliver on time with high customer satisfaction. Dangayach and Deshmukh (2003) measured the competitiveness of manufacturing industries of India and found that the process sector showed least competitiveness on competitive priorities such as quality, cost, delivery, innovation and flexibility.\n2. Literature review in context to lean implementation in process industries: 2.1. Lean manufacturing\n3. Research methodology: 3.1. Development of survey instrument\n4. Observations of survey: Out of contacted 500 Indian process industries, 126 responded. In all, six responses were incomplete which were excluded from further analysis. Hence, the number of valid responses was 120. Therefore, the response rate achieved was 24 percent. It is worth mentioning that response rate achieved in present study is similar to other such studies carried out in Indian context. Ghosh (2013) in a study of lean manufacturing implementation in Indian manufacturing companies received the response rate of 20 percent. In similar studies, Upasani (2012) and Pandey et al. (2010) could achieve the response rate of 17.5 and 18.02 percent, respectively. Nonetheless, according to Malhotra and Grover (1998) and Sahay et al. (2006) this response rate is adequate in India for this type of surveys.\n5. Discussion and insights of results: Ghosh (2013) found in a survey of 79 Indian manufacturing industries that 80 percent had implemented lean to a significant level. Author included a small proportion of process industries in his study along with discrete industries. We carried out present study exclusively for Indian process industries. Our results show that out of surveyed process industries 37.5 percent have adopted lean manufacturing. By comparing the findings of present study with the research carried out by Ghosh (2013), it is observed that Indian process sector is still behind the other manufacturing sectors of India as far as lean adoption is concerned. It also supports the claim of Gebauer et al. (2009), Jain and Lyons (2009) and Abdulmalek and Rajgopal (2007) that lean implementation is low in process industries. The level of lean adoption in process industries in India is lower in comparison to process industries of China and European countries (Chen and Shang, 2008; Gebauer et al., 2009), although, it is encouraging that it is comparatively higher than other developing countries (Hokoma et al., 2008; Hokoma et al., 2010; Salaheldin, 2005; Gyampah and Gargeya, 2001).\n6. Conclusion and way forward: This study attempts to find the status of lean implementation in process industries in India. Based on the literature reviewed, the issues to explore lean implementation in Indian process industries were split into four heads, namely, \"reasons of not implementing lean,\" \"reasons of implementing lean,\" \"lean tools\" and \"challenges to implement lean.\" The study suggests that adoption of lean manufacturing in Indian process industries is still modest. It is observed that \"infeasibility to produce in small batches for efficient utilization of capacity\" is the foremost reason of not adopting lean. \"Lack of expertise,\" \"lack of education\" and \"inadequate training\" are other important reasons of low implementation of lean in Indian process industries. It is also observed that lean practices such as 5S, TPM, \"work standardization,\" \"quality management\" and \"visual control\" are widespread in Indian process industries. \"Customer satisfaction\" and \"waste elimination\" are the most important reasons to adopt lean. However, while implementing lean, the findings of the study suggest that \"to facilitate small batch production\" and \"to arrange experts to implement lean\" are the most significant impediments.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In the present era of intense competition, industries are adopting lean manufacturing for successful survival. The concept of lean manufacturing is new for Indian process industries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the status of lean manufacturing in Indian process industries in terms of lean practices, reasons and challenges of implementing lean manufacturing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was carried out to assess the level of lean implementation in Indian process industries. Statistical tests were conducted to assess the significant lean practices, reasons and challenges of implementing lean in Indian process industries.\nFindings: It is observed that the level of implementation of lean manufacturing in Indian process industries is still low. Results indicate that Indian process industries those who have implemented lean found lean to be very useful to reduce wastes and to increase quality. Major lean practices being implemented by Indian process industries are primarily those which are related to waste elimination or improvement in quality. Indian process industries found that important challenges to implement lean are to produce in small batches, to arrange for lean experts and to impart training to employees.\nResearch limitations/implications: In the present study, the sample size is small and hence, the findings should be generalized cautiously. Although the study indicates that lean can be very useful if implemented in Indian process industries but further empirical studies are required to quantify performance improvements through adoption of lean.\nOriginality/value: The paper explores status of lean adoption in Indian process industries. Considering the unique characteristics of process industries, the present research would be helpful for making strategies to implement lean in process industry setups.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Founder succession in new ventures: the human perspective	[ "Leadership", "Entrepreneurship", "Venture capital", "CEO succession", "Small and medium-sized enterprises", "Top management teams" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are important drivers of the economy: not only do they create between 65 and 80 percent of all new jobs worldwide but they are a crucial source of innovation (OECD, 2011; US Small Business Administration, 2013). Unfortunately, only half of all young companies survive their fifth birthday, while the rest of them die, leading to the loss of a large number of jobs. Indeed, a young company's journey is replete with challenges that may threaten its survival and we know that first-time succession represents a particularly critical moment in the early years of young companies. In such an event, the founder-CEO is replaced by a professional CEO who typically has more experience and a different skill set that is said to be better suited to handling the managerial activities at the top of the company (Wasserman, 2003). Yet is it really beneficial for a young company to get rid of its founder?\nThe research: Between 2010 and 2012, we studied 15 first-time succession events among young companies. All the companies were active in the high-technology industry and all but three were based in Silicon Valley, California. The companies varied in size and age, with a mean age of 6.5 years and employing 125 employees on average. In order to allow for reliable data collection, we only interviewed members of young companies that had experienced a succession event within the last two years, thus mitigating retrospective bias.\nThree successful succession patterns: Our research among the 15 young companies revealed three different patterns for the six factors that shape a successful first-time succession. We called these the \"all hands-on-deck\", the \"hand-in-glove\", and the \"heavy hand\" pattern. The all-hands-on-deck pattern (which occurred in five cases) highlights the importance of the case for change as well as the inclusion of the TMT in the succession event, while the hand-in-glove pattern (which occurred in four cases) emphasizes the soft skills of the incoming CEO and the relationship between the incoming CEO and the founder-CEO, and the heavy-hand pattern (which occurred in six cases) shows that procedural fairness and timing are the most important factors for a successful succession event. While all six factors identified played a role in each succession pattern, we will center the explanation of each pattern on the two most important factors.\nHandiness of the three succession patterns: In the previous paragraphs, we identified three different succession patterns based on the initiating force. In the all-hands-on-deck pattern, the founder-CEO triggers the succession event. In the two other patterns, either the young company's TMT (i.e. hand-in-glove pattern) or its board (i.e. heavy-hand pattern) provokes the succession event. But why is it important to distinguish these patterns and how can they help us to successfully manage succession events?\nHands off: what we can learn from failed successions: Not all successions prove successful. Empirical results show that many succession events fail to produce the results that companies are hoping for (Dyck et al., 2002). Specifically, the new CEO, together with the TMT, fails to improve the company's financial results, so the majority of people involved are unhappy about the succession experience, which leads to a decrease in morale throughout the company. But what went wrong in these cases?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to provide board members, managers, and researchers of new ventures with insights into how to manage a first-time succession process successfully. Successful succession is defined, both in terms of the quality of the experience for the stakeholders involved - in other words, how the founder-CEO, the professional incoming CEO, the top management team, and board members experience the process regarding distrust, resentment, tensions, and intention to leave - and in terms of the effectiveness of the succession, meaning organizational performance levels such as sales growth and return on assets. Depending on the initiating forces of succession (i.e. emanating from founder-CEO, the top management team (TMT), and the board/venture capitalists), evidence is offered on how best to leverage the six factors to allow for a successful succession.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research design is built on a case study conducted in 15 first-time successions in new ventures in the high-tech industry. Primary data (interviews, direct observation) and secondary data (archival and internal documents) were analyzed using mainly qualitative methods, enabling cross-comparison between the 15 cases under investigation.\nFindings: Our cross-case data analysis uncovered six factors that shaped first-time successions in 15 new ventures. The analysis also revealed that the interplay between these factors, as well as their relative importance, differed depending on who initiated the succession (the founder, the TMT, or the board/venture capitalists). These different sets of interplays led to three patterns of factors that were managed differently in each case in order to ensure the success of a succession process: (1) in the \"all hands-on-deck\" pattern, a legitimate case for change and the inclusion of the TMT in the succession process are the factors in which to invest the most managerial efforts to ensure a successful succession process; (2) in the \"hand-in-glove\" pattern, the new CEO's soft skills and the relationship between the incoming and outgoing CEOs have to be leveraged for succession to succeed; and (3) in the \"heavy hand\" pattern, procedural fairness and succession timing have to be managed to ensure success. A total of six cases of unsuccessful succession were also analyzed. Based on this analysis, two types of malpractice are presented that compromise succession.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings are based on a comparative case study of 15 new ventures in the high-tech industry that have experienced first-time succession within the last two years. Further empirical evidence would be required to generalize our results to the high-tech industry at large.\nPractical implications: This paper provides founders, managers, and board members with practical recommendations on how best to manage first-time succession in a new venture depending on the initiating force of the succession.\nOriginality/value: This paper highlights what past literature has not yet revealed, namely that the interplay of factors contributing to a successful succession varies depending on the initiating force behind it, and each succession needs to be managed differently if it is to prove successful. This paper thus enriches existing theory by filling the unexplored links between success in first-time succession and the initiating force of the succession. Some insights into frequently occurring malpractice in the succession process are also presented.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Development of strategic asset management planning in the petroleum industry	[ "Asset management", "Strategy", "Petroleum", "Strategic planning", "Oil and gas", "Asset integrity management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and background: Asset integrity management (AIM) is an adaptation of asset management (AM), especially in the petroleum industry, due to the definite risk it bears that requires integrity to be maintained over the entire life cycle. As part of the management of physical assets, AIM has brought a holistic approach in managing the life cycle of a physical asset (Ritchie, 2011). In this industry, AIM activities have expanded from the pre-operation phase through to the decommissioning phase. In addition, AIM activities, such as maintenance and inspection, have also shifted from playing a tactical role to playing a strategic role (Sollee et al., 1995; Tsang, 1998).\nAIM SP in the petroleum industry: The management of asset integrity is gained through integrated access and control over the installation in order to achieve the desired integrity (Bai and Liyanage, 2012; Sulaiman and Husin, 2000). In the petroleum industry, the desired integrity level is the capability of an installation to perform its required function in a prescribed manner.\nStudy method: Research was conducted to study the practices and progression of AIM SP in organizations with petroleum installations. Respondents work in the petroleum industry and were given the same set of questions. The study utilizes a mixed method and consisted of two parts, a semi-structured guided interview and a questionnaire (Brannen, 2005), as illustrated in Figure 3. The semi-structured guided interview was mostly performed face-to-face whenever possible, while, in the second part, respondents were asked to fill in a questionnaire.\nFindings: Although the interview questions are the same for all the respondents, the quantity of information received from the respondents varies from one to another, depending on the confidentiality level of the organizations in which the respondents work. The questionnaire provided preliminary data of the organization and several scalable parameters that are related to the interview questions. The questionnaire data were analyzed in conjunction with the data gathered from the interviews. The analysis showed that there were several key variables that can be related to the formulation of AIM SP in the petroleum industry.\nDiscussion: From the findings, it was observed that AIM SP practices vary between different organizations. The larger the organization is, the more available are the resources and budget to be allocated in SP. Moreover, as a multi-discipline subject, AIM SP involves several business units in the organizations, and all elements are significant in reaching objectives. This statement is opposed to Visser (1998), who views maintenance as the heart of enterprise and hence it should have its own strategic plan. Instead, the findings suggested integration between business units in the organization to reach AIM objectives. This includes integration between, for example, operations, maintenance, production, engineering, supply chain, supports, etc. Consequently, AIM has multiple focus areas, which, according to the respondents, are mostly significant and reliant on one another. These focus areas are analyzed and given prioritization in the planning, due to the limited allocation of resources and budget.\nConcluding remarks: In the initial part of the paper, it was concluded that organizations were performing SP to secure their competitive advantage for as long as possible; thus forecasts were made to direct the allocation of resources on certain focus areas. From the discussion, it was apparent that the focus areas are dynamic and depends on internal and external factors such as size of the organizations, assets, available resources and budgets, country or region, regulations, etc. Therefore, environmental scanning or other types of assessment for the asset's business environments, is an important step prior to SP formulation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Due to the certain risk carried in offshore petroleum installations, the integrity of these installations needs to be maintained at all times. Thus, asset integrity management (AIM) needs to be formulated and monitored to achieve the integrity objective. The purpose of this paper is to study the practices and progression of strategic AIM planning in the petroleum industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is written based on a literature study, observations and data collected from industry practitioners through an online questionnaire and interviews to study the AIM practices in their organization. Validation of the results is performed through respondents' reviews and cross-referencing with existing literature and supplemental data.\nFindings: The paper identifies, analyses and validates the work structure in formulating an AIM strategic plan.\nResearch limitations/implications: Even though the research focuses on the AIM practices of offshore petroleum installations, the result can be implemented in similar fields.\nOriginality/value: Researchers or practitioners can benefit from the knowledge gained of current practices and the presented work structure in establishing an AIM strategic plan.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do fiduciary duties matter?	[ "Fiduciary duties", "Organizational form", "Corporate governance", "Mutual funds", "Trust", "Corporate finances" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: This paper explores whether fiduciary duties matter by studying two different business organizations, i.e. trusts and corporations. Trusts and corporations subject their insiders to different fiduciary standards. Trust law imposes stricter fiduciary obligations on insiders than corporate law does. As a result, trusts offer weaker limited liability protections than corporations do. Does the difference in fiduciary obligations impact the behavior of firm managers? Does the difference influence management's performance or risk tolerance?\n1. Fiduciary duties: In business organizations, a crucial task is to minimize the agency costs that arise from separation of ownership and control. In the corporation, ownership is vested in the shareholders and control is exercised by management. Similarly, in the trust, ownership is vested in the beneficiaries and control is exercised by the trustee. In the absence of complete information about managerial activities, owners/beneficiaries cannot design and enforce a contract specifying the managerial actions to be taken in each state of the world. Fiduciary duties provide a set of standards that the law applies to restrain insiders from exercising their discretionary power in contingencies not specifically foreseeable and over which the parties could not contract.Corporate law resolves agency conflict by imposing on corporate officers and directors a duty of loyalty in pursuit of the corporation's objectives and a duty of care in performance. Trust law, likewise, resolves the conflict between beneficiaries and trustees by imposing on the trustee a duty of loyalty and a duty of care.While similar, the fiduciary duties supplied by trust law and corporate law are not the same. The duties under trust law are stricter than those under corporate law. For instance, the duty of care, in general terms, requires that decision makers discharge their duties with such care and skill as a person of ordinary prudence would exercise. However, the courts, in the corporate context, apply the duty of care in a way that defers to officers and directors of corporations. That deference is embodied in the business judgment rule, which presumes that, in making business decisions, corporate officers and directors complied with the duty of care. The business judgment rule places the burden of rebutting the presumption on a plaintiff challenging a business decision within a corporation (the rule recognizes that reasonable decisions can sometimes result in unfavorable outcomes)[1]. In contrast, trust law applies no business judgment rule in reviewing managerial actions for breach of the duty of care. In effect, the burden is placed upon trust management to demonstrate that their business decisions were prudent despite an unfavorable outcome[2]. The end result is that it is easier to hold decision makers personally accountable for their business decisions in trusts than in corporations.The other fiduciary duty, the duty of loyalty, requires that decision-makers act without any conflict of interest. However, corporate law interprets the duty loosely, so as to permit conflict of interest transactions so long as they are \"fair\" to the corporation. In contrast, trust law prohibits all such transactions, even if they would benefit the trust.In short, due to the different fiduciary standards, decision makers are exposed to greater personal liability in trusts than in corporations. Tight fiduciary duties might impact a lot within a business organization. They might lower agency conflict and reduce opportunistic behavior by insiders, but by leaving less flexibility for management, they might also impact performance and risk taking.\n2. British mutual funds: This study examines mutual funds in the UK in order to test the impact of differences in fiduciary duties. In the UK, open-end mutual funds are organized in trust form (\"unit trusts\") or in corporate form (\"open-ended investment companies\" or OEICs). Unit trusts are subject to trust law while OEICs are subject to corporate law[3].The regulations are clear that unit trusts are governed by trust law. The regulations define a unit trust as \"a collective investment scheme under which the property is held in trust for the participants by the trustee\"[4]. The regulations continue by stating that, in unit trusts, \"both the manager and the trustee have fiduciary duties under the general law relating to trusts\"[5]. In contrast, OEICs are governed by corporate law. The regulations state that the \"provisions of the Companies Act will apply to [OEICs] as if they are incorporated bodies\"[6]. That is, OEIC directors are subject to fiduciary duties that are \"enforceable in the same way as any other fiduciary duty owed to a company by its directors\"[7]. The regulations further state that a court may relieve any officer of an OEIC from liability if he or she \"acted honestly and reasonably\"[8], a lower standard than the \"objectively prudent\" standard applied to trustees under trust law[9]. In sum, the fiduciary laws differ depending upon the fund's organizational form.This difference in fiduciary laws is the main palpable difference between unit trusts and OEICs. The rest of the regulatory apparatus applicable to unit trusts and OEICs is the same. The regulatory authorities have adopted a common set of rules and guidance (the Financial Services Authority's \"Sourcebook\") to govern the operation of funds and the activities of their managers[10]. In addition to being regulated similarly, unit trusts and OEICs are also taxed similarly.Moreover, the governance apparatus of OEICs does not differ much from that of unit trusts. While OEICs have a board of directors and unit trusts do not, that difference is not substantive, for several reasons. First, OEIC directors are not required to be independent[11]. Second, no minimum number of directors is specified for OEIC boards[12]. Third, the only requirement of the OEIC board is that the fund's manager must serve as a director[13]. In practice, therefore, virtually all OEIC boards consist solely of the fund's manager[14]. In other words, the board of an OEIC is not an active monitor comprised of independent directors (as the board is in the US fund industry). OEIC boards exist merely on paper. Hence, unit trusts and OEICs are similar in that neither is overseen by an active monitor.In other words, the British mutual fund market contains two parallel organizations essentially identical in every respect, except for the fiduciary laws that are applied to the fund managers. This difference in fiduciary standards is a fundamental distinction between trusts and corporations.\n3. Empirical analysis: I obtained data on British mutual funds from consecutive print editions of the Unit Trust and OEICs Yearbook, which is published annually by the Financial Times. Data is obtained for all funds in the UK on an annual basis for the years 1996 through 2001. Monthly returns data comes from Datastream.3.1. Management fees\n4. Conclusion: I find evidence that trust law is effective in curtailing opportunistic behavior, as trust managers charge significantly lower fees than their observationally-equivalent corporate counterparts. Trust managers also incur lower risk. However, evidence suggests that trust managers tend to underperform their corporate counterparts, even after adjusting for the differences in risk. These results show that the business flexibility granted by corporations leads to greater agency conflict and risk taking, but also to potentially superior risk-adjusted performance.The results have implications for corporate governance design, suggesting that heightened fiduciary duties can enhance investor protection by mitigating agency conflict and lessening managerial risk taking, but at the possible cost of inferior risk-adjusted performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore whether fiduciary duties impact the behavior of firm insiders. Trust law imposes stricter fiduciary obligations on insiders than corporate law does. This paper seeks to examine whether the difference in fiduciary duties impacts agency conflict, performance, and/or risk taking.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper takes an empirical approach to answering the question by comparing mutual funds organized as trusts and as corporations. The existence of these two types of organizations within the same industry offers a unique laboratory for the study of the effects of fiduciary duties.\nFindings: - Mutual funds organized in trust form charge significantly lower fees and take on less risk than equivalent mutual funds organized in corporate form. Evidence also suggests that the trusts tend to under-perform their corporate counterparts, even after adjusting for differences in risk.\nOriginality/value: - Much of the existing literature on firm governance and investor protection focuses on the corporation and, hence, takes organizational form as a given. By comparing trusts and corporations, this paper examines governance at a more fundamental level and exploits heterogeneity in corporate and trust fiduciary duties. The results have implications for corporate governance design, suggesting that heightened fiduciary duties can enhance investor protection by mitigating agency conflict and managerial risk taking, though at the possible cost of inferior risk-adjusted performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The perceived value-relevance of open data in the parents' choice of Dutch primary schools	[ "Choices of parents", "Dutch Inspectorate of Education", "Dutch primary schools", "Open public data", "Utilization of performance data" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Open data have become important on many governments' policy agenda, for example to achieve greater policy transparency, to increase legitimacy, to strengthen public participation and to decrease the distance between governmental agencies and citizens (Chapman and Hunt, 2006; Wuyts, 2008; Lathrop and Ruma, 2010; TNO, 2011; de Kool, 2011). Nevertheless, this is easier said than done, for example in the field of education.\n2. Literature review: The use of performance information is receiving increasing academic attention (Van Dooren and Van de Walle, 2008; Hammerschmid et al., 2013). However, little research has been done on whether and how citizens perceive and use the performance information published in evaluation and monitoring reports, quality assessments and inspections (Pollitt, 2006; Van de Walle and Bovaird, 2007; Van de Walle and Roberts, 2008; Andrews and Van de Walle, 2013; Hammerschmid et al., 2013). Most studies focus on the supply side of performance data, namely, governments that publish data. Fewer studies pay attention to the demand side, namely, the needs of (potential) users (Askim, 2009). Hence it is important to find out when and how citizens use performance data and to identify which citizens use performance data (Pollitt, 2006). Meijer (2004) observed that research about the use of quality information by parents and citizens in general is scarce.\n3. Research methodology: The empirical data for this study were collected through a mixed method strategy or triangulation (Greene, 2005), consisting of both quantitative and qualitative methods.\n4. Empirical results: Introduction\n5. Conclusions and implications: Information about the quality of education is assumed to be relevant in the parents' choice of primary schools. Nevertheless, research about the use of quality information by parents and citizens in general is scarce. Parents' assumed choice behavior is often based on a rational decision-making model. In reality, their choice behavior can be less rational than expected. This paper investigated the perceived impact of the Dutch Inspectorate of Education's public data about the quality of primary schools on parents' choice of primary schools for their children. The empirical data were collected by both qualitative and quantitative research methods among 25 different Dutch primary schools.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived value-relevance of open data published by the Dutch Inspectorate of Education in the parents' choice of Dutch primary schools.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Empirical data were collected through a mixed method strategy including quantitative and qualitative methods: quantitative surveys among parents of pupils in 25 primary schools; and semi-structured in-depth interviews using a topic list.\nFindings: Parents make little use of the Inspectorate's website compared to other information sources. The perceived usefulness of this website to parents choosing a primary school is also relatively low. Personal information gathered by school visits, written information from schools and information from other parents are more important sources.\nResearch limitations/implications: Subjective considerations, such as the atmosphere and ambience of a school, play an important role in parents' choice behavior. Pragmatic considerations also play a role, such as a school's nearness. This study shows that it is necessary to rethink the rational assumptions behind publishing performance data.\nPractical implications: This study observed a mismatch between the demand and supply of open data about primary schools. The Inspectorate's publication strategy is based on \"hard\" and \"written\" data presented on a website, but parents also appreciate \"soft\" and personal \"oral\" data. Parents state that the Inspectorate should not only focus on negative school results for censuring (\"naming and shaming\"), but also give attention to schools that perform well (\"naming and faming\").\nOriginality/value: Research about parents' and citizens' use of quality information in general is scarce. These findings show that parents' choice behavior is less rational than assumed. Relativistic notions about decision-making processes are recognized in other studies also, but they suggest that highly educated parents are over-represented in the group of parents who actively make school choices, whereas this study found no indications that parents' educational level affects their choices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assumptions about participating in teacher education through the use of ICT	[ "Communication technologies", "Educational personnel", "Teachers", "Learning", "Sweden" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: How is philosophy related to education and how is education related to philosophy? The question is complicated and can, as Carr (2004) has shown, be addressed in a number of ways. This paper intends to relate philosophy to education, and by doing this highlight the way the participation of teacher trainees in an information and communication technology (ICT)-supported distance-based teacher education program in Sweden could be understood.Participation in an educational program is always in one way or another dependent on explicit and sometimes implicit ontological assumptions. Possible understandings of an educational program and the possible meanings of participating in such a program may therefore differ. We have discerned at least three different stakeholders in education that all could hold assumptions about participation that might influence the outcome.First, there has to be someone organising the education - for instance a teacher or an institution offering a teacher education program. Second, someone has to attend the education offered (i.e. students), and, third, there has to be some kind of learning environment provided, giving the students a chance to participate together with other students. These different aspects are inherent in both on-campus and distance education. In the latter case, though, the learning environment is extended beyond an on-campus definition of learning environment (Stephenson, 2001). Through the use of ICT, the learning environment might be taken either partly or completely into a virtual dimension.Characteristic for distance education in Sweden today is the dependence on ICT for communication. Communication between student and student, and between student and educational institution is primarily managed through computer-based conference systems and web portals (Harasim, 1989; Paulsen, 2003). These systems serve as web-based learning environments and open possibilities for participation, learning and community building within the course. It is assumed that, through participation, the students form a learning community (Palloff and Pratt, 1999; Wenger, 1998), which should provide possibilities for students to support each other as well as collaboratively learn with and from each other (Biesenbach-Lucas, 2004). To deploy a learning environment is one way of integrating ICT in the program. The question is how to understand student participation through the use of ICT?In web-based learning environments different technical solutions may be used in order to allow for participation (Renninger and Shumar, 2002). Within these technological systems, functions like chat, computer conferencing, e-mail, threaded discussions and video conferencing. These functions offer, to a varying degree, flexible opportunities to participate independently of place and time. In a context of education these functions can make collaboration, teaching and sharing of resources possible. Participation in a web-based learning environment is, in other words, possible to describe as belonging to an online learning community (OLC) (Carlen and Jobring, 2005; Palloff and Pratt, 2003; Seufert et al., 2002). The technological systems have functions that enable both asynchronous and synchronous participation (Kowch and Schwier, 1998). Students could in that way be a part of a learning environment despite geographical separation. From the educational institutions view these learning environments give the students immediate and continuing access to an educational program and ICT could in a sense replace the learning environment provided on-campus.With a starting point in the concept of OLC, the understanding of participation is then extended to incorporate a social dimension. The participation in a web-based learning environment may, however, be understood in different ways. Since ICT is used to facilitate learning through participation, the ontological assumptions behind a social model of learning in which these aspects are central are important to clarify. Could there be a certain set of ontological assumptions underlying all theories in which learning is seen as an aspect of participation, shared history, social interactions and mutual engagement? Could these ontological assumptions be central to understanding the way ICT is used?To address the questions above this paper intends to make explicit the ontological assumptions inherent in the three theoretical perspectives: social constructivism, social constructionism and socio-cultural theory. In these perspectives, learning could be explained in terms of participation. Within perspectives different ontological assumptions are claimed to be legitimate to hold, but both in between and within them the assumptions may differ. In this paper, the theoretically formulated assumptions are put in relation to the preliminary findings in two learner-centered studies conducted within an ICT-supported distance-based teacher education program in Sweden. This, thereby, enables us to use the ontological assumptions of the theories about participation and learning to interpret and understand the teacher trainees' assumptions about their participation within the program.\nMethodology: Interpretation within the tradition of philosophical hermeneutics\nFindings and reflections: From the interviews it can be concluded that teacher trainees hold different ontological assumptions about the meaning and purpose of their participation. The teacher trainees seem to highlight the individual aspects more than the social, which leads to an understanding of participation as doing something mostly for their own sake, not for fellow teacher trainees. If related to representatives of the social constructivist perspective that assumes an ontological realism, and they stress in particular the importance of participation in a social context but also give the knowledge constructing of individuals certain attention, teacher trainees seem to reason in manner close to these assumptions. In the interviews, teacher trainees seem to assume an understanding based on a view where everyone is needed in one way or another, and is looked upon as an asset to the study group, but constrained or conditioned by expected benefits of this inclusion. Everyone should have an opportunity to both be part of and enjoy being in the study group, but the inclusion process is constrained in terms of already existing norms in the study group to which the teacher trainees must be able to adapt and adjust.This way of reasoning seems to be pertinent when it comes to interpersonal problems within the study group. The study group, in terms of a community in which everyone has responsibilities, is seldom referred to as being the problem. Instead, single teacher trainees are pointed out as having problems living up to the norm of accepted behaviour. When collaboration is mentioned, it is often as a non-equal relation between those who have understood and those who for some reason have difficulties understanding correctly or in keeping pace. It further seems like keeping pace is regarded as a prerequisite for participation; those who for some reason work more slowly are regarded as either lazy or busy with something else in life not related to their education.The interview makes it further possible to conclude that ICT is used as a tool for learning in different ways. From a dialectical realistic point of view, knowledge is first brought about through human interaction, and thereafter becomes part of the individual's thoughts and actions. If related to the interviews, it seems the teacher trainees are not referring to ICT in ways that make us conclude that they are aware of ICT as a tool for learning. They do, however, make reference to the possibilities of studying that ICT offers, and they do see how they can combine different roles, for instance being both a teacher trainee and a parent, because the system gives them access to the educational program despite time and place. There seems, however, to be rather explicit references to difficulties occurring because the teacher trainees differ in their backgrounds and their life circumstances in such a way that distance is a problem. In short, there is little indication that participation through ICT is seen as a way of learning together with others. If we relate this to an ontological idealism in general and a social constructionist perspective in particular it appears that language, for example in terms of chats within the web-based learning environment, is never mentioned as an important way of participation - an understanding that does not seem to relate to a social constructionist perspective, based on an ontological idealism, in which language is a determining factor for constituting both man and knowledge.The interviews furthermore imply fewer opportunities in the teaching of tomorrow for a view of learning and education as a collective or social process. Learning and education is often viewed as a determined individual process for which no one other than the individual student can take responsibility. Related to this, is the teacher trainees focus on themselves. They give examples of personal qualities that they have developed that are assumed to have a positive effect also outside the domain of teaching (for example, self-reliance, self-sufficiency, being well-structured and active). By assuming that learning is, in one way or another, an individual process, students are at the same time making statements about their own future role as teachers. How are they to go about their teaching, based on an assumption that no one can make anyone learn anything, and what becomes of the social context framing the pupils? These views are in stark contrast to the social learning process defined in each perspective in the interpretational framework. If we interpret this in terms of an ontological idealism it is possible to interpret the participants' statements in such a way that learning contains different constructions of an \"external reality\". Nevertheless, it seems problematic to refer this to a social constructivism based on the same ontological assumption, because the participants appear to emphasis individual more than a negotiated meaning. Aspects of ontological realism are more prominent than assumptions related to other ontologies.In the questionnaire study, the teacher trainees' answers regarding working methods imply that the two most common methods are what could be called traditional forms of organizing education with constrained forms of participation. The form used most often is the university teacher talking and asking questions to which a single teacher trainee answers, followed by the teacher trainees working in groups on assignments. Slightly less common is that the teacher trainees work on their own on the same assignments. The teacher trainees also, fairly often, seem to work on their own conducting investigations. Least common seems to be discussions between the teacher trainees and the university teacher. The teacher trainees seem to be left much on their own, with a part of their work done with other teacher trainees, and the university teachers seem to rely on a high degree of teacher control in their interactions with the teacher trainees.In relation to examination patterns the questionnaire gives a description from the teacher trainees of an education program dominated by individual examinations. On the question of examination forms, the main form used seem to be relying on written text. Oral examinations, discussions and drama and other forms are reported as the least common. The examination is either a written home assignment or a written examination task. Group examinations, oral examinations and discussions in the study group only occur a few times according to almost half of the teacher trainees. The relatively few reports on other forms of examination, for instance through presentations, drama, video, etc. give the impression of being something that is used to make an exception to an otherwise very dominant rule - i.e. individual examinations are necessary to give grades that serve to differentiate teacher trainees that have performed better than others. This implies a view of participation as performance and not as a process. The social constructionist understanding of language preceding learning, and the view that different practices are determined by and determine participation is not possible to find if the examination forms are viewed separately. Instead of having a discursive understanding of knowledge, based on, for example, an e-mail conversation or a threaded discussion through ICT, the educators seem to have assumptions about examinations with roots in an ontological realism.Another early result from the questionnaire implies that influence over the educational process is primarily given to the teacher trainees with regard to whom to work with and how. It is apparent that the teacher trainees have most influence over their participation in those informal parts of the courses. Regarding the content and how the content is supposed to be assessed there seems to be almost no influence given at all and participation is constrained. At least more than half of the respondents claimed to have influence over the informal parts, but notable is the large number that feel that only parts of these aspects are open for their influence. For instance, nearly half of the group of teacher trainees feel that there is no room for influence on how they work on assignments. This implies that the content, to a large degree, is ready-made. If related to a social constructivism with roots in ontological realism, the teacher trainees should in this case acquire, albeit collaboratively, a kind of knowledge that actually exists in the world. Better or worse constructions of this knowledge, though, are still possible. Further, the teacher trainees may work in groups or alone in order to manage content as information and not in order to question the relevance or the interpretations of the content, or build a new common understanding. Instead of emphasizing, in line with a socio-cultural perspective resting on a dialectical realism, that it is through social life we can understand the mental processes social life brings about, a social life already conditioned by its history and culture, the students give a view of an educational process that is pre-determined and organized according to a pre-determined content. The program is distributed through a web-based learning environment that each teacher trainee, in one way or another, should be able to participate in, independently of what assumptions about participation the teacher trainees might hold.\nDiscussion: So, whatever are the benefits of using a philosophical stance, and in relating philosophy to education, providing an analysis of two studies on teacher trainees' participation from an ontological perspective? To answer that question in short, the combined analysis allows for an understanding that the use of ICT for creating participation and social activities also works to set the teacher trainees apart. Our understanding of how the use of ICT could be expressed in this way is primarily based on what seems to be a rather strong emphasis of individualistic models for transferring knowledge from one who has to one who has not - a view with a philosophical ground in ontological realism. In the teacher education program in question, the teacher trainees seem to view learning as an individual process, participating requires suitability for becoming a teacher, defined as an aspect of the individual, and a working ethos of doing your part. This, combined with the view that no one can learn for someone else and the strong emphasis on examining the teacher trainees on an individual basis, indicates the program as a whole primarily seem to tell the teacher trainees apart. And the use of ICT seems to make that task easier to accomplish.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - With a philosophical stance in relation to education, this paper aims to discuss different understandings of participation in an information and communication technology (ICT)-supported distance-based teacher education program in Sweden.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is based on early results from two studies, both of which involved a group of teacher-trainees, with one interview and one questionnaire.\nFindings: - The findings indicate that there is a need to be explicit about the ontological assumptions inherent in the intended use of ICT. The conclusion is that the program in question is built on assumptions of realism and that ICT lays the ground for individual participation and works to tell the students apart.\nOriginality/value: - Helps in understanding how ICT, and its use, can have different effects on different groups.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Institutional frames for financial inclusion of poor households in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from rural Uganda	[ "Frames", "Institutions", "Financial inclusion", "Unbanked", "Financial exclusion", "Poor households" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground to the study: Frames are \"cognitive categories or schema people use to describe, interpret, and sort events, issues, and entities to understand and predict their environment\" (Kolb, 2008). Framing is conceptually connected to the underlying psychological processes that people use to examine information, to make judgements, and to draw inferences about the world around them (McLeod et al., 1994). Indeed, the choice of frame depending on the circumstance, determines its applicability and importance. Thus, framing puts information into a context and establishes frames of reference; so poor people can evaluate information, comprehend meanings, and take action, if appropriate by providing clues (Hallahan, 1999, p. 224).\nLiterature review and development of hypotheses: This section attempts to present a critical review of extant literature and conceptualize institutional framing in financial inclusion. This is perceived by the fact that poor households' perceptions of institutions are central to their understanding of being financially included or excluded.\nMethodology: Research design\nResults and discussion: Demographic characteristics\nConclusions and recommendation: The study finds that a person's regulative, normative and procedural and declarative cognitive frames significantly affect financial inclusion and/or exclusion of poor households in rural Uganda. This paper creates a framework for understanding institutional frames for financial inclusion of poor households in rural Uganda. These frames determine the behaviours and actions of poor households and thus their financial decisions and choices in the financial market. For the poor households to be financially included, there is need to have a holistic institutional approach that include the regulative (formal rules), normative (informal constraints), and procedural and declarative cognitive institutions geared towards poor households. This requires systematic adjustments in key policy areas such as adjustment of financial institution act. We therefore recommend that the following should be done:\nLimitations and further research: This study focussed on only institutional frames for financial inclusion of poor households in Uganda. It limits its scope to institutional frames and Uganda as a country. However, there might be other factors that could be equally used to predict financial inclusion, hence limiting the scope of this study.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine institutional frames for financial inclusion of poor households in a Sub-Saharan Africa context and provide policy implications in solving the persistent problem of limited inclusion of poor households into mainstream formal financial services in Uganda.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Cross-sectional research design was used in this study. Data were collected from a randomly selected sample of 200 poor households located in Mukono District. Statistical program for Social Scientists and Analysis of Moment Structures were used to generate results.\nFindings: Results have revealed the presence of regulative, normative, and procedural and declarative cognitive institutional frames, which affect financial inclusion of poor households in rural rural Uganda. The findings and policy implications are discussed in detail in the paper.\nOriginality/value: This study parallels the World Bank Global Findex survey (2012) on general aspects of financial inclusion around the world. It examines frames, which structure behaviours and actions of poor households towards their financial decisions and choices in attempting to improve financial inclusion with a major focus on rural Uganda.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Key indicators of rice production and consumption, correlation between them and supply-demand prediction	[ "Decision making", "Demand management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This section addresses the importance of rice, the consequences arising out of its unavailability worldwide and the significance of forecasting of rice production-consumption in general. The food and agriculture organization (FAO) of the United Nations made the first agriculture commodity projection based on a single equation model (www.agnet.org/htmlarea_file/library/20110728104522/eb492.pdf). During the 1980s, policy simulation models were developed based on the above basis.\n2. Literature review and related work: The literature review is focussed on the agricultural yield for major crops, various techniques used for the purpose of agricultural and/or similar domain forecasting and the subsequent special emphasis on more relevant fuzzy logic and Bayesian methods for the purpose of outlining the results and limits of some important studies in the past. The choice of modeling variables is justified at the end of this section.\n3. Methodology: The basic purpose of this study is to find the correlation among the set of input variables of production themselves and set of input variables of consumption among themselves and to forecast the production and consumption of the rice annually. We based our study on Mittal (2006, 2008), FAO (1967), Koyama (n.d.) (www.agnet.org/htmlarea_file/library/20110728104522/eb492.pdf), Bastiaanssen and Ali (2003), Lafrance and Burt (1983) and on the literature survey. For production of rice, we selected five variables, namely, growth rate, agricultural workers (AW), total area sown, yield per hectare and area irrigated (AI) as inputs for production of rice. However, later due to insignificance of growth rate it was omitted from further study.\n4. Application of the FIS and the Bayesian technique: The usefulness of the fuzzy logic and Bayesian technique is applied in the current scenario and discussed.\n5. Results and conclusion: This section presents the analysis of the correlation study, FIS output and results of Bayesian technique.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to establish correlations among the input variables of production within themselves and input variables of consumption within themselves and to forecast the production and consumption of the rice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The production and consumption of rice crop is governed by diverse variables. In the present study five key input variables for production of rice based on literature review and the authenticated data available from agricultural sources have been selected. These variables are area sown, agricultural workers (AW), area irrigated, growth rate and yield per hectare. On similar basis four key input variables responsible for consumption of rice are considered, namely, price of rice, population, poverty ratio and per capita net national product (NNP).\nFindings: Correlation analysis showed that priority wise production of rice depends upon yield per hectare, percentage irrigation, AW and area sown. The growth rate is found to be having insignificant correlation with other variables of production and hence was omitted from subsequent study. Correlation analysis also showed that priority wise consumption depends upon whole sale price per ton, population and the per capita NNP. The poverty ratio is found to be having insignificant correlation with other variables of consumption and hence was omitted from subsequent study. The outcomes of the correlation analysis are utilized for designing rule base for fuzzy inference system (FIS) to forecast the production and consumption of the rice. Subsequently Bayesian technique is used to forecast production and consumption and its results are compared with the results of fuzzy inference analysis.\nOriginality/value: There are many techniques used for forecasting purpose but FIS and Bayesian technique outperform others. In the present study, the authors therefore focussed on these two techniques. Bayesian technique takes into account the expert opinion at the current conditions whereas FIS uses previously designed rule base. Besides discussing the appropriateness of these two techniques for forecasting production and consumption of rice, their forecasting outcomes will help in logistical and operational planning of the resources at national level, farmers' level and traders' level.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Adolescents' perceptions of alcohol	[ "Perceptions", "Adolescents", "Alcohol", "Poverty", "Media", "Education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the biggest global health threat. Of global deaths - 57 million - in 2008, almost two thirds - 36 million - were due to NCDs (WHO, 2011; Sawyer et al., 2012). Harmful use of alcohol is one of four major causes of NCDs. There is a causal relationship between alcohol consumption and more than 60 types of disease and injury. Of about two billion alcohol consumers, an estimated 76.3 million have alcohol use disorders (WHO, 2006a). In low and middle income countries (LMIC), it is difficult to find trained health workers, modern medical equipment and facilities or inexpensive health care. As a result, LMICs bear nearly 80 per cent of the global NCD burden (WHO, 2011).\nAims and research questions: The learner's prior knowledge about a topic impacts new learning (Ambrose et al., 2010; Minstrell, 1989). Therefore, understanding a student's prior knowledge is critical to designing proper instruction. This study aimed to map adolescents' perceptions of alcohol and how these perceptions are related to their attitudes towards their social surroundings and the media.\nResearch design and methodology: In order to map out some of the common beliefs about alcohol among Punjabi youth, the first author held informal discussions with six young Punjabi men from two cities, Patiala and Ludhiana, who had already started drinking. These discussions revealed recurrent themes about latest social trends and increasing social acceptance of alcohol in the media, lyrics of songs and the punch lines of advertisements.\nResults: The results of the study are presented through three tables and three figures in this section.\nDiscussion: Perceptions of and by society\nLimitations: All participants in informal discussions as well as all participating schools in the study were from urban regions of Punjab. The perceptions may differ in the rural areas. Data about individuals' socio-economic conditions were not collected. These details could have helped in exploring relationships across the schools as well.\nConclusions: The results of this study indicate that exposure to alcohol and alcoholics are common among adolescents in Punjab and that they generally lack critical understanding of the media and its role. Both the social context and the media can promote positive expectations of alcohol which can lead to them to early initiation. The educational response to promote critical thinking and scientific knowledge about alcohol did not seem adequate. Students' responses seem to indicate presence of misinformed, naive and innocent vulnerability to adopt the thought patterns that had lead the already-initiated youngsters and the later stage in-risk youth to start drinking. These thought patterns make them prone to early initiation and hence, the related health risks.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Rising trends in alcohol consumption and early drinking initiation pose serious health risks especially for adolescents. Learner's prior knowledge about alcohol gained from the social surroundings and the media are important sources that can impact the learning outcomes in health education. The purpose of this paper is to map adolescents' perceptions of alcohol in Punjab, India and how these perceptions are related to their attitudes towards their social surroundings and the media.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The questionnaire was created after informal discussions with local people who consume alcohol and discussions with alcohol-related experts. Students from five schools (n=379, average age=13.6 years) in the urban region of Punjab, India, filled in a questionnaire. Quantitative tests were performed on the questionnaire data. Summative content analysis was performed for the textbook content about alcohol from classes 1 to 10.\nFindings: Data suggest that students gain knowledge about alcohol from multiple sources, including society, the media and education. While society and the media can give misinformation, education did not provide them with factual scientific information about alcohol. Students from financially marginalized social surroundings experience the presence and use of alcohol more frequently; they trust the media and celebrities somewhat unquestioningly and, hence, are more at-risk.\nResearch limitations/implications: All participants in informal discussions as well as all participating schools in the study were from urban regions. Data about individual's socio-economic conditions was not collected.\nOriginality/value: This research investigates perceptions of alcohol that are derived from adolescents' social surroundings, perceptions of the media and perceptions gained through educational guidance in a developing country. Such multi-dimensional investigations have not been conducted earlier.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Professional identity of school teachers in the context of socio-historical dynamics of Russian society	[ "Professional identity", "Russian federation", "Macro-social integration", "Precariatization of social and labour relations", "Teachership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The socio-professional structure and social stratification principles have undergone radical transformations over the past two centuries (Dutkie et al., 2015; Shkaratan and Iastrebov, 2012). Imperial, Soviet and Post-perestroika periods of Russia development came not only with a change in the political system, but also with a fragile social structure. The nature of socio-labor relations, occupational prestige criteria and mechanisms of professional identity formation have repeatedly changed determining the phenomenon of crisis in modern process of Russia socio-economic development (Karacharovskiy et al., 2016). Socially wealthier societies have accepted labor culture and professional skill values, stable status configuration and positive identity of professional groups. At the same time, dynamic changes in the social status of professional groups and in the principles of organizing labor directly affect workers' life conditions, self-awareness and models of social behavior entailing societal transformations that may destabilize the social system under certain conditions.\n2. Research methodology: macro-social effects of professional identity: The Institute of Education is the most important factor in maintaining peace within a modern society, where education institutions are a mass phenomenon. Traditional idea of education as a social institution is that education is a base of social integration and national security. Therefore, school teacher's professional activity strengthens the homogeneity of society members and promotes the maintenance of social solidarity by transferring standards and values accepted in certain society. At the same time, professional consciousness deformation and professional identity crisis of teachers, lower status of teaching profession in society can be considered as factors of social destabilization.\n3. Literature review: In recent years, teacher's professional identity problem became a special research subject (Beijaard et al., 2004). The works studying professional self-awareness of teachers can be systemized on various grounds. In our opinion, they can be divided into several categories: papers dedicated to conceptual issues of studying professional identity; studies of institutional context dynamics and its impact on professional self-awareness of teachers; empirical studies of teacher's professional identity.\n4. Discussion: Studies of school teacher's professional activity and self-awareness conducted in different countries show that, despite national differences, most teachers are under government pressure and their workload is growing (Day, 2002). Different countries have a common tendency of school reforms - the ongoing introduction of public reporting in addition to increased bureaucratic burden. This leads to an increase in teacher's uncertainty, instability and vulnerability. Teacher's identity is not always under sufficient attention. At the same time, professional identity determines his (her) motivation, commitment and satisfaction with the job, as well as achievements and attitudes toward the education of schoolchildren.\n5. Conclusion: Our original hypothesis was that society integrity is maintained by school teachers, as they promote knowledge and value socialization of young people. Therefore, stable positive professional identification of school teachers (one of the most numerous professional communities in modern Russia) not only improves the quality of their socio-cultural capital, but also expands the resource base for social integration.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the specific nature of school teacher's professional identity in the context of its stability maintenance in the Soviet and modern periods of Russian society development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 618 teachers of state comprehensive secondary schools were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire. The survey was divided into four semantic blocks: analyzing how teachers percept their own socio-economic situation; studying the structure of teacher's social identity and determining the significance of professional identity; determining the nature of teacher's motivation and professional values; and assessing the degree of labor precariatization.\nFindings: This paper shows that a school teacher job had public prestige, social-labor and material guarantees, as well as ideological support from the state in the Soviet Russia. The excessive administrative burden, high social demands for teacher's performance in the context of deteriorating economic situation in the country create risks for positive professional identity of teachers and, as a consequence, for societal integrity.\nOriginality/value: This study is relevant as it provides empirical measurements and substantiates macro-social effects of teacher's professional identity. The excessive administrative load and high social demands for teacher's performance in the context of deteriorating economic situation in the country create risks for maintaining the positive professional identity of teachers and, as a consequence, for societal integrity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of organizational change on entrepreneurship in community settings	[ "Organizational change", "Community relations", "Entrepreneurialism", "Israel" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The relationship between entrepreneurship and economic development has long been discussed in the literature, even before the economist Joseph Schumpeter (1934) described the phenomena of entrepreneurship as \"carrying out new combinations\". Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process involving opportunities, individuals, organizational contexts, risks, innovation and resources. As a process, entrepreneurship is applicable to organizations of all sizes and types (Brandt, 1986).When the social context of entrepreneurship is an organization, we are talking about \"organizational entrepreneurship\", encompassing formal and informal activities of creating new business within an organization, regardless of whether the organization is a large corporation, the government, a non-profit organization, or one that has lost the sense of innovation and creativity. Since most business writers emphasize large corporations, the term corporate entrepreneurship is the most prominent. Pinchot (1985) described the phenomenon of entrepreneurship within an organization as \"intrapreneurship\". The three terms used in the organizational context, i.e. organizational entrepreneurship, corporate entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, are interchangeable (Fry, 1993).The entrepreneurial process - whether initiated by individuals or by organizations - includes economic opportunities and resources (Kilby, 1971; Stevenson and Gumpert, 1985; Block and MacMillan, 1993). Economic opportunities arise from organizational innovations. Entrepreneurs exploit opportunities, and create new ventures, and thereby, generate variety - described by Tiessen (1997) as the first essential ingredient of the entrepreneurial process. The second ingredient concerns the resources. Tiessen (1997) maintains that organizations pursue opportunities by the leverage of resources. Finally, the culture of an organization has an impact on how they generate variety and leverage resources.The Israeli kibbutz is a communal organization under crisis and change. It is a setting that combines community and organizational elements in a unique fashion. During the last decade profound processes of change have taken place at various levels in many kibbutzim. In this paper I attempt to investigate the influence of organizational change upon the volume of entrepreneurship in a community setting.\nThe theoretical framework: Kibbutz as a communal organization in crisis and change\nThe study: Dependent variable\nResults: Table III shows that the dependent variable - the number of ventures per kibbutz - has not significantly changed between the years 1997 and 2004. The average number of venture per kibbutz is around 9. The range of ventures though has increased over the years, meaning that the variance of number of ventures between the kibbutzim has increased. In other words, in the year 1997 the highest-ranking kibbutz had 25 ventures, whereas in 2004 the highest ranking kibbutz has 35 ventures.Table IV shows the trends in organizational culture and structure over the years in question. Note the trend of the average culture and structure between 1997 and 2004. The average culture moved from 5.8 (on a scale from 0 to 12) with 0 indicating highly collectivistic arrangements and 12 indicating a move towards more individualism - to an average of 10 in 2004. The average organizational structure moved from 6.31 (on a scale from 0 to 16) with 0 indicating community orientation and 16 indication business orientation - to an average of 13.20.Table V shows an increasing number of kibbutzim institutionalizing entrepreneurial vehicles.Table VI shows the overall numbers and types of entrepreneurship in the year 1997 and in the year 2004. The types of ventures are categorized as follows: type 1 includes ventures dealing with industrial product development, type 2 includes ventures that nourish special plants and animals other than the traditional agricultural branches of the kibbutz, type 3 includes workshops that produce arts and crafts, type 4 includes all kinds of tourism such as accommodation, recreation and amusement services, type 5 includes professional services, type 6 includes personal services, and type 7 stands for maintenance services (Samuel and Heilbrunn, 2001).Table VII represents summaries of stepwise regression models conducted in order to investigate whether at all, if and which of the independent variables predicts the number of ventures in the kibbutz community.In two kibbutzim I conducted interviews with entrepreneurs and with office holders. The kibbutzim are located next to each other. The population of both includes about 850 residents and about 450 members for each. The average age of the populations is about 56. Both communities engage in agriculture and share the ownership of an industrial plant. Kibbutz GHI is much more stable in economic and financial terms. The main and important difference between the two communities within the framework of this study concerns the issue of organizational change. Whereas kibbutz GHM underwent processes of privatization, differentialization and individualization, in kibbutz GHI discussion concerning organizational change started only recently. Therefore entrepreneurs in both kibbutzim act in different organizational environments. The summary of the interviews conducted with 29 entrepreneurs in both kibbutzim reveal a number of important points: No significant differences emerged as to the volume of entrepreneurship, the types of entrepreneurship (with tourism and personal services dominating in both communities), years of establishment and the size of the ventures in terms of number of employees. Both communities introduced mechanisms of institutionalization, but due to the processes of organizational change in GHM the entrepreneurial manager has a minor consulting function. Significantly higher investments were made in GHI with less return of investment. Whereas in GHM one venture was closed, and two reported financial loss during the year 2003, in GHI out of six ventures reporting financial loss only two were closed down, indicating the typical tendency of the community to take into account not only financial considerations. A major difference can be seen as to the motivation of the entrepreneurs to start a new venture. In both kibbutzim a variety of motivational items appear but whereas all entrepreneurs in GHM reported on economic reasons as at least one motivational factor, only one out of 15 entrepreneurs in GHI considered the economic aspect. Here self-fulfillment, and reasons linked to the community are the dominant motivational issue. Thus, personal failure is the major fear of the entrepreneurs in the more collective-oriented community, whereas financial/ economic failure is the major fear of entrepreneurs in the community, which has undergone processes of organizational change towards a more individualistic orientation.Finally, Table VIII compares the trend of establishment of new ventures and the percentage of closures between collective and differential-oriented kibbutzim.