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Time affluence, material affluence and work experiences of professional women in Russia	[ "Eastern Europe", "Women workers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: People seem naturally inclined to desire material wealth. As Kasser and Sheldon (2009, p. 243) noted, \"[...] advertisements entice us to purchase goods and services associated with symbols of love, competence and joy; governments develop policies designed to maximize national economic growth; and businesses strive for profit and reward their workers with financial bonuses and raises.\" While there is an old cliche that \"money does not buy happiness,\" there are clear indications that people do try to earn more money so that they can provide comfortable lifestyles for them and their dependents (Camerer and Hogarth, 1999). Yet, this drive for material affluence (MA) seems to be inversely proportional to the amount of free time a person enjoys (Bluestone and Rose, 1998). For instance, in the quest for higher incomes and increased material wealth, an employee may be forced to work longer hours, at the expense of leisure and family time (Reynolds, 2005). A person's free time is related to his/her control over time; the more control one has, the greater his/her sense of time spaciousness - or time affluence (TA). Recently, Kasser and Sheldon (2009) suggested that TA may actually be more closely related to \"happiness\" than MA. While there is a considerable body of literature in disciplines such as psychology and economics on the association between wealth and happiness (see for instance, Diener and Seligman, 2004; Lyubomirsky et al., 2005), there is a paucity of related research on the relationship between TA and MA, and how each of these variables may be linked to relevant organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction and career satisfaction.\nOverview of the literature: MA and TA\nMethods: Procedures\nMeasures: Personal demographic characteristics\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion: Our findings offer considerable support for the expectations underlying the research. Measures of both MA and TA were highly reliable and positive and moderately correlated. TA had negative relationships with measures associated with greater work investment (see Table III). Finally, MA was found to be positively associated with some work outcomes (e.g. job satisfaction, lower intent to quit, see Table III). These findings replicated and extended earlier US, Egyptian and Turkish results to Russia.\nLimitations and future research directions: As with all research, this study has its limitations. First of all, data were collected using self-report questionnaires so the distinct but small possibility of response set tendencies should be acknowledged. Second, all data were collected at one point in time making it challenging to address issues of causality. Future research could employ more objective indicators (e.g. supervisor-rated performance or peer-reports of well- being), longitudinal designs, and experience sampling methods to assess the associations between material and time influence and work and well-being outcomes. Third, it is not clear the extent to which this sample is representative of women working in Russia.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of time affluence (TA) and material affluence (MA) in work and extra-work experiences of a sample of professional women working in Russia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected form 168 women using anonymously completed questionnaires. Measures included personal demographic and work situation characteristics, work outcomes, indicators of work investment and extra-work outcomes.\nFindings: TA and MA were significantly and positively correlated (r=0.22), with women indicating similar levels of TA and MA. Women reporting higher levels of MA generally indicated more favorable work outcomes (higher job satisfaction, lower intent to quit). Women reporting lower levels of TA generally indicated higher levels of work investment. However, neither TA nor MA predicted family satisfaction.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study highlights the importance to take steps to increase TA and MA of Russian women to positively influence their work and extra-work experiences.\nOriginality/value: These findings replicate and extend earlier USA, Egyptian and Turkish results to Russia. Unlike previous studies, the authors simultaneously included TA and MA constructs, thus providing important comparisons of their relationships with different outcomes. The authors also respond to the call to study TA and MA in different cultural contexts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Government compensation and costs of non-competition guarantee for PPP rental retirement villages	[ "Construction", "Design management", "Case study" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In 2017, one in eight people worldwide was aged 60 years or over. By 2030, older people are projected to account for one in six people globally, and the ratio will keep increasing to one in five people by 2050. It is urgent for governments to design innovative policies and public services specifically for older people, involving housing, health care, infrastructure and other sectors (Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, The United Nations, 2017). Especially for the housing stress, more older people are facing an increasingly fierce battle with the cost of renting in the private market (National Seniors Australia, 2017). Many older people prefer to remain living independently for much of their lives, while an increasing proportion of them choose to move into age-specific housing, such as retirement villages, rental villages and manufactured home estates (Productivity Commission, 2015). The housing situation for older lower income renters differs from younger lower income renters in that they usually have low levels of wealth and very limited incomes. Finding housing solutions that are affordable, accessible and appropriate to older people is the key to keeping them in the community and not being dependent on residential aged care (AHURI, 2018).\n2. Non-competition guarantee of PPP projects: Non-competition in the normal business practices usually called anti-competitive practices, which refer to the behaviours that operators individually or jointly implement to hinder or eliminate competition in the market, excluding competitors and which harm the interests of consumers (OECD, 2003). The anti-competitive practices include not only the behaviours of operators who abuse their economic strength to restrict the competition of others, but also the restrictive behaviours adopted by the government who abuse the administrative right. Certain business practices that limit or prevent competition are against the law (ACCC, 2018a). However, the meaning of non-competition under the case of PPP projects is different from that in normal business. A non-competition guarantee is that the project company requires the government to guarantee the elimination of competitors within a certain period of time or within a certain geographical area. The guarantee could protect the private sector's interest. Once the government unilaterally decides to build other similar facilities, the private sectors can ask for reasonable compensation as the commitment is broken. The main purpose is to ensure the private sectors' investment benefit rather than maliciously eliminating competitions in the market. Since the investment of PPP projects is long term with a lot of uncertainties, the non-competition guarantee plays a crucial role in reducing the risk of the private sectors in some extreme circumstances. The Australia's National PPP Guidelines specified some of these possible key risk events, one of which is that \"in some jurisdictions, an identical directly competing facility is opened during the contract term\" (Infrastructure Australia, 2011). The Guidelines also clearly explains that the parties must negotiate in good faith to agree on a method of redress where there is such a material adverse effect. Thus, no-competition guarantee by the government for PPP rental retirement villages is permissible. Furthermore, the ACCC (2018b) may grant authorisation for conduct that is prohibited under the existing Competition and Consumer Act if it is satisfied that the likely public benefit from the conduct outweighs the likely public detriment. Construction of PPP rental retirement villages likely satisfies this condition and may be authorised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.\n3. Evaluation of the non-competition guarantee of PPP rental retirement villages: 3.1 Non-competition guarantee and real options\n4. Application example: It is proposed that a new rental retirement village is constructed and operated in the Geelong area using the PPP model, with the private sector completing all the investment and financing. After the completion of the construction, the rental retirement village is operated by the project company, and the government provides preferential policies for the project. Before the private sector recovers the investment costs, the operating benefits of the rental retirement village are all owned by the private sector, and the government will not participate in the project benefit distribution. After the investment of the private sector is paid back, the operating benefits of the rental retirement village will be distributed between the government and the private sector with certain proportions according to the agreement. In order to avoid the new competitive facilities in the area which will lead to the reduction of the benefit of the rental retirement village, the government provides a non-competition guarantee for the project within a certain number of years after the start of the operation period. After the end of the concession period, the PPP rental retirement village will be handed over to the government to continue the operation. For simplicity, it is deemed that the land used for PPP rental retirement villages is provided by the government as an in-kind contribution with no charge. Therefore, the total investment only includes the construction cost, professional fees and GST. The construction cost is estimated from the Construction Handbook (Rawlinsons, Quantity Surveyors and Construction Cost Consultants Australia, 2018), which is Australia's largest library of construction cost information, providing vital data to all parties involved in medium-sized and large projects. The annual operation costs are estimated from the financial reports of a number of existing rental villages. The discount rate is calculated by the capital asset pricing model and the expected return rate adopts the internal return rate of the several big companies that have invested in rental retirement village projects. The occupancy rate of the first year of the operation period is set at 60 per cent, and the number of occupied units is increased with an average rate of 2 per cent until reaching the capacity. The government may choose an average or a large capacity for a rental retirement village, as different scales may affect the guarantee level. Therefore, two cases are chosen for the proposed rental retirement village: an average capacity of 50 units and a large capacity of 96 units. The values of the variables used in the modelling process are given in Table I.\n5. Effect of government investment ratio and return rate of the private sector on the government guarantee cost and project value: 5.1 The effect of the expected return rate of the private sector on the option value of the project and the government guarantee cost\n6. Conclusions: The increase of ageing population brings pressure on the housing sector. The application of PPP to the construction of rental retirement villages allows the cooperation between the government and the private sector to provide alternative housing models to accommodate older people. The provision of non-competition guarantee from the government is a form of government support to protect the interest of the private sector. This research regards the non-competition guarantee as a real option to evaluate the value of the guarantee and assesses the government investment ratio and expected return rate of the private sector. A compensation model is established for the non-competition guarantee in consideration with benefit redistribution. The effect of the government investment ratio and expected return rate of the private sector on the project benefit and government guarantee cost is also analysed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Targeting public-private partnership (PPP) rental retirement villages, the purpose of this paper is to bring forward the solution of insufficient research in a non-competitive guarantee (a restrictive agreement) towards the compensation and guarantee costs in consideration of benefit redistribution if the governments are unable to keep the promise on guarantee provision.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Real option principles are applied to assess the public-private investment proportions and the expected return rates of the private sector in a non-competitive guarantee and analyse their effects on the public-private benefit and risk allocations as well as the success of the project. Instead of granting direct capital support, this research accomplishes the compensation of non-competition guarantee by adjusting the project benefit distribution ratios between the government and the private sector to achieve the option value of the guarantee. An empirical example with alternative scales, which is developed from an existing rental village in Geelong, is used to numerically verify the research process.