\nDiscussion: No significant differences as to the overall number of ventures or the variety of types of ventures can be observed in the sample kibbutzim between the years 1997 and 2004. A closer look at Table VI reveals a slight decrease in production oriented ventures (types 1 and 2) and a slight increase in professional services (type 5), a tendency existing also in non-kibbutz ventures in Israel.Whereas the organizational culture of the sample kibbutzim in 1997 was extremely homogeneous, in 2004 two groups of kibbutzim emerge, different as to the way they allocate income. A closer look at Table IV shows a shift in organizational culture and structure of all kibbutzim between the years 1997 and 2004 towards more individualism, business orientation and managerialism. Table IV shows that the kibbutzim were different as to the structural outlook, with some having already introduced organizational tool such as control, human resource management, cost calculation and managerial professionalization. Thus, in 1997 organizational structure explained the number of ventures per kibbutz (Table VII).But the introduction of a connection between input and output of community members in terms of differential salaries (Table II) divides the kibbutz movement into two distinct groups. In 2004 kibutzim are much less different as to their organizational structure (Table IV), now presence or absence of an institutionalized entrepreneurial vehicle explains the number of ventures per kibbutz. Interestingly enough, those kibbutzim which moved towards a differential organizational setting do not rate higher on institutionalized entrepreneurial vehicles (Table V). A closer look at the index mean reveals an increase in scope of institutionalization from 1997 to 2004, with collective-oriented kibbutzim rating slightly higher than differential ones. In accordance with the case study report it seems that when moving towards differentialization task and authorities of already established entrepreneurial vehicles are reconsidered, an issue which needs to be further investigated.Over and all it seems that a shift in the level of analysis and in the theoretical framework is needed in order to deal with the question of impact of organizational change upon entrepreneurship in community settings.With the kibbutz community moving towards a more differential and individualistic setting, the variables of organizational culture and structure become less relevant. Based on the model of Covin and Slevin (1991) we expected variables such as organizational structure, organizational culture and institutionalization to predict the number of ventures within community settings. With their communities shifting in their cultural and structural settings towards differentialization and individualism, kibbutz entrepreneurs in 2004 are more similar to their \"urban\" counterparts. The presence or absence of institutionalization is still of explanatory value at the kibbutz level, but it is not connected to the impact of organizational change. It seems that the latter can be analyzed much more effectively at the level of the entrepreneur and his/her venture. The interview conducted with the entrepreneurs in two kibbutzim, each at different stages of organizational change reveal a shift of motivation and fears of kibbutz entrepreneurs in direction of personal risk and economic responsibility. Therefore overall investment in ventures decreases and more ventures are closed down (Table VIII). Although resource leverage is still characterized by induced strategic behavior, venture policy is no longer one of nurturing. Market criteria such as profitability and competition at the organizational level promote individualistic oriented motivation and economic behavior of entrepreneurs within the community setting.In sum it seems, that due to the organizational change taking place in the population of the kibbutz communities, a theoretical shift is needed in order to explain features of entrepreneurship. Theoretical models of corporate entrepreneurship, suggesting independent variables such as organizational structure, culture, strategy and so on are no longer relevant for the context of community entrepreneurship in the kibbutz setting. Issues such as the entrepreneur and his/her demographic characteristics, the relationship between the entrepreneur and the community, networking and social capital at the individual and the community level, may provide a possible explanatory framework for the understanding of entrepreneurship in community settings. Further research should therefore consider alternative theoretical models for the analysis of entrepreneurship in communities such as the kibbutz, as well as reconsider the level of analysis most adequate for the phenomenon.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of organizational change upon entrepreneurship in communities such as the Israeli kibbutz, which underwent during the last two decades a process of crisis and change. Based on a theoretical model that identifies how cultural orientations of individualism versus collectivism affect the entrepreneurial process, attempt is made to analyze whether and how the move from organizational collectivism towards organizational individualism influences the volume and type of entrepreneurship in community settings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A comprehensive questionnaire has been administered to a sample of 60 kibbutzim in 1997 and in 2004. The questionnaire includes issues of organizational culture, structure and business orientation, as well as reports on the ventures initiated during the relevant years. The data received by means of the questionnaire are analyzed by quantitative statistical methods. In-depth interviews with office holders in a small number of kibbutzim add understanding of the underlying ongoing processes of change.\nFindings: - The results of the study show that after processes of organizational change, resource leverage is still characterized by induced strategic behavior, but venture policy is no longer one of nurturing. Market criteria such as profitability and competition at the organizational level promote individualistic-oriented motivation and economic behavior of entrepreneurs within the community setting.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Using a model of corporate entrepreneurship is the inherent limitation of the design of this study. Future research should consider alternative theoretical models for the analysis of entrepreneurship in community settings, focusing on independent variables such as human and social capital of the community entrepreneur.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides an investigation into the influence of organizational change upon the volume of entrepreneurship in a community setting.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A touch of gloss: haptic perception of packaging and consumers' reactions	[ "Packaging", "Behavioural intentions", "Glossiness", "Internal reactions", "Perceived haptic features" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Online shopping helps consumers discover products, brands or retailers in a virtual manner. Whereas visual and auditory cues play a significant role in product evaluation, the haptic sense cannot be activated. Albeit so, the main barrier to shop online is the inability to touch items prior to purchase (KPMG International Report, 2017). Citrin et al. (2003) emphasized that this inability to touch a product negatively influences the intention to purchase the product especially for products the material properties of which are key in the decision-making process (McCabe and Nowlis, 2003). In fact, touch plays a decisive role in consumers' decision process (Spence and Gallace, 2011), enables individuals to collect useful details about a material (Klatzky et al., 1991; Tiest, 2010), evaluates products (Krishna, 2012; Krishna and Morrin, 2008; Grohmann et al., 2007), helps them make a purchasing decision and disposes them toward paying more for this product (Peck and Shu, 2009; Peck and Childers, 2006).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 The importance of touch\n3. Overview of studies: Consumers wish to examine and touch the product (apparels, FMCG) before making any buying decision. Considering the Nielsen What's next in e-commerce report (2018), the top consideration of consumers while shopping online for various product categories, is the desire to examine an item before buying it. A sophisticated, laminate, and shiny packaging is able to attract the consumer, \"help [the] product to shine on the shelf\" (www.huhtamaki.com), and convey a high differentiation and quality perception in a highly competitive sector. Consequently, the packaging is supposed to draw consumer attention and guarantee the competitive edge of the brand. Personal care products are typically concerned by this issue with online shopping, this product category accounting for 35 per cent of the total basket of goods bought online.\n4. General discussion: 4.1 Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to study the cross-modal correspondence between a visual stimulus (i.e. glossiness), haptic perception and consumers' reactions (internal responses and behavioral intentions).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using an experimental design, three experimental studies have been conducted to test the effect of a glossy (versus matte) packaging upon the perception of haptic features of a packaging (roughness, thickness and lightness), internal reactions (perceived product quality and product attractiveness) and behavioral intentions (purchase intention and willingness to pay).\nFindings: This paper evidences the significant impact that glossiness bears on the haptic perception of a packaging material as well as upon internal reactions and behavioral intentions. A new conceptual framework combining the SOR model and the cross-modal correspondences is validated.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results encourage further research to explore the wide range of potential cross-modal correspondences between visual stimuli and haptic perception.\nPractical implications: The results highlight the critical influence of visual cues for managers, especially for online shopping or advertising. Even if consumers cannot touch the product, it is possible to induce haptic perception through visual cues and to influence the internal reactions and behavioral intentions.\nOriginality/value: This research demonstrates that the packaging texture and weight can be visually induced through glossiness.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An integrative model of work/family interface for Chinese employees	[ "Burnout", "Chinese employees", "Demands and resources", "Role satisfaction", "Work and family interface" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: For nearly 30 years, the vast majority of work and family interface (WFI) research has focussed on its negative aspects (Grzywacz and Bulters, 2008), and work-family conflict, which is defined as occurring when participating in one role is made more difficult by virtue of participating in the other role (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985), has been the most investigated topic to date. More recently, in line with the development of the positive organizational behavior approach (Bakker and Schaufeli, 2008), researchers have been shifting their attention to positive aspects of the WFI. Work-family enrichment, which is conceptualized as \"the extent to which experiences in one role improve the quality of life in the other role\" (Greenhaus and Powell, 2006, p. 73), is proposed as the concept that best captures the essence of positive WFI. Both work-family conflict and work-family enrichment are bi-directional constructs: work-family conflict comprises work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) (Frone, 2003), while work-family enrichment comprises work-to-family enrichment (WFE) and family-to-work enrichment (FWE) (Carlson et al., 2006).\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: Resources theories and WFI\nMethod: Procedure and participants\nResults: Proceeding to the model testing, the means, standard deviations, and bi-variable correlations were computed first, with results shown in Table I. Consistent with past research, WFC and FWC were moderately correlated, as were WFE and FWE. Conflict (WFC and FWC) and enrichment (WFE and FWE) were weakly correlated. It is worth noting that none of the demographic variables (i.e. sex, age, education, tenure, rank) was systematically related to the model variables (not shown in the tables). Thus, to facilitate model estimation, the demographics were excluded from all further analyses.\nDiscussion: The main purpose of the present study was to explore the mediating roles of all four aspects of the WFI (i.e. WFC, FWC, WFE, FWE) simultaneously between the antecedents and consequences in a Chinese sample of employees. Our major findings are: most antecedents had cross- and within-domain effects on all aspects of the WFI; WFC, WFE and FWE had within-domain effects on role satisfaction, while FWC had a cross-domain effect on role satisfaction; burnout was affected mainly by work-domain mediators, which were WFC and WFE.\nConclusion: Our main aim in the present study was to investigate the mediating roles of all four aspects of the WFI (i.e. WFC, FWC, WFE, FWE) in the relationships between work and family demands, as well as resources, burnout, and role satisfaction, integrally. To the best of our knowledge, very few studies have assessed the antecedents, outcomes, and the mediating role of WFI in a non-Western sample. Furthermore, instead of using a convenient but restricted sample from one or two organizations, we recruited a large sample of working parents from different organizational and industry backgrounds, thus enhancing the generalizability of our findings. One unique contribution of our study is that we extended Western-based theories to Chinese employees, confirming that all four aspects of the WFI are important mediators linking up certain antecedents with certain consequences from both the work and family domains.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating roles of four aspects of work and family interface (WFI: work-to-family conflict, WFC; family-to-work conflict, FWC; work-to-family enrichment, WFE; and family-to-work enrichment, FWE) in a Chinese context in Taiwan. Included in the integral model are demands and resources from the work and family domains as antecedents, and role satisfaction and burnout as consequences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 499 full-time working Chinese parents in Taiwan.\nFindings: Structural equation modeling results showed that antecedents had cross-domain and within-domain effects on all aspects of the WFI; and conflict and enrichment also had cross-domain and within-domain effects on job satisfaction and family satisfaction, while influences from the work domain (WFC and WFE) had a significant impact on burnout. Overall, the partial mediation model was supported, showing that antecedent variables having both indirect (through the WFI variables) as well as direct relationships with the outcome variables.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study testing a comprehensive model of the whole loop of antecedents-WFI-consequences with a non-Western sample. One unique contribution of the study is that the authors extended Western-based resources theories to Chinese employees, confirming that all four aspects of the WFI are important mediators linking up antecedents with consequences from both the work and family domains. Basing upon the findings, the authors suggests that both managers and employees should endeavor to break the destructive flow of conflict-dissatisfaction/burnout and to initiate the constructive flow of enrichment-satisfaction/free of burnout, by considering not only demands but also resources from both the work and family domains.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Supply chain alignment as process: contracting, learning and pay-for-performance	[ "Learning", "Pay-for-performance", "Inter-organizational relationships", "Contracting", "Supply chain alignment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: An effective supply chain strategy aligns a firm's performance priorities and objectives, and those of its suppliers, with the requirements of customers (van der Vaart and van Donk, 2006; Vachon et al., 2009). This view of alignment is arguably the defining concept of supply chain management: if firms in a supply chain are aligned in achieving the end customer's requirements, then this benefits the supply chain as a whole, as it can improve performance and increase its collective share of the end-customer's business (Christopher and Towill, 2002). Alignment is achieved through inter-organisational relationships, which are governed by a combination of formal contracts and relational norms (e.g. trust) (Cao and Lumineau, 2015; Wacker et al., 2016). These underpin more specific alignment practices, including information sharing, increasing levels of integration and collaboration, and the design of compatible performance measures (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001; Simatupang and Sridharan, 2002).\nConceptual background: Supply chain alignment: possible theoretical perspectives\nResearch methodology and design: A case study design was adopted to analyse in-depth the process of supply chain alignment and help build theory (Ketokivi and Choi, 2014). Case-based research is suitable for longitudinal, process-oriented investigations (Voss et al., 2002) that aim to make sense of a sequence of events over time, and in context (Pettigrew, 1990). Longitudinal cases are particularly useful for studying the interplay of contacting and learning and evolution in contracts (Mayer and Argyres, 2004). Unlike surveys, case studies facilitate the collection and analysis of contractual documents (Lumineau et al., 2011). In this study, drafts of service level agreements (SLAs) and payment provisions proved instrumental in capturing how supply chain counterparts learn to achieve alignment.\nAnalysis of the cases: This section presents the within-case analyses of how buyers and LSPs learn to align their objectives and incentives through contracting, and the dynamics of the alignment process.\nDiscussion: In what follows we revisit the research question posed in the introduction:\nConclusions: This section concludes by discussing research and managerial implications as well as future research opportunities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how buyers and suppliers in supply chains learn to align their performance objectives and incentives through contracting.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two longitudinal case studies of the process of supply chain alignment were conducted based on 26 semi-structured interviews and 25 key documents including drafts of contracts and service level agreements.\nFindings: The dynamic interplay of contracting and learning contributes to supply chain alignment. Exchange-, partner- and contract framing-specific learning that accumulates during the contracting process is used to (re)design pay-for-performance provisions. Such learning also results in improved buyer-supplier relationships that enable alignment, complementing the effect of contractual incentives.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study demonstrates that the interplay of contracting and learning is an important means of achieving supply chain alignment. Supply chain alignment is seen as a process, rather than as a state. It does not happen automatically or instantaneously, nor is it unidirectional. Rather, it is a discontinuous process triggered by episodic events that requires interactive work and learning.\nPractical implications: Development of performance contracting capabilities entails learning how to refine performance incentives and their framing to trigger positive responses from supply chain counterparts.\nOriginality/value: The paper addresses supply chain alignment as a process. Accordingly, it stresses some important features of supply chain alignment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Service quality and student/customer satisfaction in the private tertiary education sector in Singapore	[ "Case study", "Singapore", "Student satisfaction", "Private tertiary education sector", "Service quality gap analysis model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Background to the study\nLiterature review: Customer disconfirmation framework\nTheoretical framework and hypotheses: Based on the literature review, a conceptual model was developed for this study (and for future related research) (see Figure 1). It weaves together the service quality gap, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions after the fact.\nResearch method: Research design\nResults: Demographics\nDiscussion: Administrators in higher education are rightly concerned with retaining their students, and thus are mindful of customer satisfaction of services provided. By way of consuming higher education non-academic services, students develop perceptions of the quality of said services, perceptions that inform their degree of satisfaction with the university, and their intentions to remain at the university. This article focused on customer/students' perceptions of the quality of non-academic services received in higher education. Such services include course administration, student welfare services, campus catering, counselling, accommodations, and financial advice (Palli and Mamilla, 2012: Greatrix, 2011). The study showcased PTEIs in Singapore, an under-researched education sector.\nImplications: The results of this study have several important implications for the PTEIs in Singapore and other neighbouring countries whose PTEIs have similar characteristics. First, not all demographics of consumers/students at PTEIs in Singapore are indicators of customer satisfaction, except for gender (females more likely to complain), and the length of time at the institution (with satisfaction decreasing as time goes by). Thus, if they want to gain a critical sense of the quality of their non-academic services, PTEIs should converse with female students, and students that have been at the university for over two years.\nTheoretical contributions: The results of this study contribute to the academic theory of service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions, which may serve as a guide for management in the educational sector. The results also contribute to the development and testing of a customer contingency framework that integrates both expectations and perceptions of service quality and customer satisfaction in a private tertiary institutional setting. Improvements to these theories should contribute to the development and interpretation of service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions in general.\nConclusion: Overall, the study revealed significant positive relationships among perceived service quality, satisfaction, and favourable behavioural intentions in PTEIs in Singapore. The results showed that perceived service quality influences consumer/students' satisfaction which, in turn, has an impact on consumers' intentions to remain loyal to the institution, and even pay a higher fee to remain with the institution. Specifically, the effects of perceived service quality on favourable behavioural intentions were mediated by satisfaction. Hence, when a consumer/student is satisfied, favourable behavioural intentions towards the institution are strengthened. This result implies that raising student satisfaction could improve an institution's competitive positioning in a new world where the student/university relationship is viewed as a market exchange. The reality of conceiving university students as consumers is not going away any time soon, i.e., all will benefit from richer understandings of this conceptualisation and phenomenon.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper focuses on students' perceptions of the quality of non-academic services received in higher education. While the important role played by expectations and perceptions in students' evaluations of such services has been discussed in much of the service quality literature, there is insufficient work in the private tertiary educational sector (PTES). Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between service quality, student satisfaction, and behavioural intentions in the PTES, using Singapore as a case study.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study adopted quantitative research to address the research questions. Primary data were collected from 324 valid responses from a survey conducted in two private tertiary educational institutes (PTEIs) in Singapore.\nFindings: The results suggested that perceived service quality is positively correlated to satisfaction; perceived service quality and satisfaction are positively correlated to favourable behavioural intentions; and the relationships among perceived service quality and loyalty and paying more for a service are mediated by satisfaction.\nOriginality/value: This study is significant as the results provide better insights for Singaporean administrators in PTEIs, which is an under-researched area. Generally, the results will have far-reaching implications for all stakeholders in the delivery and consumption of education services in PTEIs, within and beyond Singapore.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Online personalization: the key to engaging the learner	[ "E‐learning", "Design", "Experience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: My first exposure to learning and development in the workplace was as a recipient in the 1990s when much of the activity was classroom based. It felt as though managers, regardless of industry or experience, were \"developed\" to within an inch of their lives in stuffy classrooms where facilitators would roll out the same script, the same OHPs, the same \"energizers\" and poor jokes, course, after course, after course ...\nProviding flexible learning outcomes: It is useful to differentiate between two types of learning: focused and diffused.We all have experience of focused learning: for example, at school or university, students follow a predetermined curriculum in a particular subject. They all start in the same place and the learning outcomes are defined as end-points for the group as a whole and not for individual learners. This process is essentially linear. Diffused learning on the other hand is designed to meet diverse needs and should enable learners to plot their own learning routes in order to meet their own specific objectives.Among groups of learners there are a variety of different objectives for the same program - and this means a range of different starting points and required learning outcomes. Therefore, a program very linear in its structure will not be appropriate. In fact it could prevent some learners from engaging with the learning experience and therefore jeopardize its success. Let us take an on-line induction program as an example to demonstrateThe programme should be clear and simple in its structure and yet allow the learners to navigate the system themselves. This ensures that each individual's specific objectives are met and their interest maintained.Meeting the needs of individual learning styles\nConclusion: One of the biggest challenges of any learning method is engaging the learner. The key to the success of the learning experience is to ensure that the learner is engaged from the outset or the experience will essentially be worth nothing. It is no great revelation to say that the best way to do this is through personalization - in the classroom every trainer or facilitator realizes that they have to know about their attendees and react to their specific needs. Online learning is no exception - it is not simply about providing content; it is about providing a personalised learning solution - one that is flexible, creative and relevant to the learner. If it is delivered in this way it has countless benefits over and above anything that can be delivered solely in the classroom and can be an effective and versatile complement to other forms of work based learning. And it is this that gives online learning enormous potential in the future of learning and development.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper looks at how personalization can be the key to engaging adult learners in an on-line learning experience. Adult learners bring a variety of experiences to a learning experience and a \"one size fits all\" approach can often hinder the success of a programme.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper explores the various ways in which an on-line learning experience can be personalized for individual adult learners. Programme design and content should provide flexible learning outcomes and respond to the needs of individual learning styles.\nFindings: - Non-linearity, variety of content presentation and exercises, removal of barriers to engagement and letting the learner take control of their learning have all proven in the writer's experience to be effective ways of personalizing the learning experience.\nOriginality/value: - This paper will be of interest to all those involved in programme development and the provision of on-line learning to adult learners. It looks at ways of improving the success of on-line learning experiences by challenging the \"one size fits all\" approach.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The interaction effect of placement characteristics and emotional experiences on consumers' brand recognition	[ "Product placement", "Brand recognition", "Emotional experiences", "Placement characteristics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumers are exposed to many commercial messages every day, but they are becoming increasingly skillful in skipping advertisements. Advertainment has, therefore, become a dominant trend in marketing communications (Donaton, 2004). Based on the level of integration between entertainment and brand content, Russell (2007) classified advertainment into three categories in an ascending order of integration: product placement, product integration and branded entertainment. Product placement, a practice of integrating branded information into media content, has become increasingly popular, because it is easier for companies to adopt placement than the other two strategies (product integration and branded entertainment). This is regarded as strategic must-have in a company's marketing communication mix (Belch and Belch, 2015).\nTheoretical framework and hypothesis development: Placement characteristics and brand recognition\nMethodology: Research stimuli\nResults: Main effects\nDiscussion and conclusion: Branded contents are increasingly embedded in films. As a result, consumers are simultaneously exposed to a number of placed brands when watching films, and they experience different emotional states. Unlike previous studies, the focus of this study was an attempt to reveal the effects of placement characteristics on brand recognition under different emotional states, and we obtained useful insights accordingly. The results in general support previous studies on the relationship between prominence and serial position on brand recognition (Gupta and Lord, 1998; Lee and Faber, 2007; Lin, 2014; Peters and Leshner, 2013; Vashisht and Sreejesh, 2015). Consistent with the existing literature, PC also had a significant positive impact on brand recognition (Bressoud et al., 2010; Gupta and Lord, 1998; Kamleitner and Jyote, 2013; Park and Berger, 2010; van Reijmersdal et al., 2010). Some of these effects were further strengthened when emotional experiences were introduced.\nTheoretical and practical implications: This study sheds new light on product placement research by considering the role of emotional experiences on cognitive processing and brand recognition. Placement characteristics alone may not adequately explain consumers' memories of placed products/brands. Emotional experiences interact with placement characteristics to exert an effect on cognitive resource allocation, and hence on the recognition of placed brands. The results make a significant theoretical contribution to the field. This study also enhances our understanding that the emotional experiences derived from exposure to actors and plots may transfer onto the placed brands. Therefore the joint mechanism between emotional experiences and placement characteristics should be considered when studying the cognitive processing of product placement.\nLimitations and future research: Some limitations should be noted when interpreting the results, but they also offer opportunities for future studies. First, we used student samples, because this group includes heavy consumers of films. However, their interpretation of the film content and thus their emotional experiences might be different from other consumer cohorts, which may eventually affect the memory of the placed brands. Therefore future research could extend to other consumer groups. Second, we used an existing film for the research, and we kept all the original placement scenes without manipulation to preserve the realism. We used this preliminary research with a quasi-experimental setting to explore the proposed relationships. It is suggested that future research could apply some manipulations or even adopt theater methodology (Russell, 2002) to allow for better control of the experimental results. van Reijmersdal et al. (2015) found that gamers' moods moderated the effect of placement disclosures, and they significantly affected gamers' attitudes toward brands placed in a videogame. Future studies may also examine the interactions between disclosures and emotional experiences on the recall of placed brands.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interaction effect of placement characteristics and emotional experiences on consumers' recognition of placed brands. Brand recognition is a fundamental step in the consumer's decision-making journey.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors developed a research model based on emotional process theory and cognitive capacity theory incorporating placement characteristics, emotional experiences and brand recognition. An experimental study of 110 young Chinese consumers was conducted to test the research model.\nFindings: The findings indicated that all three placement characteristics (prominence, serial positions and plot connection) had significant effects on brand recognition, as suggested in previous research. The effect of emotional experiences on brand recognition was comparatively less prominent. Placement characteristics and emotional experiences also interacted to influence the recognition of placed brands.\nOriginality/value: This study shows the role of emotional experiences and their interaction with placement characteristics on brand recognition, which has yet to be examined. The conceptual model contributes to the product placement literature by suggesting that both cognitive and emotional processing are important for brand recognition. The findings provide useful insights for marketers in designing effective product placement strategies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The ties that bind? Online musicians and their fans	[ "Music", "Internet marketing", "Social media", "Media (new media)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: I know we've never met but I just wanna say you are the most beautiful living thing on this planet and as far as I know, beyond. You're so talented and captivating (\"like a firework show\") [...] So anyway, Valentine's Day is coming up and I was hoping you could be my Valentine [...] what do ya say? (Comment from a fan on Taylor Swift's Facebook page, 4 February 2013).\n2. Relevant literature and hypotheses development: The following discussion considers literature related to consumption and music, along with sociological theory especially at the micro-level of interactions. We draw specifically upon Granovetter's (1973) conceptualisation of the strength of ties between individuals as an important link between the micro (i.e. individual interactions) and macro (large-scale patterns) levels of sociological theory. We begin with a consideration of relevant literature related to online music acquisition, followed by associated social media literature before examining tie strength.\n3. Research methodology: To test the hypotheses, an online survey was created and distributed via a targeted research panel, in April and May of 2014. Responses were sought from individuals between 16 and 25 years of age, with annual incomes below NZD $55,000, as they are deemed most likely to be active on SNS, and more likely to illegally download (Jambon and Smetana, 2012; Plowman and Goode, 2009). Following initial questions to filter out those who did not participate in SNS, respondents were then asked to think about a specific musician with whom they have had some interaction via SNS, as they answered the remainder of the questions.\n4. Findings: The data were examined, with responses eliminated on the basis of significant missing data or flat-lining (all answers being the same). The resulting sample size was 352, with characteristics as detailed in Table II.\n5. Discussion: This study has brought the concept of tie strength into the online fan-musician context - something not previously examined, but of relevance given the social nature of SNS. While some support was found for relationships between tie strength and purchase intent, contributions also lie in: understanding how SNS may relate to developing ties with a musician; understanding the inter-relations between tie strength indicators in an SNS fan-musician context. These will be discussed along with implications for managers, prior to noting limitations and suggestions for future research.\nConclusion: SNS is an environment which pervades the lives of many, and offers both opportunities to connect as well as opportunities to damage. The influence of SNS on the music industry is highly relevant today, and is expected to continue its reign, but what can it do? This study suggests that SNS certainly do have the power to connect and develop a fan's sense of a tie with a musician. While these relationships between fans and musicians are in all likelihood not \"real\" relationships, SNS seem to offer a proxy. They give the fan an opportunity to engage and create a tie, a feeling of closeness, an inclination to recommend and share, and a desire to spend more time with the musician. Ultimately, this may lead to greater purchase intent. It is true that the Taylor Swift fan quoted initially is probably not alone, and has probably purchased a Swift CD.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between musician's social network sites (SNS), the tie that fans may develop via these sites, and music acquisition, via legal and illegal means.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach was taken, gathering 352 responses from young adults via an online survey.\nFindings: Perceptions of interactivity and sincerity on musicians' SNS are found to lead to stronger ties, enhancing the fan's feeling of closeness to the musician, the fan's inclination to spread positive word-of-mouth, and the time a fan spends on the site. Pathways are found between the fan activity, sense of closeness and time spent on the SNS. In terms of acquisition, the tie strength indicator of time spent on the SNS holds a positive relationship with purchase intent. While a sense of closeness holds a negative relationship to illegal downloading activity, the fan's activity recommending the musician has a positive influence on illegal downloading.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations of this study include a limited amount of information on the musician and extent of fandom, suggesting future research to tease out the effects of SNS on fans with varying levels of existing commitment to musicians.\nPractical implications: Stronger ties between fans and musicians may be developed via interactive and sincere SNS. Activities which encourage the fan to give recommendations and spread positive word-of-mouth are especially influential in driving purchase intent.\nOriginality/value: These results provide theoretical and practical implications in relation to how SNS may influence the online fan-celebrity \"tie\" and music acquisition - three elements which have not to date been examined.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mergers and acquisitions in Brazilian industry: a study of spillover effects	[ "Spillovers", "DEA analysis", "Industrial policy", "Malmquist index", "Processing industry", "Reverse spillover", "Brazilian industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Merger and acquisition (M&A) activities represent a movement of wealth, people and, often, the transfer of ideas, technologies and even culture, which are potentially subject to the national policies states formulate, possibly affecting firms' ability to trade and invest across borders. M&As are inherent to capitalist competition and considered an important strategic tool for competitiveness in globalized environments, and thus have received special attention from researchers who are concerned with the effects of different firm's growth directions, especially in developing countries. They represent one of the most important mechanisms underlying the globalization process and - together with financial deregulation and liberalization of markets - have shaped the way countries integrate themselves in the world economy.\n2. Literature review: Various theories have attempted to anticipate M&A transaction economic effects. According to them, companies may improve productivity levels by increasing turnover rates, collaborating with partner companies and by participating in research and development (R&D) activities, thus benefiting from partner asset complementarities and operational improvement implementation (Devos et al., 2009; Takechi, 2013). However because M&As necessitate company reorganization, there may be costs associated with synchronizing corporate cultures and work environments. Furthermore, even when no gains result from M&A transactions, corporate managers may be driven to acquire companies if they plan to build a business empire (Takechi, 2013).\n3. Material and methods: In order to achieve the proposed objectives, a methodological procedure will be based on the studies of Malmquist (1953), Caves et al. (1982), Fare et al. (1994), Aitken and Harrison (1999), Levinsohn and Petrin (2003), Javorcik (2004), Cummins and Xie (2008), Odeck (2008), Suyanto and Salim (2010), Hale and Long (2011), Du et al. (2014) and Aik et al. (2015).\n4. Estimation results and discussion: The statistical summary of the final panel data set for relevant variables is presented in Table II. The results show that the industrial sector with the highest number of M&A CB1 (M&As made by companies with foreign majority capital acquiring Brazilian-held capital from a company established in Brazil) and M&A CB4 (M&As made by companies with foreign majority capital acquiring foreign-held capital from a company established in Brazil) was the information technology, telecommunications and media equipment manufacturing industry (36 and 38 operations, respectively).\n5. Conclusions: The objective of this study is to offer a more accurate understanding of the diverse nature and effects of M&A operations on host economies and to stimulate a more relevant public policy discussion. As argued by Cohen (2007), each corporation and each industry or country is a special case and MNEs spillover effects are extremely complex and heterogeneous phenomenon. Different kinds of businesses produce different kinds of corporate activity and the nature, objectives and effects of specific kinds of firms in different industries and institutional environments are not applicable to others.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of different kinds of merger and acquisitions (M&As) on domestic industries' productivity in the form of technological change (TC) and efficiency change (EC) in the Brazilian extracting and processing industries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Panel data analysis is employed to test the impact of different kinds of M&As spillovers on each component of productivity growth. The database contains data collected from 2007 to 2011 referring to the Brazilian industries. The estimation procedure involves two stages. The first stage decomposes TFP growth into EC and TC using a input-based Malmquist Productivity Index. In the second step, EC and TC indexes are used interchangeably as a dependent variable in panel data regressions on the M&As-spillover variables.\nFindings: The results indicate a positive relationship between TC and M&As made by Brazilian majority capital acquiring foreign-held capital from a company established abroad, which is consistent with reverse spillover theory. They also suggest an inverse relationship between TC and M&A operations made by companies with foreign majority capital acquiring both Brazilian-held capital and foreign-held capital from a company established in Brazil. Only the sectors that are capable of increasing their productivity via TC are able to benefit from technology transfer.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study is limited by the extent of data aggregation applied, which did not identify M&A transaction effects at the firm level. The available data do not allow isolating the effects of M&A processes on industry performance, given the co-occurrence of several factors that affect the performance of the industry. The study results imply that public managers must remain cognizant of the critical need to preserve and maximize competition between foreign and domestic firms while promoting a competitive environment that encourages the development of domestic technological capacities and skilled human capital.\nPractical implications: M&A processes raise important issues with respect to organizational decisions and industrial policy. Studies of M&A transactions may be of fundamental importance to the expansion of healthy companies as they evolve through successive stages of growth and development. Liberalizing regulations to promote M&A transactions, and corporate market control is only justified if it promotes social welfare and economic development. Understanding the complexity and dynamics of this phenomenon and appreciating the heterogeneity of possible outcomes can lead to more relevant discussion regarding their contributions.\nSocial implications: Results found in this study indicate the need for greater efforts to understand how M&A operations, especially those associated to foreign-held capital, interact with local owned enterprises in developing economies and what benefits can be achieved through public policy. M&A operations need to be well evaluated by considering the kinds and intensities of externalities they might generate, whether and how local firms can potentially internalize those gains, building up absorptive capacities in order to achieve productivity spillover gains.\nOriginality/value: This study not only offers a more accurate understanding of the diverse nature and effects of M&A operations, but also stimulates a more relevant public policy discussion related to both foreign direct investment and OFDI incentives in Brazil. The growing economic importance of the activities of developing emerging countries' multinational enterprises is making governments more inclined to re-evaluate their political strategies. Indeed, governments are beginning to recognize that markets need to be created, monitored and nurtured.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
When shoppers don't have enough self-control resources: applying the strength model of self-control	[ "Changed purchase decisions", "Shopper behavior", "Shopping duration", "Strength model of self-control", "Walking distance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Imagine a shopper, Mrs Smith, shopping in a supermarket. She initially planned to purchase a package of Barilla spaghetti noodles, Tropicana orange juice, Dove shampoo, and other grocery items. While shopping she browses products on many shelves and compares them to make the most rational purchase decisions. While navigating through the store, she has to make a series of purchase decisions and cope with a variety of marketing stimuli, such as sampling stations, promotional coupons, and diverse product and brand exposures that stimulate her desire to purchase brands and/or products she had not planned to purchase. As she checks out, she realizes she forgot to purchase some of the products she initially planned to purchase.\nStrength model of self-control: The success or failure of self-control is dependent on resources available for self-control. Successful self-control has an ability to prevent automatic, routinized and impulsive acts, while maintaining controlled psychological behaviors (Muraven and Baumeister, 2000). Mischel et al. (1989) have described the success of self-control as a prepotent cool system over a hot system where a hot system refers to affective mental representations that cause impulsive reactions and a cool system refers to a state of being emotionally and cognitively neutral. Another view asserts that success of self-control occurs when decisions are made to achieve long-term rather than short-term outcomes (Wertenbroch, 1998). That is, self-control is one's capability to deny immediate benefits (e.g. eating chocolate cake) so as to achieve a long-term goal (e.g. losing weight). In contrast, self-control failure indicates one's state wherein there are no resources available for self-control after a variety of acts of self-control. Thus, self-control failure leads people to engage in habitual, automatic, inconsistent and thoughtless acts in return for short-term outcomes (Hagger et al., 2010; Vohs et al., 2008).\nIncreased purchase decision changes as staying longer: One view advocating that a longer shopping duration causes the consumption of ego resources insists that regardless whether shoppers actually buy, shoppers in a retail setting are supposed to consume their self-control resources to maintain a variety of shopping activities (Baumeister et al., 1998; Baumeister, 2002; Gailliot and Baumeister, 2007; Grant, 2004). The time spent enduring the magnitude of internal and/or external temptations encountered in diverse shopping activities in retail stores would have a major impact on consuming shoppers' self-control resources, leading to more changes in purchase decisions (Baumeister, 2002). In other words, more exposure to diverse external temptations (e.g. marketing stimuli) combined with the number of decision-making actions that consume self-control resources (Baumeister, 2002; Yim et al., 2010), the more we expect shoppers' purchase decision processing to consume self-control resources.\nDecreased purchase decision changes as staying longer: While the theory of self-control discussed above interprets shopping duration as an external factor that causes reduced self-control capacity, a competing view proposes that shopping duration is an internal motivational factor that causes a shortage of self-control resources. Prior studies have demonstrated that time pressure is a situational factor that directly affects consumers' decision-making processes (Herrington and Capella, 1995; Iyer, 1989; Vermeir and Van Kenhove, 2005).\nBehavioral variables increasing shoppers' overall spending: Changed purchase decisions\nDemographic variables increasing shoppers' overall spending: A common belief is that well-educated people are more likely to earn a higher annual household income than less-educated people and accordingly, their spending power in retail stores would be greater, as revealed in the report from Bureau of Labor Statistics (Foster, 2014). Yet, no clear and consistent findings about such a relationship have been reported in the retailing literature. Rather, empirical evidence from diverse retail contexts has revealed mixed results. For example, Fox et al. (2004) revealed that college degree holders tend to spend significantly more than non-degree holders, but an individual household's income level does not have any significant influence on overall spending at mass merchandise stores (e.g. department stores).\nPsychological variables increasing shoppers' overall spending: Consumer impulsiveness\nMethodology: General procedure\nGeneral discussion: The primary goal of the current study was to test two competing views about how the strength model of self-control should be applied to the context of grocery shopping in understanding the relationship between shopping duration and shoppers' changed purchase decisions. Through the use of a field test for empirical validation, I achieved higher levels of external validity than found in most prior studies on shoppers' self-control. The results support prior research findings, asserting that self-control operates much like muscular strength (Baumeister et al., 1994). Increased use of self-control in a retail shopping trip causes a reduction of self-control resources, resulting in more passive decisions and frequently abandoned decisions/actions from a lack of the ability to control the environment (Baumeister et al., 1998). However, the unique finding is how reduced self-control resources are embedded in the relationship between shopping duration and shoppers' changed purchase decisions. Different from the perspective that insists a longer stay in the store causes more frequent purchase decisions, the evidence supports the claim that a shorter shopping duration motivates shoppers to reach the state of impaired decision-making, thereby failing to follow through with initial purchase plans. Moreover, the results from the current study support findings suggested by Vohs and Faber (2003, 2007) and Vohs et al. (2008) that used multiple laboratory experiments to conclude that as participants experienced lowered self-control resources, their valuation system was damaged, causing them to spend more.\nManagerial implications: The findings provide retail managers with important implications for enhancing their sales and the marketing efforts they should avoid in terms of the mechanism found in the strength model of self-control. As shown in this study, shoppers with exhausted self-control resources are more likely to make impaired decisions, resulting in more frequent changes in purchase decisions, buying more expensive items and increased spending overall.\nLimitations and future research: The efforts to test and extend the strength model of self-control should be interpreted as hypotheses that are supported based on prior concepts about the mechanisms of self-control (Baumeister, 2002; Vohs et al., 2008). Indeed, as often found in many field studies, there are a variety of ways to explain shoppers' purchase decision changes. The major reason why I conducted this field study, in spite of its limitations, was to make the theoretically confirmed knowledge not to be confined in a laboratory setting. Many studies emphasize on internal validity at the expense of external validity, and thus, a study in the other direction should be also considered important.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to empirically test and explain shoppers' purchase behavior in a retail store by applying the strength model of self-control.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A pretest was used to identify shoppers' purchase change behavior based on 500 average shoppers, followed by a main study based on another set of 166 average shoppers, to test the proposed hypotheses.\nFindings: As shoppers stay shorter in a grocery store, they tend to change their purchase decisions more frequently. In addition, this study results reveal that three behavioral variables, namely, shoppers' changed purchase decisions, shopping duration and walking distance, significantly predict their overall spending.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings from the current study are limited to a designated superstore conducted for this study only. From a managerial viewpoint, the author suggests that giving shoppers more choice options and encouraging them to spend more time and walk further in a grocery store, depleting their self-control resources, can be an effective strategy in increasing sales. Yet, excessive efforts for these ideas can also cause shoppers' massive returns once they return to the normal state with sufficient self-control resources.\nOriginality/value: The current study empirically confirms the applicability of the strength model of self-control through field studies designed to increase the external validity of the findings. To the best of the author's knowledge, this research is the first to apply and empirically test the strength model of self-control in the field to explain shopper behavior and highlight the importance of understanding shoppers' changed purchase decisions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Staffing practices in the private sector in Sri Lanka	[ "Employees", "Recruitment", "Selection", "Human resource management", "Line management", "Sri Lanka" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Staffing, which is concerned with the recruitment, selection, placement, evaluation and promotion of individuals, lies at the heart of how businesses procure human resources (HR) in an organization (Peters et al., 2000). In this regard, the focus is on matching the capabilities and inclinations of prospective candidates against the demands and rewards inherent in a given job (Herriot, 1989; Montgomery, 1996; Plumbley, 1985, Zhu and Dowling, 2002). Much of the recent literature on human resource management (HRM) has emphasised the importance of staffing (Plumbley, 1985; Smith and Robertson, 1993; Tanova, 2003; Terpstra, 1996; Williamson, 2000). For instance, Plumbley (1985) suggests that the profitability and even the survival of an organization usually depends upon the calibre of the workforce, and argues that the costs of ineffectual commercial viability can often be attributed to decades of ineffective staffing practices. Even in today's technically advanced business environment, the human factor is instrumental to the success of an organization. Thus, it is argued that with the changes in the business climate and the rise of re-engineering to meet the needs of organizations in the area of downsizing or cost diminution, organizations must equip to recruit individuals who can operate in non-structured or \"virtual\" organizations (Heraty and Morley, 1998). Though HR could be enhanced continuously through development, the first step towards making sure that employees possess the qualities sought for is to develop and institute appropriate staffing practices (Ahmad and Schroeder, 2002). In some service sectors such as software development, qualities reside more clearly with individual employees as opposed to within an organization and the required qualities may change before an employer can develop these among its own employees (Heraty and Morley, 1998). Thus, the staffing process of an organization is intended to identify prospective candidates who have at least some of the required qualities and attributes to fit well with the hiring organization. Further, effective staffing practices reduce labour turnover and enhance employee morale (Bonn and Forbringer, 1992; Lee et al., 1999). Hence, staffing represents one of the key factors that influences the success of an organization (Judge and Ferris, 1994; Tanova, 2003; Williamson, 2000).The focus of this paper is on the discussion of the results of an empirical investigation into staffing practices in Sri Lanka with reference to junior level managerial jobs. The paper examines a number of specific questions. These include whether information from job analysis is used in staffing, what the internal and external sources of labour are and whether different sources influence the nature of the pool of labour attracted, what selection criteria and selection methods are used, what measures are taken to validate staffing practices, and the extent to which HR managers and line managers are involved in the staffing process. Though attention has been devoted to investigating staffing practices in the Western world, to date there remains a dearth of empirical research conducted to address these in the context of an Asian developing country. For two main reasons, research into the management practices of Asian developing countries - Sri Lanka in particular - is important. First and foremost, as the importance of staffing continues, it is important to the future of the management discipline and the profession to address to what extent staffing practices are echoed in Asian developing countries. This is important as the credibility of management concepts is partly determined by their diffusion across the world. Thus, it is essential to study staffing practices in different socio-cultural settings; their credibility will be enhanced if the concepts are viewed as being applicable in different country contexts. However, staffing practices in the Asian context remain dubious due to the lack of empirical studies. Specifically, no such studies have been conducted in the context of Sri Lanka. Thus, from a theoretical perspective, it is essential to increase the understanding of this topic; this could stimulate further research in this area. Second, despite tumultuous internal struggles, the Sri Lankan economy has shown resilience and has forged ahead, demonstrating a satisfactory rate of growth, which could be attributed to increase in foreign direct investments (FDI). Low wages are unimportant if labour is unproductive or its productivity is hampered by negative attitudes towards work. The productivity of Sri Lankan labour has been rated as the second highest in Asia (Rasaputram, 2001). Thus, from a practical standpoint it is vital to provide practitioners with key information that could enable them to make informed managerial decisions in a non-Western work environment. This is one of the most important contributions to the literature - to reveal the staffing practices of a developing country destined for FDI. In this context, the paper presents an account of staffing practices in Sri Lankan organizations that is potentially important for scholars and practitioners alike. For the investigation, a survey was conducted in 62 companies belong to two major types of companies - those listed on the stock exchange and those not listed - in 2005, based on the assumption that there might be significant differences between listed and non-listed companies in their staffing practices. The conclusions address existing practice and implications.\nReview of literature: Use of job analysis information in staffing\nEconomic and social environment in Sri Lanka: The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean at the base of the Indian subcontinent. Sri Lanka has been under Portuguese, Dutch and British rule since 1505 and became independent in 1948. At the time of regaining independence, the production of and trade in plantation crops contributed to a major share of the national income; the economy was open to free trade (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 1998). From the mid-1960s governments gradually introduced an array of controls, but in 1977 wide-reaching policy reforms were introduced to free the economy from these controls (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 1998). A major boost to employment generation from the early 1980s came mainly from the expansion of local private sector and foreign investments stimulated by liberalised economic policies (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 1998). Employment in manufacturing and service sectors increased (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 1998). The importance of the public sector as a major source for providing employment opportunities has declined since 1991 (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 1998).The quality of the manpower of a country is influenced by the level of access to education. As a result of the free education policy for all citizens of the country from primary education to graduation, since 1945, the majority of new entrants to the Sri Lankan labour force have been endowed with primary and secondary education (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2004). However, creating employment for the growing educated labour force has been a problem confronted by successive governments since independence. Unemployment stood at nine per cent in 2002 (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2004). The most alarming feature of the unemployment problem in Sri Lanka has been its skewedness towards young, first-time job seekers. The unemployment rate is at its highest among the young, in the age group 15-29 years. Further, unemployment exhibits an increasing trend with the increase in the level of education (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2004).However, the scarcity of research on staffing practices in Sri Lankan organizations limits the ability to provide guidance on the one hand to those who seek employment opportunities, and on the other for investors to make informed managerial decisions in a non-Western work environment.\nMethodology: Sample\nFindings: Usage of information from job analysis in staffing\nConclusions and managerial implications: This research investigated staffing practices in relation to junior level management positions in the Sri Lankan private sector based on the assumption that there may be significant differences between listed and non-listed companies. One of the main differences between listed and non-listed companies was the preference shown by non-listed companies to recruit internally based on internal promotions. This is somewhat unexpected as listed companies, by virtue of their reputation as being listed on the stock market, could be expected to maintain a series of career ladders for their personnel. When considering the methods of recruitment, the priority given to advertising as the main method does not differ by the type of the company (i.e. listed or non-listed). When comparing listed and non-listed companies in terms of selection criteria, there were no significant differences between their preference for educational qualifications, work experience, and professional qualifications, which were rated as first, second, and third, respectively. Further, when comparing listed and non-listed companies in terms of selection methods, selection interviews rated as the most frequently used method, followed by written examinations, psychometric tests and assessment centres in both listed and non-listed companies. Furthermore, the results also revealed that if mismatches were identified in newly hired employees, both listed and non-listed companies extended the probationary period and provided necessary training. Thus, though it was expected to find significant differences between listed and non-listed companies in their staffing practices, the findings led to reveal more similar staffing practices.Overall, the results of the study suggest that companies are moving away from the internal labour market and prefer to recruit from the external labour market. This has implications for practice as internal recruitment not only motivates current employees to perform better and increase their commitment to the organization, but may also help to create a flexible/mobile internal labour market whose job security could be improved through upward or lateral career opportunities. Thus, a greater preference for the external labour market may not represent a deliberate, organization-wide, strategic selection strategy.Sri Lankan companies draw talent from different sources. Each source of recruitment brings with it a number of distinct advantages and disadvantages. Different sources of recruitment reach different applicant populations and attract applicants who differ in qualities and attributes that may impact job performance and attitudes. However, this may lead to a high level of investment in recruitment and selection, and also implies the need of objective selection criteria and sophisticated selection methods.A high preference for educational and professional qualifications implies that the organizations surveyed are looking for qualified candidates. The preference for previous work experience indicates that companies identify work experience as one of the requirements in the career transition into a junior managerial role. In Sri Lanka, on the one hand, an increasing number of educated youth are entering into the labour market annually and unemployment shows an increasing trend with increasing level of education. On the other hand, the economic condition of the country suggests the possibilities of attracting FDI into the country. For investors, local market, regional market and future market possibilities provide a motivating force to invest. The quality of labour was one of the factors that attracted investment to Sri Lanka. This implies the need to create accurate opportunity awareness among job seekers. Thus, a practical implication for higher education institutions and job seekers is to focus on the expectations and requirements of the organizations. Another situation that emerges in this regard is the trend of Sri Lankan organizations receiving a greater volume of applications for job vacancies. Organizations therefore have to plan their recruitment activities and also to use more sophisticated selection methods. This also has several implications. The usage of more sophisticated selection methods could be quite costly if organizations do not have trained staff and require the help of professional psychologists from outside the organization to administer and interpret test results. However, the misuse of such instruments may also be costly to the organization and may also be demoralising to the new hire, who may find him/herself in the wrong job. This could demotivate the new hire as well as the rest of the staff.The findings revealed that the Sri Lankan companies rely highly on interviews as a selection method. Many of the inherent problems of interviewing may be reduced due to the use of panel interviews and the number of stages in the selection process. However, interview decisions would be inappropriate without complementary staffing practices such as training of interviewers, consistency in interview evaluations, a common grading system in defining personal attributes and the evaluation of interview outcomes on the basis of job performance. Hence, the use of personal interviews in Sri Lankan organizations needs to be developed along with other related HR practices.Despite the apparent confidence that some companies demonstrated regarding employee retention, the experience of companies showed that instances of new hires leaving due to mismatches do exist. HR specialists in Sri Lanka may need to realize the importance of the formation of expectations during the staffing process. This implies the need for the provision of extensive information during organization socialization to facilitate acquisition of the organization's cultural perspective, which in turn reduces the anxiety and uncertainty attendant to new surroundings and new responsibilities. This further implies the need for further investigations into the perceptions of new hires/job applicants on staffing practices, such as reactions to selection methods and their decision-making in the selection process.The results did not reveal the complete devolvement of staffing activities to line managers. HR managers still retain responsibility and accountability for the overall success of staffing. The combination of line manager and HR manager involvement may minimize the risk of failure. On the other hand, devolvement may provide more discretional time for HR managers to concentrate on creating coherent and consistent staffing practices with organizational business strategies and with other associated functions of HRM such as HR planning, and training and development. This implies that in the free labour market staffing can no longer be conducted just as an administrative task. This study also suggests that HR managers need to acquire professional skills of managing human resources.\nLimitations and future research: This study was confined to exploring staffing practices in the private sector in Sri Lanka and comparing the practices of listed and non-listed companies. Future studies could be extended to cross-industry and cross-national comparisons, as managerial preferences in staffing policy areas, like other HRM policy areas, could reflect underlying managerial values associated with the industry concerned or with the country of origin of the organization. Further, while determining general tendencies is useful, there is a need for an analysis of relationships between staffing practices and desired HR/organizational outcomes.Another limitation of the study was that the sample consisted only of HR managers and relied on self-reports for data gathering. Bartlett et al. (2002) argued that self-report measures from HR managers may not accurately reflect the attitudes of the organization towards management practices. Thus, the study sample could be extended to collect data beyond the perception of HR managers to include multiple sources such as line managers and newly hired employees as future research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to present and discuss the findings of a study of staffing practices in the Sri Lankan private sector with particular reference to junior level managerial jobs. The scope of staffing practices consisted of six major areas, namely the usage of information from job analysis in staffing, the sources of labour, selection criteria and selection methods in use, the validation of staffing practices and the involvement of HR managers and line managers in staffing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Sixty-two companies were selected based on a stratified random sample method from two major types of companies - those listed on the stock exchange and those not listed. A self-administered questionnaire was chosen as the main mode for data collection. For the study, a combination of quantitative and qualitative inquiries was adopted.\nFindings: - Sri Lankan companies placed higher weighting on the external labour market in recruitment and the use of objective criteria in selection. The common ground for the companies is the heavy role that interviews, written examinations, psychometric tests and assessment centres play as selection methods.\nOriginality/value: - The credibility of management concepts is partly determined by their diffusion across the world. Also, such credibility will be enhanced if the concepts are viewed to be applicable in different country contexts. However, staffing practices remain dubious due to the lack of empirical studies in the context of Asian developing countries. Specifically, no such studies have been conducted in the context of Sri Lanka.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A quantitative optimization framework for market-driven academic program portfolios	[ "Strategic planning", "Higher education", "Integer linear programming", "Market-driven academic programmes", "Programme portfolio optimization", "Quantifying qualitative programme data" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Expenses in operating budgets have increased at a faster rate compared to the growth of sources of funding, and many colleges and universities are finding themselves in difficult financial situations (Selingo, 2013; Denneen and Dretler, 2012; Lyken-Segosebe and Shepherd, 2013; Drucker, 1997). As a response to these financial issues, colleges and universities are in part investing significantly in market-driven academic programs (Seers, 2007; Altbach and Knight, 2007; Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2010; McDonald, 2007; Lee and Gilmour, 1977; Frolich et al., 2010; Michael et al., 1995). Market-driven academic programs leverage academic research in a variety of disciplines as well as leading practices from industry to prepare students to address opportunities and challenges that exist in these areas of focus. Addressing market demand for individual development of specialized skills, knowledge, and capabilities has the potential to not only impact society in a positive way, but it can also play a key role in addressing the financial challenges of the colleges and universities that develop programs to address these needs (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2010).\n2. Quantifying qualitative market-driven academic program elements: Market-driven academic programs and portfolios of such programs have multiple dimensions of financial (e.g. revenue) and non-financial (e.g. faculty characteristics) measurements that are unique to each college or university. Each of these dimensions consists of one or more elements that are combined to determine the dimension score. Since some of these elements have a qualitative nature, we first need to assign quantitative scores to these qualitative elements. We describe two approaches of quantifying qualitative program elements in this section and then illustrate how they can be utilized to calculate the dimension score for an individual program and a portfolio of market-driven academic programs.\n3. General portfolio planning model: We introduce a quantitative model to provide support for a data-driven decision process for selecting the composition of portfolios of market-driven academic programs for a desired planning time period in order to achieve the desired financial and non-financial objectives of a college or university. Optimization utilizing linear programming is well established as a technique for analyzing many complex decision or allocation problems (Kanu et al., 2014; Newman and Weiss, 2013; Markowitz, 1952; Dantzig, 1963), and the impact of (integer) linear programming on practice and theory has been significant (Troutt, 1983; Mansini et al., 2014; Abbassi et al., 2014; Schrijver, 1998).\n4. Illustrative case study: To illustrate how the general portfolio planning model described can be utilized by a school offering market-driven academic programs and how qualitative program elements can be quantified, a portfolio of programs from a school offering market-driven academic programs at a prestigious private university in the USA (\"School\") is analyzed.\n5. Conclusion: This paper presents two methods of quantifying qualitative program attributes and a general program portfolio planning model that leverages such data and seeks to maximize the financial return of a portfolio of market-driven academic programs while also achieving non-financial dimension targets. As illustrated in the case with a school offering market-driven academic programs at a prestigious private university in the USA, the methods and model can be effective in the planning process. Although schools offering market-driven academic programs will differ in their unique financial and non-financial objectives, decisions and input parameters, this program portfolio assessment model can be leveraged, along with being impactful. Using the model to both assess and support decisions in portfolios can add substantively to the achievement of qualitative objectives, as well as to the financial operating budgets of colleges and universities, improving the state of higher education and ultimately enabling economic growth and expansion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a decision support model for optimizing the composition of portfolios of market-driven academic programs, primarily in schools offering market-driven academic programs. This model seeks to maximize financial performance during a desired planning time period while also achieving targets for other non-financial dimensions of the portfolio (e.g. mission alignment, student demographics and faculty characteristics) by deciding the types of programs to be added, redesigned and/or removed for each year of the planning period.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper introduces an integer linear program (i.e. mathematical optimization) to describe the portfolio optimization problem. Integer linear programs are widely used for optimizing portfolios of financial and non-financial products and services in non-educational settings. Additionally, in order to use an integer linear program for the model, qualitative data must be incorporated into the quantitative model. To do so, this paper first discusses two methods of quantifying qualitative information related to market-driven program dimensions in the following section.\nFindings: The paper provides empirical insights related to the impact of this model through an illustrative case from a school offering market-driven academic programs at a prestigious private university in the USA. The results of the case highlight the potential positive impact of utilizing a similar model for planning purposes. Financially, the model results in almost double financial surplus than without the model while also achieving higher scores for all non-financial dimensions measured for the portfolio analyzed.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a unique and impactful model for decision support in strategic planning for market-driven academic programs, an area of intense discussion and focus in higher education today.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The co-creation process in the development of nostalgic new products	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Innovation", "Nostalgia", "Value co-creation", "Qualitative study" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Both scientific and managerial fields have identified a shift in the relationship between consumers and brands, mainly because of the sociological evolution of consumers expectancies, who are now focussing on a search for multisensory, hedonic, nostalgic and meaningful experiences (Cova et al., 2003). This relationship between consumer and brands is no longer based on a materialistic reward, but it integrates more subjective dimensions, such as search for sensations, immersion in sensory environment and social sharing of emotions and experiences (such as nostalgic ones). At the same time, consumers can now contribute to the creation process and influence companies in the development of their products or strategies. They can express their nostalgic behaviors and desires for older products, for example. Thanks to the development of social media (social networks, virtual communities, forums and blogs) and its use by consumers and companies, a co-creation process is increasingly used by companies.\n2. Literature review: The literature review highlights the concept of nostalgia and the co-creation process, by linking nostalgia and marketing innovation.\n3. Methodology: The goal of this study is to highlight the role of consumer's insights in the development of new products with high nostalgic content. Following this objective, we processed a qualitative study. This study combines two techniques: a netnographic approach and semi-directive interviews. This choice is justified by the complementarities of the two methods.\n4. Results and discussion: The following section presents the main results of both netnographic analysis and semi-directed interviews. It underlines four points: first, the criteria for selection and purchase of products and services; second, the perception and dimensions of nostalgia; third, the link between nostalgia and consumption and finally, the relationship between nostalgic experiences and the co-creation process.\n5. Conclusion: The purpose of this research was to underline and understand the role of value co-creation in the development of new products with nostalgic content. This problematic was also justified by the lack of studies within the literature dealing with this topic. This study relies on theoretical frameworks such as consumer agency and consumer empowerment. At the same time, the growing interest for the development of innovation as well as retro marketing provides justification for this study. As a response, a qualitative methodology has been conducted. It is based on a netnographic analysis (creation of topics on social networks, forums and blogs and identification of relevant information related to nostalgia) and 12 semi-directed interviews. The results highlight: the high degree of consumers' sensitivity and receptiveness for nostalgia, the positive appreciation of past experiences in the development of new products and services and the consideration of nostalgic consumers' experiences as a relevant source of creativity and inspiration for companies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The role of nostalgia in consumers' lives and its application in the design of marketing strategies has been highlighted in prior research. However, the role of nostalgia as well as the consumers' nostalgic inclination in the development of new products has not been investigated yet, either for existing products or new ones. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to underline and understand the collaborative process of value co-creation for both actors (companies and consumers) in the development of nostalgic new products.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A double methodology was used through a netnographic study (which is inspired by ethnography) and semi-directed interviews. Concerning the netnographic approach, the data collection were conducted on both general and specialized social networks, web sites and forums. The semi-directed interviews were conducted among 12 individuals. The verbatim were analyzed through a content thematic analysis. The use of both methodologies helped to underline recurrent and complementary findings.\nFindings: The analysis highlights four main results: first, the main criteria for selection and purchase of products and services; second, the perception and dimensions of nostalgia; third, the link between nostalgia and consumption; and finally, the relationship between nostalgic experiences and the co-creation process.\nOriginality/value: This research is the first to study the value of the co-creation process for the development of nostalgic new products.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Analysis of SCOR's approach to supply chain risk management	[ "Supply chain management", "Risk management", "Conceptual framework", "SCOR 10.0" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Supply chain risk management (SCRM) concerns \"the management of supply chain (SC) risks through coordination or collaboration among the SC partners so as to ensure profitability and continuity\" (Tang, 2006a, p. 453). SCRM is of strategic concern for organizations. Toyota's two billion dollar loss from a failure in brake pedal design that was magnified by SC lead time (Dittman et al., 2010); and Matsushita's losses of LCD IT panels from its factory fire, with subsequent global supply implications (Smith and Associates, 2007), are examples of the ripple effects from manifestation of SC risk. Whilst CEOs are increasingly aware of the financial aspect of SC disruptions (Malone, 2006), 90 per cent of organizations are yet to effectively address the matter (Dittman et al., 2010). The supply chain operations reference model (SCOR) is a widely accepted industry reference model for SC operations that was introduced to assist organizations in mapping, developing and referencing SC operations, and assessing and monitoring levels of SC performance.\n2. Background and literature review: 2.1. SCOR: concepts and context\n3. Research approach: Using critical analysis and a two-phased approach, we analysed the coverage and integration of SCRM practices and corresponding risk related metrics in SCOR 10.0. Phase 1 was positivist and entailed document analysis of SCOR 10.0 wherein we sought to determine restrictions, oppositions or contradictions (Myers, 1997). This facilitated our ontological view of SCRM in SCOR. In Phase 2, we adopted an interpretivist perspective (Walsham, 2006) wherein inductive reasoning allowed critical reflection. This led to the suggestion of amendments.\n4. Analysis of SCRM in SCOR 10.0 and suggested improvements: For conciseness purposes our analysis of SCRM in SCOR 10.0 is presented below in tabular format (see Table II). In column 1, the component, we break our analysis into four blocks, which represent SCOR's four components (processes, performance (attributes and metrics), best practices and people (skills)). Given we often have several concerns with the current operationalization of each component, the points within each are indexed. For example P-1 relates to the first point concerning processes, P-2 to the second point, and so on.\n5. Discussion: Some issues with the conceptualization of risk and risk management in SCOR relate to their definitions. ISO 31000:2009 is strategic in defining risk \"in terms of the effect of uncertainties on objectives\". Similarly the ERM perspective advocated by COSO (2004) emphasizes the strategic nature of the risk management process. In contrast, SCOR takes a transactional approach to conceptualizing risk in SC processes, defining risk management as \"[i]mproving (mitigating) the risks of an undesired event taking place, limiting the impact of such an event and improving the ability to recover from the event\" (SCC, 2010, p. 1.2.7). This representation of SCRM as a transactional (Level 3) rather than strategic (Level 1) process creates integrity issues, including inconsistencies in the hierarchical representation of risk-related attributes and metrics, best practices and skills (see Table II).\n6. Conclusion: Our study has analysed the coverage and integration of SCRM within SCOR 10.0. Given the pervasiveness of operational risk, SCRM's inclusion into SCOR 9.0 and 10.0 was timely, as is related feedback on its effectiveness. Our critical analysis of SCOR 10.0 establishes the reference model's coverage and degree of integration of process-based thinking towards risk, with findings showing a number of significant inconsistencies. If remedied these should usefully enhance future releases.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: SCOR 10.0, released in late 2010, is the second version of the supply chain operations reference model (SCOR) to incorporate risk management processes, metrics and best practices. Given the paucity of studies that have explored the coverage and integration of supply chain risk management (SCRM) within SCOR, the analysis and suggested improvements for SCRM are designed to enhance SCOR's collaborative and coordinated management of supply chain (SC) risks. The paper aims to dicsuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Critical analysis was used to analyse the coverage and integration of SCRM within SCOR 10.0.\nFindings: Discrepancies were identified in how SCRM has been incorporated into SCOR, including issues with the hierarchical representation of SCRM processes, metrics, best practices and skills. These may potentially propagate into difficulties in embedding risk management processes within other SC processes, visualizing risk metrics in a SC's value hierarchy and reconciling SCOR's SCRM with organizational enterprise risk management.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper is limited to theoretical analysis of the coverage and integration of risk in SCOR 10.0. Once the issues identified are remedied, the subsequent suggested improvements require validation through empirical testing.\nOriginality/value: Despite SCOR's wide acceptance as a reference model in managing SC operations, there has been no investigation of its approach to SCRM. The analysis addresses this lack of prior investigation by analysing SCRM in the latest version, SCOR 10.0. The paper identifies deficiencies and suggests amendments regarding SCRM's coverage and integration of SCRM.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Board gender composition and marketing effectiveness in the female consumer market in Zimbabwe	[ "Zimbabwe", "Marketing effectiveness", "Board gender composition" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Marketing effectiveness is an important measure of organisational performance. It is a mechanism used by firms to appraise whether marketing strategies and activities of an organisation are being correctly implemented to satisfy consumer needs and preferences (Angulo-Ruiz et al., 2016; Frosen et al., 2013; Tuan, 2012; Brooks and Simkin, 2012). The extent to which a corporate entity is effective is usually linked to its board of directors. Accordingly, Vandewaerde et al. (2011) view corporate boards as teams that exist to perform corporate tasks, interact socially, share the same goal of enhancing corporate performance, and depend on each member to complete tasks. Furthermore, Conheady et al. (2015) argue that the level of corporate effectiveness is dependent on efficiency of its board to monitor how top management implement formulated strategies to serve the interests of both shareholders and other corporate stakeholders, who include consumers. Conversely, although boards are commissioned with the decision-making role, directors seem not to have been involved in the decision-making process but rather appraise and endorse decisions made by company officers. Kemp (2006) observes that boards of directors have ceased to be drivers of the decision-making process for companies but have rather become \"rubber stamps\" to the decisions presented to them by the officers of a corporation, resulting in marketing ineffectiveness of organisations being blamed on marketing functions and the board of directors. Hence, when marketing strategic decision-making stems from a board of directors, a competitive advantage is achieved (Singh et al., 2008).\nTheoretical framework: Similarity attraction theory\nLiterature review and hypotheses: Marketing effectiveness\nData and methodology: Population and sample\nAnalysis and results: Reliability analysis\nDiscussion: The total mean scores on the external marketing effectiveness variables show that female consumers in Zimbabwe were generally dissatisfied with the marketing activities of the agro-manufacturing firms in the country. The results therefore imply that the firms were failing to adapt their marketing strategies to serve the emerging needs of the female consumers, hence the low levels of external marketing effectiveness. The findings seem to confirm the observation by Wittenberg-Cox (2010) that firms that are unable to adapt their marketing strategies to emerging female consumer needs experience low levels of external marketing effectiveness. These findings call into question the effectiveness of the marketing strategies formulated and implemented by the firms. The findings seem to suggest that agro-manufacturing firms in Zimbabwe were specifically not targeting the female market as a key segment. Lack of knowledge of the products purchased by the female consumers and failure to understand that women, rather than men, make the majority of the grocery shopping for households could account for the low external marketing effectiveness as observed in other research (Lee, 2009). Agro-manufacturing firms in Zimbabwe were to likely improve their external marketing effectiveness if they were to stop viewing themselves as traditionally targeting the male market (Wittenberg-Cox, 2010). Moreover, a study by Sidin et al. (2004) found that firms that were able to achieve external market effectiveness in the female consumer market were those that could communicate their products such that women could associate themselves with their products. The findings are consistent with those by Curwen and Park (2014) that if products are not designed to the satisfaction of female consumers, they tend to elicit negative emotions of disappointment and displeasure. Accordingly, any Zimbabwean agro-manufacturing firm that intends to achieve higher levels of external marketing effectiveness in the future should ensure that its marketing strategies are designed to meet the requirements of the emerging female market.\nConclusions and implications: The growth and economic attractiveness of the emerging female consumer market in Zimbabwe, like elsewhere, strengthens the significance of this study to existing and future manufacturing firms of consumer goods. Considering the highly competitive operating environment for manufacturing firms, higher levels of external marketing effectiveness will likely be achieved by firms that among others develop relevant marketing strategies for the female consumer market. This seems particularly evident in countries such as Zimbabwe where competition from imports, perceived as better targeted for the female consumer market, threatens the market performance of domestic consumer goods manufacturers. It may be essential for domestic agro-manufacturing firms in Zimbabwe therefore to increase their understanding of female consumer requirements and align their marketing strategies accordingly.\nLimitations of the study: The sample for this research was drawn from agro- manufacturing firms in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the applicability of these findings to other sectors and countries should be done with caution. In addition, the sample for the research was rather small, with only a few female only boards. If conducted with a larger sample, the results could be different. The developed scale to measure external marketing effectiveness may require to be tested by other researchers in different settings to confirm its applicability in measuring the construct in multiple settings.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to examine the difference in the effect on external marketing effectiveness of gender similar boards and gender dissimilar boards in the agro-manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a multi-item construct of external marketing effectiveness, data were gathered from 56 agro-manufacturing firms. The significant differences in the effect of marketing activities designed by male, gender-diverse and female boards on the level of external marketing effectiveness of the firms were examined using MANOVA.\nFindings: The results suggest significant differences on the levels of external marketing effectiveness between all female boards and all male and gender-diverse boards. Female boards indicated high levels of external marketing effectiveness on customer-perceived value, loyalty, satisfaction, brand performance and symbolic meaning. The study concludes that marketing effectiveness will only be achieved by firms that develop relevant marketing strategies for the female consumer market.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample for this research was drawn from agro-manufacturing firms in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the applicability of these findings to other countries should be done with caution. In addition, the sample for the research was rather small, with only a few female boards. If conducted with a larger sample, the results could be different. The developed scale to measure external marketing effectiveness may require to be tested by other researchers in different settings to confirm its applicability in measuring the construct in multiple settings.\nOriginality/value: Prior research shows that corporate board effectiveness has tended to be measured in terms of corporate financial performance. This research measures board effectiveness from the extent to which its gender composition has an effect on the ability of manufacturing firms to serve emerging needs of female consumers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
External debt among HIPCs in Africa: accounting and panel VAR analysis of some determinants	[ "Africa", "HIPC", "External debt" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The impact of the excessive external debt that plagued the African continent has been well documented. Earlier studies have established the debilitating impact of external debt and debt service on economic growth (Scott, 1994; Fosu, 2008; Shalishali, 2008; Ndikumana and Boyce, 2011; Mohd Daud and Podivinsky, 2012). The economic impact of the excessive indebtedness on output attracted a pool of recommendation from both academic and non-academic spheres (Osinubi et al., 2010). One of such recommendations was the introduction of highly indebted poor country (HIPC) initiative by bilateral and multilateral donors. Since the introduction of the HIPC and enhanced HIPC initiatives, debt burdens in Africa have significantly declined due to massive rescheduling and write-off of numerous debts. Despite the numerous rescheduling and cancelation of external debt, the plights of most African countries have worsened (Ngassam, 1991; Muhanji and Ojah, 2011) and sustainability still remains a challenge notwithstanding the declines in debt levels (Yang and Nyberg, 2009). Completion and exiting from the HIPC initiative is by no means a panacea to the debt sustainability problems of African countries (Yang and Nyberg, 2009). Several solutions have been advanced for achieving sustainability of African external indebtedness with the majority of researchers calling for extensive structural reforms as a way of dealing with the problem.\nStylized facts on external debt in Africa: In this section, we take a preliminary tour of the data on external debts. The discussion explores the stylized facts on external debt stocks. We highlight two popular debt stocks ratios that have formed the basis for the HIPC initiative. These are external debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio and external-debt-to-export ratio. External debt-to-GDP ratio has been as high in pre-HIPC era (1980-1995) as that of post-HIPC era (1996-2010). Average external debt-to-GDP ratio prior to the introduction of HIPC initiative stood at 105.43 percent for the 24 HIPC countries employed in the study. The average for the post-HIPC era (1996-2010) was even slightly higher at 106.07 percent. The stock of external debt-to-export ratio on the other hand revealed that averages for the pre-HIPC era stood at 576.12 percent. Following the introduction of the HIPC initiative, this ratio has significantly declined to 433.95 percent. Average interest payment on these debts has also declined significantly.\nLiterature review: Debt composition\nMethodology: External debt accounting\nAnalysis and discussion of findings: Composition of external debt growth rate\nConclusions and policy implications: Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The management of external debt among highly indebted poor countries (HIPCs) in Africa still remains a challenge despite numerous packages and attempts to ameliorate the consequences of such odious debt. The purpose of this paper is to establish the factors that contribute to the growth rate of external debt and how these factors respond to shocks to external debt growth rate in Africa.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were obtained from 24 African countries and analyzed using a panel vector autoregression estimation methodology.\nFindings: The study found that external debt growth rates respond positively to unit shock or changes in government investment spending, consumption spending, and domestic borrowings over a long period of time. In the medium term, external debt growth rates respond negatively to shocks in tax revenue, inflation, and output growth rates. The paper also provides empirical support that external debt may be consumed rather than invested among HIPCs in Africa.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings of this paper are limited to only HIPCs in Africa.\nPractical implications: This study has some few debilitating implications for external debt management among HIPCs in Africa. First, the paper suggests that debt repayment may be a problem. This is largely because external debt is consumed rather than invested. External debt sustainability needs a holistic approach in less developed countries. The findings place much emphasis on improvements in gross domestic product and tax revenues as the principal routes out of the debt doldrums. However, this option must be exploited with great caution as there is ample evidence that these poor countries increase their external borrowing capacities with improvements in economic outlook.\nOriginality/value: This paper fills a research gap that identifies specific components of government deficit budgets that may be contributing to the growth rate of external debts among HIPCs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gender disparities in the use of internet among graduate students of a developing society: A case of Pakistani universities	[ "Pakistani universities", "Gender differences", "Graduate students", "Internet usage", "Disparities in internet use", "Student internet use" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Information, one of the basic human needs, is greatly preserved in a digitized form and is accessed, acquired and shared through internet. Millions of students around the globe were using the internet as a source of getting information during their formal education, thus immensely influencing the education sector. Munusamy and Ismail (2009) expressed that both men and women are dependent on internet for learning, and previous studies have noted gender imbalance in internet use. In addition, because of culture, social conditioning and stereotype in the society, internet use is much linked to men. Papastergiou and Solomoindou (2005) also noted the students' dependency on internet for education purposes. This dependency has compelled them to access the internet regularly, but unfortunately, not all have equal opportunities to its access and usage. Similarly, Shaw and Gant (2000) found that income, educational level, race, and geographical location were the few factors attributed to gender disparities in the internet use.\nLiterature review: The use of internet has improved education globally (Castells et al., 2007). There are contradictory views about the nature and impacts of gender differences in learning through the use of computers and internet. The review of the literature shows that gender disparities exist in the use of internet in learning environments, but these have been less investigated. He stated that internet is a tool that has touched upon all aspects of life, and it is evident from the literature that men are generally found to use internet for a wide range of purposes than women (Jones et al., 2009). Madell and Muncer (2004) and Gunn (2003) discovered gender imbalance in the use of internet. They concluded that women are the disadvantaged group because of inferior levels of access, less technology literacy and dominant male behavior. However, women perform better than men, despite the observable differences in interaction styles.\nObjectives: To determine the gender disparities in the use of internet among students and to minimize the gaps in literature, this research was conducted with the following research objectives:\nMethodology: A survey method was chosen to address the objectives of the study. Survey is a positive method to study the characteristic, opinions, beliefs, etc. of a large and dispersed population by studying a relatively small number of units selected from the larger group without its listing and relatively at low cost (Busha and Harter, 1980; Kho and Owen, 2000; Powell and Connaway, 2004). The population of this research was 4,008 university students studying in final year/semester in 2014-2015 in public sector general universities located in different cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. To make possible the collection of the required data, 5 universities, the University of Peshawar, University of Malakand, University of Mansehra, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan and Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, were selected out of the total 15 universities purposely, because these universities were the most populated among all public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Second, these universities possessed all those teaching faculties (Sciences, Arts/Social Sciences and Management Sciences) from which the researcher planned to collect the data. Furthermore, it was also decided that the researcher would collect data from the students studying in the following departments of the selected universities: Departments of Physics, Math, Biology, Chemistry and Computer Science in the Faculty of Science; Departments of Statistics, Economics, Law, Political science and English Literature in the Faculties of Arts/Social Science; and Faculty of Management Sciences. These departments were selected as they were student-rich and available in all selected universities.\nResponse rate: The questionnaires were administered personally to a sample of 1,001 graduate university students. A total of 696 (69.5 per cent) respondents replied to the survey, of which 23 questionnaires were found unusable, thus giving a total of 673 (67.2 per cent) usable questionnaires, which is a good response rate. Furthermore, the division of respondents when made on the basis of gender shows that there were 424 (63 per cent) male and 249 (36.9 per cent) female respondents.\nOwnership of personal computers/laptops based on gender: The data regarding the possession of PC's by males and females (Table I) show that more male internet users had their own PC's /Laptops than females. It was also very discouraging to know that about more than half of the women (n = 145, 58.2 per cent) did not have their own PCs.\nInternet use places: The respondents (male and female) were asked to highlight the internet use places. The figures in Table II show that the ratio for female respondents (63 per cent) using internet at home was greater than that for male respondents (59.4 per cent). As far as internet use in libraries and computer labs were concerned, a very little difference was noticed. Moreover, the figures revealed that ratio for male respondents was high for using internet at friends' houses and internet cafes than the female counterparts. The reasons for less use of these places for internet by female respondents might be that in our society, they face restrictions from parents or their domestic responsibilities might stop them to go outside and use internet there (self-explanatory).\nThe internet experience by gender: The gender-wise internet use experience is presented in Table III. The figures show that majority of males had four years of experience in using the internet, followed by males with more than four years of experience as compared to females. However, more females (n = 26, 24.8 per cent) had experience in using the internet than males (n = 55, 12.9 per cent) in one year category. Similarly, more females (n = 83, 33.3 per cent) had experience in using the internet than males (n = 107, 25.2 per cent) in three years category but, the analysis of the data shows that more male internet users had experience in using the internet for four years and above. Similarly, majority of female participants had three years of internet use experience. It means that male participants were more experienced than female participants, possibly because females' faced more barriers in the use of the internet, e.g lack of time, busy domestic life, as well as due to certain social and technological barriers.\nStudents' self-assessment of the internet use skills and gender: Table IV shows that data regarding students' self-assessments of the internet use skills. Independent sample t-test was used to compare the means difference in the internet use by male (n = 424) and female (n = 249) university students. In addition, no significant differences were found in the internet use skills between male and female students, except the use of HEC databases to download e-books, journals articles and reports (p < 0.05). The comparison of the mean scores indicated that male students were more skilled than female students in the use of HEC databases. Similarly, the comparisons of the means scores for the rest of the internet use skills between male and female students showed that female students' internet use skills were higher than male students' skills, i.e. contrary to the results found by Ying-Tien and Chin-Chung (2006), who revealed that male students had better self-efficacy than female students. However, the overall situation is satisfactory regarding the internet use skills of both the groups.\nDifferences in the internet use purposes based on gender: When the t-test was applied for determining the differences among two groups, the data in Table V indicate a significant mean difference for a few internet use purposes by both the groups. Those internet use purposes were: use social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace, Meet me, [...] etc.), see weather reports, spend leisure time, use online shopping and trading websites and play games (p < 0.05). The comparisons of the mean scores of male and female students for the below mentioned internet use purposes showed that female students used internet more likely for these purposes than male students.\nComparison of the time spent on internet by male and female students for different purposes: In the same way, two-tailed independent samples t-test was used for the comparison of mean difference of time spent on each internet use purpose of male (424) and female (249) students. The type I error rate was set at alpha = 0.05. Figures in Table VI reveal statistically significant mean differences between male and female students for the time spent on completing assignments/research projects (download and consult free academic e-resources: e-books/journal's articles/thesis and dissertations/manuscripts/technical reports/indexes and abstracts, etc.) (male students: mean = 3.73; female students: mean = 3.35); reading e-newspapers and general magazines (males Mean = 3.67 and females Mean = 3.16); seeing weather reports (male students: mean = 1.80; female students: mean = 2.14); spending leisure time (male students: mean = 1.91; female students: mean = 2.22); searching for jobs (male students: mean = 2.07; female students: mean = 2.31); using on-line shopping and trading websites (male students: mean = 1.87; female students: mean = 2.04); watching movies/dramas/shows/photographs (male students: mean = 3.74; female students: mean = 13); and watching and listening to music (audio visual) (male students: mean = 3.27; female students: mean = 2.85) (with p < 0.05).\nUse frequency of internet resources and activities based on gender: The association between the use frequency of internet resources and activities and gender is investigated through applying the independent sample t-test on the data. The data in Table VII indicate that the use frequency of some six internet resources and activities were found significant, p < 0.05. Among these resources and activities, speeches and lectures available on YouTube, online cloud storage (Sky drive, Google drive, One drive), social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, [...] etc.), online movies/dramas/shows, sports and audio-visual resources were included. However, the comparison of the average frequency scores of male and female students showed that the female students' internet use frequency was higher than male students' use for speeches and lectures available on you-tube, social networking sites, online movies/dramas/shows and sports. Similarly, male students had greater use frequency regarding online cloud storage and audio-visual resources.\nThe level of satisfaction obtained by both male and female students: The results of independent sample t-test in Table VIII show that the following internet resources and activities, free e-books, free online databases to download information, electronic theses and dissertations, indexes and abstracts, electronic encyclopedias, dictionaries and other electronic reference material, technical reports, e-mailing and social networking sites were discovered significant, as these had p < 0.05. The comparisons of means scores revealed that male students were more satisfied with free e-books, electronic encyclopedias, dictionaries and other electronic reference material and social networking sites than female students. Similarly, female students were more satisfied with free on-line databases to download information, e-thesis and dissertations, indexes and abstracts, technical reposts and e-mailing than male students. Moreover, the level of satisfaction obtained from majority of the internet resources and activities among male and female students was the same, and there were no significant differences observed.\nProblems faced in the use of internet based on gender: The mean scores for barriers faced by male and female students in internet use were examined through independent sample t-test. The mean scores are displayed in Table IX. The data revealed that the barriers of I feel the computer anxiety (fear in the use of computer) (p = 0.001), I lack adequate knowledge about online e-resources (p = 0.003), the electricity shortage problem (p = 0.004), difficulty in using the internet because of distance between me and internet stations (p = 0.003) and the problem of negative attitude of society towards the internet usage (p = 0.007) were significant. The above results expressed that for both male and female students, the intensity or level of importance of above problems were different.\nConclusions and recommendations: It is concluded that male students were more experienced than female students in internet use. The obvious reason for this was that majority of male students possessed PCs. This availability provided them an opportunity to gain first-hand information with the help of their PCs. Another concrete logic for male students having more experience than female students was their frequent visits to all the places where internet was available. They have no distance problem in accessing the internet, just like female students.\nDirection for future research: In the light of these finding, it is suggested to investigate why female students use internet less for educational purposes. For future research, it is suggested to replicate such studies in other settings to further identify and eliminate gender differences in the use of internet among university students.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In the past two decades, the problem of gender disparities in the use of internet has attracted a remarkable interest of researchers. Several studies revealed that female internet users were the disadvantaged group than males, because they had not the same access, experience and use frequency regarding the internet use. Moreover, the negative attitude of the society towards the females' internet use also made them disadvantaged group. Prompted by these observations, this paper aims to examine gender differences in the use of internet among graduate students of a developing society - in public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Quantitative research design using a questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed through SPSS version 20.0 by using descriptive and inferential statistics.\nFindings: The findings of this study, similar to previous studies, revealed differences among men and women. Majority of men possessed PCs and were more experienced than women. In addition, they were more skilled and faced problems of computer anxiety and distance with less intensity than women. In addition, women used internet mainly for social interaction, communication, entertainment and were more satisfied with some of the educational resources than men. However, men were more satisfied than women regarding the use of most educational internet resources and spent more time on these than women.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study in Pakistan that deals with gender differences in the use of internet among graduate students of a developing society - in public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leadership development in a global chemical manufacturer	[ "Training", "Assessments", "Global leadership", "People leader development" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Leadership development is used as a common talent management strategy to achieve sustainable organizational success. Recognizing this potential source of competitive advantage, organizations invest a significant amount of time and money in leadership development. Their executives believe that good leadership makes a difference in a company's overall performance, and they demand accountability from leadership development programs (Van Velsor, 1998).\nTransfer of learning as the bedrock of the design: A key part of the research supporting the design of the program was to study strategies that facilitate the transfer of learning back to the job. Three sets of factors were identified, and each element within these factors was based on previously published and accepted academic research:\nThe People Leader Development Series: With a solid foundation in transfer of learning research, the development program was called the \"People Leader Development Series\" (PLDS). The PLDS implementation was managed regionally with a cross-functional team of business executives, human resources, and learning and development professionals. Content was based around existing sets of competencies within the organization and structured with three distinct first-line people leader groups in mind:\n\"Starting-out\" interventions: Before the starting-out workshops in global locations, during a period of approximately two weeks, there was a series of on boarding events that shaped the expectations for attendees and provided important frameworks. These included discussions around roles and responsibilities and competency-based online courses on topics such as working through and managing people, organizing resources, cultivating your team, networking with colleagues, and evolving as a manager of people and processes.\nEvaluation: Immediate feedback on conclusion of the workshops was positive, and only one minor change was needed - to increase the amount of informal networking or socialization time.\nRecommendations: Finally, on the basis of the development, implementation, and evaluation of this program, the following top six tips are offered:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: A People Leader Development Series (PLDS) was implemented in the manufacturing division of a global chemical manufacturer, as there was a need for improving leadership skills among leaders to meet the demands of the business. The purpose of this paper is to present this as a case study to describe this approach and provide successful implementation program notes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A global team of leadership professionals planned a three-stage people leadership development program. This was stepping up, starting out, and sharpening up. Stepping up was for individual contributors who desired to become people leaders. Starting out was for people leaders who are new in the role. Sharpening up was developed for existing people leaders in the role for three to five years. All were designed with assessments, classroom training, and Web-enabled training for reinforcement, and with a global peer development network. Manager involvement and coaching were critical for the success of the programs. Company executives were sponsors as well as instructors.\nFindings: The complete group of attendees said that they feel supported in their development plans. Three-fourth of the managers said that they feel their front-line people leader training is very effective, and the remainder one-quarter, said that they feel it is extremely effective as they see these results as the performance of people leaders has improved. The most important outcome for all of the managers and attendees was the development of the peer network. It was recommended that the program continue with one new emphasis, of increasing the post-program support with managers of the people leaders.\nResearch limitations/implications: It was important to design the evaluation from the start, as this was necessary to prove the return on investment. The global team designed a survey built around leadership competencies so that the transfer of learning could be understood and documented. Data were collected via an online survey which consists of the company's leadership competency model. A change rating scale (1 = change for the worse to 5 = significant positive change) was used to assess the effect of change in behavior or performance on the critical competencies that were the main focus of the PLDS. The survey was administered to participants and their supervisors to compare the rate of change in behavioral competencies, as a result of the PLDS. Managers of the participants were interviewed over the phone to collect qualitative data about the effectiveness of the PLDS to clarify its impact on individuals as well as the organization. The company surveyed the pilot groups, and this was all. In the future, a commitment toward a strategic evaluation plan would be appropriate.\nPractical implications: Practically speaking, these are the factors that contributed to the success of this program: the regional human resource (HR) managers played an important role in the coordination and developmental feedback. They interpreted the assessment data and were trained on how to do this. The Managers of the PLDS participants were coached in the methods and ways of leading this development for their direct reports. The regional executives taught and played an important role, as they are now mentors with PLDS attendees. The global leadership development team (who resided in the regions) designed the whole process from beginning to end. They were skilled and had resources to do this. The global leadership development team was led by a real star who developed her own direct reports. This is as the culture of this business demanded this.\nSocial implications: As this leadership development program was held in multiple cultures, there were differences in some of the timings and the socialization needed for success. An additional day was added for this reason; so, the people leaders felt that they had enough time to socialize what they learned. A peer learning network was developed as part of the design. This was as anticipated, a major success.\nOriginality/value: There are three ways of approaching people leader development, depending upon the maturity and the skills of the people leader. This is important because there are differing needs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring the impact of intellectual capital on company reputation and performance	[ "Financial performance", "VAIC", "Corporate reputation", "Intellectual capital", "Accounting ratios" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The topic of intellectual capital (IC) has gained relevant consideration among academics, practitioners and consultants because, in the current knowledge era, companies compete, relying more on intangible resources such as technologies, innovations in process and organization, employee abilities, creativity, relationships with external partners and industry networks (Starovic and Marr, 2004; Cordazzo, 2005; Kujansivu and Lonnqvist, 2007; Keong Choong, 2008; Berezinets et al., 2016). The prominence of IC has also been established in academic research in a more broad-spectrum setting - for instance, to explain the determinants of national competitiveness and prosperity (Vale et al., 2016; Roos, 2017). Despite the debate on the concept of IC and its consequences continuously evolving (Dumay and Garanina, 2013), there is a common view in literature on the ability of intangible factors to generate a company's value and distinctive competitive advantages (Bontis, 1996; Petty and Guthrie, 2000; Marr et al., 2003; Roos, 2017).\n2. Literature review and hypothesis: Much of the literature emphasizes the potential of IC to improve a company's competitive position and value creation (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Sullivan, 2000; Firer, 2005; Berezinets et al., 2016), also suggesting important benefits for overcoming the weaknesses of small and medium-sized companies (Will, 2012; Verbano and Crema, 2016; Jordao and Novas, 2017). The relevance of IC for increasing the innovation and competiveness of small and medium European companies has been the focus of several research projects, such as the \"Intellectual Capital Statements for Europe\" (InCaS), developed by academics and practitioners, in collaboration with the European Commission (Edvinsson, 2013)[1].\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Sample and data\n4. Results: Table II presents the descriptive statistics for the 452 observations used in the regression models. The mean of LR is 3.46, which is approximately half way between scores of one star and three stars, suggesting that our sample of Italian companies has a moderate level of reputational rating. The sample contains firms with an average size of 9.99 and firms with an average of leverage of 0.12. Furthermore, our sample includes companies with a low level of financial information quality (INF_QUAL) and high ownership concentration (BVD_IND), possibly indicating that many of those are small family businesses. The mean of VAIC is 94.44, while for the components of IC, it can be observed that VACA contributes more to generate the overall value of IC efficiency, possibly also due to its calculation criterion.\n5. Conclusions: Despite the relevance of IC in creating companies' value, and competitive advantage being continuously under the scrutiny of academics, prior empirical studies have overlooked the relationship between IC and corporate reputation. This topic is relevant, as scholars and recent consultants-based publications (Harrison and Sullivan, 2000; Petty and Guthrie, 2000; Deloitte, 2016) advocate that among firm-level factors driving reputation, IC has a fundamental value.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on the reputation and performance of Italian companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper exploits a unique data set of 452 non-listed companies that obtained a reputational assessment from the Italian Competition Authority (ICA). To test the hypotheses, this study implemented several regression analyses.\nFindings: Results support the argument that human capital efficiency is a key driver of corporate reputation. Findings also reveal that companies, which obtained reputational rating under ICA scrutiny, show a positive relationship between IC elements and various measures of financial performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study focuses on a single country; it is not free from the imprecisions of Pulic's VAIC model.\nPractical implications: This paper recommends companies that are interested to achieve a robust reputation should consider the human capital as a strategic intangible asset. Second, the results suggest that companies with an ICA reputational rating are able to leverage their intangibles to potentiate performance and competitiveness.\nOriginality/value: This is the first empirical investigation on the contribution of IC in generating value for corporate reputation. Additionally, the study contributes to the literature on the link between IC and performance by examining a sample of firms not yet explored in prior research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Building a modern economic system: basic framework, key issues, and theoretical innovation	[ "Modern economic system", "High-quality development", "Real economy", "Economic theory innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A general guiding principle of China's economic construction in the new era is to shift from the pursuit of a high-speed economy to the pursuit of high-quality economic development to accelerate the establishment of a modernized economic system (Liu, 2018a). This principle is the strategic goal of China's development and an urgent requirement in the crucial period of transforming the development model, optimizing the economic structure and switching the growth momentum. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that building a modern economic system resembles writing a substantial article with not only a major theoretical proposition but also a major practical perspective to be discussed in depth through the integration of theory and practice. An in-depth discussion of this important paper is undoubtedly valuable and effective in grasping the objectives, connotations and key points of building a modern economic system; seeking solid and practical policy measures and actions; or summing up lessons and possible theoretical innovations. This process enriches the valuable collection of the socialist economic theory with Chinese characteristics.\n1. Strategic significance of a large developing power's effort to build a modern economic system: The modern economic system refers to an economic concept of high originality that is innovatively proposed by the General Report the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) based on the idea that \"for a country to be strong, the economic system must be strong,\" and the wisdom of the entire Party and the country's citizens. Building a modern economic system, which is the economic foundation of a modernized power, is an important approach to address the major contradictions in the new era by sufficiently emphasizing its role and strategic position.\n2. Major connotations of construction of modern economic system: General Secretary Xi emphasized that the modern economic system is an organic whole consisting of intra- and interrelationships among all links, levels and sectors of socioeconomic activities. In other words, this organic system consists of workers, peasants, merchants, students, and soldiers, as well as prices, financing, commodities and logistics. All aspects, directions and dimensions are connected by production, circulation, distribution, consumption, investment and reproduction links. This system cannot be understood in an isolated and one-sided manner and must be systematically analyzed in close conjunction with all aspects of the national economy.\n3. General framework for China's construction of a modern economic system: Building a modern economic system is the top-level design of the central government for China's economic development framework. In accordance with the policies set forth in the report of the 19th CPC National Congress, the overall framework of the modern economic system is to adhere to \"One Policy and One Mainline,\" to build an innovation-driven, \"Four-in-one\" synergistic industrial system and a \"with three-qualities\" economic system (Yang, 2017).\n4. Innovation-oriented and synergetic development of the industrial system constitutes the foundation of the modern economy: The synergetic development of the industrial system consisting of the real economy, S&T innovation, modern finance and human resources (hereafter referred to as \"innovation-oriented and synergetic development\") is a new goal of the industrial system construction that the CPC creatively devises from the perspective of factor input. This goal is also a major theoretical innovation in China's development practice that respects the laws of economic development. This concept emphasizes that growth should enable the synergies of advanced production factors and focus on improving total factor productivity. Furthermore, the production factors invested in the national economy must ultimately be infused into the real economy to encourage the financial sector to serve the real economy and leverage the modern financial mechanism to support S&T innovation and economic growth.\n5. Building a modern economic system necessitates solid and effective measures: The top-level design and basic strategy for the construction of a modern economic system in the new era should be linked with grassroots innovation and needs specific actions and solid and effective policy measures. To this end, we must focus on the following aspects.\n6. Theoretical innovation in constructing a modern economic system: The top-level design and major deployment of the 19th CPC National Congress on building a modern economic system not only proposed many major tasks that require practice and solid work, but also involved major innovations in the economic theory and enriched the valuable collection of socialist economic theory with Chinese characteristics.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The construction of a modern economic system is a symbolic and strategic choice for large developing economies on the path toward high-quality economic development. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The overall framework aims to adhere to \"One Policy and One Mainline\" to build an innovation-driven, synergistic industrial system and a \"with three-qualities\" economic system (with efficient market mechanisms, energetic micro-agents and appropriate macroeconomic regulation).\nFindings: The strengthening of the real economy and construction of a modern industrial system constitute the material basis for supporting this system and framework. As major decision making and theoretical innovation in empirical practice, building a modern economic system can also contribute substantially toward developing the applied economic theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics.\nOriginality/value: Building a modern economic system in China necessitates, without exception, the construction of various subsystems encompassing industrial, market, distribution, regional development, green development, open and economic institutional aspects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Fast fashion in the retail store environment	[ "United Kingdom", "Retailing", "Fashion industry", "Supply chain management", "Merchandising", "Demand" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Fast fashion has become a key feature of the UK fashion industry over the last decade. Although it was initially regarded as a niche concept offered by a few key players such as Zara and H&M, the concept has now been adopted in one form or another by virtually all the key own-label retailers in the UK fashion market (Baker, 2008; Just-Style, 2009), using improved and more efficient supply chains to be more responsive to changing trends and consumer demand. Previous research into fast fashion has focused on the supply chain aspect of the strategy. This paper focuses on the notional end of the supply chain, with an examination of what happens to fast fashion once it is delivered into the store addressing the translation of fast fashion in the retail environment and analysing how it is communicated to consumers. To this end, four garments categorised as fast fashion merchandise, during a particular time frame were investigated in store to establish the responsiveness of the retail environment.\nThe fast fashion concept: The principle underpinning fast fashion is the reduction of lead times to get product from concept to consumer (Barnes and Lea-Greenwood, 2006; Sull and Turconi, 2008). Fast fashion is a concept whereby retailers orientate their business strategies to reduce the time taken to get fashion product into store, working on a system of in-season buying so product ranges are consistently updated throughout the season. The fast fashion approach also takes into account the nature of consumer demand representing a move away from supply chains driven by manufacturer/designer \"push\" to demand chains driven by consumer \"pull\" (Doyle et al., 2006; Sull and Turconi, 2008). Therefore, the impetus that underpins the fast fashion concept is lead time and consumer demand:Fast fashion is a business strategy which aims to reduce the processes involved in the buying cycle and lead times for getting new fashion product into stores, in order to satisfy consumer demand at its peak (Barnes and Lea-Greenwood, 2006, p. 259).The inclusion of consumer demand as a facet of fast fashion suggests a broadened theory of fast fashion, building on the in-season buying and reduced lead time concept to incorporate \"newness\" as a key feature of fast fashion, in other words, continual renewal and updating of ranges and merchandise delivered to the store.Fashion trends and consumer demand\nThe retail environment: Much of the literature agrees on how important the retail environment is in terms of supporting and ensuring that product is available to the customer at the conclusion of the supply chain. Kent (2007), highlights the shift in emphasis to the consumer experience of the retail environment, rather than a focus on manufacturing and supply chain domination. Furthermore, the visual merchandising of the retail environment is considered to be key in the visual marketing communication of a retailer, acting as a promotional tool (Lea-Greenwood, 2009).The retail environment is characterised by a number of physical elements which converge to create a distinctive image appropriate to the fashion merchandise in which a retailer specialises. McGoldrick (2002) and Varley and Raffiq (2004) agree that the retail environment is a combination of physical and emotional: tangible and intangible attributes (Table I).All of these attributes collectively contribute to the overall in-store communication of the product or retailer with an overarching aim to encourage purchase, however, the physical attributes of the store are those that focus on the communication elements of the environment (Kerfoot et al., 2003). The focus of this research relates to the way in which fast fashion is communicated in the retail environment. Furthermore, the focus of the research is ultimately about product, i.e. to establish how fast fashion merchandise is displayed and communicated. Therefore, it is necessary to further explore the literature on retail environments closely related to the physical and tangible aspects as identified in Table I, specifically those attributes which are closely related to the product for example the window display, layout and merchandising and signage, rather than the attributes associated with the architecture and design of the store.Window display\nMethodology: In considering the literature from the point of view of the retail environment, it is clear there are a number of areas which require academic research to gain a better understanding of how the fast fashion concept is translated in the retail environment. The literature has established the importance of the retail environment as the interface between the supply chain and the consumer and therefore the retail environment represents the fast fashion interface making it strategically important in the communication of the fast fashion proposition. The literature review concludes that there is a gap with regard to considering fast fashion in the retail environment which gives rise to the key research question: how is fast fashion translated in the retail environment with particular reference to how the retail environment is used to visually communicate the fast fashion proposition?Owing to the relatively new study and nature of fast fashion, this research subject lends itself to an inductive approach where in-store participant observation, alongside key informant interviews provides a basis for data collection. The study took an interpretive and inductive approach, recommended by Saunders et al. (2007). The interpretive approach is regarded as being more suited to a qualitative study where there is a lack of theory (Collis and Hussey, 2009). Furthermore, an inductive approach operates on the basis of making observations resulting in statements of general patterns resulting from the empirical evidence presented, which comprises of collecting data and developing theory as a result of analysis.The literature identifies characteristics of timeliness and immediacy as being the key aspects of fast fashion, for example, the consumer sees the garment in a magazine and is prompted to seek out the garment in store \"immediately\". The aim of the research focuses on understanding how fast fashion is translated in the retail environment, and to do this, participant observation was used to identify how fast fashion garments which had been featured in the press were presented in the retail environment. The research was therefore carried out in a specific period of time during a one week period in June 2008, which enabled the researchers to \"capture\" the timeliness of the fast fashion response in the store environment in relation to the generation of consumer demand through the media. The literature review explains the importance of the media in generating interest amongst consumers thereby creating demand for particular products and therefore, to provide a focus for the participant observation, four fast fashion garments were identified, each of which had been featured in the media (two fashion magazines, a television show and a tabloid newspaper) during the week of the research. The selection of garments is summarised in Table II.The participant observation was then carried out using a framework developed from the literature relating to the store environment, focusing on window display, layout, merchandising and signage, to evaluate how these particular garments, as well as the more general fast fashion \"message\", were supported and featured in-store. Each of the stores in Table II were visited for the participant observation to find the item identified in the media for sale in the store, as well as recording aspects of the retail environment identified as being pertinent to translating and communicating the fast fashion proposition.During the same period, interviews were carried out with a total of ten store managers from each of the four retailers in three locations (Leeds, Manchester and Trafford centre branches). The interview questions were derived from the literature and focused on the store managers' understanding of fast fashion garments, specifically the garments in question and their insight into how the store environment is managed with regard to fast fashion merchandise. Each interview was recorded and transcribed for data analysis.The data from the participant observations and the interviews were analysed using the categorisation approach derived from the theoretical framework, identified from the literature, and also from the data itself (Saunders et al., 2007). Key themes emerging from the data were identified and analysis of the data was carried out by organising it according to the key themes (Miles and Huberman, 1994).\nResults: The fast fashion retail environment\nConclusion: An evaluation of the literature related to fast fashion found it grounded within the supply chain management research area. Indeed, supply chain management provided the impetus for the creation of fast fashion. This paper now addresses fast fashion at the supply chain-customer interface and contributes to the study of fast fashion in a marketing communications context, which to date has not been explored in any detail.The findings of this research suggest that the retail environment is not responsive enough in the fast fashion era. The combination of rigid centralised control and lack of resource at store level, results in the retail environment being ineffective in the execution of the fast fashion strategy at the point of sale. The communication of fast fashion is somewhat better through the use of fashion stories and \"hero\" pieces and signage.This research presents evidence that due to the nature of centralised retail operational approaches to store environment presentation, fast fashion requires a more flexible approach and may give an individuality to stores which has been a recent criticism of the UK high street. Fast fashion is identified in the literature as being a strategy that is responsive to consumer demand and the translation of fast fashion in the retail environment requires the flexibility to respond to changing consumer demand on a more local basis.This research has also developed the notion of the \"hero piece\". Hero pieces work within the retail environment to identify and communicate fast fashion pieces to the consumer thereby signifying newness, fashionability and aiding in purchasing decisions at different levels of innovativeness.The findings of this research demonstrate the impact of fast fashion in the retail environment, where consumers make that all important purchase decision. If operations in the retail environment cannot match or exceed consumer expectations, all the speed of the supply chain will be lost.In the current economic climate commentators are speculating about not only the future for fast fashion but any type of fashion, however, many of the consumers of fast fashion are used to their demand for newness being satisfied and it is unlikely that this will change. Indeed, recent financial results from New Look, ASOS and Primark, indicate that fast fashion remains a key success factor in fashion retail. Fast fashion has become a mainstream strategy of fashion retailers in the UK, therefore the competitive advantage previously enjoyed by fast fashion pioneers such as Zara has been lost as emphasis has been placed on developing efficiency and flexibility in supply chains. Successful supply chain strategies have delivered a fast fashion concept, which most UK fashion retailers have embraced. Now, the findings of this research suggest that emphasis must shift from the supply chain to other business operations to develop core competency or competitive advantage in an increasingly tough trading environment. In the case of this research, the findings suggest that the retail environment must build in those aspects of flexibility and efficiency to remain responsive to demand - the concept at the heart of fast fashion. Therefore, the challenge for fashion retailers is how to bridge the gap between improved supply chain efficiencies and an unresponsive inflexible retail environment. The move to a more responsive retail environment, represents a shift from invisible supply chain initiatives to a more visible representation of fast fashion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to establish how fast fashion is translated and communicated in the retail store environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An interpretive paradigm and inductive methodology made use of participant observation and key informant interviews.\nFindings: - Whilst efficiencies in the supply chain have facilitated fast fashion's success, centralised control structures have meant that these efficiencies and flexibilities have not been translated into the retail store environment. Marketing communications activity is evident in relation to aspects of fast fashion, for example, through the use of \"hero pieces\" as identified in this research, however, availability and retail presence must support the fast fashion proposition.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper has a UK focus where fast fashion is well established, therefore generalisations relating to other fashion markets may not be appropriate.\nPractical implications: - Retailers may have interest in the findings to gain competitive advantage in fast fashion.\nOriginality/value: - Academic research on fast fashion research is still in its infancy, however this paper provides some unique insights into the phenomenon which may add to the nascent literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Effectiveness of power use in buyer-supplier negotiations: The moderating role of negotiator agreeableness	[ "Personality", "Power", "Agreeableness", "Buyer-supplier negotiation", "Dual-system theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recent behavioral supply chain management (SCM) research suggests that buyer-supplier interactions are affected not only by rational, deliberate decision-making behavior of supply chain managers but also by human factors such as biases, which exert influences at a subconscious level (Carter et al., 2007; Kaufmann et al., 2012). While the literature has made inroads into exploring different subconscious influences and their consequences on buyer-supplier relationships (e.g. Croson and Donohue, 2006; Tangpong et al., 2010; Kaufmann et al., 2012), extant research has not considered how subconscious influences may interact with conscious, deliberate actions to affect the respective relationships.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses development: Resource-advantage theory and the use of power\nResearch methodology: Research design\nAnalysis and results: Table III provides a comparison of the data between the professional manager sample and the student sample. The t-test results show that the students did not behave in a significantly different way from the professionals (all significance levels above 0.1). Therefore, both samples were combined in the analyses.\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Building on the dual-system approach and resource-advantage theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how a particular personality trait of negotiators - namely, agreeableness - moderates the effectiveness of using coercion and reward power to appropriate value in buyer-supplier negotiations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Simulated negotiations in buyer-supplier dyads with 152 participants are analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis.\nFindings: The analysis shows that negotiators' agreeableness moderates the effectiveness of using coercion and reward power for suppliers, but not for buyers. Negotiators in the role of suppliers use reward power more effectively and coercion power less effectively if they have high agreeableness. Buyer negotiators benefit from using coercion, regardless of their personality.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research focuses on two common negotiation tactics and one particularly relevant personality trait. Future research might examine additional tactics and personality traits, and might delve deeper into explaining the observed differences between negotiators in the role of buyer and supplier.\nPractical implications: The findings suggest that negotiators on the supplier side can improve their effectiveness by choosing tactics that fit their personality. Negotiators on the buyer side should consider using coercion power, regardless of their personality.\nOriginality/value: This research introduces dual-system theory to the supply chain management (SCM) literature and suggests that SCM research can benefit from simultaneously examining conscious decision processes and subconscious influences. It further suggests that the effects of dual-system interactions are sensitive to context, and more theory accounting for differences between buyers and suppliers in a dyad should be developed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Linking products to a cause or affinity group: Does this really make them more attractive to consumers?	