\nFindings: The results illustrate that the option value of the non-competition guarantee plays an important role in supporting the implementation of the PPP rental retirement village projects. The option value of the non-competition guarantee has a close relationship with the guarantee level and the government guarantee cost, which is positively correlated with the guarantee level and negatively correlated with the government guarantee cost. To reduce the government guarantee cost, the government should carefully determine the public-private investment proportion, appropriately control the return rate of the private sector and approve the construction of the new project after the investment recovery of the private sector.\nResearch limitations/implications: This research mainly focusses on the economic loss of the government due to the guarantee responsibility. Further research could be conducted to determine the guarantee level more precisely and take the social cost of the government guarantees into consideration.\nOriginality/value: This research is the first attempt to investigate the government compensation and costs of non-competition guarantee for PPP rental retirement village projects and will enhance the understanding of the nature of PPP applications. The evaluation process and the implementation of the compensation through the adjustment of benefit distribution provides a comprehensive method to analyse the non-competition guarantee of PPP projects and help the parties negotiate in good faith to agree on a method of redress.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Resource scavenging : Another dimension of the internationalisation pattern of high-tech SMEs	[ "Case studies", "Small-to-medium-sized enterprises", "Internationalization", "High technology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent years, there has been growing interest in the internationalisation of small and medium-sized high-technology start-ups. This literature tends to equate \"internationalisation\" with the \"internationalisation of sales\" (Di Gregorio et al., 2008). Yet sales are not the only international activity of high-tech firms. High-tech start-ups need resources and not just markets to sell to. This has been acknowledged by Oviatt and McDougall (1994, p. 49), whose much-cited definition of the international new venture (INV) specifies that such an organisation \"from inception, seeks to derive significant competitive advantage from the use of resources and the sale of outputs in multiple countries\" (our emphasis)[1]. However, as they have pointed out, there has been little research into how such firms use resources on a global scale. Our paper contributes to an understanding of this resource dimension of the international behaviour of high-tech firms. We show how, for these firms, internationalisation can take the form of searching, prospecting or \"scavenging\" for resources. This form of \"resource-seeking\" behaviour[2] occurs because they do not own or control sufficient resources to bring their technology to market on their own.\nFrom market-seeking to resource-seeking internationalisation: In this section, we review the literature relevant to our study and provide an analytical approach for investigating how resource seeking forms part of the internationalisation of high-tech start-ups. We start by identifying the traditional focus on market seeking in SME internationalisation research. We then outline our approach, which follows Johanson and Vahlne (2009) in conceptualising internationalisation as a process of relationship development, with resource ties forming an important dimension of these relationships. Given the lack of research into resource seeking by SMEs in internationalisation research, we look to other traditions - FDI and entrepreneurship - for insights into how firms might go about it.\nMethodology and research context: The topic of this paper emerged from a qualitative case study that was conducted of internationally active high-tech SMEs originating from Australia. The study originally had a broader research aim; namely, to understand how product innovation affects the internationalisation pathways of high-tech firms. The specific pattern that is our focus in this paper was identified from the data and not from theory; in this sense, there is a strong inductive element to the current study. Like Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul (1975), we identified an unexpected pattern in our data. Our research orientation then shifted to how our case firms were accessing resources offshore, and the internationalisation pattern that these activities then formed. Thus we are capitalising on the ability of qualitative research to provide new insights into an existing topic (Welch et al., 2011), namely SME internationalisation.\nFindings: In this section, we explore the nature of each case firm's resource-seeking internationalisation. All the case firms are resource seekers in their international behaviour; in other words, their international operations are motivated by the need to access or acquire resources that they themselves lack. Their resource-seeking behaviour does not, however, match either that of resource-seeking FDI or bricolage, although we did find elements of both purposeful, market-based transactions as well as opportunistic improvisation and the leveraging of social ties. Given that the patterns we found in the data did not match these existing categories, we propose a new term, that of \"resource scavenging\", to denote the behaviour that we identified.\nConclusion: Our findings into the internationalisation patterns of our case firms have shown that the search for resources can form a different pattern to that for markets. Our explanation for this pattern lies in the different activities being undertaken offshore by resource scavengers as opposed to market seekers. Market seeking is a cumulative process of building and growing a customer base within a particular country. The resource scavenging that we identified does not aim at this systematic development of a market over time; rather, firms are making use of resources wherever they can be found. As a result, scavenging does not follow the same process of progressively increasing market commitment; rather, we find the case firms' internationalisation to be far less regular, cumulative and linear in its development over time. Rather than progressively building up their commitment to specific foreign markets, firms ranged globally for resources, switching from one mode to the next or one country to the next, depending on the available opportunities. Viewed from a market logic, the locations and operation modes that the firms choose seems almost random, except for the weighting towards technologically advanced countries. Only once these choices are viewed from a resource logic does the basis for decision making become clear. The firms were trying to develop a market-ready product offering; they were not yet at the point of developing a market.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: There has been growing interest in studying the internationalisation of small and medium-sized high-technology firms. This literature tends to equate \"internationalisation\" with the \"internationalisation of sales\". Yet sales are not the only international activity of high-tech firms. High-tech firms need resources and not just markets. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to an understanding of this resource dimension of the international behaviour of high-tech firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical basis for the study lies in a multiple case study of six high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors selected two firms from each of three high-tech industries: biotechnology (specifically drug development), renewable energy and ICT. The key decision makers in each firms were then interviewed in depth.\nFindings: The authors show that for the case firms in the study, internationalisation can take the form of searching, prospecting or \"scavenging\" for resources. \"Resource-seeking\" behaviour occurs because the SMEs do not own, control or have access to sufficient resources to bring their technology to market on their own. The pattern of internationalisation that results from resource scavenging is different to that of traditional \"market-seeking\" internationalisation.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides evidence of how the resource-acquisition behaviour of high-tech SMEs can be an important element of their internationalisation. Yet existing literature has focused almost exclusively on the market-seeking internationalisation of these firms.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge management: a factor analysis of sector effects	[ "Knowledge management", "Factor analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The field of knowledge management (KM) continues to grow and deepen in regard to both practitioners and academics (Davenport and Prusak, 1998). Current studies into KM tend to be case based studies or broad empirical studies that lack the study of basic variables such as organizational size and sector. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the KM field by exploring the effects of KM implementation on various organization sectors using an empirical study. A survey instrument, based on the MeCTIP model developed by Moffett et al. (2002) and subsequent statistical analysis was used involving a sample of organizations across three industrial sectors.\n2. Knowledge management within sectors: The role of KM in relation to the Engineering, Hi-Tech and Financial Services sectors is investigated in this paper. These sectors have been chosen as they have been in the vanguard of KM study and development and each of these sectors have extensive KM studies documented in the literature (Bodnar and Hawley, 2001; Jones, 2003), which can be used to support cross-sectoral analysis. The sectors have been classified according to the following definitions:1. Engineering. A broad discipline often broken down into several sub-disciplines concerned with differing areas of engineering work. Historically the main branches of engineering are categorised as chemical (the conversion of raw materials into usable commodities), civil (the design and construction of public and private works, such as infrastructure, bridge and buildings), electrical (the design of electrical systems such as transformers and electronic goods) and mechanical (the design of physical or mechanical systems such as engines, powertrains, kinematic chains and vibration isolation equipment) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering).2. Hi-Tech. A high technology (hi-tech) industry is one that produces sophisticated products. Often the raw materials are electrical components with significant emphasis placed on research and development. Examples of hi-tech industries include computers, telecommunications, aerospace and military equipment (http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/secondary.html#what).3. Financial services. Services provided by the finance industry encompassing a broad range of organizations (such as banks, credit card companies, insurance companies and stock brokerages) that deal with the management of money (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_services).2.1 Engineering sector\n3. The MeCTIP KM model: The development of a prescriptive, conceptual model of KM, based on the results from a number of exploratory research methods, uncovered a number of key factors relating to KM. The model, referred to as the MeCTIP model was created by Moffett et al. (2002). The MeCTIP model focuses on the relationships between five components, namely micro environment, culture, technology, information and people. The MeCTIP model is shown in Figure 1.\n4. Research methodology: To test the conceptual underpinnings of the MeCTIP model a tool for measuring the relationships between the various KM components was created. This paper-based tool, entitled 'Benchmarking KM' took the form of a postal questionnaire. To gain a snapshot of current KM practice with the UK, and to facilitate inter/intra sector analysis, the survey was mailed to 1004 organizations within the selected sectors. The usable response rate was 9 percent of the population. This figure, taking into account the emergent nature of the KM field, is acceptable considering low response rates for postal surveys are normal (Bickart and Schmittlein, 1999).Before conducting statistical analysis on each of the data categories, the variables were subjected to reliability (Item-to-total correlation and Cronbach alpha reliability test) and appropriateness (Barlett's test of sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy) testing to ensure quality of measurement (Rose and Sullivan, 1993). Having determined the data scales were suitable for further analysis principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to determine the minimum number of factors that account for maximum data variance (Hair et al., 1987; Tabachnick and Fidell, 1998). In line with PCA, the eigenvalues technique for factor extraction was used. Using this method only those factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 are included in the model; these variables signify factors with variance greater than one.The next step in the process is to calculate factor loadings, presenting the significance of each variable within the factor category. A factor loading value of + or - 0.30 is considered significant, while a factor loading of + or - 0.50 is considered very significant (Hair et al., 1987; Tabachnick and Fidell, 1998). Significance of the loading can also be used to interpret the factor thus enabling descriptions to be awarded pinpointing the underlying nature of the factor. Table I presents an overview of factor loadings in each category.