[ "Credit cards", "Cause marketing; Consumer behaviour", "Financial services", "Promotional methods", "Relationship marketing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Cause-related marketing and affinity marketing are becoming increasingly favoured approaches in the face of intense competition and developing consumer sophistication. Both cause-related and affinity marketing involve the linking of the marketing activities of commercial organisations with the revenue-generating activities of non-profit organisations through offering consumers a proposition whereby the purchase of particular goods or services results in the commercial organisation making a specified payment to a particular non-profit organisation (Ross et al., 1992). However, there are significant gaps in understanding consumer attitudes towards such products and in particular the nature of consumers' relationship with the non-profit organisation, owing to the difficulty in obtaining access to consumers holding these products. Our research, for which we gained access to such consumers, examined the assumption underpinning cause-related and affinity marketing: that the link with the non-profit organisation enhances the appeal of the commercial organisation's product offering and provides a basis, in increasingly competitive market environments, of differentiation from rival offers. Our findings suggest that the efficacy of this premise depends on the type of cause or affinity group in question. Linked products offer a range of individual and group benefits, but the value placed on these benefit categories was found to vary according to the type of affinity group. The findings demonstrate the need to identify the value perceived by different groups of consumers of affinity products and for affinity products to be tailored to the types of affinity organisation with which they are linked. Cause-related marketing has been defined as:The process of formulating and implementing marketing activities that are characterized by an offer from the firm to contribute a specified amount to a designated cause when customers engage in revenue-providing exchanges that satisfy organisational and individual objectives (Varadarajan and Menon, 1988, p. 60).Conventionally, cause-related marketing has been characterized as being focused on short-term campaign specific initiatives (Varadarajan and Menon, 1988). In contextualizing affinity marketing within the broader ambit of cause-related marketing, affinity marketing can be viewed as effectively constituting long-term cause-related marketing relationships targeted at a discrete group of consumers, rather than short-term mass-market oriented cause-related marketing programs, which have been the dominant form of cause-related marketing (Berger et al., 1999).Horne and Worthington (2002) argue that affinity marketing, as a sub-set of cause-related marketing, represents a step-change in the nature and intensity of the triadic relationship between the commercial and non-profit partners and consumers. Specifically, affinity marketing capitalizes on the goodwill that consumers have towards a group to which they belong as members or identify with as supporters, with products or services being targeted to members of the group using the endorsement of that group and its channels of communication. For example, the financial services organisation MBNA markets a World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) affinity credit card to WWF supporters through a leaflet mailed with the WWF's magazine. Examples of other affinity credit card schemes include: MBNA's Manchester United Credit Card, the Co-operative Bank's Save the Children Credit Card; Halifax's Classic MercedesCard; and HFC Bank's Cambridge University Platinum MasterCard.It is this targeting of members of an identified group together with the long-term relational nature of affinity marketing that marks the break from conventional conceptualizations of cause-related marketing. Within such a context, consumers enter into commercial transactions with organisations with which they may have no prior experience on the strength of their affinity with a particular organisation or cause. That is, an existing non-commercial affinity relationship is adapted and exploited for commercial purposes.Both cause-related marketing and affinity marketing are premised on the idea that linking specific products to a credible and respected cause or non-profit organisation in return for a contribution to that cause or organisation, will make the product offering more attractive to consumers.Cause-related and affinity marketing involve the provision by the commercial organisation of benefits designed to encourage consumers or affinity group members to adopt and use a product or service. A product represents \"a complex cluster of value satisfactions\" to consumers, with the value attached to the product depending on its perceived ability to meet their needs (Levitt, 1980, p. 84). Wood (1960) proposed three classes of products: symbolic (the external symbols that the product projects), functional (products with minimal cultural or social meaning attached to it) and hedonic (products that consumers are likely to be attracted to due to their sensory character).Two distinct forms of benefits commonly underpin the value proposition to consumers or affiliates of an affinity group. On the one hand, such schemes are based on the provision of group benefits, that is, payments to the non-profit organisation or cause, in return for members or donors adopting and using the product. Group benefits offer consumers a cost-free, simple and automatic way of contributing to the cause or affinity group (Worthington and Horne, 1995). The donations are paid by the card provider to the affinity group, typically based on an initial donation on adoption of the affinity card and further donations based on a percentage of the cardholder's ongoing card purchases. They sometimes also include an annual donation for continued use of the affinity card. Although these donations are ostensibly cost-free for the cardholder, it could be argued that it might involve the cardholder's foregoing more personally profitable benefits such as cash back deals offered by other card providers. In contrast to such group-based altruistic benefits, tailored individual benefits are offered to consumers or affinity group members for adoption and use of the product. These are not mutually exclusive, with many affinity schemes offering a combination of group and individual benefits. Our research explored the benefits card holders perceived their affinity credit cards as offering and the value of those benefits to them, using a typology of affinity product benefits as we now describe.A typology of affinity product benefits\nResearch context and methodology: One of the primary contexts in which affinity marketing has developed is the consumer credit card market. Other areas which use affinity marketing include insurance, travel and tourism (Mintel, 2004). The earliest adoption and perhaps one of the most successful examples of affinity marketing is in the credit card market. The Maryland Bank of North America (MBNA) is believed to be the pioneer of affinity credit card marketing in the early 1980s (Worthington, 2001). Within the United Kingdom (UK) the number of affinity credit cards in issue has exceeded two million between 1996 and 2003, peaking at over three million in 1998 (Mintel, 2004). By 2002, affinity credit card transactions in the UK totaled PS3.3 billion annually (Datamonitor, 2002). This growth occurred within the context of a massive expansion in the overall credit card market, which has seen the entry of new card providers into the UK credit card market ranging from non-UK banks (e.g. MBNA) through high-street retailers (e.g. Tesco) to on-line banks (e.g. Egg). Such growth has inevitably resulted in significantly intensified competition, a reduction in margins, and a consequent pressure on card issuers to develop differentiated product offerings. Indeed, the number of affinity cards in issue has decreased in the last six years, as have affinity card transaction levels (Mintel, 2004). Nevertheless, Mintel (2004) reported that affinity cards had been launched by a wide range of organisations and concluded that affinity cards still constituted an important niche market.Underpinning the growth of affinity credit cards has been the effort to develop differentiated and highly targeted product offerings in such an increasingly commoditized market through offering consumers a symbol of their association with a particular expressive product, be it a branded good, e.g. MG Cars, an experiential service, e.g. British Sub-Aqua Club, or a cause, e.g. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Horne and Worthington, 1999). The construction of benefit packages around the affinity group is a central element of this process of differentiation. Varadarajan and Menon (1988) focusing on the USA argued that the underpinning rationale for affinity marketing from the corporate perspective was that where there was little differentiation between competing products and brands, as with credit cards, consumers could be influenced to adopt a particular brand if such adoption benefited a cause or organisation with which they had an affinity relationship. Recent research by Bernthal et al. (2005) has shown that credit card brands may also be used for lifestyle signaling by cardholders.One of the perceived contributions of affinity card schemes to affinity groups is that they provide a basis for the maintenance of an ongoing relationship between the cardholder and the affinity group, which is reinforced on each and every occasion the card is used (Worthington and Horne, 1996). In this, affinity cards offer both actual and perceived value for the cardholder. Actual value is offered through consumers' possession of a mechanism for payment, as well as potentially receiving individual benefits. Perceived value is offered through the satisfaction consumers derive from demonstrating their affinity and making a contribution to the affinity group when utilizing the card. From this perspective, affinity cards form part of the broader product offering made to affiliates by the affinity group and which is perceived to reinforce the consumer-affinity group relationship.For those affinity groups with a supporter rather than membership base, affinity cards can offer a platform for the development of closer relationships. Specifically, Worthington and Horne (1998) suggested that the affinity card in such circumstances could act as a quasi-membership card, offering a tangible, ongoing tie to the affinity group. However, reflecting the focus of affinity card research on card provider and affinity group perspectives (see for example Schlegelmilch and Woodruffe, 1995; Worthington and Horne, 1998; Horne et al., 2000) there are significant gaps in understanding consumer attitudes towards affinity products such as credit cards, and in particular the nature of their relationship with the affinity group in the context of such affinity products. Against such a backdrop, this paper examines the construction of consumer value in affinity credit cards, with particular reference to the balance between individual and group benefits across the spectrum of card sponsoring affinity groups.The research data reported in this paper forms part of a broader program of research examining the triadic relationship between consumers, affinity groups and financial service organisations in the UK. The research comprised two elements: in-depth qualitative research designed to develop an in-depth understanding of consumers' perceptions of affinity in relation to the possession of affinity credit cards, followed by large-scale quantitative research aimed at assessing the prevalence of the perceptions and patterns of behaviour identified in the qualitative phase of the research. Exploratory in-depth interviews (individual or group) help to develop the conceptualization and instrumentation of follow-on questionnaire research (Oppenheim, 1992). The primary data gathering process was underpinned by analysis of relevant secondary material, encompassing existing academic and commercial research into affinity credit cards, together with consumer and affinity scheme data from the card provider. Such secondary material provided the basis for the development of the research instruments in both the qualitative and quantitative components of the research.Qualitative research\nFindings: We used the typology of affinity product benefits (shown in Figure 1) to examine whether affinity credit cards linked to different types of affinity groups made them more attractive to consumers. As one of the key distinguishing features of affinity credit cards is donation to the affinity group, we then explored the group functional benefit category in more detail.Benefits of affinity credit cards\nConclusions: Although the core premise underpinning the development of affinity marketing schemes that consumer adoption and utilization of a product will be influenced by the existence of a contribution to the affinity group is valid in respect of members of certain affinity groups, consumer construction of value in respect of affinity products is significantly more complex. Rather, consumer value in such context is a multi-dimensional construct, encompassing not only functional value propositions targeted at the individual consumer and the affinity group, but also individual and group image value propositions. Against the backdrop of the core premise underpinning affinity marketing schemes the importance attached to individual functional value propositions is striking. However, the uncertainty, and indeed scepticism, expressed by consumers regarding the real value of the group functional value proposition suggests that the importance attached to individual rather than group benefits is hardly surprising.Such figures, however, disguise the significant variation that exists in the specific benefit profile sought by cardholders affiliated to different categories of affinity groups. Reflecting the different nature of the associated affinity groups and the different nature of the underlying affinity relationship, the construction of value by consumers and hence the value proposition within affinity marketing schemes is highly complex and comprises a blend of functional and image benefits focused on both the affinity group and the individual consumer.The practical implications of the research findings are that affinity cards linked to professional and membership groups should focus on individual functional benefits, those linked to charities should emphasize group donations and ensure that card holders are kept informed about how the donations benefit their charity. The findings indicate that cards linked to universities and lifestyle groups need to ensure that both individual and group benefits provide value for cardholders.Promotion of affinity card schemes, particularly on the internet, tend to emphasize individual benefits and gloss over the group benefits. This may be appropriate for professional and membership affinity cards, where cardholders are most interested in individual functional benefits. However, in the case of charities, our findings highlight the need for the card providers and affinity groups to work together to make card holders aware of the value and effect of the overall donations. The precise financial donations to the affinity group are often omitted, possibly because the percentage of all purchases donated by the financial services organization tends to be very small (for example, 0.25 per cent). Some schemes, though, do give an indication of the size of the accumulated, pooled donations and how these are used by the affinity group. Concentrating on the bigger picture in this way might help to overcome consumers' skepticism about the value of affinity schemes.Irrespective of the category of affinity group, however, card providers cannot assume that consumers will retain and use their affinity cards indefinitely. For affinity marketing to act as an effective means of differentiation, providers need to work hard to refresh their offerings to ensure their link to an affinity group continues to make them attractive to consumers. Furthermore, providers also need to ensure that the core product offering of the affinity card is competitive in the credit card market.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Cause-related and affinity marketing are based on the assumption that linking a commercial organisation's product with a non-profit organisation enhances the product's appeal and provides differentiation from rival offers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficacy of this premise.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In-depth qualitative research was conducted to explore the construction of consumer value in affinity credit cards, followed by large-scale quantitative research to assess the prevalence of the perceptions and behaviour patterns identified.\nFindings: - Linked products offer a range of individual and group benefits, both functional and symbolic. However, the value placed on these benefit categories varied according to the type of affinity group.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Whilst encompassing a wide range of affinity categories, all of the affinity credit cards were issued by one financial services organisation. Variation is therefore possible between the benefits offered by other financial services organisations operating affinity schemes.\nPractical implications: - The findings demonstrate the need to identify the value perceived by different groups of consumers of affinity products and to tailor affinity products to the type of affinity organisation with which they are linked.\nOriginality/value: - A key strength is the research's access to card holders from a wide spectrum of affinity categories. This has proved elusive in prior research. The paper challenges the assumption that linking a product to a non-profit organisation enhances its appeal and provides a basis for differentiation. The efficacy of this premise depends on the type of cause or affinity group, with the value placed on benefit categories varying accordingly.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A review of the use of portable technologies as observational aids in the classroom	[ "Education", "Classroom observation", "Wearables", "Classroom analysis", "Portable technology", "Student relationships" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There are many benefits to assessing the various aspects of education, including enhancing procedures or environments to improve student learning, identifying problems with knowledge transference and implementing more effective teaching methods to increase on-task engagement and alleviate the disruptiveness of difficult behavior (Martinez et al., 2016). However, it has long been recognized that traditional methods of classroom observation can be subjective and that more systematic or quantitative methods should be used where possible. Indeed, there are entire guides dedicated to reducing subjectivity in classroom observation so that the process can be as thorough and consistent as possible (McMillan, 2012). Unfortunately, achieving consistency and translatability across classes is difficult due to differences in the environment, relationships between teachers and students and external influences that may carry over into the classroom. Even the presence of observers in a classroom can create an additional element to the learning environment, thereby having an effect on student and teacher behavior (McIntyre, 1980). In addition to dealing with these inconsistencies, the requirement for an observer to examine a class in real time or review video footage or audio recordings of a lesson is a lengthy process, making it difficult to quickly gain knowledge of how the class operates. Unfortunately, whilst there have been improvements in the area of systematic classroom observations, there is still a lack of options for reducing methodological biases.\nClassroom observations: Many factors can contribute to successful teaching, including establishing goals, effective communication, maintaining classroom procedures, fostering relationships and engaging students (Marzano, 2007). Amongst the main reasons for conducting classroom observations is to maximize these elements by identifying ways of improving classroom management and instructional techniques, evaluating teacher performance and identifying instructional inequities for different student groups (Waxman, 2003). Given this broad spectrum, classroom observations may focus on particular aspects of the class or a combination of activitiesv and are accordingly variable in method (Table I). However, it is extremely difficult to assess whether minor changes to the classroom environment have a significant effect on students in a particular class, whether positive or negative, in a timely fashion. The effects are even less obvious with interventions that are designed to work over a length of time with regular implementation (Bakosh et al., 2016). With this in mind, there is a requirement to choose the method of classroom observation carefully to ensure that the captured data are accurate and relevant to the study hypotheses.\nTraditional methods of classroom observations: There are both advantages and disadvantages to the various methods adopted to evaluate class data, and it is important to consider potential biases of each technique, especially as there are several different types of bias that cannot be fully compensated for during analysis. For example, it is difficult to determine whether changes in the class are due to naturally evolving changes (e.g. increasing teacher-student familiarity throughout the year) or true changes due to successful interventions (Meyer et al., 2011). Even the method in approaching parents for consent for students to participate in research can bias the study toward particular student cohorts (Shaw et al., 2015). Generally, mixing several qualitative and quantitative approaches to obtain an overall view of the class gives a more comprehensive picture of the research target than either method alone (Cohen et al., 2011). The more common methods include questionnaires, self-reporting, interviews, tests and live observations or video reviews.\nPortable technology in classroom observations: The variety of wearable devices available has since expanded substantially since the development of the Internet of Things and now includes everything from clothing, textiles, watches, jewelry or glasses to pocketsize electronics and temporary tattoos. It is therefore unsurprising that these devices, no longer bulky nor difficult to obtain, have been the inspiration for unobtrusive, rapid and automated observation tools with uses ranging from glucose monitoring (Burritt et al., 1991), real-time sporting gameplay monitoring (Umek et al., 2015), social media marketing (Giannotti et al., 2012) and remote remote radio-frequency identification maintenance reporting (Marie-Sainte et al., 2016). With these technological improvements to processes, industries are able to gain information more efficiently and rapidly than using human observers.\nLimitations of portable technology in classroom observation: Although there are many benefits to using portable technology, there are also many caveats to using these devices that must be taken into consideration. First, the hardware behind the device may be inadequate to accurately monitor or collect data to the extent that the device is intended. This is particularly true in cases where devices are adapted for use in novel areas (Yu et al., 2016) or designed for a general consumer audience who are not expected to be as discerning as researchers regarding the validity of the output (Bai et al., 2016) - both of which are relevant in application of these devices to assist classroom observations. On the other hand, in a study where the software for the devices under scrutiny underestimated the mean duration of speech by 30-44 s, but did identify a dominant speaker (Yu et al., 2016), it must be questioned as to whether the former level of accuracy is really required to answer a given study question, or whether identifying a dominant speaker is enough. Similarly, face-to-face interactions were only detected in four of eight scenarios in this study, although proximity detections were more reliable (observed in 13 of 15 scenarios, with the other two of 15 scenarios having a glass door obstruction), indicating that potential interferences to data collection must be considered. Thus, it may be of more importance to clearly define and assess the data output for anomalies if there is no other way of validating data quality, rather than dismissing the devices altogether.\nSummary: Portable technology can be used as an observational tool for detecting various metrics relating to social interactions, individual activity and events. It can also be used as an analytical tool for teachers to aid in student or self-monitoring, as well as for automated processing of collected class data for research. While current portable devices have yet to be optimized for use in a classroom, increased adoption by researchers or schools with careful consideration as to the extent and use of collected data will encourage portable device developers to enhance product design, expand features and improve accuracy and specificity for the teaching and learning market, particularly in the realm of real-time feedback. These devices have great potential as a means of generating quantitative data when used effectively, with customizable, detailed, objective and rapid outputs to supplement existing strategies for conducting classroom observations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Current classroom observation strategies include questionnaires, interviews, tests, self-report metrics and live or video review observation. However, these traditional methods are subject to biases from observers in determining behavior nuances, as well as being difficult to analyze for rapid and practical feedback. In addition, the invasiveness of extra body equipment in the classroom may alter the dynamic between students and teachers. The emergence of portable devices into mainstream usage has opened a pathway for a relatively novel source of quantitative data, free from observer bias and often with accompanying analytical tools for convenience. The purpose of this study is to summarize current uses of portable technology and explore how such devices could be used as monitoring tools by both schools and education researchers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Functions based on utility outside the education field are proposed for monitoring student activity, posture and movement, as well as proximity and relationships to others and their environment. Deterrents to device implementation in regular classroom use, such as the importance of considering ethical issues and hardware limitations, are also covered.\nFindings: While current portable technology is unlikely to replace more commonly used techniques of observing classes, they have the capacity to augment qualitative strategies, particularly in the area of real-time data output.\nResearch limitations/implications: Ideally, the lack of unbiased observational tools available and increased adoption of portable devices in classrooms could prompt future advances in technology for teaching and learning environments.\nOriginality/value: This review summarizes potential uses for portable technology in classroom observation strategies undertaken by researchers and teachers to improve learning and teaching practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What influence users' e-finance continuance intention? The moderating role of trust	[ "Satisfaction", "Trust", "Technology Acceptance Model", "Continuance intention", "E-finance", "Expectations Confirmation Theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the last few years, internet technologies have dramatically transformed financial industries, giving rise to e-finance. E-finance is the provision of financial services and markets via the internet (Claessens et al., 2002). For example, in the brokerage market, it is now common for customers to trade online; bank customers are also able to conduct banking activities electronically. The internet allows users to have access to financial services without temporal and spatial constraints. With advancements in mobile, cloud and big data technologies, e-finance will continue to grow and penetrate to different areas of the financial industry in the future. However, because of the huge market potential, new entries from financial and non-financial entities have intensified the competition in e-finance, and users can easily switch to other e-finance platforms. Therefore, user retention is a crucial issue for e-finance providers to stay competitive.\n2. Theoretical frameworks: 2.1 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)\n3. Research model and hypotheses development: Considering that e-finance is an integration of information technology, e-commerce product and financial service, this study proposes a research model that incorporates TAM and ECT. Given the nature of financial services, the effect of trust is considered in the research model together with four variables related to e-finance features, namely, website quality, familiarity, situational normality and reputation. This study theorizes that for e-finance, website quality, familiarity and situational normality will have an influence on the PEOU and PU. This is in accordance with previous literature which highlights the importance of identifying antecedents of TAM (Benbasat and Barki, 2007). PEOU, PU and reputation are then hypothesized to be antecedents of confirmation which, in turn, affects satisfaction. Trust and satisfaction are further hypothesized to positively influence continuance intention of e-finance platform, where trust moderates the relationship between satisfaction and continuance intention. The research model is shown in Figure 1.\n4. Methodology: In accordance to the previous literature (Koo et al., 2011; Fang et al., 2014; Luo et al., 2012; Gefen et al., 2003), a survey was designed to test the proposed theoretical model.\n5. Analysis and results: We used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test our research model with the data collected. PLS-SEM is considered the \"most fully developed and general system\" (McDonald, 1996, p. 240). Additionally, it can model factors and composites, and thus is favored by researchers in various fields including IS (Marcoulides and Saunders, 2006), strategic management (Hair, Sarstedt, Pieper and Ringle, 2012) and marketing (Hair, Sarstedt, Ringle and Mena, 2012). It is also seen as the preferred statistical tool for research that looks into success factors (Albers, 2010). In this study, SmartPLS 3.0 was used to perform the analysis, and the results are presented in the following section.\n6. Discussions: The study examined the factors that influence users' continuance intention toward an e-finance platform by employing the TAM, ECT and trust as a moderator to satisfaction and continuance intention.\n7. Conclusions, contributions and future research: Retaining the usage of e-finance platform is crucial for the success of e-finance. This study combines TAM, ECT and trust to investigate the antecedents of continuance intention of an e-finance platform. We found that website quality, familiarity and situational normality are positively related to PEOU and PU. PEOU and PU, together with reputation, then have positive effects on confirmation. Confirmation is found to further be positively associated with satisfaction that leads to continuance intention, and the relationship between satisfaction and continuance intention is negatively moderated by trust.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify antecedents of e-finance continuance intention with Alibaba's Yu'E Bao as an example.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An online questionnaire was used to collect the data (n=293), and partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. Four e-finance features (perceived reputation, website quality, e-finance familiarity and situational normality) are introduced with trust acting as a moderator between the users' satisfaction and continuance intention to use an e-finance platform.\nFindings: The results find that website quality, familiarity and situational normality can influence perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU). PEOU and PU, together with reputation, are positively associated with confirmation which further leads to satisfaction. The positive effects that satisfaction and trust have on e-finance continuance intention are confirmed, and trust is found to be a significant moderator on the relationship between satisfaction and continuance intention.\nPractical implications: The findings can be used to guide e-finance providers to improve their platform design and services to retain users.\nOriginality/value: This study combines the theory of trust, Technology Acceptance Model and Expectations Confirmation Theory to investigate the factors that influence the continuance intention in the context of e-finance in China.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Research on entrepreneurial orientation: current status and future agenda	[ "Entrepreneurial orientation", "Bibliometric analysis", "Entrepreneurship", "Research on entrepreneurial orientation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Entrepreneurship-related studies have grown in recent decades, and have been receiving greater attention within organizations and academia (Kuratko, 2009; Short et al., 2010; Hoskisson et al., 2011; Landstrom et al., 2012). With the maturation of a discipline often comes the development of research that seeks to analyze the body of knowledge accumulated over time (Low and Macmillan, 1988): the interest in exploiting research in the field of entrepreneurship is very appropriate, given that it is a discipline undergoing expansion (McDonald et al., 2015).\nResearch method: In this study, a bibliometric research was performed. \"Bibliometric analysis provides an interesting and revealing window into scholarly work\" (Schildt et al., 2006, p. 12). Some benefits of bibliometric studies are the identification of the set of journals most dedicated on the theme (Brookes, 1969), the identification of the authors most productive (Lotka, 1926; Pritchard, 1969) and most cited in the studies of the field, the identification of key themes of the theme (Zipf, 1949; Pritchard, 1969), the generation of indicators of the scientific production. Studies with this focus offer information to complement the opinion and judgment of experts related to the research field, promoting indicators in order to assess the results of scientific activities (Bordons and Zulueta, 1999).\nResults and analysis: This section presents data on the evolution of the scientific production; the scientific journals in Scopus that published most on the subject; countries of origin and institutional affiliation of the authors; the most productive authors in the area; the most cited papers; map of citations and co-citations; and the main themes researched in studies on EO. These data represent a set of indicators of the field and can generate \"economies of overview\" (Sassmannshausen and Volkmann, 2013) on EO as a field of interest for scholars.\nDiscussion and direction for future research: Based on the literature and the results of the analysis of the clusters of themes (Figure 4), the analysis of the issues addressed in the articles enables us to suggest that EO studies fall into four axis of convergence (Table VIII): performance, strategy, entrepreneurial attitude, and management. Each of these topics (clusters) comprises a group of co-related topics. Similarities between the clusters and the themes addressed were approached in the review of the EO literature carried out by Miller (2011, p. 875), with the objective of revising his 1983 study when he emphasized \"the landscape and arc of EO research.\"\nConclusions: The results demonstrate that the field of EO presents convergence of the themes, classical authors, and seminal studies, showing significant growth in the last 15 years. A concentration of publications given by a few authors were found along with a variety of authors with only one article, reinforcing the maturity of the literature and interest in the subject.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has attracted researchers' attention for over 30 years. The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively analyze the body of literature resulting from 30 years of research in EO, and to answer the following questions: what are the major themes that have emerged? What areas are missing? What degree of convergence do we see in the field of EO, and what concepts/topics has the field converged around?\nDesign/methodology/approach: A bibliometric study with a sample of 405 articles published from January 1987 to July 2014 was developed. Techniques of bibliometric, lexical, and content analysis were used. The analysis involved: the evolution of published articles; the main authors, their nationalities, and institutional affiliations; citation and co-citations analysis; the journals that have published the most articles; and the most frequently-searched topics. Opting for bibliometric techniques permit an analysis of a larger number of articles and a greater variety of articles than other methodologies such as meta-analyses and systematic review studies. Accordingly, a more comprehensive look at the field of EO can be taken.\nFindings: Two distinct but complementary classifications are proposed to characterize the body of the literature resulting from 30 years of research in EO. The first one demonstrates that the field presents a convergence of the themes in four axis which together comprise studies on EO: performance, strategy, entrepreneurial attitude, and management. The second one presents the frequency of occurrence of the themes in the field: high-frequency themes or classical themes, frequently in the literature; moderate-frequency themes or emerging issues have not been sufficiently explored; low-frequency themes or potential opportunities related to understudied issues and contexts less frequently surveyed. A future research agenda is proposed for emerging themes and specific contexts.\nPractical implications: The identification of key themes in the field of EO contributes to assess the research evolution in order to recognize emerging themes and contexts, and the research gaps. With this, it is possible to lead new studies to cover a lack of research and advance knowledge in the field. The themes most studied also show the contribution for EO to organizational practice, especially in relation to the impact on the performance, the stimulus to the development of innovations, and the effects on organizational growth. Additionally, the identification of the authors most cited, most productive on the theme and the identification of the core journals for publishing of the area is recommended as a general reference for researchers interested in the topic of EO.\nSocial implications: Although EO literature has been widely developed in Anglo regions (especially in the USA and UK) and Germanic Europe (especially Spain), there are others lacking these studies, especially Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and Middle East, with rare articles published internationally. The results can guide the advancement of research in these different contexts and realities where even issues more widely treated in the literature have been unexplored. The lack of studies in certain contexts can lead to new studies for inserting new insights into EO, such as potential differences between developed regions and in development. For regions where the studies on EO are more developed, the results of this paper contribute to signaling issues and contexts little explored that may be the focus of attention.\nOriginality/value: The generation of literature indicators of EO through bibliometric fills a research gap on the theme, providing a more comprehensive view of the field and of the current status of the research on EO. Identifying the most frequent topics in EO literature, and little-explored themes and contexts makes it possible to propose an agenda for future research and knowledge generation on EO. Thus, it is suggested the development of studies focus on emerging themes like growth, learning, knowledge, resources, and capabilities; also in specific contexts with potential for aggregating new knowledges in the EO field such as family firms, non-profit organizations, social contexts, the public sector, university, spin-off, firms in emerging and developing economies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Entrepreneurial tendencies in franchising: evidence from the UK	[ "Standardization", "Franchising", "Entrepreneurial personality characteristics", "Franchisee selection" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Franchising has become a significant form of business ownership in many economies. In the USA, where it is believed to have been pioneered, there are 909,253 franchised business establishments, resulting in 21 million jobs and $2.31 trillion of annual output (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2008). Such noteworthy trends are progressively being observed in many countries around the world. Despite the role franchising has played in global wealth creation (Hoy et al., 2000; Sorenson and Sorensen, 2001), a long-standing controversial issue in the academic literature, and even amongst practitioners, pertains to whether entrepreneurial personalities can thrive within franchised outlets. Most of these arguments have centred on the premise on which franchising is built, replicating uniform operations throughout the franchise system (Dada and Watson, 2013).\nLiterature review and hypotheses development: Entrepreneurial tendencies\nMethodology: In order to consider the appropriateness of the hypotheses, a preliminary focus group was conducted with eight international academic experts at a conference of the International Society of Franchising (ISoF). Although we exerted considerable efforts on trying to organise focus groups for franchise practitioners, these proved impossible eventually. Nevertheless, given that most of the academics that took part in the focus group had extensive experience with franchising, especially through their research and consultancy work, the academic focus group was deemed adequate. Academic experts that took part in the focus group comprised renowned professors, university lecturers, researchers and PhD candidates from the USA, Europe and Australia, who had undertaken substantial relevant work in the present research area. The ISoF is arguably the foremost, multidisciplinary and multinational academic conference for franchising research (see www.huizenga.nova.edu/ExecEd/ISoF). The focus group session lasted for 60 minutes and the discussion was tape-recorded and later transcribed for analysis purposes. After the focus group, two separate follow-up surveys were then conducted for the main study, one for franchisors and another for their franchisees, as discussed below.\nResults: Entrepreneurial tendencies of franchisors and franchisees\nDiscussion: The findings demonstrate that despite enduring arguments in the literature suggesting that franchisees are not entrepreneurs, there is evidence to the contrary. The results here show that franchisees exhibit entrepreneurial traits, and have similar entrepreneurial tendencies to their franchisors. Indeed, not only do franchisees possess entrepreneurial tendencies, but these are actively sought by franchisors in the recruitment process. These findings would appear to refute the contention put forward in Ketchen et al.'s (2011) study, that franchisees cannot be considered as entrepreneurs as they follow a manual, offer little or no innovation, typically do not identify opportunities, take on less risk (than the franchisor), and merely exploit opportunities that have already been identified (by the franchisor). Of course, Ketchen et al. (2011) considered entrepreneurial behaviours rather than characteristics, but if franchisors did not wish their franchisees to engage in entrepreneurial behaviours it would seem strange to actively seek franchisees that exhibited entrepreneurial tendencies (personalities). If entrepreneurial franchisees are not granted sufficient autonomy and/or the opportunity for innovation, they are likely to become dissatisfied with the franchise relationship, and their frustrations are likely to cause conflict within the system (Davies et al., 2011). Thus, given the presence of entrepreneurial tendencies it would seem logical that franchisees will also engage in entrepreneurial behaviours, although the type and nature of these activities need further exploration.\nConclusions: This study demonstrates that franchisees and franchisors have similar levels of aggregate entrepreneurial tendency (comprising nAch, creative tendency, calculated risk-taking, internal locus of control and need for autonomy). When disaggregated into the individual dimensions, both franchisors and franchisees also had similar levels of entrepreneurial tendencies. Additionally, we found that franchisors appear to value entrepreneurial personalities within their franchised outlets, as demonstrated by their franchisee selection process which showed that, to a large extent, franchisors seek to recruit franchisees who possess entrepreneurial qualities (notably, ambitious people, independent people, creative people, risk takers and people who like to be in control). Thus, future studies exploring franchising should consider the relational exchange as one of a partnership between entrepreneurs. For practitioners the study suggests that given franchisees possess entrepreneurial characteristics, careful consideration needs to be given as to how to develop structures and approaches to managing entrepreneurs within the standardised context of a franchise network. Overall, this study contributes to a growing body of research, and hopefully will provide a catalyst for further research into the entrepreneurial role of the franchisee, so that greater insights can be generated as to how to manage entrepreneurs within a franchise context.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In spite of the important contributions of franchising to many economies, it remains unclear whether it truly provides a scope for entrepreneurial tendencies to flourish amongst franchisees. The purpose of this paper is to examine the debate surrounding the franchisee as an entrepreneur from the perspectives of the main contributors within the UK franchising sector, franchisors and franchisees, by analysing their entrepreneurial tendencies and the franchisee selection process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on an empirical study using a focus group and a survey approach.\nFindings: The findings from this study demonstrate that franchisees have similar levels of entrepreneurial tendencies to franchisors. The results further indicate that franchisors appear to value entrepreneurial personalities within their franchised outlets, as demonstrated by their franchisee selection process.\nOriginality/value: By providing an indication of the extent of the franchisee's entrepreneurial tendencies, this study expatiates on major arguments in the franchising and entrepreneurship literature, which are also profound amongst practitioners in the fields of franchising and entrepreneurship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
SAP makes strategic shift after assessing its people processes: Global software corporation uses measurement tool on its HR spending returns	[ "Human capital", "Human resource development", "Measurement", "Training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A new measurement tool that allows companies to know whether they are getting a good return on their spending on people and HR is helping to turn around struggling businesses.\nHuman-development capital framework: To improve the situation, the executive team at SAP America decided on a change of strategy. It realized the company would have to expand and sell not only software but also customer-focused solutions and services. This shift would need a change in the division's culture, bringing more accountability. In order to put the new strategy into action, the organization had to rethink some of its people processes.The software industry sees up to 75 percent of a company's market value related to intangible assets like people and their knowledge. People costs represent almost 40 percent of total costs in the average software company.Like may companies, though, SAP America had been making investment decisions in its people based mainly on faith rather than strong evidence. It had been largely dissatisfied with many of the data-based options it had tried, which had not told the company anything about the effectiveness of its people programs.\nLimits in survey information: Survey information collected from employees was also limited in its usefulness because:* executives were cautious of linking employee satisfaction with business results;* bosses had no way of knowing how staff interest levels compared to those of other companies; and* the company did not know what specific actions would lead to improved employee involvement or how this engagement was connected with financial outcomes.SAP America therefore needed tools to assess a broader range of human-capital processes and capabilities and, one year into its new business strategy, opted to put the framework on human-capital development into operation. To track progress, it repeated the process in 2005. Each time took around eight weeks and involved interviews with business and HR leaders to gain feedback on company strategy, culture and values. Web-based surveys were sent to HR executives and a cross-section of employees, and financial and HR data were collected from both the company and the industry.Once all the information was gathered, a scorecard was provided showing how well SAP America was performing in its human-capital and other critical business areas. The framework begins with an assessment of people processes such as learning and career development, which can then be used to drive better workforce performance and, in turn, lead to more innovation and customer satisfaction. This finally goes on to produce better business results, such as total return to shareholders.\nDeciding on HR investments: Effectiveness scores were provided for the company on a scale of one (low effectiveness) to five (high effectiveness). These scores were then compared to those of other organizations in the framework database. Each part of the model was also given a specific color representing a benchmarking ranking, and in relation to other effectiveness scores in the records.Using the information provided in the initial assessment, SAP America was able better to determine where it should focus its human-capital investments in order to gain the greatest business benefits.In general, companies will achieve the greatest benefits from focusing on developing the areas that have been given a low effectiveness score or benchmarking ranking, and also concentrating on those most related to financial performance. For executives at SAP America, this suggested they should concentrate on:* learning management;* human-capital infrastructure; and* the succession-planning process.All three are strongly associated with superior financial performance and all but succession planning are linked to human-capital capabilities, which in turn are connected to innovation - a critical element in the company's business strategy. The ability to deliver a steady stream of new software to customers and to tailor it to targeted markets is vital to SAP America's strategy.\nIdentifying areas for change: Under \"learning management\" the framework showed that the company should identify clear training requirements and ensure managers work more with employees as coaches and mentors. The results also revealed that more than half of all employees felt they were not getting the training they needed to excel at their current or future jobs. In the past, most employees had to travel to corporate headquarters in Germany for training, but this had to change so that training was tailored to meet the needs of local markets. The organization has developed a learning-culture team of cross-company leaders who join HR to develop training that is available more easily, and customizable through a university business model.HR executives at the division understood that under the \"human-capital infrastructure\", improving user-friendliness of payroll, benefits and administration processes, as well as the call center, could boost employee involvement. This, in turn, would lead to better business results. They also felt that freeing up time on these issues would allow more opportunity to focus on strategic people processes.The division's low score on the \"succession planning\" process reflected how, in the past, the company had relied heavily on bringing in leaders from the outside. However, division bosses realized it would be healthier to promote internal candidates who would have a better understanding of the company business and culture. Framework results showed that career-development plans had previously been weak but, since the initial implementation, SAP America has established a system to give managers a clearer picture of the people who may later be qualified for key positions and has established a process to ensure high-potential candidates receive development plans to help them to build their skills.\nThe efforts pay off: After implementing the framework a second time in 2005, SAP America was able to see the results of its efforts. The most improved was the \"human-capital infrastructure\" process, which improved by 14 percent. Second was the \"succession planning\" process, which got better by 12 percent. The \"learning management\" process improved by 11 percent.In addition, the ability of those who direct, plan and co-ordinate the work of the company to achieve organization goals experienced a 16 percent improvement; the ability of the division efficiently and cost-effectively to manage its human resources improved by 14 percent; and the ability of the workforce to respond flexibly to changing business conditions improved by 13 percent.The division's customer and employee-satisfaction ratings have been turned around. Operating margin, revenue growth and capital efficiency have all significantly improved and the organization is enjoying record market-share and employee-productivity results.The framework proved useful as a communication tool, providing the HR team and business leaders with a common language regarding the value of human-capital investments. SAP America plans on using the framework in its management-development programs to ensure that managers understand how their expertise and skill in managing key people processes can improve business results.\nComment: This review is based on \"Measuring the value of human capital investments: the SAP case\", by Cantrell et al. (2006), in Strategy & Leadership. The article gives a comprehensive explanation, complete with charts and figures, of how a measurement tool can help companies to assess whether they are getting sufficient return on their HR investments, and what areas should be focused on to ensure improvement in financial return.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This article outlines a framework that enables company leaders to make assessments of the pay-off from human-capital investments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds her own comments and places the article in context.\nFindings: - Contends that organizations that focus on processes devoted to creating a people strategy aligned with business strategy, providing supportive work environments, and developing employees by giving them ample opportunities to grow, achieve greater economic success than those that do not.\nPractical implications: - Helps executives to determine whether they are getting significant return on their investment in human capital.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers reading time by selecting only the most pertinent information and presenting it in an easy-to-digest form.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Rediscovering EarthCube: Collaborate. Or collaborate not. There is no I	[ "Research", "Collaboration", "Assessment", "EarthCube", "Funded projects", "Geosciences" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is growing demand for scientists and researchers to develop data management plans (DMPs) and research data management (RDM) workflows that manage data over the data's life cycle (NSF, 2010; Tenopir et al., 2011). Academic institutions, research organizations and stakeholders must develop campus-wide research data services resources that assist scientists and researchers in meeting funding agencies' DMP and data sharing requirements. The National Science Foundation (NSF) DMP Requirements[1] and the NSF Public Access Plan[2] supported by the Fair Access to Science and Technology Act of 2015[3] influenced by the 2013 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Memorandum[4] on \"Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research\" are major examples of such requirements. These evolving federal data management and sharing policies apply to federally funded projects, including the NSF-funded EarthCube[5] project. The current and planned software infrastructure development of some EarthCube building block-funded projects seek to produce products that aid geoscientists in DMP planning, data reproducibility and sharing within the geosciences and across disciplines such as GeoSoft: Collaborative Open Source Software Sharing for Geosciences project and its Ontosoft[6] software application; CINERGI: Community Inventory of EarthCube Resources for Geoscience Interoperability; Enterprise Architecture for Transformative Research and Collaboration; EC3: Challenges of Field Data Collection, Management and Integration; and iSamples: The Internet Samples in the Earth Sciences.\nMethodology: The TAC developed (with contributions from select working groups) the survey to gather and study information on current efforts. Members of TAC and PIs of two EarthCube-funded projects tested the survey before distribution to the PIs. The online questionnaire survey was edited and updated based on feedback during testing and then disseminated to the PIs of EarthCube-funded projects in March 2015. The funded projects that participated in this study at the time this survey was disseminated included 15 BBs, 3 CDs and 6 RCNs. The survey was completed by all EarthCube-funded projects' PIs in April 2015 before the April 8-10, 2015, Tech Hands Meeting[17] and the May 27-29, 2015, All Hands Meeting (AHM)[18]. Information gathered from the survey was used in the development of material for both the Tech Hands and AHM presentations. The TGA WG-funded projects questionnaire and the 2015 EC3 Field Trip to Yosemite and Owens Valley are key components in this study used to gather information on some of the challenges and gaps encountered by EarthCube-funded projects.\nResults and discussions: Appendix 1 - building blocks (BBs), conceptual designs (CDs) and research coordination networks (RCNs - includes the types of funded projects, name of the funded projects with hyperlink to the NSF Award Abstracts (e.g. proposed project summaries), numbers of PI/co-PI/senior personnel, project start date and project end date. The projects with expired end dates are highlighted in gray. Some of the project end dates entered by PIs did not match the end date from the NSF Award Abstract information.\nConclusions: While the BBs, CDs and RCNs were quite diverse, the foci of each effort overlapped in cyberinfrastructure space. This cyberspace is populated by a series of tools - for data discovery and access, data integration and modeling along with the many facets of data management. Gluing these developments together is the next major step. Like all enduring interlocking structures, there needs to be mortar and also a complete inventory of components. Some additional challenges and gaps identified over the course of this study include but not limited to:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The EarthCube Technology and Architecture Committee working groups needed current information on the development of existing EarthCube-funded projects (e.g. building blocks, conceptual designs, and research coordination networks) to fulfill the goals of the working groups (e.g. gap analysis, use cases, standards bodies and testbed). The aims of this study include a compilation of planned outcomes, an assessment of current work and an investigation of interests in research collaboration among select EarthCube-funded projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Twenty-four principal investigators of 24 different EarthCube projects completed the Funded Projects Questionnaire composed of 35 questions in March and April 2015.\nFindings: The survey response rate was 100 per cent and included a diversity of results ranging from planning stages to early development to final development. The funded projects in this study received awards in 2013 and 2014.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results are EarthCube-specific and are not generalizable. Suggestions for future research include integration of crosscutting disciplines and perspectives, best practices, guidelines and standards for broader impact.\nPractical implications: This study identified potential collaboration opportunities, use cases and gaps (e.g. unmet architectural, functional, operational, organizational and/or technical needs).\nSocial implications: The impact on society include an improved understanding of the various EarthCube-funded projects and potential for collaboration within and across multiple disciplines.\nOriginality/value: This study contributed to the development of select outputs for EarthCube-funded projects' presentations, Tech Hands Meeting, 2015 All Hands Meeting, select working groups' outcomes and EarthCube Strategic Technology Plan and is of value to stakeholders, scientists and users.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
E-recruitment service providers review: International and Malaysian	[ "Recruitment", "Financial performance", "Nationalization", "International organizations", "Malaysia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As global competition persists and industries become more skill intensive, the demand for talent or knowledge based workers with the capacity to be creative and innovative is escalating. In the light of this fact, it has become essential for the companies to adopt sophisticated recruitment and selection strategies to get the right employee at the right time. The traditional recruitment procedures are not coping up with the industry requirements especially in selecting the right candidate quicker. Eventually, e-recruitment emerged as handy and advantageous method over traditional methods. E-recruitment, as business activity, is fast growing globally and is worth billion of a Ringgits Malaysia annually. In early 2000, the dot-com shakeout did not affect all the internet businesses. According to the US recruiting consulting firm, Internet Business Network, the number of world wide web sites containing job listings exploded from 500 to 20,000. The number of resumes posted on the e-recruitment web sites also grew from 100,000 in 1995 to 2.5 million in 1998. Where potential employees flock, there companies follow. By the middle of this decade, Forrester Research estimates that 124,000 firms will be recruiting online (Harvard Management Update, 2000). Further, Forrester Research forecasts that e-recruitment revenue will grow from about $600 million today to $7 billion in 2005, but the revenue will be spread among only a fewer sites (Murphy, 2000).Changing recruitment and selection strategies require capitalising on technology. Cappelli (2001) states that with the presence of online hiring (e-recruitment) in the internet through powerful search engines, the labor market has become a true market, uncontrolled by individual companies, and unconstrained geographically with thousands of resumes being posted daily by job seekers to online hiring sites. Using internet for recruitment has the advantage of faster cycle time, cheaper, and more convenient for both the employers and the job seekers. It is providing a radical change to recruiting process. The change allows the company, employment information to be displayed on the sites for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until the advertisement expires. It is easily accessible and provides direct interaction with the company by the interested job seekers (Braunschweig, 2000).Dixon (2000), pointed out that generally, e-recruiters come in two varieties: corporate recruiters and third-party recruiters. Third-party recruiters do not restrict types of jobs posted by the employers or select specific job seekers resumes. They function as a center for all sorts of employment. More specialised in employment are the smaller niche recruiters. But the major ones are the executive recruiters, high-tech recruiters, and medical recruiters.The third-party recruiters or e-recruitment service providers specialised in online recruitment and provide professional hiring solutions to its clients. These hiring services combine software and infrastructure, and resumes databases that support the clients hiring processes. Companies like Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, and HotJobs.com (www.hotjobs.com) are e-recruitment service providers that receive jobs posting from employers to their web sites. Jobs posted are chargeable according to the duration of advertisement, which appears on the e-recruiters' web sites. Job seekers can view employers' posted jobs and apply by posting their resumes to these sites. In general, e-recruiters do not charge job seekers for posting their resumes to their databases. These databases are accessible by any registered employers or recruiting agents (see www.tmp.com; www.brassring.com; www.joblinkasia.com; www.hotjobs.com; www.ehanrick.com; http://cyberatlas.internet.com).Corporate recruiters include recruitment features in their web sites that allow job seekers to apply jobs directly, without going through a \"third-party\". The annual survey of the Global 500 companies conducted by iLogos Research, a division of Recruitsoft, shows that these corporations are increasingly utilising their web sites for recruiting (Recruitsoft & iLogos Research, 2000). Famous e-recruiter like Monster.com claims that 480 of the Fortune 500 companies are using its services (Hoover's Inc., 2002).\nMethodology: The current study discusses and compares three international and three Malaysian e-recruiters' backgrounds and initiatives. The international e-recruiters are Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, and HotJobs.com. The Malaysian e-recruiters are JobStreet.com, JobLinkAsia.com (www.joblinkasia.com), and JobDB.com. The study also attempts to review the e-recruiters' web sites platform feature and tools that are designed to facilitate job seekers job applications. The platform tools characteristics shall be studied and categorised according to its importance for job seekers usage. It is also the intention of this study to elucidate the financial performance of two international and two Malaysia e-recruiters. It is done with an aim to facilitate clearer understanding of whether e-recruitment business brings real business benefits.The e-recruitment platform tools are categorised into three parts namely the:1. primary tools;2. secondary tools; and3. auxiliary tools.Each tool is then allocated with an original weight. The primary tools are allocated with an original weight of 100 (ten features), secondary tools with 80 (eight features), and auxiliary tools with 70 (seven features). Presence of a particular feature is indicated by a \"yes\" and carries a score of 10. \"No\" indicates absence of tool and no score shall be awarded. The score is normalised by dividing the total score with 250 and multiplying by 100. This is the similar approach, which was taken by Goodwin and Wright (1991). The ranking of e-recruiters' platforms is based on the normalised score. A higher score indicates that the particular e-recruitment web site has more comprehensive features that provide better support to the job seekers and other users.The financial statements of two international and two Malaysian e-recruiters' were studied with the purpose of understanding the financial performances of these companies. Monster.com and HotJobs.com unaudited financial statements FY 2001 and 2000 were obtained from its web sites. Local JobStreet.com and JobDB.com FY 2000 and 1999 financial statements were obtained from the Registrar of Companies (ROC), Malaysia. The financial statements serve as both milestones and signposts for readers. As milestones, it assesses the past financial performance and current financial condition of the corporation. As signpost, it provides past and present information that is useful in predicting future financial performance and condition. These statements were analysed by examining the financial ratios. Three financial ratios analysis was chosen as indicator for the e-recruitment companies' financial performances. The three financial ratios are the profitability ratio, activity ratio, and leverage ratio. Comparisons between the companies in each category were also carried out.\nResults and discussion - comparison on the background information of e-recruitment companies: International e-recruitment providers' initiatives\nThe comparison of the nature of e-recruitment platforms: Based on the review and analysis on the entire e-recruitment platforms, three categories of features are used to characterise these platforms. These categories are: primary tools; secondary tools; and auxiliary tools.1. Primary tools for job seekers. Job seekers log-in, job search, search by location, job descriptions, keyword, company search, e-resume blank, and job alert.2. Secondary tools for job seekers. Career fair, career zone/resource center, resume writing, continuing education, salary information, interviewing information, featured career articles, radio broadcasting, and career-assessment.3. Auxiliary tools for job seekers. News and newsletter, and relocation and mortgage servicesOverall ranking of e-recruitment platforms tools\nFinancial performance comparison: In the following paragraphs the results of analysis of financial ratios is presented. Table III is the grouping of income statements and balance sheets for all the e-recruiters. Table IV shows the financial ratio analysis of the four companies.Profitability ratios\nConclusion: International e-recruiters will continue to compete among themselves aggressively, and continue to improve their services to the clients and job seekers. This would entail providing a broader range of contents for the platform tools with the purpose of enticing successful job seekers to motivate others to visit their sites. Continuous increase of resume is expected. With the continuous influx of resumes, more established e-recruiters with technological edges would continue to improve their hiring solution and services to ease the sorting of massive resume received by their clients.It is found in this study that there is a trend for e-recruiters to move towards the direction of providing software solutions to their clients. JobStreet.com, for example, are providing application service provider (ASP) over the web to their clients, which their clients can outsource, the hiring management functions to them.With the immense potential growth in online career search as forecasted by Forrester Research, merger and acquisition will be the overall trend among the international e-recruitment service providers. It is observed in this study that mergers and acquisition is quite common in the e-recruitment business. This is clear from the track records of Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, and HotJobs.com. This strategy is commonly used by the financial rich e-recruiters to tap on the advantage of scale economies. This is in line with Murphy (2000) assertions that smaller companies are likely to be acquired by the bigger companies. Moreover based on the findings of Forrester Research, e-recruitment revenue will continue to grow but the revenue will be spread among fewer sites.However, e-recruiter's future threat will be the fast increase of corporate recruiters using their companies web sites for recruitment. Research carried out by Recruitsoft & iLogos Research (2000) indicated that internet technologies would centralise and integrate the entire corporate recruiting process into an e-business supply chain by 2003. Large e-recruiters with technology savvy can capitalise this by providing the solution to corporate recruiters.While international e-recruiters will be the leaders in this business, Malaysian companies are likely to be the followers. For example, JobStreet.com is still trying to introduce \"salary information\" feature in their service when it is now a common feature provided by the international companies. Malaysian e-recruiters were observed to form strategic alliances with more experienced International partners probably to share know-how, improve services and facilitate cross employment.A major future threat facing Malaysian e-recruiters is the possibility of international e-recruiters extending their business in Malaysia. Monster.com revenue in financial year 2000 was US$1,407 million while that of Jobstreet.com was only RM2.6 million. The limited resources available to Malaysian companies may limit its ability to compete with the international e-recruiters especially in introducing a more technologically advanced e-recruitment platform.Malaysian e-recruiters do not have the advantage of scale economies due to low population of 22.2 million people as compared to the USA with 278 million. According to the 2002 Computer Industry Almanac, the USA has 149 million internet users, which means 53.6 percent of its population, are able to access the internet for job seeking (INT Media Group, 2000). However, in 2001 there are only one million registered internet subscribers in Malaysia, which means only 4.5 percent of its population, are able to access the internet for job seeking (Abdulai, 2001). This strongly indicates large digital divide gap and low internet usage thus imply that Malaysian job seekers still rely on local newspapers classified ads for job seeking.In the study of the four e-recruitment companies' financial performances, Monster.com was the only company that was profitable FY 2001 and 2000. HotJobs.com was making losses FY 2001 and 2000. In this study, Monster.com and HotJobs.com were spending millions of dollars on merger and acquisition costs. HotJobs.com was spending US$ 21.2 million on merger and US$ 3.3 million on restructuring charges totalling US$ 24.5 million when merging with Yahoo! Inc. HotJobs.com total operating charges would be lower if this spending was not accounted for but Yahoo! Inc management team is confident. However, this long-term plan would pay off when the economy rebounds. During this current economic situation, Monster.com and HotJobs.com management teams need to focus on working capital and be prudent and discipline on the expenses and cash management but continue to drive sales across the products including the software program.JobStreet.com was making losses in FY 1999 and 2000. Although JobStreet.com sales revenue increased from RM 2.5 million in 1999, to RM 4.9 million in 2000, indicating an increase of 96 percent, the company was not profitable due to high expenses on the same year. JobsDB.com since started its business in Malaysia in 1998, was also experiencing losses in FY 1999 and 2000. With the current economic downturn, these companies would continue to face difficulty to improve their sales revenues. With the exception of Monster.com, financially, it is observed that the e-recruiters revenues are growing rapidly while profits after taxes remain elusive.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Aims to review e-recruiters' web site platform features and tools that are designed to facilitate job seekers' job applications. Also intends to elucidate the financial performance of two international and two Malaysian e-recruiters.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Discusses and compares three international (Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, and HotJobs.com) and three Malaysian (JobStreet.com, JobLinkAsia.com, and JobDB.com) e-recruiters' backgrounds and initiatives. Presents the e-recruiters' and online platforms, their current practices and overall strategies and financial performances.\nFindings: - Observes that the e-recruiters' revenues are growing rapidly while profits are still elusive.\nOriginality/value: - Presents an overview of e-recruitment service providers, both international and malaysian.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding the impact of internal marketing practices on both employees ' and managers ' organizational commitment in elderly care homes	[ "Manager", "Organizational commitment", "Antecedent", "Elderly care home", "Employee", "Internal marketing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Employee retention is critical to the long-term success of most of organizations, and a committed employee base is especially relevant in the global health care community, where the retention of caregivers is increasingly important in light of a world-wide shortage of nurses (Peltier et al., 2003; World Health Organization, 2009). Given that it is difficult to increase the supply of new nurses entering the profession, one logical approach is to find ways to increase the job satisfaction and retention of existing nurses (Laine et al., 2009).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: 2.1. Organizational commitment\n3. Methods: 3.1. Data description\n4. Results: The descriptive information for the variables and the results of the independent samples t-tests are shown in Table IV. In terms of descriptive statistics, we report the real averages of the summated scales in Table IV, rather than the standardized scores in order to increase the interpretability of the results.\n5. Discussion: 5.1. Theoretical implications, limitations of the study and future research suggestions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to unfold the relationship between the antecedents of employee and manager commitment, using internal marketing (IM) practices, in elderly care homes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on survey data drawn from elderly care homes in Finland, the authors tested several literature driven hypotheses of how IM practices (internal value exchange, internal communication and training) relate with employee and manager commitment. Hence, the authors compare the organizational commitment of two groups. Additionally, the authors tested the moderating role of public residence on these relationships.\nFindings: The study revealed that there are differences in the antecedents to employee and manager commitment in terms of internal value exchange. This is an important extension to the literature of employee and management commitment in which the antecedents to management commitment, especially, are under-investigated, and where the relationship between the antecedents of the two types of commitment are not studied.\nPractical implications: While different emphases on IM programs for employees and managers must be implemented in order to re-create work environments that could lead to improved service provision, the authors suggest that facilitating open and honest communication and exchanging values in care homes is a crucial step for improving service quality and employee and manager retention.