\n5. Results and discussion: This section presents the results of factor analysis (FA) investigation and highlights how each industrial sector relates to components of the MeCTIP model. Due to space constraints results for each section are combined into one table for each factor considered. An overview of results and discussion of key factors is also included.5.1 Organizational Climate (OC)\n6. Conclusion: The aim of this paper was to explore the effects of industrial sectors in relation to KM implementation. To investigate such effects a multi-factor KM model, the MeCTIP model was employed to study the dimensions of KM application. The results of FA in this paper support a number of key issues for KM implementation, which are common across all sectors. Organizations from the three sectors investigated in the study perceived KM to be a means of enhancing the business environment, on both strategic and operational levels, as suggested by Beijerse (2000).Close relationships between the categories of organization culture and people (Figure 1) were identified in the study. For example, team working, employee emancipation and collaboration have been outlined as necessary elements for KM success in all three sectors. Quality of life has also been identified as important to employees across all organization types; KM workers are most effective in organizations that have a supportive culture for employee and business objectives (Davenport and Prusak, 1998).Technical climate was found to play a key role in KM implementation. Although the engineering and financial services organizations realised this fact, they failed to identify technological tools necessary to drive knowledge initiatives. In contrast, hi-tech organizations, perhaps not surprisingly, have established good practice in implementing KM from a technological perspective. Current practice on information flow, adoption and utilisation was found to be sector-dependant.Overall, it can be concluded that engineering organizations had innate limitations, in comparison to the hi-tech and financial services organizations, when trying to apply KM. Due to poor technological uptake and more environment based work practices, they lagged behind the financial services and hi-tech sectors. The hi-tech sector organizations were found to be those which had most effectively implemented KM practices and thus could act as a benchmark to other sectors. This is due to the strong connection between human and technological initiatives in the organizations. The financial services organizations surveyed, while adopting strong cultural aspects, have neglected the technological focus required to support human efforts. Further research on how KM learning in the hi-tech sector could be benchmarked and applied to other sectors would be useful.Further research could also be conducted on a global scale. One limitation of this paper is that the survey population is limited to UK companies only therefore the findings cannot claim to be representative of all companies, within the three industrial sectors, worldwide. The research approach adopted in this paper could be repeated in other countries/continents to gain a fuller picture. This research would determine if specific organizational or national cultural issues, or even national economic policies, would affect the findings elsewhere. The authors have commenced this approach by conducting a similar study in China. It is envisaged that global context to the research will develop over time.In a similar vein this research could be applied to other industrial sectors, on both national and global scales. This research would benefit organizations from other sectors applying KM and further deepen the KM discourse.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of knowledge management (KM) on three organizational sectors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper undertakes a dual theory building/testing approach. Through the development of a multi-factor KM model, known as the MeCTIP model, and subsequent survey instrument, empirical analysis is conducted on a number of UK organizations from engineering, technology and financial services sectors.\nFindings: - The results indicate that for KM implementation common issues exist for people issues across organizational sectors, while cultural and technological differences are evident.\nResearch limitations/implications: - As the survey population consists of UK companies only, the findings presented may not be representative of all companies, within the three identified sectors, on a global scale. Secondly, only three industrial sectors are included in the study, therefore the results cannot be applied to all organization types.\nOriginality/value: - While the area of KM is eclectic in nature and covers the systematic management of knowledge, of all kinds, within all levels and types of organizations there is a paucity of empirical studies focusing on key variables within the field. Such studies are needed to increase understanding and to examine the applicability of KM across a range of organizational contexts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Residual foreign exchange risk: does CEO compensation matter?	[ "CEO compensation", "Agency conflicts", "Corporate hedging policy", "Foreign exchange risk", "F23", "G34" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: When searching for clear insights about the FX[1] risk-hedging policy of corporations, practitioners and academics may be lost in front of the richness of the corporate finance theory in this matter. The academic literature explains that a broad list of factors may indeed influence the decision making. Among important factors, one finds corporate characteristics such as size, financial distress risk, exposure to FX risk and also governance variables such as CEO ownership and stock-options compensation, matter too. These determinants have been rationalized by theoretical arguments and/or documented by empirical investigations. See Smith and Stulz (1985), Nance et al. (1993), Geczy et al. (1997) and more recently Dunham (2012), Bakke et al. (2016) to quote a few. The path-breaking article of Smith and Stulz (1985) is, in this view, a welcome clear and significant improvement of our understanding of corporate hedging policies.\n2. Effects of the managerial compensation on hedging and on the residual FX risk exposure: hypotheses and variables: According to the optimal hedging theory of Smith and Stulz (1985), shareholders are firm value maximizers who can design the compensation of managers to influence their risk-taking behavior appropriately. If this is true, then the managerial compensation package reveals the overall preferences of shareholders, and this compensation can in principle align the interests of the agent (the managers) with those of the principal (the shareholders). In reality, however, things are evidently not that straightforward even in the simplest situation. To understand this, let us assume that only one device is used to compensate the managers. Then, a couple of extreme situations arise depending on whether this device implies a linear or a non-linear relationship between the wealth of the manager and the value of the underlying firm. First, we consider that the managers have a large proportion of shares in their compensation package so that their wealth is essentially a linear function of the value of the firm that they manage. Then, the utility of the wealth and the utility of the value of the firm share similar characteristics and lead to the same risk-taking decisions. The share compensation package neither exacerbates nor attenuates the effect of the risk aversion of the managers. The risk aversion concerning their wealth just translates to the value of the firm. However, the other important dimension of a linear compensation package is the costs of hedging because all costs incurred by the firm to hedge the risks impact the wealth of the managers in a simple and linear way. Hence, risk-averse managers will be tempted to increase the level of hedging, especially when the tools for hedging are costless. If these tools are costly, the managers have to balance the pros and the cons. Consider now that the managers have a large proportion of stock-options in their compensation package so that their wealth is essentially a non-linear and convex function of the value of the firm they manage. Then the utility of the wealth and that of the firm value do not share necessarily similar characteristics and they may lead to different risk-taking decisions. Here, the feature of the risk aversion (captured by a utility function) becomes a key in the decision making[4]. The stock-options compensation package can exacerbate or attenuate the effect of the risk aversion of the managers. If the utility function is also a convex function of the wealth, then they have a clear incentive to take more risk, i.e. to hedge less. If the utility function is a concave function of the wealth, then there is a dilemma because the utility function interacts with the underlying wealth. Only some risk adverse managers are tempted to limit the risk, i.e. to increase the level of hedging.\n3. Data and descriptive statistics: We extract data from various popular databases. Financial ratios and the characteristics of firms come from Thomson One Banker and variables related to the CEO compensation (salary, bonus, shares held by CEOs and stock-options) are taken from ExecuComp. We select a number of US firms listed in the S&P 500 index for which we can obtain a complete set of data over the period from 2000 to 2010. Following standard practices, we do not consider financial firms for several reasons. First, the nature of their activity significantly differs from other firms. Besides, they face special regulatory constraints with regards to risk management issues and they most probably use derivatives in quite different ways. Finally, our data set contains figures related to 244 US non-financial firms, i.e. a set of 1393 firm's year observations.\n4. Multivariate analysis: Our paper aims at testing whether (and to which extent) the CEO compensation variables impact the corporate residual exposure (ResidualFXriskExposure), given that this residue is viewed as negligible if the absolute value of unrealized FX risk gains/losses divided by international sales is lower than 1 per cent[5]. Hereafter, the \"level\" of (ResidualFXriskExposure) is set to zero if the residual FX risk exposure is less than 1 per cent, otherwise we retain the observed absolute value. Among key determinants, we focus on the usual components of any CEO's compensation package that are cash (measured by CashComp), shares (measured by SharesComp) and stock-options (measured by StockOptions). The structural econometric equation that we use to estimate the effect of CEO compensation effect on the residual FX risk exposure may be written as follows:\n5. CEO incentives effect and firm hedging policy: In this section, we try to test whether firm hedging policy has an impact on the relationship between CEO compensation composition and the residual FX risk exposure. For this, we use a variable that can measure firm risk aversion in combination with the residual exposure. The new variable is represented by the ratio of absolute value of unrealized gains/losses on firm marketable securities[6] to total sales. We assume that this variable can, obviously, reflect firm strategy toward total risk (more or less risk aversion). Thus, a low level of this variable should be associated with FX risk hedging policy. Inversely, high values (strictly superior to zero) correspond to some risk taking and lower FX risk hedging. Then, we combine these two situations with the two other situations for the residual FX risk exposure ratio (when absolute value of unrealized FX risk gains losses to international sales is inferior to 1 per cent and when it is superior or equal to 1 per cent). We obtain four situations that can reflect firm risk attitude and FX risk hedging result, so the hedging aspect:\n6. Conclusion: This paper examines potential impacts of CEO incentives on firm FX risk post-hedging exposure. We find evidence that CEO compensation composition has an important effect on Residual FX risk exposure. It is obvious that residual exposure represents shareholders decision making in terms of risk through CEO compensation plan. Particularly, in-the money options and shares compensations influence firm's choice in terms of post- hedging FX risk and, thus, residual exposure. Our findings support the idea of CEO perception of risk in relation to his ownership and his options compensation maturity and value. Our results are consistent with predictions of the optimal hedging theory developed by Smith and Stulz (1985) and confirm empirical studies' findings on firm risk hedging (Supanvaniij and Strauss, 2010; Bakke et al., 2016).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether CEO compensation scheme may induce some agency conflicts in the foreign exchange risk hedging policy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Residual exposure is a post-hedging variable computed as the ratio of unrealized foreign exchange risk gains/losses to international sales. The authors follow the optimal hedging theory developed by Smith and Stulz (1985). The residual foreign exchange risk exposure is a way to capture some consequences of the managerial risk aversion, whereas the compensation scheme granted to CEO reveals that of the shareholders. The authors interpret any deviation to the predictions of this theory as a mark that some agency conflicts exist.\nFindings: CEO compensation (stock-options, shares and so) significantly influence the level of the residual foreign exchange risk exposure. Both in-the-money exercisable options and shares are negatively related to the residual exposure of foreign exchange risk. The authors also document that the effect of agency problems is rather contingent because shares and options have especially a negative impact when the level of foreign exchange risk is relatively high.\nOriginality/value: The residual FX risk exposure variable the authors promote in this paper completes the traditional proxies used to depict the corporate hedging policy such as the nominal or total fair value of currency derivatives (Davies et al., 2006), use of nominal values (Spano, 2007), use of fair values of derivatives and the fraction of production hedged (Wang and Fan, 2011). The information that it conveys differs significantly from the one provided by traditional proxies because it captures the year-end post hedging firm's risk profile.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Territory-based knowledge management in international marketing processes - the case of "Made in Italy" SMEs	[ "International marketing", "Knowledge management", "Made in Italy", "Glocalisation", "Country of origin effect", "Territory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the third globalization era in which we currently live (Bertoli and Valdani, 2018), enterprises operate in institutional environments that are becoming increasingly more complex and competitive because of several factors, of which, one of the most important is the prevailing intangible nature of today's most competitive assets. Much of these dynamics, in fact, derives from the impact of new technologies, which have provided enhanced capacities for transportation, travel and communication with a direct influence on the circulation of knowledge, and the consequence has been the emergence of global markets (Levitt, 1983; Green et al., 2012; Kiss et al., 2012; Kinser, 2015). At first glance, these developments could undermine the reasons for the successful existence of local markets, products and firms, but localized dimensions can indeed be a privileged source of differentiation (Porter, 1986; Dossi et al., 1994; Schiele and Ebner, 2013). Moreover, given the way that globalization evolved, competition also exists among geographic areas and their abilities to guarantee specific operating conditions for enterprises (Di Cimbrini, 2008).\nLiterature review: Contribution of small and medium enterprises to \"Made in Italy\": Is small still beautiful?\nResearch design: aims and methods: Starting from the above premises, the current study aspires to highlight the possible contribution of territorial social capital - which is potentially embedded in the global set of intangible entrepreneurial resources - to the success of \"Made in Italy\" in international markets, especially to SMEs. The specific research question is the following: \"Is territorial social capital a distinctive competitive factor for the international performance of SMEs active in the 'Made in Italy' markets?\"\nSome evidence from international competition practice: To shed light and extract raw data from the real economy on the role of the territory in the success of \"Made in Italy\" in international markets, a summary overview of the data focused on can be useful. In the following synoptic representation (Figure 2), several pieces of information, combined from different sources into a global framework, highlight the key importance of \"industrial districts\" for the Italian economy, with consequent specific considerations of their connection to \"Made in Italy\" export activity.\nLimitations of the investigation and possible future research: The quantitative section of the research uses secondary data that are unfortunately not directly comparable because they are extracted from databases that refer to different time intervals. This limitation is because of the lack of authoritative secondary data on the export performance of industrial districts that specifically focus on \"Made in Italy\" - to the best of our knowledge. In fact, the different institutional reports that are normally available facilitate the investigation of only specific objectives and do not allow to create a general overview of this specific topic. In this respect, conceiving and implementing further research with the specific objective of retrieving primary data directly from the SMEs engaged in international competition by means of \"Made in Italy\" would be a helpful step forward in testing the potential contribution of territorial capitalism to this kind of competitiveness. Nevertheless, despite all the above limitations, the main result of this research, which shows the competitiveness of territory-based capitalism with the example of industrial districts focused on \"Made in Italy,\" is supported by clear evidence.\nTheoretical and practical implications: From a speculative point of view, the territory is increasingly emerging as an asset for corporate social capital, together with the complexity of its players (Khojastehpour and Shams, 2019), not only when it is well recognized (in domestic markets) but also when it is far from the cultural point of view (in global markets), with all the necessary attention that needs to be paid to potential cross-cultural management problems. Furthermore, this is even more true both from a technical perspective (for example, industrial districts with all their business connections) and from a symbolic perspective (for example, the reputational power of \"Made in Italy\").\nConclusion: In recent decades, the evolution from an economy based on simple production to an economy based on complex interactions has demanded a renewal of business development models, causing crises in those enterprises that have not been able to overcome standardized production rules (Rullani, 2004). In the specific case of Italy, a focus on high-success production has highlighted that the concept of \"Made in Italy\" - not only for Italian enterprises but also, unfortunately, for those enterprises active in perpetuating the unfair practices of \"sounding Italian\" - can provide a strong reputation-based platform for competing in global markets, mainly through differentiation or focus strategies, even for SMEs.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to analyze the territory as a distinctive factor through which the concept and practice of \"Made in Italy\" operates. Specifically, the study considers the role of local and sub-national entrepreneurial collaborations that preserve and enhance factors such as history, style and talent as the essence of Italian \"quality\" and as the pillar of Italian territorial capitalism.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research examines this Italian phenomenon by investigating small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that successfully compete abroad (and also in the domestic market) with a \"glocal\" approach, adopting the entrepreneurial formula of industrial districts.\nFindings: The results indicate that international expansion is becoming increasingly more complex (as is every growth/development strategy) but that \"glocalism\" could represent a potential driver for the success of internationalization strategies. Specifically, for SMEs operating in industrial districts, territorial capitalism could emerge as a unique competitive factor, because it is a component of local structural capital and global reputational capital, as in the case of \"Made in Italy.\"\nOriginality/value: In an increasingly globalized market environment, many companies look to foreign markets to maintain and expand competitive advantage and business performance. Once the companies embark on this endeavor, organizations are involved in governing and managing these networks of finance, production and communication and the distribution-related relationships that constitute globalization. The push to engage in international development is currently imperative for SMEs, which need to extend their business engagement beyond conventional local markets and identify and exploit their distinctive competitive advantage to be able to succeed. One possible way of achieving this is the close interaction with the local territories in which these enterprises reside.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
MINT: the German national initiative for more women in SET: Interview with Barbara Schwarze, Coordinator of MINT, Competence Center Technology-Diversity-Equal Chances, Inc., Bielefeld, Germany	[ "Women", "Equal opportunities", "Germany" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. The starting point: the situation of women in SET: Along every step of the qualification process women in Germany get lost when pursuing potential careers in SET. Studies show that a large percentage of women with SET preferences do not choose an SET-related field of study when entering university. Nevertheless, due to continuous measures and projects the number of first-year female students in engineering had been steadily increasing until 2003. However, starting then the numbers began to decline: from 2003 to 2006 they dropped by 12 per cent. A similar tendency can be seen in science subjects, where the number of first-year female students dropped by 6 per cent within the same period. The number of female engineering graduates as yet continues to thrive. In the period between 1999 and 2006 their figure increased by 24 per cent (1,793 women). In 2006, 22 per cent of the final examinations taken in this subject group were completed by women. The drop in first-year students has not yet influenced the number of female graduates. The number of female graduates in mechanical engineering has risen by 70 per cent since 1999, and their numbers in electrical engineering even doubled. However, the overall number of graduates remains quite low. In 2006, 2,891 women completed their studies in mechanical engineering, whereas 717 women graduated in the field of electrical engineering. With only 22 per cent of female graduates in the field of engineering Germany resides 5 per cent below the average European level. In light of the dropout rate in the field of engineering, it becomes evident that the relatively small percentage of female students in SET could be increased by reducing the number of dropout students. The arrival of SET-sector graduates in the economy has barely been investigated. As a result no definitive statements can be made for any of the different fields of study and their final degrees. It is important to note that the percentage of female graduates in engineering amounted to 22 per cent in 2006 (8.3 per cent electrical engineering, 18.3 per cent mechanical engineering and 17.1 per cent computer science). However, only 5 per cent of these 22 per cent of female SET graduates appear in the Federal Employment Agency's labour market statistics. The positive developments and slowly but steadily increasing number of women graduates are not reflected in the SET professions themselves. The SET sector loses a lot of vital female potential post-graduation. Furthermore, the Institute for Labour Market and Professional Life Research stated in 2006 that the unemployment rate of female engineers (9.7 per cent) has been two-and-a-half times higher than that of their male colleagues, listed at 3.7 per cent. All this shows a marked need for action.\n2. Past solutions towards gender equality in the SET professions: There are already numerous successful measures for attracting more women to SET careers all over Germany. However, as of yet these measures have often remained independent actions and thus still do not have a broad impact on prospective students or on women's job interests in general. They also have not helped to improve the image of SET qualifications and studies and its impact on the \"female\" public. Thus far there is an uneven distribution of measures along the process of qualification. Successful and innovative measures are often found on the school level, starting from middle school, in the fields of professional education and in higher education. Considerably fewer activities can be found in the preschool sector and in primary schools, even though it is important to implement these measures early on to prevent a premature disinterest in the classically technical education and professions on the part of the girls. Many universities offer a number of different projects and activities for women in the SET sector. These are predominantly supported and financed by the universities themselves. There are only a few cases of projects being sponsored by companies or corporations. An important part of most of these projects is \"mentoring\". Beyond that, the building of professional networks and the relaying of information regarding the organisation and contents of the chosen course of study are also important support measures. Most of the measures undertaken by the federal government and the individual federal states focus on awakening young women's interest in technology and technical items and do not take into account the situation they might be facing in their professional life later on. However, many young women consider work-life balance to be an important aspect of their future career. Likewise, there is a marked lack of measures for students in their advanced study and career entry periods. Integrated concepts, covering all phases from introducing technology and technical items early on in primary school to supporting the careers of female scientists, are hardly ever implemented. While dedicated companies, research centres and foundations aim to strengthen SET education, their approaches often lack specific concepts for attracting young women. Adding such concepts would lead to a broader impact of such measures.