\nOriginality/value: This study has high value to both the literature and practice as high-service quality can be provided when both employee's and manager's commitments are in place, and without understanding the differing antecedents and their relationships, it is hard to establish both types of commitment in an organization. The authors believe that this new insight is useful in improving the service quality and employee and manager retention of organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Lean principles and simulation optimization for emergency department layout design	[ "Emergency department", "Layout design", "Value stream mapping", "Cellular manufacturing", "Simulation optimization", "Staff assignment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The annual number of emergency department (ED) visits in the USA increased by more than 23 percent from 1997 to 2007, twice the growth in population over the same period, whereas the overall capacity decreased by more than 5 percent (Niska et al., 2010). Such increase along with reductions in the overall capacity leads to overcrowding. The USA has not been alone in facing this problem. Overcrowding in ED has also been reported in Canada, Australia, Great Britain and Taiwan (Derlet and Richards, 2000). Multiple effects of ED overcrowding has resulted in long waiting time for patients, dissatisfaction and poor outcomes (Schull et al., 2003). There is a growing amount of literature that identifies this problem as a health-system failure, demonstrating that the negative impact of ED overcrowding is an important issue worldwide (Olshaker, 2009).\n2. Literature review: Overcrowding in an ED is an operational problem (Sinreich and Marmor, 2005). To solve such problem, VSM, a lean management tools, is an extremely useful tool for analyzing the flow of material, information and the associated CT across multiple processes. Value stream is defined as the actions (both valued-added and non-value-added actions) necessary to deliver a product or service to a customer (Rother and Shook, 2003). Problems with multistage processes can be solved using VSM to identify waste in the process. VSM provides a visual roadmap of solutions (Lu et al., 2011; Yang and Lu, 2011).\n3. Case description using current-state VSM: The case study is of a medical center in southern Taiwan that provides a 24-hour service for traumatic, non-traumatic and pediatric emergencies. It has 1,600 beds and treats 79,500 patients annually. Medical staff attending non-traumatic emergencies includes 15 emergency physicians and nine nurses. Each staff member works eight hours per day. A visit to the ED typically involves a complex series of decisions, activities and interactions with hospital staff. Although it is impossible to classify exactly the flow processes for all ED patients, a general five-step flow process, which occurs in a linear sequence and requires different medical staff, can be determined.\n4. Proposed methodology of CM design: Details regarding the development of the CM design used in this study have been reported by Rother and Harris (2003). The following section provides a detailed step-by-step description of implementation and empirical illustrations of the design.\n5. Empirical results and analysis: The optimal setting and the results are summarized in Table VI. In this table, from columns 2 to 4 show the staff assignment for each cell under three shifts. Columns 5 and 6 show the optimal staff assignment. Column 7 shows the performance. CM 1, 2 and 4 demonstrate that the waiting time and service level are improved by the methodology. A linear layout design of CM 4 is deemed to be the most effective in solving the proposed problem. The average waiting time for patients was reduced from 78 to 38 minutes, a 51 percent improvement; while the service level was increased from 54.86 to 88.55 percent, a 61 percent improvement, as shown in Table VII. Moreover, a linear layout was determined to be more effective for staff assignment, with the number of nurses reduced from nine to six.\n6. Conclusions and further research: This study applies VSM to the design and analysis of the ED. Decisions of cell formation and layout are addressed simultaneously by CM design, with the optimal staff assignment for converting batch processing into continuous processing. According to the scenario analysis conducted in this study, a linear layout outperformed a U-shaped layout in terms of both waiting time and service level.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use lean principles and simulation optimization on solving a combined hospital emergency department (ED) layout design and staff assignment problem.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is based on value stream mapping for the design and analysis of the ED. Subsequently, the authors investigate cellular manufacturing design, which addresses the decisions of continuous steps in a cell simultaneously and considers the optimal staff assignment. A simulation based on the case study is used for these methodologies. Simulation optimization is then used to optimize the staff assignments, minimize the waiting time and maximize the service level.\nFindings: The linear layout outperformed in both waiting time and service level. The patients' average waiting time is reduced from 78 to 38 minutes. The service level increased from 54.86 to 88.55 percent. Moreover, the number of nurses was reduced from nine to six.\nResearch limitations/implications: First, the tests for model accuracy were performed using the actual arrival rate; however, seasonal variation should be reflected. Second, the staffing levels varied were not tracked. Third, the accuracy of individual patient treatment paths can be dynamic. Fourth, the 25 percent of delays in transferring a patient to an inpatient bed will be discussed in future studies.\nPractical implications: A practical case is adopted for empirical illustrations.\nOriginality/value: The proposed methodology innovatively solved a practical application and the results are promising.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Millennials, sharing economy and tourism: the case of Seoul	[ "Tourism", "Millennials", "Sharing economy", "Seoul" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The paper discusses how Seoul's Millennials are transforming the tourism sector by creating new job opportunities through online tourism businesses boosted by the sharing economy.\n2. Theoretical framework and methodological approach: 2.1 Millennials, sharing economy, and the tourism market\n3. Tourist sharing enterprises by and for South Korean Millennials: Among the \"SOs\" selected for the SCS project seven were primarily focused on tourist services. The research includes four of them:\n4. Findings: tendencies and features: A feature shared by all the four platforms is the age of their founders, managers or staff members, all of whom are Millennials. As previously underlined, almost half of the sharing enterprises selected had been founded or were managed by Millennials, and the tourism sector is no exception. Millennials know the needs and desires of their peers. They are consequently able to conceive and offer solutions able to attract them. Moreover, as seen before, they are massive users of ITC tools, and rely on the internet to offer services and connect people in real time.\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Practical and social implications\n6. Conclusion: work's value and recommendations: Without claiming to be exhaustive, this study, has discussed the relation between Millennials and tourism, showing the importance of considering their main features in orienting the future tourism market.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the \"Sharing City, Seoul\" (SCS) project in order to highlight the role that Millennials are playing in transforming the tourist market by relying on the tools of the sharing economy. The Korean project, in fact, is promoting and favoring online Millennial enterpreneurship, thus impacting also on the tourism sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A three-stage methodology - based on in-depth interviews with the \"sharing organizations\" (SOs) involved in the SCS project, participant observation, and institutional and online materials - has made it possible to comprehend how Millennials are changing the travel and tourism landscape in Seoul through disruptive innovation of the sharing economy, and to propose some broad recommendations for the tourism market.\nFindings: The research, analyzing the SCS project, highlights the increasing purchasing power of Millennials, confirming the importance of adopting a generational perspective to understand needs and tendencies of this generation and orient the tourist market. The SOs interviewed for the research, mainly founded and managed by Millennials, demonstrated to know how to recognize, intercept and satisfy the styles, personalities and requests of tourists, especially Millennials. Thus, Millennials are able to enter in the market not only as users and travelers, but also as entrepreneurs and creators of new online travel services.\nResearch limitations/implications: A further analysis should include interviews also with the funders and staff members of the other sharing enterprises that operate in the tourism sector. Moreover, a map of the current state of the sharing enterprises is suggested in order to determine whether or not the number of enterprises with a tourism vocation involved in the project is growing and under which conditions. This map would also be helpful to frame new tendencies in the sharing tourism industry and to monitor the role of Millennials in the market. It would be helpful to compare the Korean case with that of other Asian countries.\nOriginality/value: Through the analysis of the Korean case, the research shows that Millennials are massive users of traveler sharing platforms. At the same time they are able to enter the tourist market not only as users and travelers but also as entrepreneurs and creators of new online travel services. The paper offers some broad indications to help in orienting the future tourism market so that it takes account of the growing presence and purchasing power of Millennials.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Securitization of disability risk via bonds and swaps	[ "Alternative risk transfer", "Disability insurance", "Markov renewal process", "Multi-state models", "Securitization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: During the past decade, the demand for disability insurance policies has risen globally, partly because these policies have been described as existential, disability rates have been rather increasing and precautionary saving was identified as a less-efficient hedge against disability risk (Chandra and Samwick, 2005; Schwark, 2011). Meanwhile, the alternative risk transfer in general is gaining in importance and is spreading to life and health insurance. The introduction of Solvency II is supporting this trend where insurance-linked securities may be an effective tool of risk mitigation (EIOPA, 2014). The above developments emphasize the importance of an accurate valuation and risk management of disability insurance policies and the openness of the market for insurance-linked securities toward innovations that may include the securitization of disability risk in the future. In previous literature, especially the modeling of disability insurance (Haberman and Pitacco, 1999) and the securitization of catastrophes and mortality risk have gained wide attention (Blake et al., 2006a; Cummins, 2008). In contrast, a first analysis of insurance portfolios with disability insurance policies was conducted by Maegebier and Gatzert (2014), which indicated systematic disability risk that cannot be easily hedged by other life insurance products in the portfolio. Thus, to allow insurers to hedge this systematic risk without transferring the whole disability insurance portfolio, the aim of this paper is to provide a first theoretical discussion of potential disability-linked bonds and swaps, including the advantages and disadvantages compared to mortality-linked securities, to propose a design for these instruments and, finally, to transfer an existing valuation approach.\n2. Discussion of various aspects associated with the securitization: 2.1 Advantages and disadvantages\n3. Potential design and valuation of disability bonds and swaps: 3.1 The model framework\n4. Summary and conclusion: Against the background of Solvency II and current developments in the market for insurance-linked securities, a first analysis of the potential securitization of disability risk was provided in this paper, including advantages and disadvantages, the comparison with mortality-linked securities, basis risk as well as benefits and limitations from a practical point of view. In addition, a prospective design and a corresponding valuation were presented based on the mathematical notation used in the context of disability insurance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Two strands of the literature are combined, namely the modeling of disability insurance and the design, valuation and discussion of insurance-linked securities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper provides a discussion regarding the advantages and detriments of disability-linked securities in comparison with mortality-linked bonds and swaps as well as regarding potential disability-linked indices and the potential use. The discussion is followed by an introduction of a potential design and a corresponding valuation of disability bonds and swaps.\nFindings: This securitization will provide useful tools for the risk management of disability risk in a risk-based regulatory framework.\nOriginality/value: No disability-linked securities have been defined and discussed so far.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Empirical evidence of corporate governance in Thai state-owned enterprises	[ "Corporate governance", "Factor analysis", "Thailand" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In developing countries, the state-owned enterprise sector is an integral part of socio-economic activity. Most state-owned enterprises were established to fulfill the social objectives of the state rather than to maximize profits. However, rising stakeholder expectations have forced governments in many countries to reform the corporate governance systems of state-owned enterprises, with expectations of improving their operations to reduce deficits and to make them strategic tools in gaining national competitiveness (Parker, 1999; Dockery and Herbert, 2000). The implementation of corporate governance restructuring included external boards of directors, statements of corporate intent, and business plans (Bradbury, 1999).Similar to global trends, Thai state-owned enterprises have operated as a state mechanism to provide essential services to citizens, such as utilities, infrastructure, and mass transportation. They have total assets of 5,519 billion baht ($US137.05bn), or 85 percent of GDP, and an annual capital investment of 352 billion baht (($US8.74 bn), or 70 percent of government capital expenditure (Minister of Finance, 2005). Beginning in 2004, the Ministry of Finance implemented a corporate governance restructuring program to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of Thai state-owned enterprises. So far, 53 of 58 Thai state-owned enterprises have restructured their corporate governance systems.The belief that corporate governance mechanisms influence the performance and long-term value of an organization is generally accepted among governments and academicians (Nelson, 2005). The theory underlying the roles of corporate governance on organizational performance widely referred to is agency theory (Baker and Owsen, 2002). According to the theory, a potential governance problem is built into corporate system because of the separation of ownership from control. Agency problems emerge when the manager, who is a hired agent with the responsibility of representing the owners' best interests, pursues self-interest instead of the owners' best interests.During the 1980s, the applications of corporate governance were primarily focused on designing contractual mechanisms to control the self-interest of management. The board of directors has been a central institution in the internal governance of a company by providing a key monitoring function for aligning the interests of agents and shareholders (O'Regan et al., 2005). Many studies have also recognized the impacts of the characteristics of the board of directors (e.g. board composition and board leadership, and board size) on firm performance (Kesner and Dalton, 1985, Thomas, 1994; Peng et al., 2003).However, the failure of boards of directors at Enron and WorldCom highlighted the need for more appropriate instruments to prevent misconduct by boards of directors. Furthermore, the increasing complexity of organizations has challenged organizational scholars and practitioners to broaden the applications of corporate governance. During the last decade, corporate governance practices have been extended from monitoring and controlling to strengthening strategic policies and ensuring the integrity of managerial processes (Michie and Oughton, 2001; Yoshikawa et al., 2004). With this, the strategic role of the board of directors has been expected (Charan, 2005). Additionally, many areas of management systems of organizations have been restructured to enhance the effective implementation of corporate strategy. Management systems have been widely developed, including risk management, internal control, internal audit, strategic human resource management, and information technology.Organizational scholars have investigated various corporate governance practices. However, most studies have focused on the private sector rather than the state-owned enterprise sector, and focused on only one practice of corporate governance such as the board of directors (Michie and Oughton, 2001), internal control (Giroux and McLelland, 2003), internal audit (Xie et al., 2003), risk management (Crawford and Stein, 2004), human resource management (Miles, 2007), or information technology (Posthumusa et al., 2005). Given the importance of state-owned enterprises in developing countries and recognizing the different practices of corporate governance mentioned above, this study will focus on three objectives:1. developing a multi-attribute model of corporate governance in Thai state-owned enterprises;2. assessing the relative importance of different corporate governance practices; and3. providing detailed information on each corporate governance practice.\n2. Corporate governance of Thai state-owned enterprises: In Thailand, state-owned enterprises have to respond to the need to be financially viable as well as to carry out various government policies. On one hand they have to perform efficiently to meet the expectations of the Ministry of Finance; on the other hand, they have to expand the coverage and increase the quality of public services as required by the government. In order to assist state-owned enterprises to achieve these objectives, the Ministry of Finance, as a major shareholder, introduced a corporate governance restructuring program into Thai state-owned enterprises in 2004. The primary objectives of this program are to formulate strategies and monitor the performance of the state-owned enterprises, and to integrate the corporate governance principles into key management processes to ensure the realization of strategic outcomes.From interviews with officials of the Ministry of Finance who are directly involved in regulating the corporate governance practices of Thai state-owned enterprises, the corporate governance framework can, in general, be depicted as shown in Figure 1. This corporate governance framework consists of two main elements, i.e. a hierarchy of internal stakeholders and the six corporate governance practices. The first main element, the hierarchy of internal stakeholders, is concerned with relative role and accountability of four levels of internal stakeholders in formulating and realizing the strategic objectives of state-owned enterprises. Firstly, the government has the right to impose policy on state-owned enterprises and has the responsibility to select an effective board of directors to govern these state-owned enterprises. Secondly, the boards of directors has the rights to direct and control management and are accountable for all outcomes of state-owned enterprises. Thirdly, management has the duty to run the organization on a day-to-day basis. Along with the board, top-level management establishes overall policy. Middle- and first-level management carries out this policy and provides daily supervision of the employees. Finally, non-managerial employees are those who actually perform the work.The second main element is the six corporate governance practices, consisting of:1. board of directors;2. internal control;3. internal audit;4. risk management;5. strategic human resource management; and6. information technology.They are expected to be an important tool that supports the roles and enhances the accountability of internal stakeholders.The six corporate governance practices in Figure 1 were consistent with those found in the corporate governance literature. However, there are also some differences between the framework of the Ministry of Finance and those in the corporate governance literature. For example, based on the Ministry of Finance guidelines, the operational definition of board of directors consists of the role of the board, the knowledge of the board, and board meetings. On the other hand, the corporate governance literature has focused on the operational definition of the board of directors in various ways. For example, Van den Berghe and Baelden (2005) examined the role of the board, Kula and Tatoglu (2006) explored the knowledge of the board, Vafeas (1999) examined the number of board meetings, and Van der Walt et al. (2006) examined the composition of the board. A summary of these six corporate governance practices and their detailed items is presented in Table I.\n3. Research methodology: The methodological framework of this research consists of four steps:1. a pre-survey to identify corporate governance practices;2. questionnaire development;3. data collection; and4. data analysis.3.1 Pre-survey\n4. Factor analysis and identifying the corporate governance practices: Standard tests for sampling adequacy were applied and yielded a value of 0.974 for the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test. The Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant, suggesting that the population matrix was not an identity matrix (p<0.001, significant value <0.0000). The data were thus accepted as suitable for factor analysis (Hair et al., 1998).Factor analysis was conducted. The principal component analysis (with Varimax rotation) yielded six factors that had eigenvalues greater than 1.0. They cumulatively accounted for 65.73 percent of total variance, which was acceptable for exploratory analysis (Table III).To conduct the Cattell scree test, these six factors were plotted as the x-axis and the corresponding eigenvalues as the y-axis. The results indicate that the first six constructs were worth retaining (see Figure 2).Based on an examination of the inherent relationships among the items under each factor, the following grouping was made; factor 1 was termed \"strategic human resource management\"; factor 2 \"information technology\"; factor 3 \"board of directors\"; factor 4 \"risk management\"; factor 5 \"internal audit\"; and factor 6 \"internal control\". The names of these six factors were derived from the factors using the items with the highest loading factor. All factor loadings were above 0.50. The Cronbach's a values of the six factors ranged from 0.8999 to 0.9488, indicating high scale reliability.4.1 Strategic human resource management\n5. Conclusions: From a theoretical perspective, this study illustrates the multi-attribute nature of corporate governance model filling a gap in the corporate governance literature, which has tended to focus on a single practice of corporate governance. According to the perceptions of state-owned enterprises' managers, the most important corporate governance practice is strategic human resource management, followed by information technology, board of directors, risk management, internal control, and internal audit sequentially.It is important to note that while boards of directors have been a central focus in the corporate governance literature for years, they were ranked the third most important corporate governance practice in the case of Thai state-owned enterprises; while the most important corporate governance practice was strategic human resource management. The interpretation of this phenomenon is that human resources are considered to be the most critical issue in corporate governance restructuring of Thai state-owned enterprises. Strategic human resource management is expected to be an effective tool that enhances the strategic competency of state-owned enterprises' staff and reduces the proportion of non-strategic staff. These results are consistent with government policies that recommend that Thai state-owned enterprises improve employee productivity and reduce employee expenses.Additionally, this study brings out the various items of corporate governance practices that represent the specific characteristics of Thai state-owned enterprises. For example, the managers have indicated the expertise of the human resource team as the most important item of strategic human resource management, while other studies have focused more on strategic human resource management procedures: for example, Cheng and Bennett (2006) examined recruiting and performance-based bonus system, and Miles (2007) discussed lifelong employment and promotion based on seniority. The second example is the board of directors. Managers have identified knowledge as the most important characteristics of the board of directors, while most previous studies focused more on board independence (O'Regan et al., 2005; Lefort and Urzua, 2008). These results imply that improving the knowledge and expertise of internal stakeholders (boards of directors and employees) is the most important issue in restructuring the corporate governance of Thai state-owned enterprises.From the managerial perspective, this paper has found that there has been widespread adoption of the Ministry of Finance's corporate governance guidelines. However, the relationship between corporate governance practices and the performance of state-owned enterprises has not been examined. For further study, it is worth assessing how these corporate governance practices together could be used to explain the performance of state-owned enterprises.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The primary objectives of this paper are to: develop a multi-attribute pattern of the corporate governance model in Thai state-owned enterprises; assess the relative importance of different corporate governance practices; and provide detailed information of each corporate governance practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. A case study was conducted to gather information on specific corporate governance behaviors in Thai state-owned enterprises. Then a questionnaire was developed and tested in 38 Thai state-owned enterprises. Factor analysis was conducted to examine a common framework of corporate governance practices.\nFindings: - This research demonstrated the multi-attribute nature of the corporate governance model in Thai state-owned enterprises. According to this model, the most important corporate governance practice is strategic human resource management, followed by information technology, board of directors, risk management, internal control, and internal audit sequentially. Additionally, this study brings out insights into corporate governance practices that represent the specific characteristics of Thai state-owned enterprises.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study is limited by the fact that the sample represents only Thai state-owned enterprises. Further studies should be conducted to better understand the complexity of the multi-attribute nature of the corporate governance model in state-owned enterprises in developing countries.\nPractical implications: - Policy makers can utilize the multi-attribute nature of the corporate governance model as a guideline for the further development of corporate governance practices in other state-owned enterprises.\nOriginality/value: - This study demonstrated the multi-attribute nature of the corporate governance model in state-owned enterprises in developing countries such as Thailand. This research confirms the broad principles of corporate governance as well as providing detailed information on corporate governance practices from a new perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A theoretical framework for managing intellectual capital in higher education	[ "Value drivers", "Performance indicators", "Management", "Intellectual capital", "Higher education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The concept of intellectual capital (IC) has been established over the last two decades as a key interpretation of the intangibles that play a decisive role in defining the value of a company, There is then a growing interest in applying the IC-based approach to managing universities, as organizations that invest in teaching, research and human resources, and whose main objectives are the production and dissemination of knowledge (Leitner and Warden, 2004; Sanchez et al., 2009).\n2. Literature review: The literature on IC has undergone significant growth in the last few decades (Edvdinsson and Malone, 1997; Roos et al., 1997; Mouritsen et al., 2001; Pike et al., 2006; Eccles and Krzus, 2010; Zambon and Monciardini, 2015; Dumay, 2016; Guthrie et al., 2017). IC has different meanings because scholars and operators have different conceptions of IC and its main purpose. By way of an example, according some researchers IC gives a company a competitive age and allows an enterprise to create wealth (Stewart, 1997), or to create economic value and utility, social and environment value (Mouritsen et al., 2001; Dumay, 2012, 2016) or to create competitive advantage and economic value (Barney, 1991; Pike et al., 2006). The university entrepreneurial orientation needs an overall evaluation that considers the wider social and economic benefits deriving from the diffusion of knowledge, as the positive impact on employment and cultural and economic development.\n3. Methodology: Framed in the above premises and with the intent to fill the gap highlighted in the literature review, in particular, of a maturity model for IC management (see Leitner et al., 2014; Veltri et al., 2014; Secundo et al., 2015), the aim of this paper is to define a theoretical framework focusing analysis on the relational component of IC; however, the proposed models exhibit an approach aimed at observing this component linked to specific spin-off university activities, knowledge transfer through human resources, technology transfer (Lazzeroni and Piccaluga, 2003; Etzkowitz, 2004; Gibb and Hannon, 2006; Kirby, 2006; Ndou et al., 2013). Analysis of relations between the university and its stakeholders is thus left out; nevertheless, we believe that the study of relationships is able to guarantee that universities achieve sustainable and lasting competitive differentials, given that their primary objectives are the production and dissemination of knowledge. The enhancement of relations between stakeholders thus becomes an important element in the process of improving the quality of the universities, as it has a marked influence on company performance (Lordache-Platis, 2015). The paper is an attempt to provide answers to the following research questions:\n4. Theoretical framework: The number of scientific contributions that use the input-output model using fuzzy logic has increased considerably. However, attempts to develop performance indicators that highlight the relationships between intangibles and their output have been very limited. The theoretical framework developed here can be seen as a first attempt to apply linear logic for processes to the evaluation of the performance of universities with reference to their intrinsic capacity to establish virtuous relationships with their stakeholders.\n5. Concluding remarks, limits and future developments: The aim of the research is to develop a theoretical framework that is able to offer, in the area of higher education, a new perspective for assessing the impact of the complex system of internal and external relations on the performance of universities. Thus, the paper is available for comprehensive panel of indicators to able to express the contribution of the virtuous correlation between the individuals involved in the relationship, the subject of the report, the mediation structure and, finally, the value created by the relationship (performance).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify, through the preparation of a theoretical framework, the drivers able to highlight the relationships between universities and stakeholders in the area of higher education. It also intends to stress the importance of intellectual capital (IC) regarding its contribution to create the quality of higher education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The method, through the repetition of different \"rounds\" of interviews with questionnaires, tends therefore to create situations of comparison, verification and discussion of the different hypotheses prefigured, and then come to a convergence of both scenarios and dates of realization.\nFindings: The paper provides a system of indicators for assessing the quality of relationships between stakeholders in the key processes of the universities.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper provides a pilot model that needs further adjustments in itinere, based on rigorous empirical tests conducted to confer on it the characteristics of universal applicability within the university context.\nPractical implications: The major contribution of the model is evident from the resulting interpretative process, which makes it possible to deduce, from the performance indicators, the strategies put in place by the university to achieve their goals, that is, to prepare any interventions for the optimization of the management of IC which can create the quality of higher education institution.\nOriginality/value: None of the models presented in the literature details the quality of the relationship between stakeholders in the key processes of the universities and therefore neither investigates the impact produced by them on the performance of the university nor on the way stakeholders perceive the usefulness of the knowledge transmitted or the level of customer satisfaction achieved, as indeed the most recent research on the subject envisages.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Intellectual capital vs the book-value of assets: A value-relevance comparison based on productivity measures	[ "Human capital", "Intellectual capital", "Productivity", "Structural capital", "Value-added", "Value-relevance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One of the ongoing controversies in financial accounting research is whether or not accounting numbers are losing their value-relevance in the share market over time. Collins et al. (1997) document an increase in the combined value-relevance of earnings and book-value over 40 years by using US market data. In contrast, Lev and Zarowin (1999) find a decreasing value-relevance of key accounting numbers by testing 20 years of data, implying that the decline has occurred over more recent years because the financial reporting system became increasingly inadequate in reflecting trends towards intangible-intensive businesses. A third study, Francis and Schipper (1999), reports mixed results, finding a decrease in the relevance of earnings to market returns, compensated by an increase the relevance in other key accounting numbers to market equity value.\n2. Research questions: Prior value-relevance studies on accounting numbers have modelled and tested the value-relevance of total assets, tangible assets and various components of intangible assets such as goodwill and research and development (e.g. McCarthy and Schneider, 1995; Godfrey and Koh, 2001; Bugeja and Gallery, 2006; Chalmers et al., 2008). However, these studies have used pre-IFRS data, where data on total employee benefits or human resource costs was not a required disclosure item. This meant that data for a key component of the estimation of intellectual capital investment, namely human capital expenditure, was limited to sketchy voluntary disclosures by companies in the pre-IFRS era. Thus, prior studies have been restricted in their investigation of the value-relevance of intellectual capital by data availability.\n3. Literature review: 3.1 The value-relevance of intellectual capital\n4. Methods: 4.1 Sample selection and data construction\n5. Results: 5.1 Descriptive statistics\n6. Conclusions: This study develops models that draw on publicly available accounting numbers and share prices to compute and compare the value-relevance of the productivity of intellectual capital (as well as its components of human capital and structural capital) to the value-relevance of the productivity of book-value of net assets (as well as tangible assets and total assets).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide new evidence, made possible by human capital data that became available after IFRS adoption, on the productivity of intellectual capital and its components. These productivity measures are modelled to determine their value-relevance in the share market, and the modelling is extended to comparative productivity measures for the book-value of assets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Financial data are sourced from financial databases and company annual reports on a sample of 160 Australian listed firms over a five-year period. Panel regression analysis is used to test five models built from Riahi-Belkaoui's (1999) general price model of the value-relevance of accounting numbers.\nFindings: The results show that the productivity of human capital, structural capital and intellectual capital are each significantly positively related to share price (i.e. have value-relevance), whereas the productivity of total assets at book-value is non-significant and tangible assets is inversely significant.\nOriginality/value: This study constructs a new improved method of computing the amount of structural capital, and uses recently available financial statement data to provide first-time evidence on human capital and its inclusion in the determination of the amount of intellectual capital. These new models and data enable a direct comparison to be made between the value-relevance of intellectual and the book-value of assets.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The relationship between an entrepreneur's culture and the entrepreneurial behaviour of the firm	[ "Entrepreneurialism", "Business ethnics", "Organizational behaviour", "Education", "Language", "Turkey" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recent studies showed that if ethnic businesses stay within their community, then their business growth is limited. Inability to attract customers from outside of the ethnic market, heavy reliance on unskilled co-ethnic labour, poor advice and limited capital are the key constraints limiting the growth of ethnic businesses (Altinay and Altinay, 2006; Basu and Altinay, 2002; Barrett et al., 2002; Jamal, 2005; Nwankwo, 2005; Schnell and Sofer, 2002). Therefore, to enable the growth of a business, a strategic \"breakout\" into the mainstream markets is needed. This, however, requires innovation - \"the notion of openness to new ideas as an aspect of a firm's culture\" (Hurley and Hult, 1998, p. 44). Bamberger (1982) suggests that owner's values and backgrounds are important determinants of a small firm's culture and its business practices. He states that:The manager's value systems determine whether a firm pursues the objective of growth or independence, diversifies, enters foreign markets, adopts an active or passive behaviour on the market ... (Bamberger, 1982, p. 46).Confirming these arguments, Lumpkin and Dess (1996) also advocate that a small firm's orientation is grounded in the values, intentions and actions of the individual who is in charge; a small firm is simply an extension of the individual entrepreneur, and therefore influenced by the inherent characteristics of the entrepreneur.Looking at the inherent characteristics of the entrepreneur, ethnic minority entrepreneurship literature suggests that cultural attributes of the entrepreneur including education, language and religion play an important role in developing entrepreneurial abilities and contributing to the survival of the entrepreneur's business (Altinay and Altinay, 2006; Basu and Altinay, 2002; Basu and Goswami, 1999; Casson, 1991). However, in empirical terms, the relationships between the cultural attributes of the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial behaviour of the firm, still need to be investigated. It is still not known whether the differences in the cultural backgrounds of the entrepreneurs lead to any differences in their reliance on their ethnic resources, in other words, on the use of ethnic capital, labour, advice and customers. Given this, this paper aims to evaluate the relationship between Turkish entrepreneurs\" cultural attributes and the entrepreneurial behaviour of their firms.In this study, cultural attributes are operationalised in terms of: religion; the attitude to education, since they both shape values and beliefs (Basu and Altinay, 2002), and an entrepreneur's cultural skills (e.g. English fluency), since they are crucial in accessing and leveraging social, financial and organisational resources (Ucbasaran et al., 2003, Westhead and Cowling, 1995).The entrepreneurial behaviour of the firm will be analysed in terms of the ethnic firm's reliance on co-ethnic capital, co-ethnic labour, co-ethnic information, since during the early stages of their growth ethnic minority business survival depends on ethnic resources (networks) such as access to cheap family labour and close community networks which may offer advice and low-cost capital (Fadahunsi et al., 2000; Waldinger et al., 1990), and co-ethnic market, since dealing with co-ethnic customers influences business growth because it may be easier to transact business in a language with which the entrepreneur is familiar (Werbner, 1990). The above classification of cultural attributes and entrepreneurial behaviours is based on the broad guidelines offered by the findings of previous research on ethnic enterprises (see Basu and Goswami, 1999; Basu and Altinay, 2002; Altinay and Altinay, 2006).\nLiterature review: Religion and entrepreneurial behaviour\nResearch design: This study investigated the entrepreneurial behaviour of Turkish speaking small businesses in London by conducting 227 face-to-face structured interviews with entrepreneurs who were working in service, retailing, catering, and import/export sectors[1]. All the interviews were conducted in English and lasted about one hour, on the basis of a detailed semi-structured interview schedule. Informants were asked closed as well as open-ended questions on a wide range of issues relating to their personal characteristics, family backgrounds, business form and structure, business entry characteristics, business characteristics including operations and finance (see Appendix, Figure A1 for a sample of questions).The sample is drawn from a database of 1,200 Turkish-speaking entrepreneurs who own micro (minimum two, maximum nine employees) and small businesses (minimum ten, maximum 49 employees) in different boroughs of London. The database was constructed by the researchers through ethnic minority business directories and unpublished lists of names obtained from Turkish high commissions. The researchers also managed to identify other businessmen via corporate databases published by FAME, Turkish-British Chamber of Commerce, Olay Gazetesi and Turkish Business Associations in London. The Turkish Business Guide (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) was also used to locate boroughs with a high concentration of Turkish-speaking businesses for the study. The sample was randomly selected and an effort was made to include entrepreneurs operating not only in traditional sectors like catering and retailing, but also wholesaling and manufacturing.This research marries the strengths of qualitative and quantitative research. In particular, open-ended questions were used to collect qualitative data on a wide range of issues pertinent to the entrepreneurs' personal characteristics, family backgrounds, business form and structure, business entry characteristics and ways of running businesses (such as operations and finance). Closed questions were used to collect quantitative data to measure differences in the entrepreneurs' socio-cultural backgrounds. The research results have been examined by using Chi-square analysis in order to see the relationship between the entrepreneur's cultural attributes and the entrepreneurial behaviour of the firm.Qualitative data obtained from the open-ended questions were analysed by using the \"coding analysis\" which allows for constant examination of conceptual interactions and relationships, and the conditions under which they occur (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). A coding scheme was derived from the literature which reflected the research framework, highlighting key elements that emerged. This coding scheme was a two-by-two matrix encompassing the entrepreneurial behaviour of the firm as one axis and the other components of the theoretical framework as the other axis (i.e. language, education, religion). Much of the data analysis consisted of breaking down the answers to open-ended questions manually into manageable blocks in order to classify them under each code/grouping. This approach helped to cross-classify logically the variables and illustrate interrelationships.\nAnalysis and discussion: Religion and entrepreneurial behaviour (H1, H2, H3 and H4)\nConclusions and implications: This paper aimed to evaluate the relationship between Turkish entrepreneurs\" cultural attributes and the entrepreneurial behaviour of their firms. A number of conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, the entrepreneurial behaviour of ethnic minority firms has attracted the attention of many researchers in both the small business management and entrepreneurship literatures. In spite of the importance of entrepreneurial behaviour for business growth, previous literature continues to be vague and incomplete. Previous studies into the entrepreneurial behaviour of the ethnic minority firms developed a comprehensive understanding concerning external drivers such as political, economic and socio-cultural factors influencing a firm's orientation to \"break out\" or operate within \"ethnic enclave\" (Barrett et al., 2002; Kloosterman et al., 1999). These studies, however. primarily had an external focus, avoiding the serious linkage between the initiator and manipulator of the firm's culture, the owner, and the entrepreneurial behaviour of the firm. The findings of this study revealed that the cultural backgrounds of the ethnic minority firms\" owners play an equally important role in determining the entrepreneurial behaviour of the firm.An internal orientation may offer a more protected market for ethnic minority firms, but might not lead to break out and consequently to market expansion. An external orientation, however, requires more skills and stronger cultural backgrounds both for the entrepreneurs and for the business advisers and the policy makers. Language skills appear to be essential for those who need to seek advice from external professional sources. Given that the future survival of the ethnic minority firms depends on their ability to benefit from the advice provided by business support networks and government policy makers (Coleman, 2005; Smallbone et al., 2001), it appears essential for ethnic minority business owners to strengthen their medium of communication with these key stakeholder groups.Alternatively, business support advisers and other professional bodies will need to adapt their communication strategies with these ethnic minority groups in order to be able to \"pass the message across\" to those who are not comfortable with the language. In addition, having identified that those Turkish entrepreneurs with higher levels of education rely more on co-ethnic advice, it appears that there is a need to \"sell\" the benefits of advice to this group from those professionals outside their community.The findings of this study also revealed that religious practice can lead to a more conservative management approach leaving very little room for entrepreneurial behaviour or break out. Religion is a socio-cultural variable that needs to be properly managed by the entrepreneurs. Religion and the spiritual integrity are between God and the individual and should not act as an enabler for inward looking management practices. Muslim entrepreneurs need to separate their religious beliefs from their management practices or at least balance these two in order to be able to set an external and long-term orientation for their firms.At the moment, very little is known about Turkish minority businesses, how they are evolving, the depth of ethnic and non ethnic-based networks that they create or are drawn into, and very importantly, how they are \"managing to survive\". Accordingly, this paper initiates some points of discussion in seeking to provide a systematic body of knowledge relating to the Turkish entrepreneurial processes in the UK.The findings of this study indicated that Turkish entrepreneurs exploit their cultural backgrounds in order to gain competitive edge and contribute to the UK economy. Those who have strong cultural backgrounds (i.e. language) move away from their \"culturally protected environments\" and seek opportunities in the wider liberal world. On the other hand, religion appears to lead to more conservative and inward looking management practices. Turkish entrepreneurs need to adapt the way religion is perceived in order to respond to changing global economic conditions. Given that Turkey has started its accession talks with the European Union (EU), it is important that the influence of Turkish entrepreneurs' cultural backgrounds on their management practices is more aligned with those in the EU. Such a socio-cultural move could help them to further exploit their multifarious cultural heritages and contribute to the economic and social development of a broader-based community.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to evaluate the relationship between Turkish entrepreneurs' cultural attributes and the entrepreneurial behaviour of their firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper reports and analyses the findings of 227 face-to-face structured interviews with Turkish entrepreneurs.\nFindings: - This study illustrates that there is a strong relationship between the religion of an entrepreneur and the firm's recruitment, market segmentation and advice-seeking practices. The English fluency of the entrepreneurs also influences their choice of using formal channels for advice.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Data collection was limited to London, and non-Turkish entrepreneurs were excluded. Therefore, care should be taken in making generalisations from the sample.\nPractical implications: - This paper identifies those cultural attributes of the ethnic entrepreneurs that need to be aligned with the wider economic environment of the host country.\nOriginality/value: - This study focuses on the most critical player in an ethnic firm - the owner. It evaluates the linkage between the cultural attributes of the owner and the entrepreneurial behaviour of the firm.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Strategic foresight: state-of-the-art and prospects for Russian corporations	[ "Innovation", "Strategic foresight", "Corporate foresight", "Integrated roadmapping", "Technology route", "Q32", "C53" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The fast pace of scientific and technological (S\nReview of corporate foresight studies: Within corporate governance, using the results of foresight studies and roadmaps in creating business development strategies has a special place. Every company with experience in developing foresight projects uses its own algorithm to apply the results in strategic governance. It can greatly depend on many factors, such as the type of product, the degree of market development and legislation governing the company. Rohrbeck and Gemunden (2011) find that strategic foresight needs to be assigned clear roles in an organization to achieve impact. They argue that strategic foresight can take a strategist role relating to new business development, an initiator role supporting idea generation and articulation in line with conceptual considerations and an opponent role aiming to critically review and challenge innovation projects with the aim of achieving better project quality. Alsan (2008) argues that strategic foresight especially challenges the organization with respect to the validity of information sources used, the involvement of external partners as well as the exchange between headquarters and regional units (or subsidiaries) of the companies.\nState-of-the-art of strategic foresight in Russia: Russian industry in the 1990s and early 2000s had diminished interest in strategic planning and especially in long-term future studies as its core element. It was associated with the idea of self-regulated markets and, consequently, led to a certain loss of experience in forming industrial and corporate long-term policy. However, Russian authorities now realize that the government cannot manage their assets without understanding the long-term future prospects and setting relevant goals. Thus, recent years in Russia have demonstrated increasing interest in long-term future activities and primarily in foresight studies as an instrument to meet both grand and national challenges.\nFindings and conclusion: The main result of a complex foresight study conducted on the basis of the above-described methodological approaches is a set of the most promising strategies for implementing and adapting innovative products. It becomes possible to reveal a set of key decision-making points and technological forks where:\nAcknowledgment: The financial support from the Government of the Russian Federation within the framework of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics and within the framework of implementation of the 5-100 Programme Roadmap of the National Research University Higher School of Economics is acknowledged.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to develop a specific strategic foresight methodology and integrate this into roadmapping which is suitable for corporations. To date, reasonable practical experience has been accumulated, but there is a lack of a comprehensive conceptual approach for using strategic foresight and roadmapping to solve management problems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This approach integrates corporate strategic foresight and roadmapping in several stages. During the foresight phase, the authors create scenarios of long-term development determined by long-term macro trends and challenges to identify \"points of growth\" and system of priorities for company growth. A strategic roadmap enables the company to form a \"corridor\" for specific projects and create a long-term action plan to implement the priorities identified in the first phase. Using a project roadmap makes it possible to ensure the implementation of a specific project, defining a system of goals, the necessary measures, their timing and financing, as well as indicators to assess their effectiveness.\nFindings: The core result of the suggested methodology is a set of possible trajectories of innovation development, reflecting the whole technological chain involving R\nOriginality/value: The methodology proposes to integrate the results of foresight studies and in roadmaps and finally in business planning, adopting innovative strategies and management decisions. It contributes to the development of common principles and approaches to the subject, while taking account of company-specific features that can significantly affect the decision-making mechanism. The methodology is applicable to foreign and Russian companies when creating innovative strategies and management decisions based on the results of foresight.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Organizational outcomes of leadership style and resistance to change (Part One)	[ "Transformational leadership", "Transactional leadership", "Leadership style", "Organizational outcomes", "Resistance to change" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Change is inevitable as companies fight for survival and market share. Recent economic conditions have challenged the sustainability and competitiveness of companies. Organizations can no longer rest on their laurels, rejoicing in past successes. They must seek out new opportunities by challenging the status quo. For this purpose, many organizations initiate a transformational change process.\nLeadership and leadership styles: Defining leadership\nRTC: To resist is to exert oneself to counteract or defeat (Online Dictionary, 2013). In the context of an organization, resistance can be expressed as the act of refusing to comply or participate, in a change initiative. However, resistance is not always apparent. Part of the challenge for a change leader is to identify the level of resistance, identify its causes, and take action to minimize its undesirable effects. The level of resistance may vary from low to high depending on the degree of change - impact on working habits - and the impact on culture (Brown, 2011); the higher the resistance, the more difficult the implementation.\nOrganizational commitment: Meyer and Herscovitch (2001) defined commitment as a force that binds an individual to a course of action of relevance to a target, and can be accompanied by different mind-sets that play a role in shaping behaviour. It is reported as one of the most prominent factors determining employee support in a change initiative (Meyer and Herscovitch, 2001; Coetsee, 1999).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Organizations must react rapidly to evolving environments by engaging in change, ranging from minor adjustments to radical transformation. Many obstacles are encountered on the path towards achieving positive organizational outcomes, among which resistance to change (RTC) prevents the level of mobilization critical to achieve a successful transformation. The purpose of this two-part paper is to offer a review of the body of knowledge explaining how leadership styles may address RTC in order to achieve desired organizational outcomes. For this purpose, multiple organizational concepts are visited and linked through a synthesized model proposing causality relationships between the various elements.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A range of recently published empirical and practitioner research articles were reviewed to analyse the relationships in search of the variables that affect resistance during a major organizational change. In order to synthesize and bridge many concepts that are often studied separately, an overall model is proposed to help establish causal relationships between the elements of interest influencing organizational outcomes, in the context of a change.\nFindings: Leadership acts as an input at multiple levels, influencing organizational outcomes both directly - by continuously shaping employee attitude throughout change - and indirectly - by regulating the antecedents and moderators of their predisposition to change. These subsequently shape the extent of RTC, which translates from the perception of, commitment to and involvement in the change process. The interaction of the organizational environment with these factors ultimately determines the organizational outcome resulting from the change initiatives.\nResearch limitations/implications: The model must be tested in another empirical article to measure its effectiveness. The complexity of the model may, however, hinder the ability to successfully correlate all the concepts.\nPractical implications: The paper suggests an overall framework that may help leaders and organizational development practitioners identify the major factors which may be considered during a change initiative or a transformation.\nSocial implications: This paper highlights the multi-dimensional role of leadership style in successfully achieving organizational changes. Leaders' emotional aptitude to influence their followers and employees' natural and contextual predisposition to change transact to shape organizational outcomes. These social elements must be carefully assessed not only prior to embarking on a change implementation, but also to proactively invest in psychologically directed organizational training and development, at all hierarchical levels.\nOriginality/value: The synthesis model is the novel contribution of the paper. It proposes an organized approach to relate multiple close yet distinct concepts that have so far been predominantly discussed separately.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"Stickiness": gauging students' attention to online learning activities	[ "Online learning", "Student engagement", "Monitoring", "Analytics", "Stickiness", "Time to read" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nParticipation versus engagement metrics: In order for a student to gain a measurable benefit from a learning experience, they need to be present within the learning environment. In the classroom, their attendance may be recorded, they may be required to prepare readings or other activities in advance of the class, they may be called upon or volunteer to offer their ideas, or they may through their physical interactions with the lesson, show their interest in the proceedings. While presence in the learning environment is a vital factor in learning experience, scholarship has shown that impressionistic grading around class attendance tells an incomplete story (Bean and Peterson, 1998). Bean and Peterson (1998) cited concerns that academics use participation marking as a \"fudge factor in computing final course grades\", and contended that \"this phenomenon helps explain why assessment and measurement scholars almost universally advise against grading class participation\". They concluded that participation grades, especially if impressionistic, are \"hard to justify if challenged\" (Bean and Peterson, 1998). They, however, conceded that students can be led to understand the values espoused by engaged participation (in particular oral and collaboration skills) and acknowledged that students will often value elements more if a grade is given (Bean and Peterson, 1998). In this sense, creating a meaningful grade that measures holistic performance in specified desired participation elements would seem preferable to doing away with participation analytics altogether. In the online learning environment, participation is more difficult to observe, as a student may log in and log out yet fail to engage with the materials. Just as in a physical classroom where a student may be physically present yet academically disengaged, the online learning environment may fail to maintain students' attention. Thus first-level learning analytics such as those advanced by Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS), which tend to rely on baseline data including entry, exit and length of time in the environment as indicators of \"student engagement\", may prove as limited as impressionistic participation grades.\n\"Stickiness\" defined in the online learning environment: The concept of \"stickiness\" holds currency in the technological space. \"Sticky\" content refers to content published on a website, which has the purpose of getting a user to return to that particular website or hold their attention and get them to spend a longer time at that site (Netlingo, 2018). Website traffic has been traditionally measured in terms of the number of different computers accessing a website in a given timeframe (e.g. Monthly Active Users or MAU) or in terms of page views or \"clicks\" (e.g. Unique Canvas Page Views). The development of Web browser capabilities has allowed developers to gather measurements that track the number of visits by a single user (repeat usage) and his/her time spent per visit (session stickiness) (MartketingTerms.com, 2018). Further developments, discussed later, leverage technologies such as client-side activity monitoring (mouse movements) and eye-tracking technologies. The relatedness of \"stickiness\" to eyes lingering on or returning to a site is connoted by the term \"eyeballs\", which refers specifically to the number of visitors to a particular site and competition for the same (Zott et al., 2000).\n\"Stickiness\" lessons from television metrics: Children's television promoting literacy in the 1960s (like Sesame Street) spent incredible effort in developing and testing episodes for \"stickiness\". In these experiments, the alternative to the Sesame Street session was a series of slides shown in rapid succession on a \"distractor machine\" alongside the television. The percentage distraction was a measure of the relative time the children spent attending to one or the other devices. An episode of Sesame Street would air only if the percentage attention shown by the child previewers was upwards of 90 per cent. Such attentiveness measures may assist in the measurement of online engagement today given the multiple \"distractor machine\" equivalents competing for students' attention. Hence, the amount of uninterrupted attention given to online content (as opposed to attention given to other \"distractors\") may be one indication of the \"stickiness\" of online course content. Valuable metrics in this space may include registering when students log out or simply \"click\" out of the online course materials, or as posited further on in this paper, the actual time students spend reading or viewing the learning products provided without disengaging. The key outcome for the researchers of the Sesame Street programme, and one from which online course designers can learn today, is that if the children were interested they would pay attention to the educational information and if the information were confusing, they lost interest (Gladwell, 2002). In addition, they discovered that the type of attention paid by children to the programming was quite different to that which the adult producers and their advisors had predicted would engage children. What they managed to achieve from these extensive studies was the ultimate in \"stickiness\"; a programming formula that has arguably improved the pre-school literacy of generations of children globally. What higher education, and in particular online learning, can learn from these experiments (especially given the direct application of a technological environment by which the learning is transmitted) is that clear, direct and interesting messages hold the attention of the viewer, while confusing information or narrative repels interest (Gladwell, 2002).\n\"Stickiness\" lessons from cycling: Most would be familiar with speed races in cycling where speed earns the frontrunner the coloured jersey and the goal is to win against a competitive field. By contrast, online learning is less like a sprint and more like the cycling equivalent of the randonnee, which is a journey characterised by flexible start times, multiple options for diversions, pit stops and \"personal bests\". The central focus of the randonnee is strategic participation; achieving a set goal (usually a destination or set distance) is important, but the greater achievement is the enjoyment of the journey according to one's personal mapping as to how the journey will be completed. Strategy plays a vital part in achieving the overall aim, as do having the right equipment, understanding the conditions and organising a support crew. However, one cannot \"win\" simply by speeding through and arriving at the destination; in fact, if one arrives too early, the \"penalty\" may be waiting around while the rest of the riders take the suggested time to become fully immersed in the experience. Its objectives are not race checkpoints, but the experience of the space between them.\n\"Stickiness\" lessons from Web-based training: Designers and developers of Web-based training share a common goal with media organisations: both seek to retain attention and encourage action from their participants. The greater lessons for online learning come not from the traditional Web-based analytics measuring \"visits\", but from the more modern metrics used by cutting-edge Web training that seek to quantify what viewers do while in the information environment, and their resultant action.\n\"Stickiness\" lessons from attention tracking studies: If conversion of information into participant action is acknowledged as a desirable even optimal outcome of engaging with learning materials, and therefore a true indicator of \"stickiness\", then attention tracking may provide a useful analytic for evaluating student engagement with online courses. The aim is to attract the viewer's eye to hover longest over the most important information, or information that is a call to action, given that conversion of information (or in educational terms, the application of knowledge and skills) is paramount.\nDrawing the lessons together into a new metric for measuring online engagement: By measuring and combining these observations, it is possible to quantify the extent to which a student is engaged with content, and to infer the \"stickiness\" of that content. \"Stickiness\" may be measured by observable Attention, Action and Reaction metrics, for instance:\nConclusion: Developers of online learning can learn much from the measurement of \"sticky\" indicators of their online content. Like game developers or social media sites, online educators should be concerned with the ability of their courses not only to educate but also to encourage and motivate students to \"stick with it\" to the end. A \"sticky\" course will encourage students to revisit and complete their learning using similar audience-building techniques to those used by popular websites. Educators can assess the stickiness of their content by monitoring both the attention their content generates, and the extent to which it provokes action by the student producing desirable actions and reactions (effective and affective outcomes). During both the design and execution stages of online learning, educators who consider the \"stickiness\" of their content can expect more engaged, motivated and successful students who succeed because of, rather than in spite of, their online engagement.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Online content developers use the term \"stickiness\" to refer to the ability of their online service or game to attract and hold the attention of users and create a compelling and magnetic reason for them to return repeatedly (examples include virtual pets and social media). In business circles, the same term connotes the level of consumer loyalty to a particular brand. This paper aims to extend the concept of \"stickiness\" not only to describe repeat return and commitment to the learning \"product\", but also as a measure of the extent to which students are engaged in online learning opportunities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper explores the efficacy of several approaches to the monitoring and measuring of online learning environments, and proposes a framework for assessing the extent to which these environments are compelling, engaging and \"sticky\".\nFindings: In particular, the exploration so far has highlighted the difference between how lecturers have monitored the engagement of students in a face-to-face setting versus the online teaching environment.\nPractical implications: In the higher education environment where increasingly students are being asked to access learning in the online space, it is vital for teachers to be in a position to monitor and guide students in their engagement with online materials.\nOriginality/value: The mere presence of learning materials online is not sufficient evidence of engagement. This paper offers options for testing specific attention to online materials allowing greater assurance around engagement with relevant and effective online learning activities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implications of product centric servitization for global distribution channels of manufacturing companies	[ "Service-dominant logic", "Distribution", "Servitization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The increasing importance of service is evident in the business economy. Instead of focusing solely on products, manufacturers are striving to complement their products with value-added services and to re-position themselves as solution providers (Chakkol et al., 2014; Kuijken et al., 2017; Ulaga and Reinartz, 2011). Increased competitive pressures, customer demand and the need for more stable revenues all operate as catalysts for this transformation (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003). The end result and value that accrues for the customer depends not only on the product characteristics, but also on how the cooperation between the companies succeeds (Jaakkola and Hakanen, 2013; Tokman and Beitelspacher, 2011). Service-dominant logic (SDL) describes the transition toward the exchange of services as a fundamental component of business and society (Vargo and Lusch, 2008a).\nLiterature review: Servitization of manufacturers\nMethodology: Research approach\nFindings: Following the theory-elaboration phase of the case study methodology (Ketokivi and Choi, 2014), we conducted the case analyses from the SDL perspective. This section starts by describing the case company. Then, as a main result of the study, the implications of the servitization for a manufacturer's global B2B distribution are presented. Next, based on these implications, distributor selection criteria are outlined. Finally, we elaborate the SDL and summarize our findings, and develop three research propositions.\nDiscussion and conclusions: This study contributes to theory by elaborating SDL in the context of B2B indirect distribution and by providing a rich understanding of the implications of servitization affecting a manufacturer's global B2B distribution. The study complements prior studies of servitization, which have mainly focused on manufacturers only or on the manufacturer-end customer relationship (Bastl et al., 2012; Eloranta and Turunen, 2015). Most previous contributions related to indirect distribution channels (e.g. Lai et al., 2015; Mudambi and Aggarwal, 2003; Shipley et al., 1989) have had a strong GDL and have focused on the traditional roles of a distributor, whereas the results of this study emphasize that the distributor should be also considered as an actor adding value for the customer. This aspect has also been acknowledged by some previous authors (Hakanen et al., 2017; Olsson et al., 2013; Sheresheva and Kolesnik, 2011). It is also important to notice that the topic of the study has two perspectives: a global perspective, which makes developing relationships more difficult for the companies in the distribution chain and the servitization perspective, which makes the global distribution even more complex.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The ability to operate global distribution channels of products is commonly considered a critical determinant of a manufacturer's competitiveness. Nowadays, many products are often complemented with value-added services challenging the efficacy of the status quo of distribution channels. Investigating this rather new phenomenon, the purpose of this paper is to provide an initial understanding of the implications of servitization for manufacturers' global business-to-business (B2B) distribution.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The aim is to elaborate service-dominant logic (SDL) in the context of global B2B distribution. The study builds on case study data collected from a medium-sized European manufacturing company offering production equipment and solutions, and three of its global distributors.\nFindings: The results indicate that the co-producing customer value, the increasing role of operant resources of both a distributor and a manufacturer, and triadic co-creation between a manufacturer, a distributor and an end customer have increasing importance in the indirect distribution network.\nResearch limitations/implications: Data are limited to data collected from a single in-depth case study. The results of this study should be investigated by collecting more data in a broader context in the form of surveys.\nPractical implications: Several guidelines related to global distribution are developed for managers, and current distributor selection criteria are completed to meet the needs of this servitization approach.\nOriginality/value: Empirical research on servitizing manufacturers with global B2B distribution is scarce. This paper employs SDL to provide an in-depth understanding of the implications of servitization for distribution.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A new understanding of satisfaction model in e-re-purchase situation	[ "Customer satisfaction", "Customer loyalty", "Internet", "Shopping", "Consumer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Customer satisfaction has been extensively studied for the last four decades. Seminal articles, particularly, Oliver's (1997) on customer satisfaction laid the foundation for numerous studies on the construct. Relatively more recently, studies have enunciated the constructs of adjusted expectation (Yi and La, 2004), trust (Kennedy et al., 2001; Singh and Sirdeshmukh, 2000), and attitude toward the web site (Chiu et al., 2005), and, their linkages to satisfaction and repurchase intention (Lambert-Pandraud et al., 2005; Tsai et al., 2006; Yi and La, 2004). Thematically, these constructs and their interrelationships have been prominently featured in the customer behavior literature, as one would expect. Still, our understanding of the mediating roles between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention, which is also central for online shopping behavior, is much more limited. More specifically, a number of potential mediating variables that are evident in the literature should be addressed. The literature is uncertain regarding potential mediating constructs between satisfaction and repurchase intention in different online contexts (Lin and Wang, 2006).Following Oliver (1977, 1980, 1981), a number of studies have confirmed the importance of customer satisfaction on firm profits. Scholars have critically examined these constructs in terms of their impact on customer profitability and firm performance. Although numerous academic studies offer a positive portrait of the effects of satisfaction on firm performance, many important research topics are not yet studied in the context of online retailing (Evanschitzky et al., 2004; Hsu, 2008; Jiang and Rosenbloom, 2005; Kim et al., 2006; Szymanski and Hise, 2000). While the importance of these concepts for business has been recognized and established, a full understanding of the relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention in online environments is still essential.Prior research has mainly focused on the relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention, but particularly, there may be several mediators linking to the relationship in online repurchase situations (Jarvenpaa et al., 2000; Wu and Chang, 2007). Although customer satisfaction has been regarded as an antecedent of repurchase, Yi and La (2004) assert that such traditional beliefs need to be challenged as counterarguments arise that higher customer satisfaction does not necessarily result in higher repurchase. Evidence is also supported by (Jones and Sasser, 1995). Yi and La (2004) also suggest that investigating new paradigm of post-purchase satisfaction is necessary since the link between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention seems to be more complex than expected (e.g. Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003). One recent research outlined by Seiders et al. (2005) confirms that the relationship between two parties is contingent on the mediating effects of several variables. Their study focused mainly on consumers' purchasing situation and their income in a retail context, but consumers' psychological judgments may also play a crucial role in building the relationship between satisfaction and repurchase. Taking into account findings from prior research, an evaluation of the determinants of the customer satisfaction-repurchase relationship on the Internet is necessary to further our understanding in this context.We test the conceptual framework in an understudied e-service context that is characterized by consumer-focused competition. In an increasingly competitive online marketplace, this study especially makes an important contribution to the literature by uncovering key constructs that play a role in mediating satisfaction's influence on repurchase intentions. Research also suggests that companies should understand how to capture determinants on post-satisfaction since competing businesses are only a mouse click away in e-commerce settings (Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003). In line with this observation, this study extends current scholars' knowledge by capturing determinants that are linked to the satisfaction-repurchase relationship in e-service settings.In sum, this study makes three major contributions:1. it advances the extant satisfaction literature by exploring the role of key mediators between satisfaction and repurchase intentions;2. it provides further insights into the relationship between satisfaction and repurchase intentions in an online setting; and3. it establishes the role of trust in reinforcing the effect of satisfaction on repurchase intentions.\nTheoretical linkages of satisfaction-repurchase relationship: This study defines online customer satisfaction as \"the perceived degree of contentment with regard to a customer's prior purchase experience with a given electronic commerce firm\" (Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003, p. 125). Repurchase intentions represent the customer's self-reported likelihood of engaging in further repurchase behavior (Seiders et al., 2005). Several prior studies have confirmed that there is a significant positive relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions (Mittal and Kamakura, 2001; Oliver, 1997; Yu and Dean, 2001). Other studies, however, have questioned this relationship (e.g. Jones and Sasser, 1995; Seiders et al., 2005; Yi and La, 2004). Despite these divergent perspectives, there is considerable support for obtaining a better understanding of variables that may potentially affect the relationship between satisfaction and repurchase intention (e.g. Ha and Perks, 2005; Magi, 2003; Oliver, 1997; Yi and La, 2004). Table I provides a brief summary of this literature.To better understand the linkage between customers satisfaction and repurchase intention, researchers have looked at several potential mediators. For example, Seiders et al. (2005) looked at customer involvement and several demographic characteristics, whereas Bloemer and Ruyter (1998) looked at elaboration. The elaboration process seems to be a useful way of understanding post-purchase satisfaction since this approach involves cognitive, affective, and behavioral states which impact intentions (Foxall et al., 1998). As shown in Table I, these factors have been well established as mediators. In an effort to advance extant literature, this study incorporates multiple mediators in an effort to build a theoretical framework of the relationship between customers satisfaction and repurchase intentions.Adjusted expectations as a cognitive process of post-satisfaction\nMethodology: Sampling and data collection procedures\nResults: PLS does not offer significance tests based on statistical distributions. The size and significance of the paths in the model were tested by using bootstrapping to estimate parameters, standard error, and t-values (Monczka and Handfield, 1998). Also, PLS does not generate an overall goodness-of-fit index, the primary assessment of validity is by examining R2 (Chewlos et al., 2001). The resulting PLS structural model, along with the path coefficients and their significant values, are shown in Figure 1.All the hypothesized paths were found to be significant (p <0.01). The model accounted for 10.5 percent of the variance in adjusted expectation, 43.9 percent of the variance in positive attitude, 13.6 percent of the variance in trust, and 44.8 percent of the variance in repurchase intention from online post-satisfaction settings. These results imply that current study's constructs and the predicted paths accounted for a significant portion of the variance in the online post-satisfaction environment.All hypothesized paths from satisfaction to repurchase intention were significantly supported. In particular, the link of customer satisfaction-repurchase intention was explained by the five indirect effects of satisfaction - adjusted expectations - repurchase intention, satisfaction - adjusted expectation - positive attitude - repurchase intention, satisfaction - trust - repurchase intention, satisfaction - positive attitude - repurchase intention, and satisfaction - trust - positive attitude - repurchase intention relationships. These linkages imply that a full understanding of the online CS-RPI is to find which mediating variables are involved. Three mediating variables proposed in the study are essential for understanding the interrelationships between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention.Similarly, three constructs mediated the link of customer satisfaction-repurchase intention. We confirmed that there were three mediating effects between the two constructs:1. satisfaction - adjusted expectations - repurchase intention;2. satisfaction - trust - repurchase intention; and3. satisfaction - positive attitude - repurchase intention.The standardized estimates for the three mediating effects ranged from 0.049 to 0.078, suggesting that the link of customer satisfaction-repurchase intention have considerable influence on the three variables that are theorized to be important for understanding mediators of customer satisfaction-repurchase intention. Further, positive attitude plays a significant role in making linkages between the constructs. The positive attitude among the constructs demonstrates that improving adjusted expectation and trust increases repurchase intention. This indicates that positive attitude is the strongest mediator of the CS-RPI.\nDiscussion and conclusions: We believe this study extends the existing literature on the link of customer satisfaction-repurchase intention in several ways. First, we investigated the theoretical linkage between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention with a representative database. In doing so, this study shows that the three mediators (adjusted expectations, positive attitudes and trust) are more adaptive than single or demographic mediators investigated in prior research. Although recent research shows that online demographic characteristics play a significant role in revisit duration and thus an indicator of future earnings (Danaher et al., 2006), the current study reveals that consumers' psychological variables enhance the relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention (which has been previously found to lead to actual behaviors). Whereas Roest and Pieters (1997) and Yi and La (2004) propose single mediator of CS-RPI, our findings suggest that the effects of three mediators are more systematically understood to capture the effect of satisfaction on repurchase intentions.Second, this study extends current knowledge related to the interrelationship between satisfaction and trust in online repurchase environments. B2B marketing literature indicates that increasing satisfaction between two parties might strengthen their partnership, increase competitiveness and information exchanges, and improve trust (Abdul-Muhmin, 2005; Geyskens et al., 1999). Our results thus indicate that trust in post-satisfaction situations can play a significant role in bridging a gap between consumer judgment and behavioral intention.Third, our findings show that three constructs mediate the relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. These mediators thus enhance the effect of satisfaction on repurchase intentions. Investigating the role of these mediators thus provides a more comprehensive understanding of post-satisfaction in an online setting. The strong mediating relationships uncovered in this study imply that these variables can considerably magnify satisfaction's effect on repurchase intentions.Finally, this study suggests that psychological variables should be considered when the process of the CS-RPI model is developed. Although previous studies have proposed several psychological constructs of CS-RPI link, these studies have mostly looked at single mediators. Consistent with our propositions that consumer's cognitive (i.e. adjusted expectation), affective (i.e. trust), and behavioral state (i.e. positive attitude) may play a crucial role in making the linkage of CS-RPI, this study reveals that adjusted expectation, trust, and positive attitude provide a much more comprehensive understanding of mediation in this context.Managerial implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the satisfaction consequences in repurchase situations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Online travel services are chosen because customers in these types of services had direct contact with firms. A conceptual model of CS-RPI link is developed and used to test proposed hypotheses. A total of 514 respondents are used to test the proposed model.\nFindings: - The empirical findings indicate that psychological mediators are useful when repurchase situations are considered. The study provides the roles of positive attitude in the formation of CS-RPI link. Also, three factors: adjusted expectations, trust, and positive attitude, are found to have a significant mediating influence on the link of CS-RPI.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future researchers attempting to replicate and extend these findings may wish to collaborate with companies marketing products and services online and track customers' actual behaviors. This would be an excellent way to validate the current model relationships, particularly those involving repurchase intentions and customer satisfaction.\nPractical implications: - The results can be used by web site designers to tailor their sites' features and marketing analysts to monitor the changes of click-through rates as a parameter of the CS-RPI. The discovery of significant interrelationships between satisfaction and trust, such as adjusted expectation, positive attitude and repurchase intention, reinforces the importance of the psychological state when repurchasing behavior is considered. For instance, it was observed that the three mediators result in lower levels of the indirect effect, but this is not limited in the whole process of the CS-RPI.\nOriginality/value: - The conceptual framework is tested in an understudied e-service context that is characterized by consumer-focused competition. This context is noteworthy because no research has investigated determinants between the two parties. Research suggests that companies should understand how to capture determinants on post-satisfaction, since competing businesses are only a mouse-click away in e-commerce settings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Ethical food labels in consumer preferences	[ "Hedonic price analysis", "Tea", "Coffee", "Fairtrade", "Food label" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Lately, food labels (FLs) are a fundamental instrument to determine the buying behaviour of consumers given that one in three dollars is spent on labelled basic essentials. Correspondingly, the global market share of labelled products from Germany was about 34 per cent in 2013, solely passed by the market share of labelled products from Great Britain (41 per cent), Spain (41 per cent) and Switzerland (45 per cent) (Nielsen, 2014). Initially, the idea behind the introduction of labels into markets was to reduce information asymmetry between producers and consumers by creating a quality signalling (see e.g. Akerlof, 1970; Spence, 1973; Stiglitz, 1989). Certainly, asymmetry of information is frequently discussed on food markets, as consumers are not aware of the products qualities before (\"experience attributes\") or even after (\"credence attributes\") consumption (Nelson, 1970). In this context, FLs are interpreted as signals to indicate the quality attributes of agricultural commodities (Golan et al., 2001). Moreover, fairtrade[1] labelling pushed the distribution of fairly traded products (e.g. World Shops) into the mainstream food market (e.g. supermarkets) (Moore, 2004). Nowadays, a new dimension of quality labels is introduced to national and international retail markets. This new dimension is depicted as the ethics of a production process and the ethics in trading intermediate and final commodities. Since ethical or more precisely fairtrade labels are upcoming marketing instruments the objective of this paper is to identify and quantify the consumers' willingness to pay for fairtrade coffee products and tea to answer the question whether a non-private regulation of ethical FLs is feasible. Until now it has lacked empirical research of actual purchase data of German households.\n2. Literature review: Section 2 outlines the findings of the current literature on consumer preferences and the different perception of fairtrade and organic farming in China, Greece, Italy, Sweden, the UK, the USA, and across national borders. The selection of studies and hence, the choice of study areas is not only justified by the thematic relevance (WTP, coffee industry) but also by a study of Andorfer and Liebe (2011), identifying those geographical regions (the UK, USA, EU, and Asia) as an agglomeration of research on fairtrade. Predominantly, the academic fairtrade literature spotlights on labelled coffee products (e.g. Loureiro and Lotade (2005); Didier and Lucie (2008); Maietta (2003); Schollenberg (2012)). Undoubtedly this list of willingness to pay studies on fairly labelled coffee is a little dated from today's perspective. Nevertheless, those studies are still contemporary and unchallenged. However, they also enable comparison with the results of the study at hand since the research period is comparable.\n3. Data and descriptive statistics: The empirical analysis of this paper is based on the homescan panel data ConsumerScan provided by the GfK consumer research association, which is the largest in Germany. The GfK panel contains food purchase information of about 13,000 representative German households[2] buying products from retailers and special food shops for a five-year sample period from 2004 to 2008[3]. As the data set includes daily purchases it allows analysis of consumer behaviour on a disaggregated level, given detailed information on prices, stores, origins, FLs, and so on.\n4. Empirical model: Hedonic price analyses can be used to disaggregate product prices into their single components and estimate implicit prices for the existence of several characteristics. This approach was proposed by Lancaster (1966) and Rosen (1974). In particularly with regard to the disclosure of implicit prices for \"credence attributes\" (Nelson, 1970) such as FLs the hedonic analysis is very helpful (Costanigro and Mccluskey, 2011).\n5. Results: Since the hedonic theory does not provide a preferred functional form, the model of Equation 2 was estimated in several functional specifications. Both kinds of linear and semi-logarithmic specifications fit the data well, have good explanatory power (R2 and F-value), and provide plausible and robust coefficients (p-value). Therefore, the model was estimated linear and semi-logarithmic. Regression results with robust standard errors are presented in Table II.\n6. Discussion: Regarding descriptive statistics, brands have been depicted as an essential component within the coffee industry and a little less important within tea marketing. The analysis at hand states that an average consumer is willing to pay an additional price premium of 22.1 per cent for branded coffee products and tea in Germany. The empirical evaluation of Netemeyer et al. (2004) implicitly provides an average price premium for US-American brands (mostly within the textile industry), with a share of 69 per cent of the actual consumer price. Certainly, these values are lower within the agrarian sector, but it gives a clue about the valence of the 22 per cent achieved by the evaluations at hand.\n7. Conclusion: The paper at hand performs an empirical analysis on the basis of a consumer household panel of a representative number of the German buying public between 2004 and 2008. More precisely, the paper comprises a hedonic price analysis of coffee product (coffee, single-serve coffee portions, and espresso) and tea (medicinal, herbal, and fruit) prices, while focussing on ethical labels (fairtrade labels). As a result, the willingness to pay of German consumers is highly significant for fairtrade and organic farming. Hence, German consumers are willing to pay a price premium for fairtrade labelled products of 43.1 per cent. Furthermore, the highest implicit prices are reached by tea products labelled as fairtrade (74.0 per cent), followed by ground coffee (54.9 per cent), espresso (24.7 per cent), and single-serve coffee (18.9 per cent).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Since fairtrade labels are upcoming market instruments, the purpose of this paper is to identify and quantify consumers' willingness to pay for fairtrade coffee products and tea. Thereby, this paper contributes to the discussion in favour of a non-private regulation of ethical food labels (FLs). Moreover, the paper provides information about the consumer behaviour of the German buying public.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis is based on homescan panel data of 13,000 representative German households, which includes actual purchase data of ground coffee, single-serve coffee, espresso, and tea for a five-year sample period from 2004 to 2008. As a methodological approach, the hedonic technique is used to model coffee and tea prices as a function of time, store, and product characteristics.\nFindings: Regarding the variables of interest branding a product leads to an average price premium of 22.1 per cent, while the organic FL achieves an average price premium of 34.3 per cent. The highest average price premium of 43.1 per cent is ceteris paribus paid for fairtrade labels. In the case of fairtrade labels, tea products earn the highest implicit prices with 74.0 per cent, followed by ground coffee (54.9 per cent), espresso (24.7 per cent), and single-serve coffee (18.9 per cent).\nOriginality/value: The present analysis supplements the discussions around the willingness to pay for fairtrade certified products by the German buying public, a product differentiation between coffee products and the introduction of labelled tea. As the data set includes daily purchases, it allows analysis of consumer behaviour on a disaggregated level, given detailed information on prices, stores, origins, FLs, and so on.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Lonely heart? Warm it up with love: the effect of loneliness on singles' and non-singles' conspicuous consumption	[ "Conspicuous consumption", "Loneliness", "Romantic relationship", "Mating motive" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As illustrated in the film of The Age of Loneliness, in modern societies people are at least as lonely as in the past, if not even lonelier (Manchester Institute of Education, 2018). It is estimated that at any given moment, around 30 million adults in Europe feel isolated enough to experience loneliness (European Commission, 2018). In Australia, a national survey found that three out of ten people experienced loneliness (Franklin and Tranter, 2008), which is growing in Australia (Baker, 2012; Franklin et al., 2019). The BBC Loneliness Experiment, developed by Pamela Qualter, surveyed over 55,000 people worldwide and found that younger people are more likely to experience loneliness than older people (Manchester Institute of Education, 2018). Due to its pervasiveness and negative effects, governments and social organisations have highlighted current alarming levels of loneliness (British Red Cross, 2016; Office for National Statistics, 2018).\nTheoretical background and hypothesis development: Loneliness, the need for social attachment and consumption\nStudy 1: Conspicuous consumption of Brand logos: Study 1 served as an initial test to explore whether loneliness and relationship status interactively affect conspicuous consumption. Previous studies have shown that the desire for conspicuous products is associated with brand prominence (e.g. the size of the brand's logo), whereby preferring a product with a larger or \"louder\" logo indicates a greater desire for conspicuous consumption (Lee and Shrum, 2012). Thus, we used the same well-established operationalisation of conspicuous consumption in this study (Lee and Shrum, 2012).\nStudy 2A: the mediating role of mating motive: Study 2A had three purposes. Firstly, it measured conspicuous consumption with another method, asking participants to indicate their preferred brand with the corresponding price, as the price of a product connotes not only its users' wealth and status but also its perceived attractiveness (Sundie et al., 2011). Secondly, the mechanism of the mating motive was tested. Finally, the study was intended to rule out materialism as a potential alternative explanation.\nStudy 2B: conspicuous versus inconspicuous products: In Study 2B, we tested whether loneliness causes singles to simply seek more expensive products in general or to strategically desire conspicuous luxury goods in particular. We predicted that the feeling of loneliness would lead singles to seek conspicuous products which are relatively luxurious and easily observed, but not inconspicuous products which are equally luxurious but less visible.\nStudy 3: the moderating effect of sociosexual orientation index for non-singles: The purpose of Study 3 was twofold. Firstly, we expected to replicate previous findings by using an alternative product category - clothing - in a sample of non-student populations. Specifically, we expected that loneliness would increase conspicuous consumption amongst single individuals but not amongst non-single individuals. Secondly, we examined whether loneliness may differently affect the conspicuous consumption depending on a person's sociosexual orientation.\nStudy 4: the moderating effect of relationship satisfaction for non-singles: In Study 4, we explored whether the effect of loneliness on consumers' conspicuous consumption differs across another hypothesised commitment-related factor, relationship satisfaction, with a relatively large sample size. In addition, we investigated the mediating effect of mating motive.\nGeneral discussion: Loneliness is quite pervasive and is associated with many negative psychological and physiological outcomes (Pressman et al., 2005; Weeks et al., 1980). Previous research suggests that loneliness causes consumers to resort to a variety of tactics to cope with the distressed state or to reconnect with others, such as material consumption and in-store shopping (Gentina et al., 2018; Pieters, 2013; Rippe et al., 2018). The present study revealed a novel consumption behaviour induced by loneliness which is used by the lonely when seeking a specific and essential attachment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine how loneliness, romantic relationship status (single/non-single) and romantic attachment factors (sociosexual orientation index (SOI), satisfaction with current relationship) interactively affect conspicuous consumption.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Five quasi-experimental studies were conducted with different measures of conspicuous consumption across a variety of samples (N = 1189).\nFindings: Study 1 shows that loneliness increased singles' but not non-singles' conspicuous consumption. Study 2A further shows the mediating role of the mating motive amongst singles. Study 2B compared conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption and showed no interaction effect between loneliness and romantic relationship status in the domain of inconspicuous consumption. Studies 3 and 4 tested whether the effects of loneliness on non-singles' conspicuous consumption were moderated by SOI and satisfaction with current relationship, respectively. Specifically, lonely non-singles with high SOI or low satisfaction with current relationship sought conspicuous consumption, but those with low SOI or high satisfaction with the current relationship avoided conspicuous consumption.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study did not specifically consider different roots of loneliness (lack of romantic love, friendship or family attachment) between singles and non-singles, which future research should explore.\nPractical implications: The findings have implications for both marketers and policymakers regarding marketing campaigns for conspicuous products, support programmes satisfying the specific social attachment needs of different lonely people, etc.\nOriginality/value: This study identifies a specific social attachment desire of the lonely, namely, romantic motive, by which loneliness influences singles' and non-singles' conspicuous consumption in different ways. The findings suggest the value of distinguishing types of loneliness.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The principal contradiction and its evolution in the new era of the socialism society with Chinese characteristics: From the perspective of the Marxist political economy methodology	[ "Political economy", "Historical materialism", "The new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics", "The principal social contradiction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. The methodology in the Marxist political economy: The political economy methods are crucial components of the Marxist political economy and they are keys to the door of this scientific theory system. The thinking methods of the dialectical materialism and the historical materialism, as well as the scientific abstract methods are demonstrated in Das Kapital and Marx's other books on economics. When reading Das Kapital, we can clearly see the historical materialism methods. In the preface to the first edition of Volume 1 of this book, Marx stated, \"To prevent possible misunderstanding, a word. I paint the capitalist and the landlord in no sense couleur de rose [i.e. seen through rose-tinted glasses]\" (Marx and Engels, 2009). What is the reason for this statement? What may cause possible misunderstandings? At that time, there were different factions among workers who joined labor movements. Some petty bourgeois socialists did not regard the existence and development of the capitalist exploitation system as a historical necessity of social development, but cursed the capitalists due to their lack of rationality. Engels stated in his book review on the first volume of Das Kapital that Lassalle's socialism only lies to revile capitalists. This shows a divergence of opinions. Marx has clearly pointed out the historical necessity of the capitalist production stage (Marx and Engels, 1982). This book explains in depth the class antagonistic relationship in which the capital exploits the surplus value of labors, but it did not insult and condemn capitalists. Marx stated, \"My standpoint, from which the evolution of the economic formation of society is viewed as a process of natural history, can less than any other make the individual responsible for relations [...]\" (Marx and Engels, 2009). In other words, since the emergence and development of capitalism are an objective and inevitable historical process, capitalists and landowners in capitalist countries should not be accountable for the exploitation of capitalism. The Communist Manifesto also affirmed the revolutionary role of the bourgeoisie in their anti-feudalism and their historical role in developing their productive force. Another statement in Das Kapital said that methods used by the capitalists in extracting surplus labor are of their own traits and are more progressive than that of slavery and feudalism. There are three points covering its superiority. First, methods used by the capitalists for extracting surplus labor are good for the development of productivity. Second, it is conducive to the development of social relations, which not only means the improvement of capitalist productive relations but also the emergence of new relations in capitalism. Marx described the new capitalist shareholding system and the workers' cooperatives as the aufheben of capitalism within the capitalist system and regarded the shareholding system as a transition point toward socialism. Today, new social relations have been further developed in the contemporary capitalist countries and some new phenomena that Marx has not foreseen have appeared. Capitalism witnessed by Marx was unplanned. After the Second World War, many capitalist countries were also engaged in economic planning, shortened labor time, and established a more systematic social security system. From Marx's point of view, these new developments are not going further from socialism but closer to it. It can be said that there is further aufheben of capitalism in the emerging capitalist system and it is the new transition points toward socialism. These are explanations of Marx's two points about capitalist advantages on social productivity and social relations. The third merit is that it can provide social conditions for the new social system. The growth of capitalism has provided socialism with materials and social conditions. Compared with exploitation systems such as slavery and feudalism, in the view of historical materialism, capitalists still exploit surplus value but it is more progressive than in old systems. However, some scholars have misinterpreted viewpoints of historical materialism. They believe that if some social systems, including exploitation systems, are inevitable and determined by the conditions of productivity at that time, they are reasonable, fair, and just. This is wrong. The true content of historical materialism should be understood. Marxism holds that moral principles cannot be used to illustrate the course of social and historical development. The system of exploitation is not a result of the exploiting class' lack of ideas such as morality, justice, fairness, but it is a historical inevitability, which is in line with the law of economic development. It can only be explained by one law that productivity determines production relations, and production relations adapt to the development of productive forces. However, the exploiting class and their scholars consider the system to be reasonable and fair natively. Some scholars who claim to be Marxists regard this defensive view as a Marxist opinion. In Chinese theoretical circles, there are many misunderstandings on the viewpoints of Marxist historical materialism.\n2. The application of Marxist political economic method: taking the research of income distribution as an example: What we have long advocated on the principle of distribution is the \"efficiency first and fairness in consideration,\" and then it is further stated that efficiency should be emphasized in the primary distribution and fairness should be emphasized in redistribution. That is to say, in the primary distribution of socialism, efficiency is emphasized and fairness is devalued. I do not agree with this opinion which is popular in academics. Promoting productivity is the fundamental task of a socialist society. Besides this, Deng Xiaoping also focused on eradicating exploitation, eliminating polarization, and gradually achieving common prosperity, which is the essence of socialism. In the \"leftist\" era, China neglected the development of productivity, criticizing that promoting the development of productivity was a productivity-only theory; China did not pay attention to the improvement of people's living standards and advocated poor socialism. Deng proposed the essence of socialism on this issue, which correctly inherited and developed Marx and Engels' theories. This paper calls for not only attaching importance to production efficiency, but also paying attention to fair distribution and unifying the distributive justice and efficiency. Later, given the ever-increasing trend of polarization between rich and poor, Marxist Scholars such as Liu Guoguang proposed that the balance of efficiency and fairness should be tilted toward fairness. The original formulation finally was changed. Polarization is caused by inequitable distribution. When this situation exists in society, what are the consequences if we do not consider distributive justice seriously? Can socialism not attend to distributive justice? So at the 17th session, China shifted its direction, proposing that it should deal with the relationship between efficiency and fairness in both primary distribution and redistribution. Efficiency and fairness are both important. China should unite them but focus on fairness during redistribution. It seems that there is an agreement about this affair, but there are two questions that need Marxist political economics scholars' attention. First, although the original formulation of efficiency and fairness was adjusted at the 17th session, the unity of equality and efficiency is still placed in the distribution field. That is to say, the principle of socialist distribution is to unify efficiency and fairness. For primary distribution, China should balance efficiency and fairness while for redistribution China should focus more on fairness. However, the question is what is efficiency? This refers to production efficiency or labor efficiency. Has anyone mentioned anything about distribution efficiency? No. There is only fair or unfair, reasonable or unreasonable in distribution. Efficiency is an issue of production so we should not consider it during distribution because it is illogical. The rich-poor polarization is a result of unfair distribution. How can fairness be disregarded in primary distribution? Second, some scholars do not agree that \"efficiency first and fairness in consideration\" considering such polarization. Some considered it to be true in the beginning because this proposition was used to counter egalitarianism; however, later gave it up when polarization emerged. I argue that it was wrong from the very beginning. \"Efficiency first and fairness in consideration\" is the opinion of right-wing scholars in western countries. They put efficiency in the first place, regardless of fairness in primary distribution. In western countries, left-wing scholars, neutral scholars and some governments even do not accept this point of view while China has introduced it as a principle of the socialist distribution. Does this refute egalitarianism? This understanding is wrong. Does egalitarianism equate to distribution justice? If the importance of fairness is discounted during primary distribution, does it really mean fighting against egalitarianism? If yes, you have misread egalitarianism as distribution justice. In reality, egalitarianism is unequal distribution. It is obviously unfair that regardless of how good or bad and how much work the workers do, their gains are the same. Under such circumstances, people who work poorly and less earn the wages that should go to those who work hard and more. Distribution according to work is fair because it can promote efficiency, production efficiency or labor efficiency, but not distribution efficiency. It can make the \"cake\" bigger, improving people's living standards. Therefore, some Marxist scholars suggest that in order to oppose egalitarianism, it is possible to emphasize efficiency prior to fairness in the initial stages, but it should not be insisted upon when polarization of wealth appears. In that instance, distributive justice should be emphasized.\n3. Analyses of the different interpretations on the evolution of the principal social contradictions in China presented in the report delivered at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China: The report delivered at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed a series of new concepts indicating that socialism with Chinese characteristics had crossed the threshold into a new era. The principal contradiction in the new era is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development as well as people's ever-growing needs for a better life. This is a major theoretical issue of Marxist political economy. However, there are some theoretical matters of right and wrong that need to be discerned in the theoretical academia.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Marx suggested that it is infeasible and wrong to arrange the economic categories according to the order by which they have worked in history. Their order is determined by their interrelationship in the modern bourgeois society, which is in contrast to their natural sequence or that which is in accordance with the course of history. Sometimes, a logical sequence is precisely opposite to the historical sequence. There are many efforts to be done in the study of China's economic and social issues with Marxist logical and historical methods. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: When reading Das Kapital, we can clearly see the historical materialism methods. Another method of Marxist political economics is the scientific abstract method.\nFindings: This is based on the new development idea to carry out scientific and technological innovation and change the focus of development from quantity to quality. With regard to the supply side structural reform as the main focus, people's ever-growing demand for a better life can be satisfied and the higher level dynamic supply-demand balance can be kept.\nOriginality/value: In fact, measures to remedy unbalanced and inadequate development of the social principal contradiction have been plainly indicated in the report delivered at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. This is based on the new development idea to carry out scientific and technological innovation and change the focus of development from quantity to quality.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Are you able to recall the brand? The impact of brand prominence, game involvement and persuasion knowledge in online - advergames	[ "Media", "Brand awareness", "Advertising", "Experimental design", "Video games", "Online buying behavior" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Enhancing consumers' brand recall involves the integration of brand specific information into a medium that they use it regularly for entertainment or non-entertainment purposes (Keller et al., 2011). Recently, marketers have begun to embrace a new and innovative way of creating recall through an innovative platform called advergames (Kinnard and Hartman, 2013). Advergames represent \"computer games specifically created to function as advertisements to promote brands, where the entertainment content mimics traditional game platforms\" (Kretchmer, 2005, p. 7). In advergames, the marketer can make the game itself as the brand message by embedding the brand-specific messages into features, central to the game-play, such as in-game displays, game characters and or/tools used while playing the game (Kinnard and Hartman, 2013; An and Stern, 2011). The main objectives of advergames are to deliver a strong message for the embedded brand and to achieve a higher traffic on the brand website or brand-related aspects (Terlutter and Capella, 2013). As marked by its growing popularity as a marketing communication medium, various national and international companies from different industries began to use this mode of communication as a way to promote their brands. For example, a leading cereal company Kellogg's launched a number of advergames for promoting one of its brands, Froot Loops. Similarly, in India, companies, such as Zapak-Reliance's entertainment subsidiary, ICICI Prudential Life and IDBI Fortis developed various advergames to make their customers learn about their complex products with fun in an interactive way. Study reports are also in support of its growing popularity, for example, a report by eMarketer (2014) predicts that the in-game advertising market will grow up to $655 million by 2017 (Joines, 2014).\n2. Literature review: Today, advertisers and marketers are using a number of innovative promotional tools which engross customers more than their traditional equivalents to upsurge interaction with customers (McCrindle, 2006). Advergame is one such communication tool that delivers numerous benefits over traditional advertising media channels (Alina, 2011; Sharma, 2014). Unlike traditional advertising media platforms, advergames build positive brand images (Rosado and Agante, 2011), excellently deliver subtle brand associations, brand familiarity and experiences (rather than a solitary factual point) (Lee et al., 2009), incorporate brands within the game-settings, causing gamers' involvement with the brand (McCrindle, 2006; Kinnard and Hartman, 2013; Vashisht and Sreejesh, 2015c) and the entrenched interactivity of advergames brings an experience of fun and escapism (Refiana et al., 2005; Lu and Wang, 2008). Chen et al. (2012) and Ipe (2008) state that \"easy adjustability\", \"cost-effectiveness\" and \"viral marketing ability\" are some of the smart features of advergames which differentiate it from other advertising media channels. Furthermore, advergames exhibit ads in the background, which provide a feeling of realism and practicality to the customers (Marti-parrenoet al., 2013) and causing gamers' involvement with the brand (Kretchmer, 2004).\n3. Theoretical development and hypotheses formulation: 3.1 Brand prominence and game involvement\n4. Research methodology: 4.1 Study stages\n5. Data analysis and results: Before the formal test of study hypotheses, we tested the manipulation of the independent variables. The results of one-way ANOVA showed a significant difference (F (1, 223) = 71.662, p < 0.05) between prominent brand placement (M = 4.055) and subtle brand placement advergames (M = 3.016). This supported the successful manipulation of brand prominence. Further, the results of one-way ANOVA showed a significant difference (F (1, 223) = 25.249, p < 0.05) between high game involvement (M = 5.898) and low game involvement (M = 2.2) conditions. This supported the successful manipulation of involvement scenarios.\n6. Discussion: This study used an experimental set-up to examine whether the interaction between brand prominence (prominent or subtle), game involvement (high or low) and gamers' persuasion knowledge (high or low) causes change in gamers' brand recall and attitudes in advergames. Results indicated that prominent brand placement would result in high brand recall when the gamers' involvement with the game is low. However, for advergames with prominent brand placement, under the high game involvement condition, more favorable brand attitude was noticed than the low game involvement condition. The findings support LCM, i.e. when a gamer possesses low involvement with the game, spare capacity of the gamer is more; thus, the gamer is able to process in-game advertising more effectively and results in a high brand recall. In this condition, it is highly possible that the gamer cognitively elaborate on the reasons behind placing the brands in the game, which in turn results in less favorable brand evaluation (attitude). On the other hand, in a high game involvement situation, gamers' spare capacity is less; thus, the cognitive elaboration about the reasons behind the brand placement in the game is less, thereby leading to a reduced level of brand recall and more favorable brand attitude.\n7. Theoretical and managerial implications: This study provides various noteworthy theoretical and managerial implications. First, the study enhances the theoretical understanding of ELM and LCM, and extended into the non-traditional advergaming domain. It also boosts the academic knowledge of persuasion knowledge into the same domain. For example, using an integrated theoretical perspective of ELM, LCM and persuasion knowledge, this study is the first attempt in non-traditional advertising literature, specifically in advergames which explained how players allocate mental resources and generate cognitive elaboration while playing advergames. Moreover, the integrated theoretical perspective also explains the understanding of how this cognitive reasoning further expands when the gamer is able to process resources concerning the persuasive intent of the advergame. Second, this is the first study, which showcases the fact that in the advergames context, there is a trade-off between the brand recall and the brand attitude. Hence, this study offers a unique opportunity for researchers to investigate the nuances in the relationship between brand memory and brand attitudes. Third, it enriches the theoretical understanding of how consumers process ad-information (brand message) in the context of advergames. Finally, our study provides the evidence about the transference of positive effect produced by entertaining media content to the advertised brand that probably comprises a mental process that could increase brand recall and improve brand attitudes.\n8. Limitations and future research: Even though the current study made an important contribution to non-traditional advergaming literature and practice, the study is not free from limitations. In the study, only two levels of game involvement were used. The impact of moderate level of game involvement on gamers' brand memory and attitude can be studied in future studies. This study was conducted on Indian gamers; thus, in future, the findings can be further proven on gamers of other countries, where the usage rate of online games is different from that in India. Another limitation of the study is that we tested the moderating effects of game involvement and persuasion knowledge on gamers' brand memory and attitude; however, the moderating effect of various other factors, such as game-product congruity and product involvement can be explored in future research. Finally, in this study, the effects of advergames were tested on student sample; hence, the current study can be extended by targeting different age group gamers, such as children, adolescents or middle-aged people.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of brand prominence, game involvement and persuasion knowledge on gamers' brand recall and attitude in the context of online advergames. Specifically, this investigation uses limited capacity model of attention and persuasion knowledge model to expound the conditions under which brand placements create attention, elaboration and subsequent brand recall and brand attitude.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A 2 (brand prominence: prominent versus subtle) x 2 (game involvement: high versus low involvement) x 2 (persuasion knowledge: high versus low) between-subjects measures design is used. A total of 224 student gamers participated in the study. A between-subjects measures multivariate analysis of variance is used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: The results show that an advergame with prominent brand placement under low game involvement condition results in high brand recall but less favorable brand attitude than under high game involvement condition. Furthermore, a three-way interaction shows that for a prominent brand placement advergame with high game involvement, the subjects with high persuasion knowledge report high brand recall than the subjects with low persuasion knowledge. The findings also reveal that for a prominent brand placement advergame with high game involvement, the subjects with high persuasion knowledge report less favorable brand attitude than the subjects with low persuasion knowledge.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper adds to advertising literature from a non-traditional advertising viewpoint, predominantly in the context of online advergames, and expounds the role played by brand placement and its boundary conditions to create customers' brand memory and attitude. Furthermore, this investigation adds to the marketing knowledge on how and where to position and embed the brands effectively in advergames taking into account the characteristics of the gamer, such as the game involvement and gamers' persuasion knowledge about the advergame.\nOriginality/value: This study adds to the works of online advertising, particularly the advergames by discovering the impact of brand prominence, game involvement and persuasion knowledge on gamers' brand recall and attitude. Also, this study is the first in its stream toward understanding the moderating role of persuasion knowledge on Indian gamers' recall and attitude in the context of online advertising.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
International rent sharing and takeovers	[ "Bargaining power", "Multinational firms", "Domestic rent sharing", "International rent sharing", "Takeovers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Economists have been exploring the consequences of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in a domestic economy for many years now. From a micro-economic perspective, this translates into the analysis of the performance of foreign-owned multinational corporations (MNEs) and their spillovers in the host country. It has now been established that inward FDIs permit the transfer of technology (in the form of both capital goods and organizational structure) from the foreign to the domestic country. They also promote competition in the domestic input market, thus potentially triggering lower prices, quality improvements and innovation. What is more, MNEs contribute in raising the skill level of the host country workforce, by exposing workers to more advanced technologies and offering training. On the other hand, evidence suggests (Konings and Murphy, 2006; Van Beveren, 2007, for instance) that foreign multinationals are more footloose than domestic multinationals and purely domestic firms, thanks to their possibility of relocating production abroad.\nLiterature review: Malchow-Moller et al. (2013) recently proposed a unifying theoretical framework to understand the impact of foreign ownership on domestic wages. Foreign wage premia can emerge because foreign firms employ a more skilled labor force, which enjoys higher complementarity with technology and skilled management, thus allowing the firm to pay higher wages. The increase in workers' productivity after joining a foreign company can also be traced to their improved access to training (Goerg et al., 2007) or better technologies (Fosfuri et al., 2001; Glass and Saggi, 2002). Finally, MNEs may have characteristics which can influence the wage setting procedure independently on their workers' characteristics, which justify a different wage pattern. In a competitive labor market, these features may refer to a more volatile labor market (Fabbri et al., 2003) or higher propensity to move away from the country (Konings and Murphy, 2006). In imperfect labor markets, fair wages concerns, the need to coordinate wages across borders through rent sharing, efficiency wages to induce effort and reduce shirking can all justify higher wages in foreign firms. Higher wages may have to be offered by larger firms when the labor market is monopsonistic, too.\nTheoretical and empirical framework: Theoretical background\nData and summary statistics: Definition of the sample\nEmpirical results: Propensity score\nConclusions: The literature on rent sharing has until now highlighted the existence of international and domestic profit sharing in a post-acquisition setting. We explored how rent sharing changes before and after a foreign takeover, and how wage setting in the target company is differently affected by the profitability of the acquirer and of the target firm. Thanks to the dataset we constructed, which contains explicit information on foreign Mergers\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of international rent sharing in multinational enterprises. It looks at changes in rent sharing before and after the acquisition of a company by a foreign entity, and assesses the role of target and acquirer profitability in the wage setting process for the target firm. It therefore contributes to the evaluation of the impact of a form of globalization (inward foreign direct investment (FDI)) onto wages.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use a unique firm level longitudinal dataset of M\nFindings: The authors find evidence that the deal does not significantly affect the degree of domestic rent sharing, but it enables international rent sharing. The authors qualify the results in terms of the acquirer's location, industry link with the target and controlling stake. Further robustness specifications include different profits and controls, and a comparison with a sample of domestic acquisitions.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample of matches for acquired firms is constructed using propensity scores, which may not perfectly capture the differences between targeted and non-targeted companies. Although estimates should be net of selection effects, other sources of endogeneity may still make the estimates inconsistent.\nPractical implications: Updating the discussion on the labor market consequences of globalization, and on foreign takeovers in particular.\nSocial implications: The discussion on international takeover should take into account not only the extensive margin (i.e. labor adjustments) but also salaries. The authors argue that through a precise channel (rent sharing) international takeovers of domestic companies may benefit the domestic labor force.\nOriginality/value: The dataset was constructed for the purposes of this analysis; rent sharing is tested in a takeover scenario for the first time, thus avoiding selection biases.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Meandering rides of the Swedish taxi industry: Flourishing entrepreneurship or ethnic segmentation?	[ "Mixed embeddedness", "Labor market", "Ethnic entrepreneurship", "Ethnic segmentation", "Taxi sector" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: During the past four decades, the taxi industry has been deregulated in almost all OECD countries (Bekken, 2005). International research on the consequences of this process has shown that in most cases the main objectives (higher efficiency, lower rates and higher service quality) have not been achieved. The industry is increasingly characterized by long working hours, night work, economic exploitation, economic uncertainty and occupational violence which all create stress. High levels of competition have led to an increased risk of developing a number of work-related physical and psychological disorders (Facey, 2003; Lim and Chia, 2015) and poor health in general (Blasi and Leavitt, 2006). Another consequence is that an increasing number of immigrants are employed in the taxi industry. International research has shown that this has occurred not only in Sweden (Slavnic, 2011; Slavnic and Urban, 2008) but also in many other OECD countries, including the USA (Blasi and Leavitt, 2006; Morris, 1993), Canada (Hathiyani, 2007; Xu, 2012), Australia (Colic-Peisker, 2006) and Ireland (Maguire and Murph, 2014).\n2. Conceptual framework: Business opportunities are created, change and disappear (or are constantly replaced with new opportunities) in the market. The process of creating, modifying and disappearing is partly determined by the logic and dynamics of the market and partly influenced by broader institutional structures (rules, regulations and policies). Nascent entrepreneurs themselves admittedly may create opportunities to some extent or negotiate them with the relevant social institutions. More often, however, entrepreneurs rely on the resources available, their own entrepreneurial acumen and their willingness to take risks when they recognize opportunities that exist in the market. These premises of any entrepreneurial activity are the essence of the mixed embeddedness concept (Kloosterman, 2003, 2010; Kloosterman et al., 1999; Kloosterman and Rath, 2001; Rath, 2001, 2002), which has had an increasing influence within the ethnic entrepreneurship research fields during the past two decades.\n3. Deregulation of the taxi market in Sweden: Swedish electricity services, domestic air traffic, postal and rail services, and telecommunications were all deregulated in the 1990s, but the taxi industry, as the first deregulated industry, was regarded as a kind of dress rehearsal (Laitila et al., 1995). Therefore, the deregulation process was organized and carefully scheduled. All parts were implemented in full at the national level on the July 1, 1990. The only remaining restrictions concerned the quality of service. This made it unique worldwide, because the process abolished barriers controlling entry, charges and hours of operation and removed regulations imposing geographically restricted operating areas that had forced all operators to belong to a dispatch center (SOU 1999:00, 1999). At the same time, regulation of the quality of service was strengthened. For example, the rules for personal suitability and applicants' professional competence for taxi licenses were tightened, an applicant was not allowed to be in bankruptcy or have tax liabilities, mandatory receipt writing was introduced, the charges for journeys had to be communicated to the customer before departure, and all vehicles were equipped with a mark of legitimacy on the windshield (Johansson et al., 2000).\n4. Data and methodological approach: This was a mixed-method study. More specifically, the method applied is what Johnson et al. (2007) defined as quantitatively driven or dominated method, which means primarily using a quantitative method, with a qualitative data/method added during the analysis, to enhance the quantitative results and to provide a deeper understanding of the phenomenon studied.\n5. Results: 5.1 Proportion of foreign born among employed and self-employed workers\n6. Concluding discussion and summary of the results: Studying a market in the midst of changing regulations made it possible to explore how broader social and institutional contexts and environments impact opportunities in a specific market. In this paper, we described what the structure of opportunities looks like in a market with a low barrier to entry, namely, the Swedish taxi market, and how people working in it and relying on their individual and collective resources responded to new opportunities. We suggested that the saturation of the taxi market is not only a result of a low threshold to entry but also of new rules, changing regulations and other policy measures aimed directly at the sector, as well as measures in other parts of the socio-economic system, such as labor market activation, workfare and employability measures that indirectly influence whether people want to enter the sector. It seems clear that the political expectation of a more effective market with a smaller number of actors, which would provide customers with better service in terms of shorter waiting times and lower fares, was generally not realized. The statistics in the analysis showed that the number of employees in the taxi sector has grown steadily since 1992 with the proportion of those born abroad among self-employed individuals increasing even faster. The growing number of immigrants' small businesses and job opportunities can be seen as a positive contribution to the reduction of unemployment among foreign-born individuals.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the interplay between changes in policies, rules and regulations that have altered ethnic composition and incomes in the Swedish taxi industry since deregulation in the 1990s.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is a mixed-methods study, combining the qualitative interviews, scrutiny of relevant policy documents and statistical data of the Swedish population between 1992 and 2012. The analysis uses a mixed embeddedness perspective to show how the changed regulations resulted in new openings/closings in opportunities for individuals operating in the sector and how the proportion of immigrants in the sector, increased continuously between 1992 and 2012.\nFindings: Policy changes have altered ethnic composition and incomes in the Swedish taxi sector. Income differences between foreign born and Swedish born are decreasing. It occurs however in the context of a general trend of lower wages within the sector. New jobs are created, but these are low paid jobs with harsh working conditions.\nOriginality/value: What makes this paper original is the use of the mixed-method approach, combining the analyses of economic and ethnic changes in the sector with internal and external institutional changes in rules and regulations, which exemplify the essence of the mixed embeddedness concept. Additionally the quantitative part of the study uses register data - tax registers and population registers that includes entire population and is administered by Statistics Sweden in a database for REMESO.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Intersectionality in LGBT fiction: A comparison of a traditional library vendor and a nontraditional eBook platform	[ "Intersectionality", "Library collections", "Self-publishing", "EBooks", "Genre fiction", "LGBT fiction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Literature reflects society. It helps us understand which ideas and groups are accepted and which are excluded. Omission of certain cultures from the mainstream literature position them as undervalued in society and reifies the marginalization of those cultures to members of the dominant culture. This can also have a negative effect on lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, not only by inhibiting straight or cisgender people from understanding experiences different from their own, but also by making it harder for these marginalized people to learn that there are others like themselves. Literature about marginalized groups offers the opportunity to feel empathy for those who are different from us as well as to learn that there are people like us in the world. Literature can celebrate diversity as well as provide insight into the contributions all of us make to social well-being. This understanding guides our exploration of the body of LGBT[1] fiction that is published nowadays.\nResearch question: To investigate the extent to which self-published eBooks might portray a wider variety of identities than traditionally published LGBT fiction titles, we propose the following research question:\nReview of the literature: This review of the literature first considers the theoretical foundations for the study, which are intersectionality and the question of identify. It then surveys aspects of reading and technology relevant to the research question as presented. In particular, it looks at fictional genres, eBook technology, and changing publishing models. Sources for the review included scholarly monographs as well as articles, with an emphasis on articles indexed in EBSCOhost's Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. Due to the scarcity of research on LGBT publishing, we also used trade publications on bookselling and publishing to shape our assumptions on what we might expect to find in our study.\nContext of the study: This study compares two platforms that support library acquisitions: OASIS, a product made available by library vendor ProQuest Coutts, and Smashwords, a self-publishing sales platform for eBooks.\nMethod: For both OASIS and Smashwords, we randomly sampled and then manually analyzed 200 titles that were classified as LGBT fiction and then compared the results. Focusing on substantive sets of titles in each platform allowed us to collect rich data about the nature of the individual titles (see below); this in turn allowed us to identify trends and to address our research question.\nResults: Identities\nDiscussion: Based on observations of barriers presented by traditional publishers, barriers explored both in the scholarly literature (Frieden, 2001; Morales et al., 2014) and in the stories of people in the writing and publishing world (Donahue, 2011; Maiden, 2015), we operated under the premise that self-published titles would offer more varied, intersectional identities to readers of LGBT fiction. This assumption was due in part to the ability of self-published titles to express complex and diverse identities (Schechner, 2014; Colbert, 2015) without requiring the approbation of a publisher's market analysis. The results of this study, based on descriptive data comparing of LGBT fiction titles two book platforms, do not support this assumption.\nConclusions: To our surprise, the results of this study did not support the premise that self-publishing is more representative of the diverse identities of LGBT people than traditional publishing in LGBT fiction titles. Instead, this study finds self-publishing did not make a difference with regard to whose stories get told on an open eBook sales platform vs distributed on a traditional library vendor's platform. Self-publishing mimics other publishing in terms of the characters it presents. While community insiders contend that the publishing industry is putting up barriers, there seem to be additional barriers that affect works that have not gone through the traditional publication process as well.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate characters and scenarios reflecting varied lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) identities in fiction in two library acquisitions platforms: a traditional library vendor (Coutts' OASIS) and a freely available platform for self-published eBooks (Smashwords).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using intersectionality as an approach, 200 LGBT fiction titles were examined in OASIS and in Smashwords with the goal of assessing the characters and scenarios represented. The hypothesis was that Smashwords's titles, because they were self-published, would include more variety.\nFindings: The titles in both platforms were roughly similar, with a pronounced focus on white gay males.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research relied on limited metadata provided in each system. Additional research should evaluate the quality of the titles and the nature of the publishers.\nPractical implications: Although the Smashwords eBook platform provides access to eBooks, a convenient way to consume genre fiction, the titles available do not represent more diverse LGBT identities than the titles available through a traditional library vendor platform, OASIS.\nOriginality/value: As libraries struggle with practical implications for selecting materials representing varied viewpoints, the question of self-published or indie eBooks has emerged as a potential option for providing these perspectives. The findings of this study indicate, however, that instead of reflecting a more diverse readership, the sample of Smashwords LGBT fiction eBooks examined largely resembles the materials that a library vendor provides.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding the implications of Belt and Road Initiative for sustainable supply chains: an environmental perspective	[ "Belt and road initiative", "Qualitative research", "Product quality", "Sustainable supply chains" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Management of global supply chains has been the subject of much attention in the past decade (Mentzer et al., 2001; Ponomarov and Holcomb, 2009; Scholten et al., 2014; Stock et al., 2000; Tukamuhabwa et al., 2015). Many of these studies either present or discuss issues and challenges about managing global supply chains. Furthermore, some of these studies discuss factors that can impact the global supply chain, including the location of firms (Mentzer et al., 2001; Ponomarov and Holcomb, 2009). Besides, an initiative taken by the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping in 2013 called as the \"Belt and Road Initiative\" (BRI) has also received much attention from the global community (Thurer et al., 2020). The BRI is one of the largest and perhaps the most ambitious infrastructure-related project undertaken anywhere in the world, with the potential to impact the global design and management of supply chains due to its widespread presence across at least three continents. For instance, in 2018, the trade value between China and BRI countries grew up to 8.4 trillion yuan. The BRI was officially announced in 2013 as a part of China's President's visit to Kazakhstan and Indonesia (Huang, 2016; Sarvari and Szeidovitz, 2016; Summers, 2016; Chen et al., 2013, 2017). The basic purpose behind this initiative was to combine the \"Silk Road Economic Belt,\" a wide network of transportation and communication infrastructure through the route of central Asia - the Belt - with the \"21st Century Maritime Silk Road\" (Howard and Howard, 2016). Combining these two roads will connect Chinese ports with Southeast Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Cambodia), Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The BRI aims at developing a giant and mega infrastructure project on a large scale that will connect ports across and within different continents, thereby linking the Silk Road Economic Belt with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (Thurer et al., 2020).Moreover, it has received a great deal of political and financial support from the stakeholders (partnering countries) since the BRI was founded. For example, China issued an official statement on the concept of the BRI at the end of 2015 with 56 partner countries and regional cooperation and also signed a memorandum of understanding with them (Cheng and Yang, 2018). By 2019, nearly 38 mega-transport infrastructure projects had been built by Chinese companies in more than 26 partner countries along the BRI route, with a total investment of over 52 bn U.S. dollars (Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, 2016). It also means that the BRI is a concept that encompasses a variety of projects and approaches, and with a broad goal in mind, the Chinese Government initiated the project.While the BRI has been the subject of little research in disciplines including political sciences and economics (Blanchard and Flint, 2017; Blanchard, 2017; Thuan, 2017), its application to the supply chain domain is rather scant. In particular, little evidence exists about how the BRI can affect the environmental aspects of supply chain components. Supply chain sustainability (SCS) is a holistic view of supply chain operations, logistics and technologies affecting the components of a supply chain's environmental, social, economic and legal aspects (Ali and Golgeci (2019)). Sustainability initiatives typically include identifying the source of raw materials, ensuring good working conditions and reducing the carbon footprint (Cheng and Yang, 2018). This paper argues that the BRI can have a negative impact on sustainable supply chains from the environmental perspective. For instance, Zhang et al. (2017) argued that the BRI may require the use of excessive raw material as it is a large-scale infrastructure project. This study further notes that such excessive use of raw materials may affect the environment. On the other hand, Zhoe et al. (2018) and Cheng and Yang (2018) noted that the BRI is a large-scale manufacturing project which can negatively affect the climate through pollution. Also, Du and Shi (20170 and Zhoe et al. (2018) contended that the BRI can also result in the higher generation of waste through emissions, air pollution and solid waste, etc. as it is going to build many production facilities along the BRI lane. Thuan (2017) also argued that the BRI may impact the environmental practices as there are many entities involved in this project and they might not be able to fully comply with the environmental standards. While these studies do provide some possible implications of how the BRI may impact sustainable supply chains, there is no empirical evidence to validate these claims. Although China itself has hundreds of expert centers specialized in BRI-related problems, most of these are embedded in international law, political science, the economy and social science (Kolosov et al., 2017). Thus, the potential impact of how the BRI may impact the environmental supply chains has been largely overlooked. Furthermore, the global significance of the BRI means that this is a topic that warrants greater attention from supply chain management researchers and practitioners both within and outside of China. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the implications of BRI on sustainable supply chains from the environmental perspective. The following research question is developed to guide this study: How does BRI affect the sustainable supply chains from the environmental perspective?Our study contributes to sustainable supply chain literature within the context of the BRI in the following ways. First, our study presents implications of the BRI on the sustainable supply chain. Perhaps, this is the first and only study to conduct empirical work on the role of the BRI on sustainable supply chain management literature. Second, this study contributes to theory by exploring the full potential of the BRI by studying its implication from the supply chain management perspective besides other disciplines such as political science and economics. Third, our study contributes to practice by providing some helpful guidelines to firms on how to deal with challenges affecting environmental, supply chains. Such guidelines can also help a firm in developing effective policies and practices which can help firms in reducing the negative environmental impact of BRI on sustainable supply chains.The rest of the paper is structured as follows: first, limited literature on sustainable supply chain management within the context of the BRI is reviewed. Following this, steps taken to conduct the qualitative methodology are elaborated on including the sample, sampling, data collection and analysis and trustworthiness of research findings. Moving on, results are presented and discussed within the contextualization of extant literature. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of the study are articulated along with limitations and future research direction on this emerging topic area.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Defining sustainable supply chains\n3. Methodology: The study was designed to be qualitative. Qualitative research is the process of understanding the unique humanistic perception of a given situation and interpreting this understanding to create a holistic picture within the naturalistic setting (Creswell, 2013). Qualitative research is also used to provide detailed research into the how, what, when and where, identify the relationships among individuals or entities and aid the development of future hypotheses or research questions surrounding the phenomena (Zikmund, 1997). The BRI has been the subject of investigation in disciplines such as political science and economics. However, its application to the supply chain domain is very limited. Specifically, empirical studies concerning the implication of the BRI on global supply chain management are nonexistent. This gives support for the adoption of qualitative research design because qualitative research offers an opportunity to transcend the shortcomings of existing explanations (Weick, 2007; Yin, 2009). In addition, this qualitative study relies on a phenomenological method. A phenomenological inquiry \"is an attempt to deal with inner experiences unprobed in everyday life\" (Merriam, 2007, p. 7). The research study chose this method to help identify the meaning behind the human experience as it related to a phenomenon or notable collective occurrences (Creswell, 2013). 