\n3. MINT as an innovative project?: Attracting more highly qualified young women to SET is not possible within the scope of the available activities alone. There is a lack of realisable integrated concepts. Motivating young women to enter a SET course of studies is not sufficient if at the same time the number of female (and male) dropouts is too high. Furthermore, there is a visible gap between successfully graduating a SET course of studies and arriving in the economy. Thus far, despite considerable efforts, a national turnaround has not happened and thousands of qualified young talents still stay away from the SET sector. There is a definite need to bundle and focus the existing measures and projects. This is the starting point for the Joint Initiative for Women in SET. This broad initiative started in June 2008 with already more than 40 strategic partners from the economy, science and politics and seeks to attract considerably more women to the SET sector and to effect a change of image. The joint initiative is part of the federal government's qualification initiative. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research will fund the initiative with three million euros per year. The setup of new projects in cooperation with the partners will be funded parallel to numerous projects already sponsored within the framework of the programme \"Women to the top\". The partners pledge themselves to support the common objectives by implementing their own measures. The institutions of higher education, for example, plan to develop more attractive SET courses of study and facilitate the study orientation for young women. Companies will undertake a visible effort to promote attractive job chances for women in their SET sectors.Partner experts are integrated in the planning and shaping of the joint initiative. The initiative itself is flexible and open to many partners. This means:Existing projects and initiatives will be placed, bundled together and transferred into the public by joint public relations.The transfer of successful measures in different regions and institutions will be facilitated.The partners' new activities will kick off. The planned measures should boost realistic decision-making in occupational orientation, enable an early contact with role models and contribute to more self-confidence with regard to technical and scientific competences.\n4. Objectives of MINT: The partners have set themselves tangible joint objectives: to raise the share of first-year students in science- and technology-related subjects by an average 5 per cent, to make sure women are included in new appointments in the SET sector in numbers at least proportionate to their share of graduates, and to considerably raise the number of women in executive positions. A broad alliance between the federal government, the Federal Employment Agency, companies, organisations, unions, universities, research facilities, women technology networks, the media, and public facilities is necessary to achieve these objectives. It is the initiative's goal to spark more girls' and women's interest in SET courses and professions.The partners want to make a contribution to:Particularly appeal to and sponsor technically gifted and interested female students (about 40 per cent of the women eligible for a place at university).Raise the percentage of women first-year students in SET-related subjects to at least the European level: that means an average increase of five percentage points.Increase the percentage of women recruited into the SET sector to at least the share of women graduates of the corresponding courses of study.Support more women on their way to the top with an eye to raising the share of women in executive positions in universities and research facilities at least one percentage point a year.Markedly raise the percentage of women in executive positions in the participating businesses in keeping with their self-set targets. It is especially important to support talented women and help them to tap their full potential in the process.In keeping with this background the partners pledge for at least three years to support the Joint Initiative for Women in SET by participating in the joint publicity events and activities or through their own materials or measures. They can, for example,organise, participate in or finance events and workshops designed to attract more women to the SET professions, and particularly to the companies and organisations involved in the initiative; orfind female role models to participate in the occupational orientation events offered within the scope of the initiative's activities; orinclude the topic in their already existing initiatives or campaigns for skilled workers and qualified trainees; oroffer traineeships for girls and women within the framework of occupational orientation; oroffer concerted measures for young women during and after their studies to help with their orientation within their field of study and thus reduce the number of dropouts; ordevelop or advance family-friendly work structures and workplaces for women and men in the SET sector and promote them through their own public relations activities; ordevelop publicity materials presenting successful women employed in their company or organisation as role models and depicting the SET professions as modern and attractive; orcreate special media offers and assure the targeted placement of the topic within the scope of the occupational orientation initiative of the Federal Employment Agency; oractively cooperate with the agency and the joint projects, as well as provide data and materials for the evaluation of the Joint Initiative for Women in SET.In cooperation with individual partners the Federal Government will initially start the following joint activities and thus provide at least 20,000 additional offerings for girls and women:development, expansion and implementation of events aiming to convey appropriate role-models for the SET sector;support of a proper and realistic depiction of the SET professions in the media, especially in the area of fiction;development and running of technology camps including as many of the different partners as possible;development and expansion of a mentoring offer for female students, run through the web and e-mail; anddevelopment and implementation of a \"gender appropriate\" range of services in order to provide information and help with the decision to enter a SET-related course of studies.\n5. Best practice - examples of MINT: 5.1 SET Role Models\n6. International connections and connectivity: There are several aspects that mark the joint initiative as important for other initiatives around the world. Not only Germany faces a lack of engineering and science experts; it is also felt by other industrialised countries. Hence several other European countries also proclaim a need for specialists in science and engineering. This shows that the joint initiative cannot simply confine itself to working on a national level. The building of a strong national network is crucial but it is also important to establish connections to comparable initiatives in other countries, e.g. Great Britain. As a first step towards this international integration an international congress will be held at the Hannover Industrial Fair in April 2009.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present an interview with Barbara Schwarze, Coordinator of MINT.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Presents an overview of MINT: the German national initiative for women in SET.\nFindings: - The building of a strong national network is crucial but it is also important to establish connections to comparable initiatives in other countries.\nOriginality/value: - The paper offers insights into MINT as an innovative process.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A "coalesced framework" of talent management and employee performance: For further research and practice	[ "Performance management", "Talent management", "Employee performance", "Dimensions" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: After McKinsey consultants coined the expression \"the war for talent\" in 1997, talent management (TM) has increasingly and consistently gained attention in both the practitioner and the academic literature (Kang and Sidhu, 2014; Sonnenberg et al., 2014; Collings and Mellahi, 2009). In recent years, TM has been high on the agenda of most organisations because of the belief in the importance of talent in achieving organisational excellence (Iles et al., 2010; Beechler and Woodward, 2009; Michaels et al., 2001). While it has been generally accepted that all employees possess talent and that all jobs are equally important (Buckingham and Vosburgh, 2001; Ashton and Morton, 2005; O'Reilly and Pfeffer, 2000), the reality is that there are jobs in all organisations that are considered to be more important and this is reflected through a higher perceived status and salary (Ulrich and Smallwood, 2011; Berger, 2004; Gagne, 2004).\n2. TM: the search for definition: Since the term TM was coined in the 1990's, it has received a remarkable degree of practitioner and academic interest as well as becoming increasingly common in the world of human resource management (Cooke et al., 2014; Collings and Mellahi, 2009; Cascio and Aguinis, 2008; CIPD, 2006). As a result of its popularity, one might not doubt that TM is a well-defined area with a precise definition and a clear understanding of what it actually entails. However, this is not the case. A comprehensive review of the literature by Lewis and Heckman (2006) reveals a total lack of clarity regarding the definition, scope and overall goals of TM. Similarly, Ashton and Morton (2005) came to the conclusion that there isn't a single universal definition of TM. In fact, Cappelli and Keller (2014, p. 306) put it that \"the term TM has escaped a standard definition\".\n3. Perspectives on talent: Apart from the disagreement about what exactly TM is, there are also different perspectives about talent. Thus, the inability to reach a generally accepted definition of talent has led some authors to state that there is little point in trying to define TM (Frank and Taylor, 2004; Tulgan, 2001). Therefore to further boost our understanding of TM, some new perspectives have emerged in the literature. The first controversy is whether TM in an organisation should be holistic to cover all employees or narrow to cover only employees called \"talents\". The second is whether talent is in-born or learned, while the third concentrate on talent as an object or subject. Lastly, there is a controversy about whether we should consider talent as an input or an output. These controversies have implications for how employees are managed in an organisation, and understanding these helps managers make the appropriate decisions.\n4. Conceptualising TM: Consistent with this variation in what constitutes talent according to the various perspectives, there is also no clear cut conceptualisation of TM. TM has been conceptualised from different perspectives. For instance, many studies conceptualise the TM strategy as a process of attracting; selecting; engaging; developing; and retaining talented employees (Hajimirarab et al., 2011; Hartmanna et al., 2010; Tarique and Schuler, 2010; Deborah and Kathy, 2009; CIPD, 2006). These approaches of conceptualising TM are usually seen as traditional because they are linear, which normally begins with acquiring talent and ends with retaining talent. On the other hand, some conceptualisations of the concept are broad and holistic. Thus, Bersin and Associates (2007) provide a comprehensive framework of TM and argue that the TM process is a continuous cycle instead of a linear approach. The framework highlights a critical skills gap analysis for recruitment, training and development, and compensation and benefits for talented employees. Similarly, SHL (2007, 2008) conceptualise the TM strategy as interconnected processes of recruitment, selection, performance, development, succession and competency management of talented employees in core and pivotal positions. The basic idea of this holistic approach is that even though TM starts with attracting talented employees and then moves on to consider retention of talented employees, the concept remains that they are continuously managed to ensure that they contribute significantly to the performance of the organisation.\n5. TM outputs: Even though the management of talented employees is very challenging, it is associated with a multiplicity of outcomes (Dries et al., 2012). The ultimate aim of TM is to make maximum use of talented employees and to utilise them appropriately. The extant literature shows that investment in TM practices can help to achieve outcomes such as employee satisfaction, engagement, motivation, commitment and perceived organisational support (POS) (Collings and Mellahi, 2009; De-Meuse et al., 2009). Barkhuizen et al. (2014) and Lockwood (2006) in their studies argue that the immediate outcomes of TM include employee satisfaction, motivation, commitment and POS. Several studies have found that TM positively relates to employee engagement (Anand, 2011; Hughes and Rogs, 2008; Bhatnagar, 2007; Lockwood, 2006).\n6. Employee performance: definitional mystification: The concept of performance is of high relevance for individuals and organisations alike. As a result of its importance, it has received considerable research and practical attention. In spite of its significance and different researches in the field over the years, there is still no consensus and universally accepted definition of what performance is. This has made Sonnentag and Frese (2002) believe that despite the great relevance of individual performance and the widespread use of job performance as an outcome measure in empirical research, relatively little effort has been spent on clarifying the performance concept. Similarly, Campbell (1990, p. 704) described the literature on the structure and content of performance as \"a virtual desert\" while Lebas and Euske (2002, p. 67) stated that \"performance is one of those 'suitcase words' in which everyone places the concepts that suit them, letting the context take care of the definition\".