3.1 Sample and sampling\n4. Findings: Respondents' narratives reveal that the BRI will result in excessive use of raw material, higher generation of waste. Respondents' stories also stated that BRI would make it challenging for firms to meet the environmental standards and to make responsible use of green financing. These themes are discussed below in Sections 4.1.1, 4.1.2, and 4.1.3. 4.1 Use of excessive raw materials\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Implications for theory and practice\n6. Limitations and future research directions: This study has some limitations. First, this study relies on a small sample size of 20 interviews. Thus, its results cannot be generalized to the broader population. Second, this study chooses sample size from Asian countries only located on the BRI lane. Moving on, there are additional avenues for future research in this emerging area. First, the findings from this study should be tested through a quantitative analysis to demonstrate its conformity. Besides, the BRI gives access to a part of the world that has been neglected for many years due to its restricted or limited access to human and natural resources. So, future research should explore how resilient supply chains can be created that can link developed economies with developing ones. The scale of the BRI is very wide and calls for the use of more advanced techniques to support multicriteria supply chain configuration decisions. We also suggest future research studies to examine supply chain configuration using data analytics and the use of multiple methods, as suggested by Thurer et al. (2019).Furthermore, the challenges and opportunities of this mega infrastructure project are likely to be unique and different from smaller infrastructure initiatives within a single country. Therefore, future research should first attempt to reveal the specific problems associated with the BRI and then should move onto exploring the possible solutions to solve these problems. Conducting such research (identifying problems and proposing solutions) can provide significant insights into other large-scale infrastructure projects that might be appearing in the next two to three decades. Certain factors can also influence the adoption of the new infrastructure provided by the BRI. Hence, scholars in supply chain management should attempt to unveil these factors.Additionally, we argue that the BRI cab is viewed either as an economic activity giving a boost to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) or it can increase the economy's expenditure otherwise. Future research should, therefore, look into what extent the decision to adopt the BRI is viewed as an economic opportunity or perhaps a cost associated with doing business in the developing countries. Most importantly, the BRI is a very interesting phenomenon, yet lacks empirical work. Future research should, therefore, conduct more empirical work on this topic area and perhaps delve deeper into asking questions as to what the BRI means for supply chain management literature?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This research aims to explore the potential impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on sustainable supply chains.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study employs twenty qualitative interviews with supply chain managers located on the BRI lane from Asian countries.\nFindings: Findings revealed that if not managed properly, BRI can pose a serious threats to sustainable supply chains from environmental perspective. The findings also revealed additional properties which lead to the emergence of these perspective.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings of this study may not be generalizable to a broader population. Second, this study explores supply chain managers' interpretations from Asian countries only.\nPractical implications: Supply chain firms can use the findings from this study to understand the implications of BRI for sustainable supply chains. Particularly, firms can understand how the BRI may harm the organization's sustainable supply chains from the environmental perspective.\nOriginality/value: This is, perhaps, the first study which provides empirical evidence concerning the potential impacts of BRI on the management of sustainable supply chains.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Agricultural entrepreneurship orientation: is academic training a missing link?	[ "Agriculture", "Entrepreneurship", "Academic courses", "Global entrepreneurship and development index", "Hierarchical decision making" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Although university graduates are the advantaged group in the labour market, the increasing rate of unemployed graduates represents a major challenge for the Iranian labour market. The situation is dramatically more acute among agricultural graduates (Asadi et al., 2011). They often do not expect to obtain job opportunities, due to labour market's failure to respond to demand.\nBackground: Recently, commentators from \"made school of thought\" suggested that education \"about\" enterprise (i.e. awareness creation), education \"for\" enterprise (i.e. the preparation of aspiring entrepreneurs for business set-up) and education \"in/ through\" enterprise (i.e. growth and development training for established entrepreneurs) provide a context which facilitates the development and enactment of entrepreneurial behaviours (De Faoite et al., 2003; Oosterbeek et al., 2010).\nMethods: Fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approach was used to identify the relative importance of university curriculum for the purpose of tailoring an entrepreneurial climate for agricultural bachelor's degree students in Iran. The approach was applied as it deals mainly with problems about evaluation (Shee and Wang, 2008). It gives effective results by creating a functional hierarchy. In this method, the decision makers, who were agricultural graduates, perform pair-wise comparisons to evaluate university curriculum effectiveness. The pair-wise comparison matrix and the eigenvector are derived to specify the weights of each parameter in the problem. The weights guide the decision makers in choosing the alternative (Erkan and Daneshvar Rouyendegh, 2014).\nFindings: The demographic characteristics of entrepreneurs (age, gender, level of education and marriage status) are summarised in Table III. The mean age of the respondents was 32.68, in a range of 25-41. The male to female ratio was 1.63, i.e., the number of female entrepreneurs was 7 and the male entrepreneurs was 11. Level of education varied considerably, as follows: BS (31.6 per cent), MSc (57.9 per cent) and PhD (10.9 per cent). In total, 38.8 per cent of the respondents (n=seven) were married. The birth order position was the other demographic variable examined. Interviewees were responding to \"where do you stand among your siblings\"? And findings indicated that the mean was 2.73 with 0.73 SD in a range from two to four. Almost, 42.1, 42.1 and 15.8 per cent were the second, third and fourth child, respectively. The mean level of mother's education was 11.57 (SD=1.06), in a range from 6 to 16 years and the mean of father's education level was 12.89 (SD=2.99), in a range from 6 to 20 years. The mean score of hiring rate which was the current jobs created by the firms was 5.1 personnel (SD=2.84) in a range from 2 to 15.\nDiscussion: Otherwise the dynamics of job creation for university graduates have been on the wane in Iran, both applied research and policy discussions around entrepreneurship discovered, nurtured, praised and elevated to increasingly important position within the society. It is increasingly recognised that the \"heroic entrepreneur\" is not the sole determinant of entrepreneurial success, and that the environmental factors can play an important role in nurturing new venture seeds into fully fledged, value-adding growth ventures. University as higher education environment provides a context which facilitates the development and enactment of entrepreneurial profile.\nConclusion: The messages for higher education programme planners and policy makers from this study are clear. This study has provided rich evidence regarding bottlenecks of agricultural entrepreneurship development in higher educational institutions. The results reinforce the importance of restricted elective courses in developing agricultural students' enterprise knowledge, skills and experience.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of academic courses on agricultural entrepreneurship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Modified global entrepreneurship and development index (GEDI) was used to determine entrepreneurial dimensions among 19 graduated students of agricultural colleges resided in Iran. Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process was applied to understand agricultural graduates' preferences on effectiveness of university courses (core, free elective and restricted elective).\nFindings: Results suggested the importance of professional restricted elective courses to provide students with necessary skills. These courses were successful in providing a context for entrepreneurial profile.\nResearch limitations/implications: Innate talent or acquired skills were always the place of debate on entrepreneurial development. The paper builds on the premise that entrepreneurs are made through education and continuing reconstruction of experience, further research is required as the field develops in experience and complexity.\nPractical implications: The paper provides strategies to effectively modify practical route in higher education to enhance entrepreneurial orientation among students.\nOriginality/value: The paper is innovative at a conceptual level in modifying GEDI elements in individual-level variables based on GEDI configuration theory. This approach is particularly useful in addressing the bottleneck problems of entrepreneurship profile and focusses on the information interpreted at weights of the individual-level data.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cultural competence and relational closeness: examining refugee education	[ "Global education", "Refugee education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent decades, economic globalization and political instability created great movement among people across the globe. Last year alone, 65 million people were \"forcibly\" displaced, the highest number since Second World War, and four times more than in 2005 (United Nations Refugee Agency, 2016). Globalization has led some to \"self-outsource\" looking for better economic conditions. This is exemplified by workers from Greece, Romania and Spain to other parts of the European Union, as well as by Central American and Mexican workers legally and illegally crossing into the USA. The resulting diaspora burdens the infrastructures of the host nations where healthcare, housing and education are impacted (Offe, 2016).\nReview of the literature: Integration and assimilation\nThe current state of immigration in Sweden and the USA: Immigrants and refugees in the USA amounts to about 13 percent of the nation's population (Migration Policy Institute, n.d.) while Sweden's immigrant and refugee population is about 15 percent of its nine million (Sveriges regering, n.d.). The rate of immigration for the Scandinavian nation, however, far exceeds that of the USA which has accepted roughly one million legal immigrants on an annual basis in the twenty-first century. This one million amounts to about 0.3 percent of the US population each year. Sweden, by contrast, accepted 115,000 in 2013 (Sveriges regering, n.d.) which is approximately 1.2 percent of its population or four times the rate of the USA Regarding refugees, the USA received nearly 70,000 in 2014 whereas the figures for Sweden were more than 142,000 in 2014 (World Bank, n.d.) and more than 160,000 in 2015 (Lane, 2015). Sweden not only received twice as many refugees but also received them at a rate that was 75 times that of the USA.\nEducation of refugee populations: Schooling of refugees offers unique challenges to educators; most crucial may be integration into the dominant culture. Oh (2012) believes, historically, refugee education was to assimilate rather than integrate: \"Formal education has characteristically been employed to promulgate, reify and legitimize certain constructions of collective social identity be they religious, ethnic, political, ideological, cultural, or social class\" (pp. 73-74). While in agreement, Dooley (2012) asserts that refugees must be positioned to become intellectual class members in order for them to be truly integrated. As many refugees and immigrants bring with them much-needed skills and high levels of education, becoming a member of the intellectual class would be part of the natural order of events, it would seem. However, Dooley contends, xenophobia and institutionalized racism can inhibit or even stop this positioning. Another obstacle is the mismatch of credentialing which can find a physician from Syria, for example, unable to practice medicine in her accepting nation. Oftentimes, refugees not only come from poverty, but were educated in a \"pedagogy of poverty\" of mere transmission of facts rather than high-cognitive learning; this not only hinders class advancement but can be perplexing obstacle to educators (see Haberman, 1991; Zhao, 2009, 2012).\nCultural competence: In order for integration to be successful, ensuring schools have \"culturally competent\" teachers and administrators is essential according to some scholars (e.g. Banks, 2002; Diller and Moule, 2004). Cultural competence is generally defined as the ability of one to accept the behaviors and beliefs of someone from another culture as well as one's ability to adapt to an alien culture (Gutierrez and Rogoff, 2003; Lindsey et al., 2009). By empathizing with the students, and having the willingness to gain an understanding of their cultures and situations, teachers will be more capable and willing to meet the educational as well as social-emotional needs of the students (Diller and Moule, 2004). The Swedes have a great history of tolerance, a willingness to accept differences among its native people as well as immigrants (Lane, 2015). This is an important attribute when one wishes to increase cultural competence (Gutierrez and Rogoff, 2003).\nMethods: In an attempt to determine if two schools in small Swedish communities impacted by large numbers of refugees were meeting the needs of refugee students, a two-site case study was developed and implemented. This study proposed to answer the overarching question:\nFindings: In an attempt to answer RQ1 was deemed important to also examine ancillary questions the researcher hoped to get answered by the research:\nDiscussion: The data and the literature point to the need for increased integration of refugee students into the Swedish culture. A concern mentioned by many of the study's participants was what appears to be a lack of relational closeness as espoused by Banki (2012). Both refugee integration and education literature suggest increased cultural competence among teachers can increase educational success for refugees and improved chances of integration by increasing relational closeness (Banki, 2012; Dooley, 2012; Kirova, 2012). The Swedes have been attempting to increase cultural competence on a national level beginning in their school systems for some time: the Swedish National Curriculum for Compulsory Education has explicitly stated the importance of learning to be tolerant for decades (Skolverket, 1994). The USA, by contrast, has no national school system but instead has 50 autonomous state systems and 14,500 fairly autonomous district systems. Therefore, no cohesive, unified policy or movement to increase cultural competence currently exists in the USA It should be noted that enacting nationwide educational change in the USA is onerous, if not impossible, as demonstrated by the resistance to such \"national\" reforms as No Child Left Behind and The Common Core. The US federal government contributes, on average, only 8 percent of a school district's operating expenses (United States Department of Education, n.d.) so there may be little incentive to buy into such movements, even those mandated by law (Hargreaves and Shirley, 2012). It should also be noted that with the increased political polarization in the USA, anything brought forward by a presidential administration will likely have 50 percent of Washington, DC and state-house politicians against the measure (Ravitch, 2013). As noted previously, even the Swedes with a national movement toward cultural competence are experiencing increased Nativism. A groundswell of tolerance would need to be seen in both nations in order for cultural competence to increase. This groundswell may come from increased interactions with the native and refugee populations as familiarity has been shown to decrease conflict (Rubenfeld and Clement, 2012).\nConclusion: This paper provides a synopsis of the current state of refugee education in both Sweden and the USA, and an overview of the importance of integration of refugees into their host nations' societies; and anchored by findings from a two-site case study conducted in Northern Sweden. A major concern stemming from the case study data were a lack of integration into the small communities due to lack of opportunities, mirroring the literature. Two possible solutions offered were to increase opportunities for interaction between native and refugee populations (relational closeness); and bolster funding for the education of refugee school-age children and adolescents, and adults so that effective strategies and environment described in the literature can be put into place by effectively trained educators. These solutions could improve the cultural competence among all peoples in both nations, better enabling the two countries to provide economically and socially sustainable environments for all of their inhabitants.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical and current accounting of the state of refugee education in both the USA and Sweden. The growing diaspora of people around the globe implores educators to utilize effective models and strategies to meet the needs of refugees, as well as to advocate policies that aid in this utilization. Sweden has the highest rate of refugee acceptance in Europe, and the USA has the greatest number of immigrants in the west.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A review of the literature formatted to provide the reader with a historical accounting of the states of refugee education in both host nations, as well as the current states. Strategies and promising policies are introduced based on the literature and the author's own research conducted in Sweden.\nFindings: The paper addresses the history and present situations of two host nations, Sweden and the USA, who have differing education systems and histories of immigration. Concerns and two possible solutions offered were to increase opportunities for interaction between native and refugee populations; and bolster funding for the education of refugee school-age children and adolescents, and adults so that effective strategies and environment described in the literature can be put into place by effectively trained educators. These solutions could improve the cultural competence among all peoples in both nations, better enabling the two countries to provide economically and socially sustainable environments for all of their inhabitants.\nResearch limitations/implications: The examination of these two nations' education of refugees may shed light on the worldwide challenges of refugees and mass immigration.\nPractical implications: The solutions offered in the paper could improve the cultural competence among all peoples in both nations, better enabling the two countries to provide economically and socially sustainable environments for all of their inhabitants.\nOriginality/value: A comparison of US refugee education with that of a high-volume European host nation does not yet appear to have been published.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Outcomes of public health reform - service availability in rural areas	[ "Public services", "Service delivery", "Public sector reform", "Customer orientation", "Customer surveys" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Public sector organisations have been created to deliver services for the well-being of the populace so that the basic principle is equality before the law and in the eyes of the state (Cordella and Willcocks, 2010; Aaltonen et al., 2013). In this, local or state authorities are responsible for ensuring appropriate access to quality care to every citizen regardless of economic, social, or geographic factors (Costa-Font and Hernandez-Quevedo, 2012). In this paper we investigate subjective views of citizens towards the health and well-being service availability with an approach from a supply and demand perspective. Availability issues in the public services are topical because increasing overall demand resulting from the post-war baby boom requires urgent productivity improvements in public services. As a response, public health management in Northern Europe has applied cost cutting as a solution to the public sector services (Forsberg et al., 2000; Andersen and Jensen, 2010). This recent development is likely to negatively influence the goals of the health care system in the long term because access barriers may increase discrepancies in health care access (Scoggins et al., 2012) and diverge the socioeconomic status between individuals (Kringos et al., 2010). Furthermore, increasing the distance between customer and service sites has a longstanding influence on public health care and demands of the services because low utilisation of health services may delay diagnoses or exclude customers (Goins et al., 2005; Wellstood et al., 2006; Li, 2014).\n2. Health care and well-being services in the European and Finnish context: The sustainability of EU health systems is challenged by demographic changes, including population ageing as a major single factor. By 2025, more than 20 per cent of Europeans will be 65 years or older; ageing will affect all EU countries and most policy areas. To tackle this challenge, EU health strategy aims to support healthy ageing by promoting health throughout the lifespan, prevent health problems and disabilities from an early age, and resolve inequalities in health (Commission on the European Communities, 2007).\n3. Literature review: 3.1. Neighbourhoods\n4. Empirical research: 4.1. Research approach and sample\n5. Results: We used Wilk's criterion (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2013) to assess influences of independent variables in the research model where the neighbourhood (F=3.908, p=0.000) and age group (F=3.277, p=0.000) had statistically significant effects. The test statistics showed that gender (F=2.085, p=0.101) had no statistically significant effect on interactions among independent variables in the overall model. We then investigated each main effect independently to identify the impact of independent variables on dependent variables. Results are summarised in Table IV. We found that perceived availability was influenced only by neighbourhood whereas behavioural intention to use health and welfare service depends also on the respondents' age. Furthermore, all the independent variables have a statistically significant effect on the perceived usefulness of the local services.\n6. Conclusions: 6.1. Concluding remarks\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the availability and demanded locations of health care services in a rural context. The authors analyse subjective experiences because mobility and other individual factors influence the availability of public services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Results from a mail survey in southeastern Finland are presented. Data collection was conducted using a random sample of 3,000 people from age 60 to 90 years. A total of 1,121 valid responses were received.\nFindings: The acceptable distance to service sites depends on learned behaviour where differences exist between suburban and rural residents. The authors found that service networks can be sparser in rural areas if the service sites are located in the daily activity space of the residents and travel burdens caused by distance and time are adequately solved. However, continuous downscaling of the provision may lead to the loss of health benefits which is harmful for individuals and expensive for society.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further research should assess a broader variety of residential areas from the perspective of service availability. The results presented do not enable a direct comparison of the service availability between cities and sparsely populated rural areas.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to the debate on access barriers to public service in rural regions. The question of availability of public services is topical because increasing overall demand requires urgent productivity improvements in public services. Currently this is solved by centralisation to search economies of scale.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Are users competent to comply with information security policies? An analysis of professional competence models	[ "Competences", "Information management", "IT policy", "Security" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Organizations often rely on technical security solutions to protect themselves against information security threats. However, employing only technical countermeasures appears insufficient for eliminating information security risks; on the contrary, scholars are pointing out that a combination of technical and organizational security controls is imperative (Dhillon and Backhouse, 2001; Bulgurcu et al., 2010; D'Arcy and Herath, 2011; Siponen and Vance, 2010). Toward this direction, information security policies (ISPs) compliance research aims at strengthening the organizational aspect of information security by understanding and revealing the factors that motivate individuals to comply with security policies and guidelines.\n2. Background: competency and its effect on individual behavior: On an individual level, competency is used in multiple different disciplines to describe a wide range of characteristics related to job performance (McClelland, 1973). Hereby, job performance is commonly defined as \"the total expected value to the organization of the discrete behavioral episodes that an individual carries out over a standard period of time\" (Motowidlo, 2003, p. 53). Accordingly, job performance describes behaviors prescribed by the role in the organization (Katz and Kahn, 1978). Thus, competency can be understood as characteristics of an individual directly influencing the behavior. However, so far, no consistent understanding of what these characteristics are and no consistent definition of the term competency exist (Schippmann et al., 2000).\n3. Developing an ISP compliance competency model based on ISP compliance literature: 3.1 Selecting the literature\n4. An analysis of competence frameworks with \"an eye\" on ISP compliance competencies: 4.1 Selecting the frameworks\n5. ISP compliance competencies: new contributions for research and practice: In order to explore what are the necessary competencies for ISP compliance, we analyzed existing ISP compliance theories and determined an ISP compliance competency model. The IS stakeholders that are required to comply with ISPs are individuals of various professions and organizational roles. Therefore, one would expect that professional competence frameworks would promote IT and ISP compliance competencies. In order to explore if competency frameworks do so, we analyzed recognized competence schemes with the \"eye\" to IT and security competences. Our findings indicate the existence of a research and practice gap: on the one hand, ISP compliance research implies that IS users perform activities that require certain competencies, but on the other hand competency frameworks in various professions do not promote those ISP compliance competencies. IS literature also lacks studies explaining what are the information security competencies that non-IT personnel should acquire. Therefore, our findings offer new contributions and implications for research and practice, which we analyze next in detail.\n6. Conclusions: ISP compliance has received great attention by organizations, especially given that information security breaches caused by human threats are common. In today's consumerization era, in which personal and professional IT of end users are blended (Gannon, 2013), the end users have a strong role in protecting information security in organizations. A wide stream of research explains individual behavior with regards to ISP compliance and identifies the factors that influence compliance and non-compliance behaviors. In this paper, we take into account these factors and we reveal what competencies are associated with users' decisions about complying or not with a security policy. Based on our analysis, we also offer an indicative ISP compliance competency framework. Having those competencies identified, we also examined if top management had paid attention to those competencies when shaping the profile of their employees in the various professions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Information security policies (ISPs) are used by organizations to communicate rules on the use of information systems (IS). Research studies show that compliance with the ISPs is not a straightforward issue and that several factors influence individual behavior toward ISP compliance, such as security awareness or individual perception of security threats. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the competencies associated with users' ISP compliance behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In order to reveal the competencies that are associated with the users' ISP compliance behavior, the authors systematically analyze the ISP compliance literature and the authors develop an ISP compliance competency model. The authors then target to explore if IS users are equipped with these competencies; to do so, the authors analyze professional competence models from various industry sectors and compare the competencies that they include with the developed ISP compliance competencies.\nFindings: The authors identify the competencies associated with ISP compliance and the authors provide evidence on the lack of attention in information security responsibilities demonstrated in professional competence frameworks.\nResearch limitations/implications: ISP compliance research has focused on identifying the antecedents of ISP compliance behavior. The authors offer an ISP compliance competency model and guide researchers in investigating the issue further by focusing on the professional competencies that are necessary for IS users.\nPractical implications: The findings offer new contributions to practitioners by highlighting the lack of attention on the information security responsibilities demonstrated in professional competence frameworks. The paper also provides implications for the design of information security awareness programs and information security management systems in organizations.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, the paper is the first study that addresses ISP compliance behavior from a professional competence perspective.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impact of reverse logistics on supply chain performance	[ "Supply chain management", "Logistics management", "Sustainability", "Reverse logistics", "Closed-loop supply chain", "Bullwhip effect" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The concept of sustainability is of growing interest in the last two decades among policy makers, the popular press and scientific journals in various technical fields (Linton et al., 2007). The scarcity of resources, problems with pollution caused by industrialized countries (Tahvonen, 2000) and the environmental, social and economic uncertainty of recent years (Schneider et al., 2010) have led many researchers to address the issue of sustainable development from many points of view. European Union (EU) legislation has highlighted the importance of products recovery and recycling. Different directives have been released in the last ten years for regulating waste management policies. From an operations management point of view, closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs) represent one of the main supply chain (SC) structures that received great interest from both industry and academic worlds. Research on reverse logistics and CLSCs is considerably increasing because tightly linked with industrial ecology (Adenso-Diaz et al., 2012; Carter and Easton, 2011; Mollenkopf et al., 2011; Georgiadis and Besiou, 2010; Nasr and Thurston, 2006; Rubio et al., 2008) and the development of new strategies (Skinner et al., 2008). Products recovery and reuse reduce the negative effects on environment, mainly reducing waste disposal, extraction of raw materials and transport and distribution emissions. Furthermore, firms can recover value from end-of-life products by reusing components, recycling materials or recovering energy through incineration (Kleindorfer et al., 2005). Finally, reverse logistics practices can reduce the customer\n2 Theoretical background: Sustainability has been defined as \"the potential for reducing long-term risks associated with resource depletion, fluctuations in energy costs, product liabilities, and pollution and waste management\" (Shrivastava, 1995).\n3 Problem statement: Although reverse logistics increases the total cost of ownership (Tibben-Lembke, 1998), benefits of adopting reverse logistics and CLSC have been largely demonstrated in the literature. For example, economical sustainability of a CLSC has been assessed by Georgiadis and Besiou (2010) and greenhouse gas emission reduction in CLSC has been proved by Paksoy et al. (2011). Also, good reverse logistics practices can make a firm more competitive by reducing the customer\n4 The CLSC model: We choose to limit our analysis to a single-echelon system (Figure 3), because the analysis of more complex models on one hand allows obtaining a better representation of reality, but on the other side it introduces some difficulties to really understand which variables have a strong impact on the results. Specifically, we use a math model to describe a CLSC (Rogers et al., 2012). In our model a manufacturer places orders to an external raw materials supplier (with unconstrained capacity) and provides new products to the marketplace. A remanufacturer collects a k-percentage of used products from customers to make them \"as good as new\" and then reintroducing them on manufacturer\n5 Experimental design and numerical results: To fulfil the research objective, we adopt the design of experiment approach. DOE lets investigate which factors influence the performance of the SC. We initialize our model by setting parameters as follows:\n6 Findings and contributions: We summarize the main findings of this paper as follows:\n7 Conclusions: The increasing importance of operations that allow \"greening\" the SC in managerial practices is mainly due to the EU legislation and the ambitious targets that European directives impose to companies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of reverse logistics on order and inventory variance amplification in a single-echelon supply chain (SC) and to propose a new order policy for dampening such amplification.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A general review of the literature on sustainable operations and on the impact of reverse logistics on SC performance provides the foundation for the study. The authors use difference equation math approach for modelling and analysing a closed SC. A proper design of experiment and data collected from the European Union statistics validate the obtained numerical results.\nFindings: The variability of reverse flow in a closed loop SC increases the serviceable inventory variance. However, a proper design of the reverse flow considerably improves the global performance. To this purpose, the authors propose a new order policy, namely R-APIOBPCS, which explicitly considers the reverse flow of products.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper presents a math model describing a closed loop supply chain (CLSC). No empirical analysis is provided. Future researches should evaluate the impact of the proposed R-APIOBPCS on more realistic closed loop SC models.\nPractical implications: The paper\nOriginality/value: The authors propose a novel replenishment rule that accurately coordinates the upstream and downstream flows in a SC. The proposed order policy can be reasonably considered one of the advocated managerial tools for the proper management of reverse logistics: it allows reducing inventory and limiting the variability of the orders placed to suppliers in SC with reverse logistics.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Competence-based vocational education and training (VET): An approach of shaping and networking	[ "Digital media", "Networking", "Learning project", "Shaping-/competence-based", "Vocational education and training (VET)", "Vocational science" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Vocational education and training (VET) in Germany is consciously and reasonably expected to shape the industry, economy and other social conditions. Therefore, recent developments in VET are put to test from this perspective. This paper argues for a vocational scientific constructivist approach. It leads to work-based, shaping competence-based and networked VET. Experiences from (inter)national research and development (R&D) projects at Rostock University justify this approach.\nTheoretical basics for a shaping competence-based and networked VET: A vocational scientific position is fundamental for a VET concept which is based on work and working processes. This position is distinguished from hermeneutic, empirical analytical and dialectical sciences. Instead, it is described with keywords from constructivist approaches and action sciences. Primarily work is regarded to be constitutive in VET which is implemented in social and economic conditions. The collaboration between education, society, work and, for example, applied technology needs to be considered (Figure 1).\nThe main idea of networked (co-)shaping: Shaping competence is based on the creative quality of self-dependent action and on the content of individual leeway (Rauner, 2006, p. 57). Richter and Meyer (2004, p. 23) understand shaping competence as own actions that purposefully act on the personal, vocational and social environment and shape those. Therefore, it is necessary to look for alternatives, to estimate consequences of own actions and to decide on any procedure based on a justified evaluation. A competence to (co-)shape cannot be acquired as long as activity orientation is seen as a didactic methodical equipment to make refresher trainings more effective (Rauner, 2006, p. 56). Learners should always consider alternative learning tasks, explore alternative solutions and test them, if possible. This enables them to learn how to (co-)shape and not only to act. The educator should offer adequate teaching and learning tasks, contents, methods and media. Hence, it is important to discuss the aim of the action, alternative possibilities of action and to justify them. Possibilities to reach these aims need to be discussed, and decisions need to be made. Here, shaping competence is understood as a polyvalent possibility to solve tasks in working processes. It should contribute to balance existing conditions and possible consequences of work/working process to decide for and follow justified alternatives. The explanation and solving of central learning tasks is pivotal in the intended learning. The collaboration is important during the problem-solving process of the combined tasks. This constitutes a networked teaching and learning benefiting from the usage and shaping of digital media.\nSystematic planning, implementation and evaluation of learning projects: The previous discussion raises the question how shaping competence can be acquired. The six phases of a learning process from the model of complete action (Hahne, 2000, p. 34) are used. The key factors are learning tasks being real and relevant for working processes. Learning tasks need to be adapted to support shaping competence-based learning. They need to be revealed concerning useful development, openness of outcome, sustainability and shaping potential (Becker, 2013, pp. 11-12).\nAn exemplary learning project: real menu and digital menu card: Learning projects are able to network vocational learning in different places of learning. They can be useful to support shaping competence-based learning. The inclusion of digital media can strengthen shaping competence-based and networked processes. Digital media must be user-friendly, curricular and integrated didactically and methodically. An exemplary learning project conducting 2015 during the EMAG project will be outlined. It was planned, executed and evaluated according to the described seven-step method.\nConclusion and prospects: VET needs to change and to re-orientate in Germany as well as in all other countries sooner or later. The essay argued for a vocational scientific constructivist approach. This approach leads to work-based, shaping competence-based and networked VET. The suggested approach should not only enable learners to adapt to expectations of companies and others. Rather, it should aim at actual education. Learners acquire a competence independently active, self-consciously and reasonably to shape work within the context of social development ideas. The main facts of the developed VET concept were outlined and motivated. The desired teaching and learning approach was outlined exemplarily. It was suggested how the expected teaching and learning could be planned, executed and evaluated. Special attention was paid to cognitive possibilities and possibilities for shaping being supported by digital media. Previous experiences from (inter)national learning projects were mentioned and were put up for further discussion. The mentioned ideas on shaping competence-based and networked teaching and learning need to be discussed further. Additional testing in practical teaching and learning situations is necessary.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a vocational scientific constructivist concept meant for shaping competence-based and networked teaching and learning in vocational education and training (VET).\nDesign/methodology/approach: VET must enable learners to shape work within the context of conceptions based on the development of society. Refresher trainings cannot realise this. Concepts need a shaping competence-based and networked approach. Teaching and learning networks, learning projects and digital media are the keys to this approach.\nFindings: The focus of the planned concept lies on shaping competence-based teaching and learning. This can be realised with innovative teaching and learning networks. Digital media can support this. The planned concept will be justified. The systematic planning of an exemplary learning project will be discussed.\nPractical implications: This paper lays the ground to evaluate the relevance and range of shaping competence-based and networked teaching and learning.\nOriginality/value: The concept was (co-)developed by the University of Rostock. It was tested in first learning projects. These experiences are taken into account. The aim is to emphasise that the intended approach is a justified educational strategy in colleges, companies and other places of learning dealing with VET.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Manifestations of social class and agency in cultural capital development processes: An empirical study of Turkish migrant women entrepreneurs in Sweden	[ "Immigrants", "Identity", "Human capital", "Women entrepreneurs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Migrant women entrepreneurs (MWE) have been studied extensively through the lenses of gender and ethnicity in entrepreneurship and migrant enterprise literature (Chreim et al., 2018; Essers and Benschop, 2007). Still, emerging studies show that there is a room for developing the existing analyses by contextualising diverse experiences of ethnic groups (Ram et al., 2008) and intra-ethnic variations (Vershinina et al., 2011) to articulate the multiple routes (Collins and Low, 2010) and outcomes of migrant enterprise (Romero and Valdez, 2016). Building on that, this study suggests that the observed diversity of routes, paths and outcomes among MWE stems not only from structural powers and resources, but also from the shared patterns of the individual entrepreneur's life trajectories. Therefore, this study brings forward the importance of a focussed analysis on the micro-theoretical level of migrant businesses to address the dynamic and interlinked relationship between individual, group and structural imperatives (Ram et al., 2017). Taking a step further, the study grasps these relations by going beyond the informal sphere of migrant community, and the formal sphere of markets or the regulatory environment and by linking them with the individual entrepreneur's agency.\nTheoretical framework: Bourdieu's practice theory, capital development approaches and entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship studies have increasingly focused on the social, discursive and material effects of social class underpinning entrepreneurial processes (Anderson and Miller, 2003; Gill, 2014; Knight, 2016). As one of the earliest accounts, Schumpeter (1955), for example, suggested that, \"class members look out into the same segment of the world, with the same eyes, from the same viewpoint, in the same direction\" (p. 107). Despite having been suspended for a long time, class analysis was recently revived within entrepreneurship studies. Gill (2014) exhibited the implicit and contradictory logic of entrepreneurial discourse underpinned by class in the USA. She argued that while entrepreneurial success was examined in terms of individualised resources, their collective and historical transfer mechanisms were ignored. This way, class discourse operated as if entrepreneurship was open to everyone, yet only a few of those who started up their businesses were rewarded. In a similar vein, Anderson and Miller (2003) showed that chances of acquiring the necessary resources, growth and profitability prospects would vary in relation to their founders' classed positions in the social strata. Also, applying a gender approach, some studies have examined how entrepreneurs' access to certain classed resources, brought different experiences in opportunity recognition (Karatas-Ozkan and Chell, 2015), business ownership and performance (Fletschner and Carter, 2008; Shaw et al., 2009). In a recent study, Villares-Varela (2018) showed that the migrant women's enterprising efforts helped to reproduce, instead of challenge middle- and working-class migrant women's distinctive forms of class-based femininities and inequalities differently. Moreover, Knight (2016) showed that middle-class MWE with high cultural, e.g., highly educated and professional ones, found it particularly difficult to legitimate their knowledge-intensive and professional businesses in interacting with important resource holders. This study aims to expand these emerging insights basically drawing on Bourdieu's class analysis, adopting concepts such as field, habitus and forms of capital.\nMethodological approach: The life stories are considered as keys to open the black boxes of the processual dynamics of MWE's lives, as each life story provides a link between \"the migrant agent and the structure of society\" (Lutz, 1995, p. 314).\nIntroducing MWE: connecting the individual with collective histories of gender, ethnicity and class: The study brings forward three distinctive habitus of MWE drawn from a synopsis of their life trajectories as described below.\nSites of investments: acquisition and conversion of forms of cultural capital: The capital development practices of these women were closely associated with their classed habitus. In realizing their opportunities, various forms of capital played a central role in women's lives in general and in their entrepreneurial efforts in particular.\nSites of distinction: matter of concerns and imagined futures: Almost all women in this study claimed distinctions by attributing certain qualities to themselves, their manners, attitudes and resources or to their customers, products or social relations. The migrant women primarily claimed distinctions in terms of professional or business conducts and ethics. Mine reflects such an approach:People coming here [...] still the same thing happens [...] people who have a certain level of mindset and education come here [...] it is important that a person who serves her customers has to have similar cultural and educational capital with them [...] At that period, it was more like that, a job elite people do, I mean.Author: You mean people coming from higher classes become your customers?M: No, I don't think it is about class, people with ragged clothes come here as well, but they usually have a certain level of education and a sense of caring about themselves!\nDiscussions: This study focuses on the cultural capital development processes of MWE as an important, but often less regarded source of their emancipation. It reveals how class and gendered and/or ethno-centred habitus would shape the process through empirical analysis of 17 MWE. The focus on the life stories of MWE is to capture cultural and symbolic capital that spans a person's whole life trajectory and the experience (Lamont and Lareau, 1988), and movement across different social fields (Emirbayer and Johnson, 2008). This way, it allows for a diverse sampled group of MWE as often underestimated (Aygoren and Wilinska, 2013). Such a diverse community enabled to record thick descriptions for the cultural configuration of class in the distinctive narratives and vocabularies of MWE. It demonstrates how class, even without being explicitly mentioned, has actually been central to women's migration and entrepreneurship experiences. Additionally, by maintaining different class positions in the social strata they displayed different responses to their circumstances, i.e. what to do and who to be (Bourdieu, 1990).\nConclusion: This study provides important implications for approaching migrant and women entrepreneurship. Attention to women biographies in individual basis proved to be crucial in showing the futility of speaking about the cultural or social capital of an ethnic group such as the Turkish community or a culture as they greatly undermined the intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic hierarchical relations and distinctions (Vershinina et al., 2011). It also shows the diversity in women's migration and entrepreneurship experiences and heterogeneity in institutional engagements (Ahl and Marlow, 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: While migrant women entrepreneurs (MWE) have been studied extensively through the lenses of gender and ethnicity, social class, as an axis of difference, received scant attention in entrepreneurship and migrant enterprise literature. The purpose of this paper is to make an intersectional analysis on migrant women's cultural capital development processes on the basis of not only gender and ethnicity, but also class relations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study draws on empirical insights generated through listening to the life story narratives of 17 women entrepreneurs from Turkey. This is a small, yet diverse group consisting of women who followed their male kin who have migrated to Sweden in the late 1960s as a labour force, and of highly educated political refugee women who have migrated to Sweden following the military coup in Turkey in the 1980s.\nFindings: By linking pre-migration and post-migration lives through Bourdieusian class analysis, the analysis yielded three distinct types of habitus of the women-intersectional identity constructed through interweaving of certain historical and cultural practices and conditions, labelled as women (immigrant) entrepreneurs, migrant (women) entrepreneurs and hybrid entrepreneurs. Life stories demonstrated the ways the MWE relationally defined, and in turn, contested being the right kind of entrepreneur drawing on their type of habitus and forms of cultural capital within the rules of the game in the specific context of entrepreneurship.\nOriginality/value: This study shows how MWE generate diverse, yet at times similar, but historically and culturally conditioned responses in actively shaping the relationship between entrepreneurial resources and context-specific structural powers and aspects. This way, the study calls for enriching the extant debate on migrant women entrepreneurship in two ways. First, it suggests that the strategic fit between resources and opportunities does not entail an automatic and arbitrary process. Rather, it takes an effort and contestation carried out by the entrepreneurial actors, among whom the individual entrepreneur is the primary actor. In particular, it draws attention to the conditions of possibilities for agency as a result of struggle and intersectional power relations: social class, ethnicity and gender, which provide a differential degree of powers to the individual entrepreneur.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Supply chain sales forecasting based on lightGBM and LSTM combination model	[ "Supply chain", "Deep learning", "Gradient boosting machine", "Sale forecast" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Highlights:\n1. Introduction: In recent years, the development of e-commerce and logistics industry has changed the scope and speed of supply chain demand. In order to consolidate competitive advantages and seize market, enterprises must respond quickly to customer demand. However, due to the intricate social relationships and the ever-changing market demand, the uncertainty has increased, leading to excessive costs for companies in the supply chain. How to effectively manage supply chain demand is the focus of every member in the supply chain. With the rapid development of big data and AI, using big data analysis and algorithm technology to accurately forecast the long-term sales of goods will provide the database for the supply chain and key technical support for enterprises to establish supply chain solutions.\n2. Related work: In this section, we provide some previous works on supply chain sales forecasting.\n3. Proposed method: The structure of our model is shown in Figure 1. It is mainly divided into two parts: data processing and combination model. Please read the caption of Figure 1 for the pipeline. We will discuss our reason behind these design choices in separate sections below.\n4. Experiments: After data processing and model building, we conducted experiments to evaluate the performance of the model. The experiment is divided into three parts. First, we show the prediction accuracy of our model using different feature sets on different data sets, and analyze the results. Second, we analyze the efficiency of the model. Finally, we show the model's interpretability.\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, we summarize the method of judging the effective features of data, data cleaning and constructing feature engineering through the visual analysis of supply chain data. Then we use a combined model based on LightGBM and LSTM to forecast supply chain sales. Experiments show that the feature engineering the combined model can forecast supply chain sales accurately and efficiently, and the predicted results are interpretable, which is of great significance to improve the operation and production mode, daily management, price management and precise marketing of enterprise supply chain.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to design a model that can accurately forecast the supply chain sales.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper proposed a new model based on lightGBM and LSTM to forecast the supply chain sales. In order to verify the accuracy and efficiency of this model, three representative supply chain sales data sets are selected for experiments.\nFindings: The experimental results show that the combined model can forecast supply chain sales with high accuracy, efficiency and interpretability.\nPractical implications: With the rapid development of big data and AI, using big data analysis and algorithm technology to accurately forecast the long-term sales of goods will provide the database for the supply chain and key technical support for enterprises to establish supply chain solutions. This paper provides an effective method for supply chain sales forecasting, which can help enterprises to scientifically and reasonably forecast long-term commodity sales.\nOriginality/value: The proposed model not only inherits the ability of LSTM model to automatically mine high-level temporal features, but also has the advantages of lightGBM model, such as high efficiency, strong interpretability, which is suitable for industrial production environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
2050: New Zealand's sustainable future	[ "Tourism", "Maori", "Identity", "Scenario planning", "Futures" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground to the study: New Zealand's sustainable future: In New Zealand, tourism is a key contributor the country's economy and employment. In 2013, tourism generated 3.7 per cent of direct contribution to New Zealand's GDP, amounting to $7.3 billion, while indirect value added of industries supporting tourism generated an additional $9.8 billion to tourism. In addition, a total of 110,800 full-time equivalent employees have been employed within the tourism industry, accounting for 4.9 per cent of New Zealand's total employment (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, 2014). Tourism is one of New Zealand's top export earners, contributing 5.7 per cent of the country's total exports on goods and services. These statistics illustrate the key role tourism plays within the wider New Zealand's economy. However, in light of global economic turbulence, environmental issues, emerging markets and changing consumer attitudes, managing sustainability is critical to the continual growth of the industry. Currently, Tourism New Zealand's \"100% Pure\" branding highlights its high dependence on its natural environment and unique Maori culture. Its ability to fulfil its product promise of a \"100% Pure\" experience should result in positive word-of-mouth, repeat visitation and thus, positive economic benefits. But what is the future? The New Zealand Tourism Framework (http://tourism2025.org.nz/) sets out an ambitious agenda to grow the economic value of tourism to $NZ 21 billion by 2025 at a growth rate of 6 per cent per annum (Wallace and Riley, 2014). However, the tourism framework is a neoliberal document shaped by business and is void of the words such as sustainability and the environment (Yeoman, 2015). So, is there an alternative?\nResearch methodology: Overview\nScenarios for a sustainable tourism future: Scenario matrix explained\nScenarios for the New Zealand's sustainable future: Figure 3, The Scenario Matrix depicts the two polar outcomes of the selected drivers Cultural Identity and Environmental. The vertical axis depicts a situation of overflow of migrants in New Zealand and how it could potentially impact on New Zealand cultural identity, thus causing dilution. The horizontal axis takes into consideration two extremes of the environment within tourism. At one end, New Zealand's environment would be placed under tremendous pressure as it would be unable to cope with climate change, resulting in a situation of resource scarcity. On the other hand, there would be a more positive scenario where New Zealand would be able to cope with the current environmental issues, resulting in environmental sustainability which reflects an abundance of resources. In the cause-and-effect relationship between both drivers, four different scenarios are created. The following four scenarios were created through exploring the interaction between both drivers and the potential outcomes of it:\nWhat does this all mean for sustainability in New Zealand?: Significant questions\nConcluding thoughts: Sustainability is recognised as an important element in the development of New Zealand's tourism. The chosen drivers reflect the importance of New Zealand's pristine landscape and unique Maori culture as a core tourism product. As Blanke and Chiesa (2014, p. 46) state that:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to portray the future of tourism in New Zealand based upon a philosophy of sustainability and cultural identity as a response to the present 2025 Tourism Strategy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research deployed a scenario planning methodology resulting in four portraits of the future.\nFindings: Environmental issues and global migration are the key issues that will shape the future of New Zealand tourism. In order to address these issues four scenarios were constructed. New Zealand Wonderland portrays a future based upon a grounded international reputation for environmentalism driven by good governance, climate change targets and ecotourism. Indiana Jones and the Search for Cultural Identity position a future driven by rapid growth and unregulated air travel resulting in environmental degradation. A Peaceful Mixture is a balance of socio-cultural and environmental dimensions of sustainability at the centre of a tourism product shaped upon Maori culture and economic prosperity. The final scenario, New Zealand in Depression, is the worst possible outcome for New Zealand's tourism industry as the three dimensions of economy, community, and environment are not at equilibrium. New Zealand would be over-polluted with an uncontrolled number of migrants.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research was a social construction of ten experts' views on the future of sustainable tourism.\nOriginality/value: New Zealand's present approach to the future of tourism is shaped by the 2025 Tourism Framework (http://tourism2025.org.nz/). This is derived from a business perspective and a neoliberal political philosophy and it is void of the words ecotourism and sustainability. This paper argues that the present strategy will fail because of community disengagement that proposes a range of alternative directions based upon a political discourse of sustainability and shaped by environmental credentials and cultural identity.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Front-line service managers' misbehaviour and disengagement: the elephant in the store?	[ "Line managers", "Food retail" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper builds on the extensive literature on sociology of service work and re-visits discussions on managerial work, seeking to re-examine the front-line service manager's (FLSM henceforth) position within the service triangle, the organization of the (front-line) managerial labour process and to understand the power dynamics within this role. It seeks to explore the FLSMs' experiences on the sharp-end, what they do and how they react towards the triangular power structure in food retailing and to understand the \"pragmatic and contested realities of front-line customer service management\" (Bolton and Houlihan, 2010, p. 399; Lloyd and Payne, 2014; Lopez, 2010). The paper challenges the assumed unitarist and \"consensus\" standing point for FLSMs in organizations (Gilbert et al., 2015; Van Waeyenberg and Decramer, 2018) and brings forward questions of agency that remain under-developed by scholars, unveiling \"stories of battles\" (as Bolton and Houlihan (2010, p. 397) call them). Calling on Geare et al.'s (2014) call for HRM research to embrace a pluralist analysis, this study recognizes the plurality of interests within the employment relationship, as well as across the different levels of management, placing emphasis on the importance of FLSMs' insights. The paper examines FLSMs as \"misbehaving agents\" (Willmott, 1997, p. 1338), a question that lacks empirical evidence as it is only superficially addressed in resistance and managerial studies.\nFLSMs muddling in the middle: powerlessness and resistance?: Industrial sociologists have long discussed the contradictory pressures from above and below, with supervisors being \"trapped\" as a middle strata worker between labour and management. On the one hand, they interact daily with the workers they supervise, but they are also part of the management team, receiving orders from their superiors, and experiencing pressures to conscientiously act in favour of the management (Child and Partridge, 1982). However, as Willmott (1997, p. 1340) fruitfully recognizes, \"managers are not judgmental ropes who slavishly perform the functions of the capital\". The author, following Braverman's argument that management itself is a labour process, describes managers as misbehaving agents, whose labour power is deployed to supervise the worker's labour process (to secure capital accumulation), but at the same time it is similarly commodified and subjected to the disciplines of capital accumulation (p. 1338).\nMethodology: The paper calls on qualitative data from two case study organizations in the Cyprus food-retail sector, during a period of austerity when Cyprus was facing recessionary pressures. This sector provides an interesting site of investigation. Traditionally dominated by home-grown grocers, the market has faced dramatic changes in the past decade with multinational grocery and discount retailers entering the market. This, in addition to the recession in the country, has generated pressures for cost-cutting practices and led to an intensive price war and measures by organizations to reduce labour costs, as well as pressures for customer retention. This has led to further developing service cultures containing the values of \"the customer is king\" and the intensification of front-line managers' and employees' work.\nThe front-line management role: expansion and intensity: The data reveal similar operational and managerial tasks and responsibilities for FLSMs in similar departments across the two organizations. For example, shop floor managers (food and non-food sections) were responsible for monitoring product stocking, displaying prices and offers and stock management, whilst also being held accountable for incomplete tasks and issues on the shop floor.\nOppositional actions and disengagement by front-line managers: The multiple responsibilities devolved to the front-line evidently generated feelings of pressure for FLSMs. Interestingly, the data revealed that FLSMs utilized various tactics to oppose the increasing workload and the expansion of their role. The data also highlighted the difference in tactics used by checkout and shop floor workers to mitigate the impact of these additional responsibilities. The paper below classifies these tactics using the four dimensions of misbehaviour (Ackroyd and Thompson, 1999), namely, appropriation of time, work, product and identity. Appropriation of time and work are analyzed as synonymous concepts as the tactics included in these two categories can overlap (Thompson, 2016).\nDiscussion and conclusion: This paper supports but seeks to go beyond Bolton and Houlihan's (2010) argument that FLSMs are not without agency. It provides a rich empirical resource on FLSMs' oppositional actions for scholars, contributing to sociological debates related to front-line service managerial work and organizational misbehaviour. Although the concept of misbehaviour has been widely applied to employees, here an account of \"managerial misbehaviour\" is shown to be a useful addition in understanding the actions of FLSMs within the triangular service relationship, a theme that has been largely neglected in management and labour process literature.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to revisit discussions on managerial work, seeking to re-examine the front-line service manager's position within the service triangle, and bring forward questions of agency that remain under-developed by scholars. Challenging the assumed unitarist and \"consensus\" standing point in organizations it recognizes that front-line managers, similarly to their subordinates, resist corporate demands and unveils stories of \"battles\" and disengagement towards their role, providing a rich empirical agenda regarding managerial misbehaviour. In order to explore front-line managers' agency issues, the paper adopts the framework of the dimensions of misbehaviour, as developed by Ackroyd and Thompson (1999), to capture and to better describe and understand the recalcitrant agential practices by front-line managers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper calls on qualitative data from two case study organizations in the Cyprus food-retail sector. In total, 46 interviews took place with participants across different departments and different management levels. This aimed for a better and deeper understanding of the research problem through understanding of the different perspectives.\nFindings: The evidence reveals the intensification of FLSMs' work and their feelings of pressure. FLSMs, however, did not stay apathetic and have utilized tactics to oppose the increasing workload and the expansion of their role. The paper classifies these tactics using the four dimensions of misbehaviour (Ackroyd and Thompson, 1999), namely, appropriation of time; work, product and identity. It shows that FLSMs not only resist corporate demands, like their subordinates, but also devised practices which are similar to workers. The data also reveal a variety in actions of misbehaviour between FLSMs depending on the level of customer interaction and their mobility on the shop floor.\nResearch limitations/implications: Students of managerial work overlooked the political realities of management and the contested nature of (front-line service) management work. As this study has shown FLSMs across the shop floor strongly identify more with \"front-line employees\" than senior management, protecting their own interests within the employment relationship via oppositional actions and disengagement. FLSM is, of course, in an agency relationship with capital; however, this neglects the heterogeneity in interests at different levels of management. This paper shifts the focus of management research away from the traditional agency argument and discusses FLSMs as \"misbehaving agents\". It challenges the assumed unitarist and \"consensus\" standing point for FLSMs in organizations and calls HRM scholars to embrace a pluralist analysis in line management research.\nPractical implications: This research shows that FLSMs misbehave as an expression of discontent towards the expansion and intensification of their role. Yet, the data reveal variation in the organization of FLSMs' work across the shop floor and consequently variation in their actions of misbehaviour. This suggests that it is erroneous to presume a similar labour process for these managers and/or over-generalize their battling actions. HR practitioners will need to re-examine the roles of FLSMs in organizations, recognize the variety of interests within management, step away from rhetoric discourses of unproblematic devolvement of HR and managerial tasks to the front-line and appropriately review, redesign and re-organize front-line managerial work.\nSocial implications: Although research has fruitfully located the powerlessness of front-line managers as a central theme in their analysis, the complexity of the front-line management position within the social relations of interactive service work and their \"logic of action\" within their labour process remains a relatively marginal theme in research. Indeed, FLSMs' position within the triangle, where managerial work is subject to degradation and trilateral conflicting dynamics and their battles within their own labour process, still remains under-explored. This study addresses this research lacuna focusing on the FLSMs' experiences on the front-end and their actions of misbehaviour within their labour process.\nOriginality/value: The paper brings forward questions of agency that remain under-developed by scholars and unveils \"stories of battles\". It discusses FLSMs as \"misbehaving agents\" a question that is only superficially addressed in resistance and managerial studies. This paper challenges the embedded HRM unitarist assumption that FLSMs are conscientiously agents of the capital and reveals evidence suggesting the plurality of interests across management. HRM scholars, especially those discussed line managers as HRM partners, have overestimated FLSMs' identification with senior management and the strategic goals of the organization. As this study has shown FLSMs across the shop floor strongly identify with \"front-line employees\", protecting their own interests within the employment relationship via oppositional actions and disengagement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Intention to use mobile customer relationship management systems	[ "Mobile technology", "Personal innovativeness", "Perceived risk", "Technology Acceptance Model", "CRM system", "Perceived reachability in the domain of IT", "B2B sales" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Marketing Science Institute (MSI) identifies mobile platforms and their impact on the operation of markets as a key research priority (Marketing Science Institute (MSI), 2012). Specifically, the MSI calls for research on the use of business-to-business (B2B) applications in sales force management. Previous research suggests that adoption of sales force automation (SFA) systems is a two-stage process that starts with an organization deciding to adopt a SFA system, and ends with the decision of the individual salesperson to adopt the technology or not (Basole et al., 2013). Most research on the adoption of SFA from a salesperson's perspective has started from the perspective of technology adoption theories such as Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and its modifications (Buttle et al., 2006). However, research dealing with mobile SFA system adoption is in its infancy. From the sales force management perspective, the terms \"mobile SFA\" and \"mobile customer relationship management (CRM)\" both refer to a means of providing the members of the sales force with access to enterprise data such as customer and product information, orders and sales pipeline information irrespective of their location. Such salespeople should also be able to use a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet to access their company's CRM system and update information. The interest in this paper is in examining a salesperson's intention to access and update a CRM system via a mobile application.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses development: Traditionally, the adoption of mobile technology has been investigated through the TAM (Davis, 1989; Davis et al., 1989) and its modifications such as TAM2 (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Similar theoretical foundations have been used to explain the acceptance of SFA (Buttle et al., 2006; Schillewaert et al., 2005). This stream of literature suggests that a salesperson's adoption of SFA is a function of usefulness and ease of use, which together influence the attitude to using the system, which in turn affects the intention to use it (Avlonitis and Panagopoulos, 2005). Additionally, research has identified various other antecedents to intention, such as intrapersonal attributes like innovativeness; facilitating conditions (such as availability of training and technical support); and the expectations of salespeople relating to the implementation of the technology (Buttle et al., 2006).\n3. Methodology: We collected data through an online survey targeted at sales managers of five B2B firms in Finland: four were industrial firms representing the pulp and paper industry, power solutions and renewable energy, and one was an education services firm. The firms represented industries where the primary means of communicating with customers was through salespeople. Moreover these five firms met consumer needs with a wide variety of products and were also partners in a two-year university research project dealing with B2B digital marketing, and were planning to implement mobile SFA technology. In summer 2012, sales managers in the participating firms were sent an e-mail explaining the purpose of the research with a link to the online survey. The e-mail generated 105 responses: a response rate of approximately 50 percent. Comparisons of early (n=25) and late (n=25) respondents revealed no significant differences in the item means, signifying the absence of nonresponse bias. The sample respondents were predominantly male (88 percent), and their ages ranged from 24 to 65 (with a mean age of 45). The respondents had been with their firm for an average of 14 years and were working in 33 different countries. Slightly over half (52 percent) of the respondents represented the pulp and paper industry, around one-third (33 percent) were from the power solutions firm, 10 percent from the renewable energy firm and 5 percent from the education services business.