\n7. Dimensions of employee performance: Researchers and authors agree that performance is a multi-dimensional concept (Sonnentag and Frese, 2002; Borman and Motowidlo, 1993). Borman and Motowidlo (1993) divided performance in two: task and contextual performance. Later Allworth and Hesketh (1999), Pulakos et al. (2000), Sinclair and Tucker (2006) and Griffin et al. (2007) came up with the concept of adaptive performance. In recent years, attention has been given to negative work behaviours that harm the organisation (Rotundo and Sackett, 2002; Viswesvaran and Ones, 2000). This has led to the addition of counterproductive performance as a dimension.\n8. Coalesced framework of TM and employee performance: The aim of this section is to develop a conceptual framework of TM and employee performance. This framework may serve as a guide for both academics and practitioners towards understanding the mechanisms through which TM can lead to an enhanced employee performance in the field of human resources. A conceptual framework is an image or symbolic representation of an abstract idea. It can be seen as a complex mental formulation of experience (Chinn and Kramer, 1999). Chinn and Kramer explain that while the theoretical framework is the theory on which a study is based, the conceptual framework is the operationalisation of the theory. It is the researcher's own position on the problem, and it gives direction to the study. It may be new, or an adoption of, or adaptation of, a model used in a previous study with modifications to suit the inquiry (Chinn and Kramer, 1999).\n9. Discussion and recommendations: Giving the current pressure on organisations to increase their performance and satisfy their ever demanding clients, most organisations have adopted TM to survive in the turbulent business environment. TM is the systematic identification of pivotal positions, the recruitment, training and development, the compensation management and retention management of talented employees. This is widely believed to lead to an enhanced employee performance. Employee performance is concerned with the delivery of the employee's job duties by avoiding negative behaviours and the delivery of any other responsibilities towards the achievement of the organisation's goals. Employee performance consists of four dimensions: task, contextual, adaptive and counterproductive performance. The combination of TM and employee performance forms the coalesced framework. TM positively relates to task, contextual and adaptive performance but is negatively related to counterproductive performance. However, this relationship is mediated by the TM output. This paper has contributed to the conceptualisation of TM and employee performance and will help to improve theory, research and practice in all fields occupied with individual work performance.\n10. Conclusions: The concept of talents can be seen as any kind of exceptional competence of an individual, innate or acquired, difficult to imitate and to replace with any resources, which are strategically essential to the performance of the organisation. It therefore requires the management of this special talent's competitive advantage. As a result, most organisations have embraced the tenets of TM to cope with the ever changing, competitive and demanding clients. The paper discusses the difficulties in defining TM and the various perspectives through which talent/TM has been viewed. The paper also discusses the concept of employee performance and shows, that the four main dimensions captured the concept comprehensively. These two streams of literature serve as the basis for the development of the conceptual framework. The coalesced framework of TM and employee performance shows that TM has a positive relationship with employee performance through the mediating role of TM outputs. This paper is among the first to provide a framework for TM at the employee level. As such it can provide a valuable contribution to research and practice of TM.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework that demonstrates the mechanisms through which talent management (TM) leads to the various dimensions of employee performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A literature-based analysis was employed by combining concepts from TM and employee performance. The syntheses of these two concepts lead to the development of the conceptual framework.\nFindings: The findings show that, implementation of a TM system leads to employee performance, but a TM output mediates the relationship between TM and employee performance.\nOriginality/value: This paper has contributed to the conceptualisation of TM and employee performance which will help to improve theory, research and practice in all fields concerned with individual work performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A cohort study of sustainability education in nursing	[ "Sustainability", "Attitudes", "Nursing", "Climate", "Scenario", "Climate change", "Health care", "Scenario-based learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Professional education: placing an active concern for well-being front and centre\nMethods: A cohort study was designed to assess nurse and midwifery students' attitudes towards sustainability and climate change over the course of their three-year academic programme. At the University of Plymouth (UK), student nurses and midwives are exposed to issues regarding climate change and sustainability throughout their academic studies. A number of modules, for example public health, include the potential for changing patterns of disease as a consequence of climate change, management modules include the management of resources and how these might be impacted on as a consequence of flooding or drought. Additionally, the students participate in sessions specifically designed to raise awareness about sustainability, climate change and health in each year of their three-year degree course. The content of these sessions is evidence-based, providing examples of the global consequences of climate change on health, and includes mitigation and adaptation approaches. All the teaching materials are available in the NurSusTOOLKIT (www.nursus.eu).\nSample: Student nurses and midwives commencing their undergraduate degree at the University of Plymouth in September 2014 were invited to take part in this research project to investigate the impact of the scenario-based learning approach. Students consented to participate in the project and agreed to complete the SANS survey on three occasions. Students' names were required on the survey that they could be matched to surveys completed in subsequent years; however, individual students were not identifiable in the data analysis. Surveys were completed on three occasions:\nResults: Two hundred and forty six questionnaires were returned in both Years 1 and 2, and 145 in Year 3. Median scores for all participants are reported in Table I.\nDiscussion: The findings from this research project highlight that a number of Lozano et al.'s (2017) common sustainability competencies are being developed through the scenario-based learning pedagogical approach. Although the key interest of our study has been to better understand the acceptance of systems thinking and its value in relating the professional practice of nurses to their impact on the environment, other issues appeared to have value. For example in making the links between resources and health the students had been engaged in \"justice responsibility and ethics, critical thinking and analysis\"; the group work sessions engaged them in discussion, allowing \"interpersonal relations and collaboration, empathy and change of perspective\", which the majority preferred.\nImplications for future practice: The International Council of Nurses position statement (International Council of Nursing, 2018) draws attention to the powerful contribution nurses can make to mitigating climate change and supporting communities to adapt to the health consequences. The International Council of Nursing (2018, p. 1) calls for nurse \"leadership from nurses to take immediate action to build climate resilient health systems\". In order to take action, nurses need to be equipped with relevant information; topics regarding sustainability and climate change need to be embedded in nursing education using pedagogic approaches that are engaging and facilitate learning and attitude change.\nConclusion: The development of knowledge and attitudes are key elements within the constellation of a competence; currently there is limited attention given to nursing competences in relation to sustainability and climate change (Leffers et al., 2017). The sustainability competency of \"systems thinking\" is very relevant in the context of nursing and health care; helping health-care practitioners to understand the connections between their actions in delivering health care and the impact on the environment. This awareness is a key foundation upon which nurses can then build when making positive changes in practice toward greater sustainability.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the contribution of scenario-based learning aimed at raising awareness of sustainability in health-care practitioners. The Lancet Countdown on Climate Change calls for urgent action on health and climate change; this requires appropriate knowledge, skills and competencies that can be gained through undergraduate education. The International Council of Nurses calls for leadership in nursing for sustainability; however, climate change and health are given little attention in nursing and health-care curricula.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A cohort of nursing and midwifery students was introduced to sustainability and climate change in the context of health care through scenario-based learning sessions in each of their three years of undergraduate education. Questionnaires were used to collect data on participant's attitudes toward sustainability and climate change, how useful the educational sessions were and the extent to which their clinical practice had changed.\nFindings: Significant differences were found between scores in Years 1 and 2 suggesting greater awareness of the importance of sustainability in nursing education and practice. Comparison of Years 2 and 3 scores found participants more likely to apply sustainability principles in clinical practice and challenge unsustainable practices in the work environment.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further research is required to explore sustainability practice in postgraduate nurses/midwives. However, this study supports the need for sustainability education to be embedded within health-care professional degrees through applied and participatory pedagogical approaches.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate sustainability education and its impact on nursing attitudes towards practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Guidelines for managing dispersed teams: enhancing communication and productivity	[ "Training", "Trust", "Team management", "Communication" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Distributed teams are becoming commonplace in many organizations. These teams are geographically distributed and communicate via a variety of computer-mediated communication systems, and many times never or rarely meet face-to-face. While dispersed teams clearly have advantages over collocated teams, such as expanding the knowledge base of the team, providing a wider variety and level of expertise in both domain areas and methodological areas, and possible higher levels of experience, they do pose many problems in the management of these teams.\nImpediments of no face-to-face interaction: One of the major differences in working in a dispersed environment is that team members cannot observe fellow team members directly. They cannot see who attends meetings, or participates in conversation about the group's project or progress. This lack of face-to-face interaction can impede the development of trust among team members.As geographically dispersed teams become more common in and between organizations concern over preparing members to work more effectively in a dispersed environment raises. Many researchers question the ability of dispersed teams to develop the trust needed to effectively work together. Trust within teams can enhance cooperation, organizational performance, communication and acceptance of feedback.\nTeams need to first understand the meeting process: A meeting model by Drexler (1988) divided the work of teams and team meetings into stages. The first set of stages are the creating stages in which members establish social communications and \"get to know one another\" by exchanging personal information. This social banter, as it is sometimes called, is frequently underplayed in dispersed teams.There are many reasons for this. In face-to-face meetings members naturally engage in social banter as they wait for latecomers, wait for staff to distribute reports, forms, etc., or make introductions of new members.In a dispersed setting members may often be using more costly communication channels such as high band-with video systems, and may feel that they have to \"get down to business\" immediately. Many organizations also discourage, or may even prohibit, the use of communication channels, e-mail and phone especially, for personal communications. These policies may have the effect of stifling social banter in dispersed teams, which in turn causes team members to feel disconnected and depersonalized.Teams also use these creating stages to define the task and determine how to break it up into sub-tasks, define task roles and identify a team leader. In addition, communication conventions and protocols are established at this time.