\n4. Results: The respondents were experienced users of mobile technology as 85 percent of the respondents used smartphones in their free time, and slightly over half (53 percent) used tablets on a daily basis. Thus, the respondents had sufficient experience of mobile devices and services to provide reliable answers to the survey. It appears that a laptop is currently the mobile device most often used to access a company's CRM system (87 percent usage). Only 7 percent had used smartphones and 4 percent tablets for accessing the CRM system. In response to the question \"what mobile device would you like to use to access the CRM?\" on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all willing) to 7 (extremely willing), the responses suggested that a tablet PC (mean=5.82) was the most preferred, followed by a laptop (mean=5.65) and then a smartphone (mean=4.86). In total 78 percent were willing or extremely willing to use tablet PCs, 70 percent willing or extremely willing to use laptops and 50 percent willing or extremely willing to use smartphones to access their company's CRM system. In addition, close to three out of four (74 percent) were at least somewhat likely to use their company's CRM system more actively if they had more developed mobile devices to use.\n5. Discussion: In response to the calls for research on mobile technology in B2B settings (MSI, 2012), we examined sales managers' intention to adopt mobile CRM systems in the course of their work and incorporated personal innovativeness in the domain of IT, perceived risk and perceived reachability within an extended TAM. We find that perceived innovativeness, perceived risk, and perceived reachability, alongside the well-known TAM constructs, are important drivers of mobile CRM system adoption among B2B sales managers. The majority of our findings are in line with prior studies such as those dealing with the adoption of mobile technology (Kim and Garrison, 2009; Lee and Park, 2008), with two notable exceptions. First, we did not find support for the relationships between PI and PU and between perceived risk and intention. A possible explanation could be that PI was found to affect PU only through PEOU. Second, the lack of a link between perceived risk and intention can be explained by the fact that adoption of new technology is affected more by other factors (see DelVecchio and Smith, 2005; Hirunyawipada and Paswan, 2006). In addition, as our respondents did not perceive much risk related to mobile devices and applications, the perception of risk may not have much to do with intention.\n6. Conclusions: The objective of the study was to extend and contextualize the TAM framework into the mobile CRM adoption context. We extended TAM by incorporating three key constructs: personal innovativeness in the domain of IT, perceived risk and perceived reachability. We tested our model on a sample of 105 sales managers from five B2B firms. The results demonstrated that our extended model was better able to explain adoption behaviors, thus providing support for the extended TAM model in the mobile context. Specifically, we find that PIIT and PR have significant effects on the TAM framework. Overall, the findings extend our understanding of the adoption of mobile CRM systems among B2B sales managers and provide practical insights into the behaviors of salespeople.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the behavioral intentions of business-to-business (B2B) sales managers to use mobile customer relationship management (CRM) systems in the course of their day-to-day activities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) of mobile CRM system adoption is developed and tested with data from 105 international sales managers representing five B2B companies.\nFindings: The study extends the TAM framework with three additional constructs derived from mobile technology and sales force automation literature, namely personal innovativeness in the domain of IT, perceived risk, and perceived reachability. The model demonstrates that personal innovativeness and perceived reachability have significant effects on the TAM framework.\nResearch limitations/implications: The relatively small sample size limits the generalization of the results.\nPractical implications: Sales managers' intention to adopt mobile CRM can be explained by the extended TAM framework. Understanding the key factors that influence intention to adopt a mobile CRM system will aid companies in implementing it among their sales force. Companies willing to foster adoption of a mobile CRM system among the sales force could focus on communicating the usefulness of using the system and benefits gained from enhanced reachability. Recruiting sales people with strong personal innovativeness is beneficial.\nOriginality/value: This study responds the calls for studies on mobile platforms and on the use of mobile B2B applications in sales force management. It is among the first attempts to incorporate variables derived from mobile technology acceptance literature among the sales force into the TAM framework, to better explain acceptance of mobile CRM systems.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Marketing of beef and lamb in England: the role of EBLEX	[ "Change management", "Agriculture", "Marketing", "Meat", "Food industry", "United Kingdom" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Yin (1994) defines one of the roles of case studies as being to provide insight into unique examples of practice, this paper presents a case analysis of the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX). EBLEX was established in October 2002 following reorganisation of the (British) Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC), taking over and building on the responsibilities previously managed by the MLC's strategy and promotion councils. This represented a unique opportunity to establish a new organisation focused to the needs of consumers and English stakeholders. This paper discusses how EBLEX developed its objectives and strategies from its foundation to mid/end 2004, particularly to promote English beef and lamb. This paper demonstrates the issues involved in managing the relationships between marketing theory, strategy and managerial implementation using Kotter's change model. Data was drawn from interviews and group discussions with managers within EBLEX, from interviews with farmers, processors, retailers and other members of the supply chain together with a review of industry sector documents and publications.The paper starts by briefly reviewing the literature and identifies Kotter's change model as a tool for analysing the case study. Next we discuss the strategy literature and the implications that this has for the not for profit sector. The literature review concludes by considering the context in which EBLEX operates by discussing the conjunction of agriculture, marketing and government. The paper then goes on to explain how EBLEX developed its business model in order to serve the needs of its stakeholders in an efficient and effective way. This development period can be divided into two phases; the development of the principles of the business model, that is to say the basis on which EBLEX operates, and secondly how marketing strategy was determined. The paper then goes on to discuss how this high-level strategy was operationalised, with emphasis on the brand strategy. The managerial issues that this case study highlights are discussed and summarised.\nLiterature review: Change\nThe EBLEX Case: EBLEX and strategy development\nStrategy implementation: Brand Development\nDiscussion: This paper discusses how the former beef and sheep strategy groups of the MLC were developed into the EBLEX organisation. In doing so this gives insight into how marketing strategy is developed and implemented to deliver a market led approach. In order to distil the main generalisations arising from this case Kotter's eight stage change model will be used to identify the factors inhibiting and enabling the transition:1. Establish a sense of urgency. An imperative for action was established concurrent with the formation of EBLEX. The differing requirements of stakeholders meant that the former MLC structure was unable to meet these requirements. Whilst some of the major challenges facing the red meat sector, BSE and FMD, had been successfully addressed by the MLC the research conducted at a very early stage by EBLEX clearly established the requirement for action and short-term delivery. This was evidenced by the \"hundred day\" action plans that were implemented.2. Create the guiding coalition. One of the first steps undertaken by EBLEX was secondary research to help to identify the most appropriate business model. An early commitment was made to the network approach, which was summarised in the concept that EBLEX would only invest where it could add value, influencing and motivating others when judged to be better positioned. As a consequence this required EBLEX to identify its skills and capabilities and those of potential partners. It also committed to the development and management of processes and projects, underpinned by an appropriate organisational structure and culture. The fact that it was a new and relatively small organisation made this easier.3. Develop the vision and strategy. Having undertaken the initial work to decide the business model, the second stage of research was to define the high-level objectives and strategies for EBLEX. Again, this was market led with primary research being conducted at various levels within the supply chain. A mix of quantitative and qualitative research techniques were used to give insight and understanding.4. Communicate the change vision. An essential precursor to communication is to establish who the stakeholders are, their interests and concerns and to develop the means by which to communicate effectively. Building on the initial research, EBLEX employed a regional team who manage a broad range of contacts. This is facilitated by IT systems and the development and regular review of network maps that assist in the management of this process. A particularly critical stakeholder group is that of the levy payers, this is addressed at the highest level by regular, open, regional meetings led by the chairman and board members. In addition, comprehensive information is available from the website to demonstrate openness and public accountability. Resources are concentrated by trade-off decisions as to how EBLEX can add value by means of its influence. By selectively addressing such issues economy and efficiency is obtained, but undue commitment to process may lead to insufficient consideration of the wider implications of such decisions.5. Empowering broad-based action. The processes that have been developed identify the decisions that are required, who should make such decisions and by when. Project and process managers are accountable for the delivery of their responsibilities, and in turn draw on this in order to elicit decisions throughout the organisation, up to and including board level. This is made easier by the ownership that is generated even at board level by the participation of members in projects and processes as mentors, supervisors and team members. There is no room for, or indeed tolerance of, \"prima donna\" behaviour and personal involvement generates high levels of ownership and commitment.6. Generating short-term wins. The early and comprehensive research that EBLEX undertook clearly identified the major objectives for the organisation. However with many different stakeholder groups to satisfy, not least the levy payers, there was also a requirement to be seen to deliver in the short-term. However short-term gains could as easily be losses, and this involves greater risk. Risk not only of failure of the activity concerned, but that it detracts from the longer term objectives by absorbing management time and resources.7. Consolidate gains and produce more change. This will be a very real test of the EBLEX strategy. Whilst progress has been made to date, the brand strategy relates to the small/medium size meat processors and is deliberately aimed at building a network of activity alongside the well integrated and managed networks that the major retailers have developed. In the longer term the brand strategy should aim to position English product against cheaper imported product, from Argentina for example, and the premium priced Welsh and Scottish products. This is likely to involve selective develop into niche markets, entry into higher volume markets, the management of the brand against other competitors, and development of integrated activities throughout the supply chain. This is another order of complication and requires higher levels of marketing and management skills.8. Anchoring new approaches in the culture. Whilst Kotter expresses the eighth and final step of his change model in this way, as EBLEX is a new organisation it has been possible for them to anchor the culture in the new approaches rather than vice versa. This demonstrates very clear linkages to the business model, in that the network approach has been operationalised in terms of activity management by capability and of project and process management, which in turn links to the behaviours and attitudes that facilitate performance. A frustration that EBLEX encounters is that partners do not readily share their vision or their capability. The recruitment of the marketing team may prove to be expedient in the short term but reduce flexibility at a later stage. There is an increasing realisation that progress is increasingly dependent upon identifying like-minded partners.The processual view of change also notes the importance of context (Pettigrew, 1997). The environment in which EBLEX originated was more positive than it had been for some years thanks to the work of the MLC. Levels of consumer spending in England are high, demand for red meat is increasing and forecasts suggest that supplies will remain tight in the short to medium term future. Recognition of the contextual circumstances in which EBLEX operates has been important, but context melds into good fortune. The recent success of English sporting teams, at the Rugby World Cup in particular, gave welcome visibility to the concept of Englishness.\nConclusions: This analysis suggests that EBLEX has progressed well, although they are at an early stage of development and their greatest challenge - the establishment of a successful brand - lies ahead. Their founding work has been driven from a research led understanding of the market and stakeholder needs, and successfully linking high-level strategy to day to day activities. Strategic vision, rigorous attention to detail and a compelling urgency for action have been supported by the fundamental underpinnings provided by the network strategy that has been adopted and the evidence of this in terms of process and project management.Identifying and managing capable partners and selecting and developing staff skills have been identified as challenges in the change process. EBLEX have identified that in the future they need to manage growth and innovation and the pace of development against staff and partner skills and the availability of both. The short-term drive to acquire resource in terms of the marketing team may inhibit longer term aims and reduce flexibility.The case study illustrates a number of points of generalisable significance to other organisations. Clarity has been lent to this analysis by reason of the fact that EBLEX started with a proverbial clean sheet of paper making strategy development a more linear process, and at the same time easier to understand and research. The case demonstrates a good example of analysis as a basis for strategy development, supporting a more rational and logical approach to strategy in contrast to the emergent school of thought (e.g. Mintzberg, 1987). One of the challenges experienced by the previously constituted MLC was that of dealing with multiple stakeholders compounded by the additional requirements and complications posed by devolution. The organisation undertook an analysis of interests and needs throughout the supply chain and used this stakeholder insight as a basis for strategy formulation, rather than allowing themselves to be handicapped by views on preferences for one or other party whilst not being burdened by the history, culture and structure of a current organisation. The influence of this can be seen in the adoption of the original network approach, designed to allow flexibility and rapid response. This was further instituted at the operational level as evidenced by a horizontal management style, a team based approach, information sharing and open style of communication. Kotter's model of change is a useful framework against which organisations can judge the requirements for action and benchmark progress. A particular issue that arose with respect to EBLEX is one which many managers will intuitively understand, the need for communication and to engender the support and commitment of others.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of strategy development and implementation for a food sector related non-departmental public body. This is reviewed against a well-established model of change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A single case study is appropriate where there is a unique example of practice. In this case a newly founded organisation defines and implements its strategy within the context of the English red meat sector.\nFindings: - The literature provides rather less guidance on strategy selection for not for profit organisations. The network model of strategy was implemented by EBLEX. Market research guided the selection of strategy and implementation involved in- and out-sourcing, communication to stakeholders, project and process based management and the sharing of information and objectives. The need to deliver in the short term may inhibit longer-term objectives by reducing flexibility and responsiveness. The ability to identify, recruit and retire network partners is a necessary capability. Having developed the organisation afresh, significant challenges lie ahead in generating growth and managing increasing complexity.\nResearch limitations/implications: - A single case study is limited in the extent to which generalisations can be made. There is a need to confirm the emerging findings with additional cases in similar and different contexts. Building on this research, theoretical propositions can be derived to guide future work and to develop theory.\nPractical implications: - This case provides insight into the management and development of a non-departmental public body.\nOriginality/value: - This paper investigates a unique opportunity for research in this field.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Self-assessment of competences in management education	[ "Management education", "European Higher Education Area", "Learning conditions", "Self-assessment of competences" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Sorbonne Declaration of 1999 initiated processes of convergence across different national European systems of higher education (the so-called Bologna Process), leading to the creation of a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) focused on a student-centred learning approach. The University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, as one particular university of the EHEA, has embarked on the processes to harmonise their standards of academic degree and quality assurance through the modification of their respective undergraduate and postgraduate degree structures into a three-cycle system (bachelors, masters, PhD). This process has not been without its problems owing to the \"tension between the aim of convergence and the will to maintain the diversity of national higher education systems\" (Witte, 2008, p. 81).\n2. Self-assessment of competences: Sitzmann et al. (2010) define self-assessment as \"the evaluations learners make about their current knowledge levels or increases in their knowledge levels in a particular domain\" (p. 171) as a result of participation in a course. Self-assessment is used as a criterion of evaluation in disciplines such as business, education and psychology (Dobransky and Frymier, 2004; Lim and Morris, 2006). These evaluations are typically used at the end of a course, when students are asked to rate their perceived levels of comprehension (Walczyk and Hall, 1989), competence (Carrell and Willmington, 1996) and performance (Quinones, 1995).\n3. Learning conditions: The use of self-assessment in higher education requires understanding the conditions under which a student evaluates their competence learning. Therefore, we examine different conditions related to the student's perspective that the literature points out as having an influence on a student's self-assessment of competence: a student's affective learning ability and the student's perception of the teacher.\n4. Methodology: 4.1. Research context\n5. Results: Table VII shows the correlation between the dependent, the explicative and the control variables used in this research. As the correlation matrix indicates, suitability of teaching methods and teacher-student relationship correlate most strongly (range from 0.543 to 0.489). Motivation for professional development and self-efficacy also correlate positively and significantly with the student's self-assessment of competences.\n6. Discussion and conclusions: Self-assessment of competence development is a relevant aspect that influences students' satisfaction and motivation to continue the academic path in universities and other higher education institution. Though the concept of self-assessment has been widely analysed in the literature, the study of factors which influence self-assessment has been much more limited. This work has tried to shed some light on the determinants that influence the student's self-assessment of competences. Furthermore, as the EHEA has introduced many changes in higher education in Europe and it has a significant impact on learning and assessment, the insights that this work provide suggest interesting future research lines in the context of European higher education.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the theoretical and practical need for research into the learning conditions that influence a student's self-assessment of their competences in management education. By means of a theoretical review, the paper introduces a model that integrates various learning conditions related to a student's affective learning ability and the role of the teacher that may have an influence on a student's self-assessment of their competences in the field of management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors describe the analysis of data from questionnaires on the experience of undergraduate students from business administration at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.\nFindings: The results reveal the importance of a student's motivation for professional development, their self-efficacy as well as the important role of the teacher in a student's self-assessment of their competences.\nOriginality/value: The paper fulfils an identified need to study the conditions that influence a student's self-assessment of their learning.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mobilising intellectual capital to improve European universities' competitiveness: The technology transfer offices' role	[ "Efficiency", "Intellectual capital", "Maturity model", "Technology transfer office (TTO)", "University competitiveness", "University technology transfer" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The third mission considers universities to be a key factor in economic and social development (Bercovitz and Feldman, 2006), in addition to their first mission, to teach, and their second mission, to research (Laredo, 2007). This evolving mission requires universities to shift from an administrative focus to a strategic one. To date, university management has been built around a culture of collegium and bureaucracy (McNay, 1995), but a \"new wave\" of management thinking in the private sector is now permeating the public one (Brereton and Temple, 1999). This shift from traditional bureaucratic management to modern public management (Sotirakou and Zeppou, 2004; Cabrita and Vaz, 2006) is leveraged by the utilization of intellectual capital (IC) in the public sector encouraged by the success of IC in the corporate sector. In the knowledge economy, the importance of IC as a unique resource and foundation of business success, and as a source of competitiveness has been acknowledged equally by academics and practitioners (Sveiby, 1997; Bontis 1998; Lev and Daum, 2004; Pike et al., 2005; Kong and Thomson, 2009; Edvinsson, 2013; Dumay and Rooney, 2016).\nLiterature background: This section aims to shed some light on this field by examining the role of universities in contributing to regional development, how the university TTO and its efficiency influences competitiveness, what IC is in the context of universities and how it can be used to improve the efficiency of university technology transfer.\nResearch methodology: Framed on the premises outlined above, this study seeks to answer the question:\nFindings: Each participant university was researched online to determine the typology of their TTO, either an internal department (part of the university structure), an external entity (wholly owned by the university) or a combination of both. For each TTO the results from the self-assessment tool were calculated and the corresponding maturity level (in brackets) was assigned (see Table II). The relative IC access percentage expressed as HC%, SC%, and RC% are shown in the following three columns. In the last column, the results from the EIS for each country represented was added (European Commission, 2016).\nDiscussions: The close correlation between IC and efficient university technology transfer has been shown in Table I, as each of the efficiency areas measured by the self-assessment tool is essential for efficient university technology transfer. Therefore, each of the IC elements (HC, SC, and RC) captured in Table I is essential for efficient university technology transfer. We can see from the self-assessment scores and corresponding maturity levels in Table II that many TTOs are at a managed (3) level. The managed level, as defined by Secundo et al. (2016), is a mid-level TTO with efficiency in some areas, but in need of strategic intervention to propel it to the integrated (4) level. At the integrated level the TTO should be well established and closely linked at all levels of the university, allowing for more active utilization and access to IC.\nConclusions: Creating and sharing knowledge is considered crucial for gaining competitive advantage (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Universities through their TTOs share the knowledge created by transferring technology to industry. Efficiency at this process is, therefore, essential to maintaining a university's competitive advantage. By using the Maturity Model created by Secundo et al. (2016), the efficiency of TTOs can be assessed using intangible indicators, and this information can also be used to gain insights into IC. The more efficient a TTO, and therefore the higher the maturity level, the greater the access to and utilization of IC. Mobilising IC as a tool, therefore, allows universities to improve the efficiency of their TTOs thus contributing indirectly to universities' competitiveness and regional development.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Universities concerned with third mission activities are engines that increase regional competitiveness since their primary role in the knowledge-based economy is to stimulate innovation by transferring new knowledge and technologies to industry and society. The purpose of this paper is to show how IC can be mobilized by university technology transfer offices (TTOs) due to the correlation between efficient university technology transfer and intellectual capital (IC), thus contributing to the third stage of IC research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The application of the Maturity Model developed by Secundo et al. (2016) is expanded by collecting data from 18 universities in the European countries to illustrate how IC can be used as a strategy and solution to the barriers faced by TTOs.\nFindings: TTOs with increased access to and utilization of IC tend to have higher maturity levels. This new application of the Maturity Model, proves that IC can be utilized to manage and improve the efficiency of TTOs.\nResearch limitations/implications: An indication of the level of access that TTOs have to university IC is given leading to recommendations to improve university technology transfer. Future research should include a wider sample of universities to increase the validation of the Maturity Model and to prove it as a suitable and strategic approach for IC management at TTOs.\nPractical implications: Knowing which IC components are essential for the efficiency of TTOs, and which IC needs greater utilization, will provide insights into policy and practical interventions to improve their efficiency, resulting in increasing universities' competitiveness.\nOriginality/value: A new approach and perspective on utilizing IC to improve university technology transfer to contribute to the third stage of IC research calling for more practice-oriented research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Are accreditation surveys reliable?	[ "Assessment", "Health services", "Surveys", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The nature of humans is to make judgements. We make them about ourselves, our colleagues and the material world we inhabit. Our survival and development as both a species and individuals is in fact predicated upon this ability (Ackerman, 2006). A critical skill is being able to make reliable judgements. However, research has shown that experts do not make better risk judgements (Raude et al., 2005; Rowe and Wright, 2001) nor of general matters (Taleb, 2006; Tetlock, 2005) than do the public. Within healthcare the ability to make reliable judgements is indeed an essential and critical skill. In health fields as diverse as anesthesiology (Schubert et al., 1999), oral medical examination (Kearney et al., 2002), nursing home assessment (Mov et al., 2003), aphasiology (Hula et al., 2003), ophthalmology (Margo, 2003), gait (Maynard et al., 2003), primary care (Thom et al., 2004), stroke (Hand et al., 2006), medical reviews (Hofer et al., 2000) and depression assessment (Persons and Bertagnolli, 1999) health professionals all face a similar challenge: ensuring judgement consistency, individually and collectively. Safety and quality are founded upon health professionals' ability to make judgements, assessments and interpretations.Healthcare accreditation is a particular case in which reliability is an important issue. A key factor effecting outcomes is accreditation survey reliability. Accreditation involves an independent agency assessing the health organisation's quality improvement activities against a defined program. The assessment necessitates organisation staff completing a pre-survey report, a survey team visiting to assess performance against standards and compiling a report at the conclusion. Survey team activity incorporates document analysis, interviews and observations, and as such the surveyors are using three different methods to triangulate (Denzin, 1989; Ely et al., 1991) the data upon which they base their collective assessment. Appropriately, for the qualitative methods used, the survey findings strive to be credible and verifiable (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995; Lincoln and Guba, 1985). Because of complex, multiple variable survey processes, the results they produce are not precisely replicable. However, it is important that results are as rigorous as possible, transparent and defensible. Where surveyors and survey teams achieve process consistency and program interpretation from survey to survey, their findings can then be said to be reliable (Greenfield et al., 2008).Accreditation agency staff state that achieving reliability means using a number of strategies. These include a specific accreditation program employing a structured report format, a detailed training program with mentoring for new surveyors and defined surveyor selection criteria (ACHS, 2002; Frisino, 2002). Nevertheless perceived surveyor behaviour inconsistency, in particular team conduct (Kreig, 1996) and report writing (Daucourt and Michel, 2003) have been noted to undermine accreditation agency claims. Accreditation survey reliability, therefore, remains under-investigated and warrants attention (Greenfield and Braithwaite, 2007; Pomey et al., 2004; Shaw, 2003). To extend our understanding of this issue we conducted a study that examined the extent to which accreditation stakeholders believed accreditation surveys were reliable. The study was undertaken in Australia and focused upon the Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program (EQuIP) conducted by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), the major Australian health service accreditation agency.\nMethod: We used a two-phase multi-method integrated approach to data collection and analysis. We label this process the \"stakeholder verification process\". Participants were stakeholders directly associated with the ACHS accreditation program EQuIP; they were surveyors drawn from the ACHS surveyor workforce, representatives from ACHS member organisations and ACHS personnel. Participation was voluntary, with no inducements. Data collection was through focus groups, interviews and a questionnaire. Data recording was by hand at the time of each research activity. All were conducted by the first investigator and used open-ended questioning to examine stakeholder views on the study topics. We undertook thematic data analysis as they were collected and engaged in reflexive discussions. The themes that emerged through this process were discussed with focus groups participants and interviewees to confirm their relevance, after they had revealed their views. Additionally, the literature provided further issues for consideration in an iterative process whereby collection and analysis were interwoven (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995) - an analytic process that has been used effectively in other research (Reeves and Lewin, 2004).Research participants and phases\nFindings: Participants' views can be categorised into six interrelated factors, which simultaneously promote healthcare accreditation survey reliability and present challenges (Table II).The accreditation program\nDiscussion: Humans continuously make judgements and a key question is how consistent they are, particularly when they are required to make them with others, in intricate social relationships about complex organisational and institutional phenomena such as acute health services. One useful case is accreditation process judgements. At such times reliability is by no means simplistic - theoretically or practically. Our study identified six interrelated factors that shape reliability - the influence they exert simultaneously promotes and challenges survey consistency:1. accreditation program, including documentation requirements for organisations and survey teams;2. member relationship with the accrediting agency and survey team;3. accreditation agency personnel;4. surveyor workforce renewal;5. managing the surveyor workforce; and6. survey affect on the reliability directly and indirectly - for example, survey dynamics affecting reliability directly and through how it influences team conduct, documentation, member relationship and accreditation agency personnel.Three of the factors that shape reliability - the accreditation program, including the documentation requirements and surveyor workforce renewal are technologies (Hill, 1991, pp. 93-112; O'Malley, 1996, pp. 189-208; Rose, 1999) designed to standardise the thought and conduct of all those involved in an accreditation survey. Together they provide an explicit structure and interactive processes that shape organisational actors, accreditation agency personnel and survey teams to engender standardised expectations and conduct. In each accreditation instance, these participants \"knot-work\" (Engestrom et al., 1999, pp. 345-374); that is, a unique set of individuals come together for a short defined period to complete the discrete task of assessing the health organisation. Each \"knotting\" involves appropriating (Rose, 1999) accreditation technologies to enact a survey; that is, they collectively reproduce the shared expectations, interpretations and conduct that comprises a survey. At the accreditation process conclusion the \"knotting unties\" as each participant moves on to other activities. In this way, each accreditation instance is a unique combination of participants at a particular place and time; however, expectations and conduct are determined by the technologies they draw upon to enact and fulfil their responsibilities. Together the technologies and knot-working promote accountability to a set of expectations, interpretations and conduct constructed by industry representatives and facilitated by the industry authority. Accreditation reliability is embedded in technologies and enacted in surveying activity. In effect, stakeholders construct and reproduce a self-governing system (Rose, 1999; Timmermans and Berg, 2003). While six factors influence reliability, the three that are technologies, by definition, have a greater influence - to promote standardisation and consistencies. The remaining factors, while important, are less significant. Together they transform the potential expectations' spectrum and stakeholder conduct into norms that are significantly narrowed.Figure 1 shows how six factors shape accreditation stakeholders within a potential expectation and conduct spectrum. The technology factors - the accreditation program, including documentation requirements and surveyor workforce renewal and management - are highlighted to emphasise their greater influence. The resulting accreditation stakeholder norms are outcomes from a dynamic interplay of factors. As noted earlier, accreditation complexity necessitates variation in interpretation and conduct. The differences between health services embed a further layer of complexity into the accreditation task, increasing the possibility of variation. Different health organisations in the accreditation program vary according to size and services provided (from small day procedure centres to large teaching hospitals), location (metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas) and ownership status (public and private). Together these reasons mean that a range of expectations and judgements will always be an integral part of the accreditation program. At any time, the acceptable degree of variation in reliability is determined by stakeholders' self-governing system.Accreditation agencies claim that defined surveyor selection criteria, a training and an accreditation program, promote reliability (ACHS, 2002; Frisino, 2002). However, previous work identified inconsistent surveyor behaviour - specifically survey team conduct (Kreig, 1996) and report writing (Daucourt and Michel, 2003). These challenge reliability. Our findings make two important contributions: the study supports accreditation agency claims while identifying three additional factors that influence reliability; and it conforms with accrediting agency claims with past research; that is, we shows that as well as advancing reliability, the six factors are challenges to be continually negotiated to ensure healthcare accreditation survey reliability.\nConclusion: Our study identifies six factors that the shape accreditation process reliability. Further research is necessary to understand the intricacies of inter-relationships between these factors and also to quantify surveyor and survey team reliability on measurable aspects of their roles. Through an analysis of these factors, we argue that reliability is constructed into the accreditation process. That is, our research has described how stakeholders are continually enacting a self-governing system that involves the ongoing negotiation of all stakeholder expectations, interpretations and conduct. Not surprisingly, the endeavour of creating accreditation judgements under conditions of reliability is challenging and complex.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to test whether healthcare accreditation survey processes are reliable.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study uses multiple methods to document stakeholder experiences and views on accreditation survey reliability. There were 29 research activities, comprising 25 focus groups, three interviews and a survey questionnaire. In total, 193 stakeholders participated; 134 in face-to-face activities and 56 via questionnaire. All were voluntary participants. Using open-ended questioning, stakeholders were asked to reflect upon accreditation survey reliability.\nFindings: - Stakeholders perceived healthcare accreditation surveys to be a reliable activity. They identified six interrelated factors that simultaneously promoted and challenged reliability: the accreditation program, including organisational documentation and surveyor accreditation reports; members' relationship to the accrediting agency and survey team; accreditation agency personnel; surveyor workforce renewal; surveyor workforce management; and survey team conduct including coordinator role. The six factors realised shared expectations and conduct by accreditation stakeholders; that is, they enabled accreditation stakeholder self-governance.\nPractical implications: - Knowledge gained can be used to improve accreditation program reliability, credibility and ongoing self-governance.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is a unique examination of healthcare accreditation surveys the reliability. The findings have potential application to reliability in other healthcare areas.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Community-based evaluation in online communities: Considering the materiality of (making) "best practice"	[ "Communities of practice", "Evaluation", "Actor-network theory", "Case study", "Ethnography", "Practice", "Web 2.0", "EGovernment", "Collective intelligence" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Practice-based studies on information systems have recognised that \"practice\" is endlessly local (e.g. Monteiro et al., 2012; Vaast and Walsham, 2009; Thompson, 2011; Nandhakumar and Baskerville, 2006; Schultze and Boland, 2000). Since the early 1990s practice-based studies have promoted a concept of practice as \"situated learning\" that takes place in local participation frameworks (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Practices are seen to be \"radically situated\" (Suchman, 2005) and to have \"local identities\" (Mol, 2003). They are \"necessarily bound up with the material means through which they are performed\" (Scott and Orlikowski, 2012, p. 113).\nLiterature review and theoretical framework: determining \"best practice\" through commensuration mechanisms: The idea of \"best practice\" is very much situated in the project of boosting organisational learning and furthering knowledge management. Pivotal to this development was Brown's and Duguid's (1991) now seminal article in which they took the concept of \"communities of practice\" (Lave and Wenger, 1991) into a business context. Whereas Lave and Wenger focussed on how newcomers learn through a process of active engagement in community practices (using ethnographic studies of butchers, Mayan midwives and Liberian tailors), Brown and Duguid (1991) discussed how improvised, new practices develop within relatively homogeneous groups of practitioners (experts) in the corporate world. With the rise of ICT-based knowledge management systems, new forms of organising emerged and ICT systems became associated with the ability to spread practice (Brown and Duguid, 2001; Hara and Foon Hew, 2007; Vaast and Walsham, 2009). Hence the notion of \"best practice\" invokes the idea of mobility and transfer, the disentanglement of practices from local networks and the material means through which they are enacted.\nCase study: In the following empirical material will be presented that demonstrates how commensuration amongst diverse practices in eGovernment is meant to be achieved through a template to describe \"good practice case studies\" and how ranking orders amongst those \"good practices\" are established through expert- and community-based evaluation mechanisms. The case study will conclude by attending to the friction that these commensuration and evaluation practices produce.\nAnalysis: Enabling commensuration: boundary work and material entanglements\nDiscussion: This paper posed two research questions:\nConclusion: (E)valuation studies are becoming increasingly important yet in many studies, technologies only play a marginal role. This paper has demonstrated what a sociomaterial perspective may offer: in online communities, members collaboratively engage in commensuration and evaluation practices in order to identify relevant and meaningful user-generated content and allow for its circulation. In particular, the paper was interested in practices of practice-circulation: eGovernment practices are situated and entangled within the orderings of a specific public administration body, commensuration practices are employed in order to translate these activities into text, into an entity that may circulate. Even though these entities may circulate and are enacted in diverse sets of practices, they are not entirely separate from their local identities. Rather through valuation these objects are meant to be ordered under a single name: best practice. This may lead to friction even after commensuration has been established.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The idea of \"best practice\" is very much built into information systems and the ways in which they organise and structure work. The purpose of this paper is to examine how \"best practice\" may be identified (produced) through a community-based evaluation process as opposed to traditional expert-based evaluation frameworks. The paper poses the following research questions: how does \"best practice\" (e)valuation in online communities differ depending on whether they are produced by community members or experts? And what role play these two practices of valuation for online community performance?\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a three-year ethnographic study of a large-scale online community initiative run by the European Commission. Participant observation of online and offline activities (23 events) was complemented with 73 semi-structured interviews with 58 interviewees. The paper draws on Science and Technology Studies, and in particular actor-network theory.\nFindings: Promoting the idea of \"best practice\" is not just an exercise about determining what \"best\" is but rather supposes that best is something that can travel across sites and be replicated. The paper argues that it is crucial to understand the work performed to coordinate multiple practices of producing \"best practice\" as apparatuses of valuation. Hence if practices are shared or circulate within an online community, this is possible because of material-discursive practices of dissociation and association, through agential cuts. These cuts demarcate what is important - and foregrounded - and what is backgrounded. In so doing new \"practice objects\" are produced.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research was conducted in the European public sector where participants are not associated through shared organisational membership (e.g. as employees of the same organisation). An environment for determining \"best practice\" that is limited to an organisation's employees and more homogeneous may reveal further dynamics for \"best practice\" production.\nPractical implications: This paper sheds light on why it is so difficult to reach commensuration in crowd-sourced environments.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides an analysis of how online community members collaborate in order to identify relevant and meaningful user-generated content. It argues that \"best practice\" is produced through a process of commensuration.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Perceived service quality in fast-food restaurants: empirical evidence from China	[ "Customer satisfaction", "Food products", "Customer services quality", "China" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, the fast food industry has experienced dramatic growth in China. Its revenues reached almost 35 billion dollars in 2006 for an increase of 27.2 percent over the prior year (Datamonitor, 2007). With the simultaneous swelling of the Chinese economy, the fast-growing middle class in China finds their time more valuable than ever, their lifestyle is changing and less people are cooking at home (Cullen et al., 2008). The result creates an enormous fast food consumer market, and some fast food franchises are increasingly crossing national boundaries and rushing into China for customers (Witkowski and Wolfinbarger, 2002). According to an Associated Press report, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) had more than 2,000 locations in China in 2007 and plans to open another 500 new stores in 2008. McDonald's currently has about 800 restaurants in China and plans to open at least 125 new stores per year beginning in 2008. In addition, despite the current economic turndown the business news reports show that McDonald's is still maintaining and growing its worldwide market share.Despite the rapid growth of fast food in the Chinese market, the fast food market share accounts for only 9.8 percent of Chinese sales for outside meals. This implies the existence of considerable growth potential in China because, in America, fast food accounts for 84.5 percent of outside meals (Datamonitor, 2007). The lower market share of fast food in China presents unprecedented opportunities for western fast-food chains to operate in China.The perceived service quality is critical for the success of organizations because of its direct link with customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions (Parasuraman et al., 1985). Organizations providing superior service also experience high level customer satisfaction and favorable word-of-mouth (Gilbert et al., 2004; Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006). Customers' perceptions of service quality are important to international organizations because such measures are susceptible to cultural factors and variations (Furrer et al., 2000; Heskett et al., 1990; Mattila, 1999; Trompenaars, 1994). Customers in different countries may have different perceptions of service quality that are partially due to cultural and environmental differences.There are several academic studies that address service quality and customer satisfaction in fast-food restaurants (e.g. Brady et al., 2001; Gilbert et al., 2004; Kara et al., 1995; Lee and Ulgado, 1997, Qin and Prybutok, 2008); however, there is no prior study exploring FFR satisfaction and customer behavioral intentions in China. Extended even to a broader area - quality management in China, most of the existent research is characterized by descriptive statistics, lack of reliability and validity assessment; therefore, contextualized research focusing on theoretical relationship examination is extremely important (Zhao et al., 2007).This study fills a unique gap in the service quality literature by investigating the aforementioned issues. First, we seek to develop a fast-food restaurant success model for China by examining the key determinants of service quality and customer satisfaction. After establishing sufficient reliability and validity of the measures, we proceed with another objective - to examine the theoretical relationships among service quality, food quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in the fast food industry in China.The remainder of this article is organized as follows. The next section, section 2, reviews the existing theories in detail, and builds upon prior research to formulate the proposed research model. Section 3 presents the research methodology, including a discussion of scale development and data collection. Section 4 describes the data analysis and model testing. Section 5 discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the results, and the final section (6) addresses limitations and possible future work.\n2. Research framework and hypotheses: 2.1 Perceived service quality\n3. Methodology: The FFR success model posited includes six dimensions of perceived service quality as well as the perceptions of food quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction and behavioral intensions. Most of the 22 original items in the SERVPERF scale were preserved and the items to measure other constructs were all selected from prior marketing and food studies (see Table I). The questionnaire was translated by the researcher from the respective country and several bilingual graduate students who are familiar with the subject content using back-translation and decentering skills (Brislin, 1970; Brislin et al., 1973). All items were rated by respondents on a seven-point Likert scale that indicates the magnitude of each component.Following that effort, this survey was administered to college students in China. College students were selected as subjects because of the ease in accessing them and because they frequently dine at FFRs, and possess a reliable understanding of service quality in FFRs. Some western style fast food chains were targeting Chinese children when they entered China's market around 15 years ago. As a result, current college students are the most experienced customers of western fast food franchises in China. What is more, while college students are not assumed to be representative of all FFR customers in China, they represent an important segment of the upper and middle classes in China, which are the groups targeted by most corporations in foreign countries (Laroche et al., 2004; Ueltschy et al., 2004).3.1 Respondents' profiles\n4. Discussion: This study develops an FFR success model to capture perceived service quality and to examine its relationship with customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the fast food industry in China. The findings of this study contribute to the refinement of service quality theory and provide insights for management of the fast-food industry in China. First, recoverability is a significant dimension of perceived service quality in FFRs in China. Theoretically this finding substantiates the need to modify the SERVPERF scale for a particular business setting. Practically it indicates the importance for corporations to develop and train employees on efficient and effective recovery strategies. Specifically FFRs can train their employees in service recovery guidelines; meanwhile, employees need to be empowered to compensate and address service failures.Second, reliability, responsiveness, and tangibles are another three important attributes of service quality in the fast food industry in China. This finding suggests that the life style of the Chinese is changing, and that they place a greater value on time. As a result, a FFRs' responsiveness to customers' requirements is becoming an important factor in China. Additionally, a reliable customer relationship remains critical to business success.Third, service quality, food quality and perceived value are all significant antecedents of customer satisfaction in the fast food industry. This finding reinforces the need for FFR owners and managers to place an emphasis on the underlying dimensions of service quality, especially the reliability and recovery strategies. The overwhelmingly direct effect of customer satisfaction on behavioral intentions substantiates the need to constantly monitor customers' responses, or, for example, to track customers' post purchase evaluations.The significance of food quality suggests that food is still a critical factor in the customer's overall evaluation of satisfaction which can influence decisions about the selection of FFRs. For western style FFRs, they must not only provide fresh and delicious food, but they also must customize their menus to meet with local consumer requirements. Some Chinese, especially the older generation, do not even think of western fast food as a real meal. Hence, some western FFRs are localizing their offerings, for example, Kentucky Fried Chicken is serving \"You Tiao\" or deep fried dough sticks and congee, which are quintessential breakfast foods in China.The perceived value was a significant antecedent of customer satisfaction and its significance indicates the intense competition between western and Chinese style fast food chains. The latter has the advantage of providing traditionally accepted foods at a lower cost. For example, the average cost of a meal in Da Niang Dumpling, a local fast food provider, is around US$2.00; however, the average cost of a meal at KFC in China is around US$4.00. This price difference is challenging the western fast food chains' ability to successfully operate in China.This study makes several contributions to the current service quality literature. It fills a void by testing the adjusted SERVPERF instrument in China. Because this instrument was developed within a western cultural context, its generalizability might be influenced by cultural factors (Zhao et al., 2002). The present findings show that the SERVPERF instrument can provide useful information to management about the fast-food industry in China. Meanwhile, the findings suggest that some factors important to Chinese consumers are potentially missing from this instrument, and some existing items measuring the main attributes of service quality require reappraisal. For example, children account for a huge portion of the potential consumers of fast food in China. While adults might be concerned about the junk food status of fast food, they still dine at the western FFRs with the family because their children like the food. Therefore, one concern for FFR consumers in China is whether FFRs are able to please their children. For example, can they provide a kid's meal with toys, and does the restaurant have an indoor children's entertainment center, etc. ... These factors, like the availability of happy meals and an entertainment center, however, were removed because of poor reliability and validity. So, it is important for future work to refine the current measurement instrument within the Chinese context (Zhao et al., 2007).\n5. Limitations and future work: This study is subject to some limitations. First, this study is limited to the fast food industry, and the findings should be used cautiously in attempting to make generalizations toward other industries. Second, we used college students as our sample pool and they are a relatively homogeneous group. To make broader inferences, an on-site survey or a more varied set of respondents is recommended. In spite of the limitations of our sample, we contend that college students are representative of a large portion of the target consumers and are qualified to evaluate the performance of FFRs in China.Another possible area for future research is to explore new dimensions of perceived service quality in the fast food industry in China. Some attributes of service in China have not been captured by the FFR success model. For example, KFC has recently launched a home delivery service in some large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and in the Canton area. Customers place an order by calling the KFC ordering hotline or logging into their online ordering system. The order is generally delivered within 40 minutes at an extra delivery cost of 6.00 Yuan (less than US$1.00) and without the requirement for a minimum order amount or a tip (KFC, 2008). This online delivery service should have a large market share in the future because only 10 million cars are privately owned by 1.3 billion people in China. However, the quality of the ordering system and the delivery system is not measured in the current FFR Success model. Future research should examine the quality of these new services. Meanwhile, a comparison of the service quality dimensions across different countries and cultures such as the US, Japan, Canada, UK, China, and India, would be very useful.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The objective of this study is to modify the SERVPERF scale by incorporating the additional dimension of recoverability, and to empirically test and refine the modified SERVPERF instrument using survey data from China. The study aims to assess the potential antecedents of customer satisfaction in the fast food industry in China. The antecedents include service quality, food quality, and perceived value. Finally, it seeks to examine the relationship between behavioral intentions and customer satisfaction in the fast food industry in mainland China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A survey was used to evaluate customer perceptions of the service quality in fast-food restaurants (FFRs). Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to assess the reliability and validity of the modified Chinese FFR SERVPERF instrument. Structural equation modeling was employed to assess the hypothesized relationships.\nFindings: - Reliability, recoverability, tangibles, and responsiveness were all significant dimensions of perceived service quality. Food quality, perceived value and service quality all had a direct and positive relationship with satisfaction, which in turn influenced behavioral intentions.\nOriginality/value: - Western-style fast food franchises are increasingly crossing national boundaries and looking for growth among customers in China. China is becoming a major player in the global market because of its size and growth potential, particularly after its accession to the World Trade Organization. The transference of a western business model is not appropriate in the context of China without testing because of dietary and cultural differences. The study modified the SERVPERF instrument and empirically validated the instrument using data from China. The results contribute to the understanding of service quality in China's fast food industry and provide insight about service management and improvement opportunities in Chinese service operations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Comparative study: The role of corporate social responsibility towards the development of entrepreneurial attitude and small medium-sized enterprises income, Pekanbaru, Indonesia	[ "Corporate social responsibility", "Entrepreneurial attitude", "Income of SMEs", "PNBP Fund" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Micro- and small-sized enterprises (MSEs) were the mainstay of Indonesia when the crisis hit Indonesia in 1998. Although MSEs were managed amateurishly, during the crises, they survived in a distressed economy. MSEs supported Indonesian economy by retaining employees, and many of them even could provide jobs. MSEs have also become an important option for people to live a more prosperous life. Small and micro entrepreneurs (SMEs) survived in the crisis economy because they were tough, flexible, self-determining, efficient (because of the togetherness of families' members running the business) and self-financing (or family financing).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Corporate social responsibility\n3. Research methodology: The study design used is quantitative methods (Creswell, 2010). This study is explanatory in nature and aims to explain the phenomena or pattern of correlation between the concepts (Kothari, 2004). The study collects primary and secondary data. Primary data are related to SMEs' response to the development of entrepreneurial attitudes, sales turnover and costs both before and after obtaining the PNBP fund. Secondary data are collected from companies or the relevant authorities. The samples were 95 SMEs in Pekanbaru who obtained the PNBP fund in 2013. The samples were selected using purposive sampling (Figure 1).\n4. Result and discussion: 4.1 Validity and reliability instrument\n5. Conclusion and recommendations: Based on the analysis result, the conclusions of this research are as follows:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding through Partnership and Development Nurturing Program (PDNP) in the development of entrepreneurial attitude and the small and micro entrepreneurs' (SMEs') income in Pekanbaru.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Primary data were obtained from the SMEs' response to the development of entrepreneurial attitude, income of sales and expenses before and after getting PDNP fund. Secondary data were obtained from the publication of firms and relevant authorities. The sample used in this study comprised 95 respondents, including the SMEs in Pekanbaru who received PDNP fund in 2013 and who were selected by purposive sampling. Generalized structural component analysis (GSCA) was used to analyze the data for inner model (hypothesis testing for structural model) and outer model (measurement model for unobservable variables). Sobel test (under GSCA model) was used to test whether a variable is a mediating variable that assesses the relationship between endogenous variables and exogenous variables.\nFindings: CSR funding (by PNBP fund) is significantly effective for entrepreneurial attitude. The higher value of CSR funding (by PNBP fund), which is reflected in the high values of turnover (X1), marketing coverage (X2), partnership program (X3) and sales (X4), will lead to a higher value of entrepreneurial attitude, which is reflected in the high value of planning (M1), confidence (M2), orientation to task (M3), risk taking (M4), leadership (M5) and honesty (M6). Entrepreneurial attitude significantly affects the income of SMEs. The higher value of entrepreneurial attitude, which is reflected in the high value of planning (M1), confidence (M2), orientation to task (M3), risk taking (M4), leadership (M5) and honesty (M6), will lead to a higher value of income of SMEs, which is reflected in the high value of effectivity (Y1), efficiency (Y2) and economist (Y3). CSR funding (by PNBP Fund) has a significant effect on the SMEs' income with a mediation effect of entrepreneurial attitude. A high value of CSR funding (by PNBP Fund), which is reflected in the high values of turnover (X1), marketing coverage (X2), partnership program (X3) and sales (X4), will lead to a higher value of income of SMEs, which is reflected in the high value of effectivity (Y1), efficiency (Y2) and economist (Y3), if the value of entrepreneurial attitude is higher, which is reflected in the high values of planning (M1), confidence (M2), orientation to task (M3), risk taking (M4), leadership (M5) and honesty (M6).\nOriginality/value: A gap exists between the expected goals of SMEs, which is to increase people's income through the development of their entrepreneurship, and the realization of the program. Hence, it is necessary to improve the implementation of the partnership program, which needs improvement in planning, process and the evaluation of the program. This phenomenon motivated the researcher to conduct this study so that the partnership and the community development program, as a form of CSR, benefit SMEs to increase their income.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants of innovative behavior of employees: evidence from Spanish firms	[ "Knowledge management", "Employee attitudes", "Temporary workers", "Employee relations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The circumstances that firms are currently facing - greater competitiveness accompanied by a greater quantity and frequency of technological, economic, and political changes - require them to have mechanisms that permit them to face these changes effectively. One way of facing the uncertainty generated is to permit and foster communication in the firm's internal and external relationships, such that information and knowledge flow among workers, customers, suppliers, and competitors (Lievens and Moenaert, 2000). Travica (2005) demonstrates that information systems in organizations exist to achieve goals, to plan and control their processes and operations, to help deal with uncertainty, and to help in adapting to change or even initiating change. Laihonen (2006) considers knowledge flows as processes of creating, sharing, and distributing knowledge, whereas communication processes and information flows give rise to knowledge flows. We can thus deduce that both information and knowledge flows permit individuals to construct new knowledge and generate innovations in the organization.\n2. Conceptual framework and research hypotheses: Organizational culture has a regulating influence on the individual behavior of the organization's members, conditioning workers' attitudes and behavior (Gilder, 2003; Ngo and Loi, 2008). A culture oriented to innovation requires leadership that defines clearly all of the processes that affect the development of beliefs and assumptions about the real importance of innovation as a critical axis in the organization (Hurley and Hult, 1998; Wan et al., 2005).\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample\n4. Discussion: Our study has analyzed the effects that innovative attitude among workers in an organization has on the existence of communication and knowledge flows among them. The results show that, when both communication and knowledge flows exist between employees, workers' orientation to innovation is greater. We also analyze this influence under the moderating effect of the presence of externalization of workers. The results obtained indicate that the positive influence in the relationship between the existence of communication flows and the orientation to innovation expressed by the workers deteriorate when non-permanent workers are used. The results also show, however, that the presence of non-permanent workers reinforces the positive relationship between the existence of knowledge flows and orientation to innovation. We will now explain the implications of these results.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the presence of communication and knowledge flows influences the creation of a work context that supports innovation, and how this relationship is moderated by labor externalization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To study these relationships, the authors use a sample of 249 workers from five organizations. The different hypotheses proposed are contrasted using hierarchical regression analysis.\nFindings: The results obtained show the authors that, when communication flows exist, workers' orientation to innovation is greater; likewise, knowledge transfer influences workers' innovative attitude positively. However, the results are different when externalization of workers acts as a moderating variable.\nPractical implications: The firm's management should make decisions and foster the production of information flows between employees, as the results obtained indicate that communication and knowledge transfer encourage employee attitudes and behavior favorable to innovation.\nOriginality/value: The main contribution of this study is to provide new empirical evidence on the influence of communication and knowledge flows on workers' orientation to innovation. The authors also analyze how these relationships are affected by the presence of externalization. The evidence obtained in this study permits to deduce what actions foster or inhibit organizations in creating a work context that supports innovation and thus encourages the generation of innovation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Accounting, accountability, social media and big data: revolution or hype?	[ "Accounting", "Big data", "Social media", "Management control" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The use of new social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs has exploded in the last few years, with most of the population (especially, those aged under 30) using one or more technology-enabled networks in their day-to-day life, at home, on the go or in the workplace. The importance of these technology-enabled networks, as well as of the data they generate, is visible also at the financial level, with the entrance of social media owners in the share market. For example, Facebook's market cap rose $40 billion to $340 billion during the first quarter of 2016.\n2. Big data and implications for accounting: The definition of big data mostly used by practitioners is attributed to Gartner and describes big data:[...] as high-volume, high-velocity and high-variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making[1].\n3. Researching the connections between social media, big data and accounting: One possible way to frame the interpretation of the role of social media and big data is to view them as an object (data and information) or as a process (of generating data and information). In relation to their intersections with accounting we might also consider whether technology-enabled networks are media through which accounting practice occurs or a target of accounting practice. According to the former, social media and big data are taken up by, yet also enable the alteration of, accounting practice. According to the latter, social media and big data are the focal objects engaging with accounting as a practice. While Table I summarises this view, we expand on each category and associated research foci in each of the sub-sections below.\n4. Papers in the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal issue: The papers included in this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal engage with the three themes of the framework illustrated in Section 3: new performance indicators based on social media and big data indicators; governance of social media and big data information resources; and social media and big data's alteration of information and decision-making processes. Indeed, they progress an agenda that allows us to consider how social media reshapes organisational concerns and how accounting and accountants are implicated in this altered landscape.\n5. Final remarks: If many commentators - among consultants, professionals and academics - are to be believed, we are currently in the midst of a technological revolution that will fundamentally change the way in which organisations, as well as individuals, operate and make decisions. Hence, the importance of this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, in exploring the impact of technology-enabled networks, such as social media and big data on the discipline and the professions in an attempt to separate the hype from reality. The paper contained within raises important question for the profession of accounting and how it embraces (or not) the changing organisational landscape, the new calculative possibilities that might arise and the extent to which these are used for mangerialist and/or broader societal value purposes. There are also important issues to consider from a policy and regulatory perspective, especially in relation to the practice of organisational communication and reporting and the extent to which social media and big data can be harnessed for enhanced transparency and capital allocation decision making.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline an agenda for researching the relationship between technology-enabled networks - such as social media and big data - and the accounting function. In doing so, it links the contents of an unfolding area research with the papers published in this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper surveys the existing literature, which is still in its infancy, and proposes ways in which to frame early and future research. The intention is not to offer a comprehensive review, but to stimulate and conversation.\nFindings: The authors review several existing studies exploring technology-enabled networks and highlight some of the key aspects featuring social media and big data, before offering a classification of existing research efforts, as well as opportunities for future research. Three areas of investigation are identified: new performance indicators based on social media and big data; governance of social media and big data information resources; and, finally, social media and big data's alteration of information and decision-making processes.\nOriginality/value: The authors are currently experiencing a technological revolution that will fundamentally change the way in which organisations, as well as individuals, operate. It is claimed that many knowledge-based jobs are being automated, as well as others transformed with, for example, data scientists ready to replace even the most qualified accountants. But, of course, similar claims have been made before and therefore, as academics, the authors are called upon to explore the impact of these technology-enabled networks further. This paper contributes by starting a debate and speculating on the possible research agendas ahead.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.