\nSustaining stages: The second set of stages of the meeting model are the sustaining stages in which members and project leaders need to attend to pulling needed participation from all members, further develop communication conventions and adjust them if needed, and engage in feedback. Other actions that must be attended to are managing the team boundaries, transitioning from the social aspects to the task and managing sub-groups.\nPre-meeting activities: There are some activities that must take place at the pre-project stage. Team members must have an idea of what to expect when working in a dispersed environment. Drawbacks to communication in this environment need to be discussed with members.Two main drawbacks are information overload and \"free-riders\". Information overload is receiving more information than can be processed and, therefore, used. Free riders are those members who do not contribute, or at least do not seem to contribute, to the task at hand.Methods of organizing information also need to be addressed. Methods can include establishing the proper electronic tools to be used for the project that would allow for the organization of a great deal of information in a cohesive fashion. Who needs training on these tools and what type of training needs to be addressed here also.\nManaging the stages of the meeting: During both sets of stages, creating and sustaining, there are two different types of activities that need to be addressed. The first is addressing communication and social issues, and the second is addressing team organization, task and leadership issues.Communication and social issues are those issues that promote inter-member communication. It is these activities that can help develop trust among team members. Team organization, task and leadership issues are those things that help provide an operating framework for the team.\nCreating stages: Communication and social issues\nSustaining stages: Communication and social Issues\nCreating stages: Communication and social issues\nSustaining stages: Communication and social issues\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To provide information to managers on training geographically dispersed teams to enhance communication and productivity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Practical advice is offered on methods of managing geographically dispersed teams. The discussion pays attention to what actions need to take place before, early on, and during the team's life. The discussion also distinguishes between methods to enhance inter-member communications to enhance trust among members and team organization, task and leadership issues.\nFindings: - Advises on guidelines a dispersed team manager can use to enhance team trust, communications and performance.\nOriginality/value: - Offers guidance and steps to managing dispersed teams within a time framework.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impact of a tenancy health check	[ "Public health", "Social housing", "Loneliness", "Social isolation", "Older individuals", "Housing officers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Individuals who rent generally have more mental health problems than those who own their home, and this association is stronger with increasing age (Howden-Chapman et al., 2011). Deprivation is also associated with poor mental health, being both a cause and a consequence of it (Elliott, 2016). This is particularly so for those living in social housing or housing association properties, of whom as many as one in three may have a mental health problem compared to one in four for those renting privately (Bond et al., 2018). Such individuals are at higher risk of loneliness, as they are more likely to be single, widowed, disabled or in poor health (Office for National Statistics, 2018). This may be compounded by financial insecurity and negative perceptions of neighbourhood safety, which both further reduce opportunities for meaningful social engagement (Bowling et al., 2006).\nMethods: To address this challenge, the public health and housing teams within the council have worked together to develop a tenancy health check form for local authority tenants, taking a Making Every Contact Count [1] (MECC) approach. MECC seeks to maximise the contact between staff in public sector organisations and the individuals that they work with, by delivering healthy lifestyle information and encouraging positive behavioural change in addition to their usual interactions. Public Health and Housing have recognised the opportunities housing officers had to reach a significant number of people in the borough, as their often long-term relationship with tenants makes them ideally placed to begin conversations on health and well-being. To facilitate these conversations staff in housing attended MECC training to be familiar with the principles, learn the appropriate language to use and gain the confidence to ask relevant questions.\nResults: The programme of Tenancy Health Check visits commenced in April 2019, which has so far been undertaken on a targeted basis to identify potential health and well-being issues in those most at risk. Therefore, the main focus has been on tenants aged over 75 years, though in addition, the programme has been extended to population groups with a higher risk of suicide. In the first year of the programme between April 2019 and March 2020, 6,122 visits were undertaken. For 310 of these visits, use of the tenancy health check form led to a referral to other services, with 42 of the referrals being related to loneliness.\nCase studies: At one Tenancy Health Check, a tenant expressed feelings of loneliness since retirement and mentioned that he was experiencing depression. He stated that he had tried to socialise in his local area but that no one would talk to him and that he would prefer to move closer to where his friends lived. Therefore, the housing officer helped the tenant to complete a medical priority application which allowed him to move nearer to his friends, and consequently, he is feeling much happier now that he has a closer support network.\nFeedback from community activities: There was no direct measurement of mental health outcomes using validated tools, though the tenant federation has collected feedback form individuals identified as being lonely who have attended the community activities:\nConclusion: Use of this award-winning process of a tenancy health check form in housing officer visits has facilitated the identification of social isolation and loneliness in elderly local authority housing tenants and the subsequent signposting to community activities to achieve positive outcomes in well-being and increased independence. In addition to allowing new friendships to develop, the community activities have had a vital role in increasing social capital. This has occurred as a result of improving relations between different communities in an area and increasing use of previously under-used community centres across the borough.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how loneliness and other mental health problems in older local authority housing tenants can be identified and addressed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A tenancy health check form to identify health and well-being issues was developed by housing and public health for use in a rolling programme of housing officer visits to elderly tenants. This form facilitated enquiries on loneliness, social isolation and mental health as part of a supportive conversation. Individuals identified as being lonely were signposted to a range of community activities and social groups, and for some, ongoing support via telephone was provided by the housing officer.\nFindings: The tenancy health check helped identify loneliness in this population group and enabled signposting to an increased number of local community activities. In addition to improved individual well-being, social capital has been strengthened through the creation of community networks.\nPractical implications: Use of a health check form during housing officer visits provides a low-cost means of identifying health and well-being issues in vulnerable populations and facilitates adoption of making every contact count approaches by social housing providers.\nOriginality/value: This case study demonstrates the scope to provide holistic support for social housing tenants through better connections between public sector and community organisations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Do tourists' gastronomic experiences differ within the same geographical region? A comparative study of two Mediterranean destinations: Turkey and Spain	[ "Gastronomy", "Food consumption in tourism", "Gastronomic satisfaction", "Mediterranean cuisine", "Typology of gastronomy tourists" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Food has assumed a key role in tourists' decision making, satisfaction and behavioural intentions, and it has also been central in promotional destination strategies and for the organisations that make up the tourism industry such as tour operators, travel agents and airlines (Rimmington and Yuksel, 1998, p. 40; Kivela and Crotts, 2006, pp. 369-370; Henderson, 2009, p. 317; Chang et al., 2011, p. 307). Food can help destinations to develop a distinguishing gastronomic identity by branding their cuisine with a nationality (e.g. Chinese, French, Italian, Turkish, and Mexican) (Okumus et al., 2007, p. 253; Henderson, 2009, p. 321) and can provide coherent alternatives for destinations that lack natural and historical resources. For example, a destination with shortages of sea, sun and sand, could be a leading tourism destination for its vineyards and wines (Kivela and Crotts, 2006, p. 359). In addition to these factors, the economic benefits that can be obtained from tourists' food consumption can substantially influence the economic condition and competitiveness of the tourism business and destinations (Henderson, 2009, p. 321; Mak et al., 2012, p. 929; Sanchez-Canizares and Castillo-Canalejo, 2015, p. 2405). These wide-ranging effects of food explain why gastronomy has become the major focal point of tourism.\n2. Theoretical background and literature review: 2.1 Food consumption in tourism\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data collection instrument\n4. Findings: Sociological and trip-related characteristics of the participants indicate that the two samples are similar except for income status and travel companions. Most of the visitors in both destinations were 39 years of age or under, and they are university graduates who were guided by the Internet or the advice of friends and/or family who have previously visited the region. However, the Cordoba tourists have a significantly higher monthly income, and, compared to the individuals who visited Hatay, they travel in smaller groups (Table I).\n5. Theoretical and practical implications: Consequently, this study mainly examined the common and differentiating food factors that affect tourists' gastronomy satisfaction in addition to overall gastronomic experiences in two culinary destinations. The findings can be handled with the theoretical framework of Mak et al.'s (2012) \"tourist food consumption\", \"gastronomy tourist typologies\" of Hjalager (2003) and Cohen and Avieli (2004), and \"gastronomic motivations\" of Quan and Wang (2004), Kim et al. (2009) and Chang et al. (2011). From this perspective, theoretical implications of the study are threefold: tourist motivations, tourist gastronomic typologies and the attributional factors that affect tourists' gastronomy satisfaction.\n6. Limitations and suggestions for future research: The results of this research on the gastronomic profiles and gastronomic attitudes of tourists who visited Hatay and Cordoba have a number of significant limitations. The convenience sampling method that was applied restricts the generalisation of the findings to other populations in terms of the data that were gathered and the resulting constraints. Although deliberate efforts were made to prove measurement invariance and common method bias, it would be better if the compared profiles were more similar in terms of the samples being composed of either national or foreign tourists. Future research should examine gastronomic experience and the factors that affect gastronomy satisfaction in other Mediterranean destinations through different scales to enhance the generalisability of the results.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discover the common and differentiating food factors that affect tourists' gastronomy satisfaction by comparing tourists' gastronomic experiences at two culinary destinations in the Mediterranean region.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 396 usable questionnaires were collected using a convenience sampling method from Cordoba (Spain) and Hatay (Turkey). The data were analysed through descriptive and multivariate analysis methods, including frequency analysis, multiple independent samples t-tests, kh2 analysis and multiple regression analyses.\nFindings: The results indicate that both of the destinations primarily attract existential type gastronomic tourists; however, they also attract recreational and diversionary types of tourist, particularly in Cordoba. From the perspective of Mediterranean cuisine, food quality and traditional gastronomy were determined to be common crucial factors for tourists' food consumption satisfaction, which outweighs the effects of price, facilities and atmosphere. In addition, service and hospitality and innovation and new tastes in the dishes are the significant factors; however, factors vary according to the destination.\nOriginality/value: This study makes a significant contribution to the field food tourism by identifying common significant and insignificant and differentiating food factors that affect tourists' gastronomic satisfaction in culinary destinations within the same geographical region. The results have the potential to provide a broader perspective for destination marketers and culinary establishments.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Internet retail banking: A competitive analysis in an increasingly financially troubled environment	[ "Competitive advantage", "Virtual banking", "Financial services", "Internet" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Internet banking services and the financial credit crunch\nApplication of Porter's five-force strategic model to online-related services of retail banks: Investigation of the barriers to entry\nCases studies of internet-based banking service strategies: Sampling and data collection procedures\nResults and implications: Perhaps, the most important tactic utilized by banks that drives rivalries in the online-related services banking industry would be the attempt to differentiate online-banking products. In order to remain competitive in a global recession, there are major efforts by bank managers, at least from the interviews from the present study, to try to differentiate their internet products from all of the others. Within the research that was done for this paper, as noted in Appendix, Table AI, it can be seen that most banks offer the same services. Powers and Hahn (2004) did a study on strategies employed by banks and suggest that it may be difficult to generate superior returns using a differentiation or focus strategy. All banks offer essentially the same line of services from financial calculators to life insurance. In reality, there really are only so many ways that a bank can show someone their account balance. Likewise, the bank's ability to pay one's bills for them is indistinguishable between banks. There are ways that some banks, particularly the smaller banks, have found ways to differentiate themselves from the rest of the market. On Irwin Bank and Trust's website, for example, they have active links to local traffic and weather reports. Interestingly, on Irwin Bank and Trust's website, they present local and national news headlines and give a link to the full stories on either the AP's website or local TV news stations websites.What differentiates one bank from another could also be the relationship the bank appears to have with the customers. As in the example of Irwin Bank and Trust, some banks websites appear to have more of a hometown, friendly appeal to them. Citizens' and National City's website are reminiscent of the IRS's website. Relatively dry and fact dominated in its presentation, and appear to just be there to give the information, and have little appeal to any individual consumers' characteristics and personalization. The recent acquisition of National City by PNC and the extremely negative feedback and potential litigation has not improved the situation as many managers of both banks had to place on hold their customer relation management and related initiatives. PNC Bank differentiates in a more distinctive way, since their website is very comprehensive and very picturesque. The potential customer has a wide range of choices and a very distinctive menu on PNC's website and has a very professional appearance. Irwin Bank and Trust's website, while very appealing to a typical Pittsburgher, may not be the ideal site for someone from out of town, not directly familiar to the local heritage, culture, and local geography.Another differentiating item spurring the rivalries that was found among one of the banks is at PNC Bank. It is always difficult to switch from one bank to another and the exit barriers for the customer are very high. When changing banks, users will need to move their direct deposit at work, and if they already have an individual's entire bill paying information set up at one bank, having to retype all of that information into another bank's system could lead a customer to not switch. PNC offers the \"Quick Switch\" program, which is where PNC will switch all of the aforementioned information for its users. This reduces the customer's exit barrier and will allow PNC to freely pickup new customers. Of all the banks that were surveyed, only PNC offered this service, which currently gives them a competitive advantage until competitive rivalry causes others to offer similar services.National City Bank also has a program, which other banks have considered, but have not adopted. National City offers a program whereby they guarantee those users' payments that are formally setup with National City's bill pay program will get to the destination on time, or National City will pay any fees up to $50 that are incurred for delays on the bank's part. This program is a good one to have for the customers, but with the automation that each bank already has, a guarantee is probably not needed.\nGeneral conclusions and implications: Pearce and Robinson (2007), Smith (2008), Smith and Offodile (2008), and Wojtowicz (2005) discussed in detail the possibility that high-fixed costs create strong temptation to cut prices, especially service-oriented costs. However, in the online-banking industry, there are little service prices to cut. As discussed in an earlier part of this paper, there are no fees charged to consumers of online-banking products. The banks do not charge for online account access, rather the banks charge for the type of accounts that users choose to open. The banks' fee structure works via the bank determining the amount of money the customer leaves in their bank account; hence the more money that they have invested in the bank, the fewer fees that they end up paying. So when times get tight in the online-banking industry, there are no prices to be cut. It should also be acknowledged that many financial product offerings, especially by pure-play banks, may be very complicated and should only considered only by relatively sophisticated investors. Unfortunately, it should also be noted that any financial product has the potential to be complicated and not readily understood by most investors. The convenience offered by pure plays and other banks offering internet services for investment purposes should not off set common-sense business practices by consumers.However, from several detailed interviews of bank managers (much of which was required to be confidential), much of the discussion centered on strategies and specific tactics that can lead to increased levels of customer retention and increased transactions and deposits. Studies are needed to determine what services and amenities beyond the basics would improve the customer's experience at the branch, including the cyber experience. Many mangers suggested that a major portion of bank customers would take advantage of financial or related services not traditionally provided by their branch if they were offered, citing legal advice, estate planning, and financial planning were among the most desirable. Other options and services included one-stop shopping at website, postal services, computer and printing services, and other non-financial services.Within the internet-banking industry, there are high exit barriers as well. As the internet's popularity grows, so grows the usage of internet banking. The investment some banks put into their internet product is minimal and their products show that. Banks like PNC Bank put a lot of time and money into their product, whereas a bank like Parkvale Savings Bank did the bare minimum to get by. The costs involved are the software product itself (if purchased from an outside vendor) and the costs to maintain that software. The people cost involved in keeping the systems up and running are also a big factor to consider. If a bank were to attempt to drop their internet banking system and go strictly with the traditional over the counter system, they would save money on normal day-to-day type costs due to the reduction in headcount. However, the investment that was sunk into the software (and software licenses) would be lost (Powers and Hahn, 2004).The feature that keeps the rivalries of these banks moving in a competitive fashion is their attempt to differentiate their products and introduce new products. Advertising and price competition are no good in the online-banking industry. Advertising may show the differentiation of one service provider's product versus another provider's product. Price wars do not spur rivalries either. Among all the banks surveyed, all offered free online-banking products. Banks try to distinguish their own personalities by putting their own stamps on their products. Some banks try to give a hometown feel to their product, which sells to very specific customers and could encourage other banks to follow suit. However, existing and newly established banks can still follow this global competitive strategy and have mixed results. For example, during the first two quarters of 2008, Japanese-based financial institutions of e-Bank, SBI Sumishin Net Bank, Aeon Bank, and Jibun Bank were operating with significant net loses, while Japan Net Bank and Sony Bank, still profitable, saw their profits fall. In fact, the biggest internet bank in Japan, e-Bank, saw a net loss of 22,704 million yen, primarily due to tremendous losses on investments in real-estate funds. The current global financial crisis probably also negatively impacted Jibun Bank, Japan's first cell phone-based internet bank that was an initial start-up date in July 2008, also reported recurring and net losses by late 2008, although they still enjoyed an increased number of personal accounts and outstanding deposits (Jiji Press English News Service, 2008). It would be a mistake to judge harshly the merits of pure-play banks and the internet-based services in general in the current negative financial conditions that have doomed seven sound strategies. Unfortunately, the FDIC is often appointed as receiver for failed banks, which may seriously affect customers and vendors of these banks. The latest list of US banks that have failed since October 1, 2000 can be found by visiting the FDIC website at: www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.htmlIn conclusion, to maintain customer satisfaction, retail financial institutions must solve problems quickly. As recently noted by Porter (2008, p. 41), unfortunately many Federal polices have reduced US entrepreneurial strength by increasing cost and complexity of doing business, especially for smaller companies:Cumbersome regulation of employment, the environment, and product liability needs to give way to better approaches involving less cost and litigation, yet special interests block reform. The USA has become a high-tax country not only in terms of rates but also administrative hassle.The need for basic strategy is never more urgently needed than the present time. Most of the time consumers look to online banking as a very convenient way to conduct their day to day business but consumers have certain concerns about the accuracy, security, privacy and the accessibility to get in the online banking services. Ultimately, what will serve as a competitive advantage for one bank over another is the differentiation of one product over another.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the online retail banking industry and determine if there is evidence that online banking will be a dominant player in the financial services retail marketplace.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An analysis of 22 banks is conducted and it is determined that the barriers to entry that are identified may not be enough to prohibit a substantial number of entrants into the marketplace.\nFindings: - Using Porter's five-force model to conduct the industry analysis; online banking is still in its infancy, although with great potential. According to FDIC, while approximately 40 percent of the 10,623 banks and thrifts in the US market have a website, only 376 offer transactional internet banking at the time of the study. About 30 internet-only banks or a pure-play format operate in the USA. All of the web-only banks in the USA combined have about 250,000 depositors, out of the nearly six million customers who have stated that they do significant banking activities over the internet.\nPractical implications: - Owing to the different types of potential suppliers, the suppliers in the online-banking industry do not appear to have as big a bargaining power in this industry as they would in another industry. Buyers, however, hold the keys to success in the online-banking industry. Buyers do not need the product that is offered due to the many substitute products available in the market.\nOriginality/value: - In the end, the rivalries among banks lead them to differentiating their internet banking products which is what will afford one bank to have a competitive advantage over the rest of the market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Political skill dimensions and transformational leadership in China	[ "China", "Political skill", "Transformational leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Transformational leadership, a leadership style motivating followers to transcend their self-interests for the greater good (Piccolo and Colquitt, 2006), has been reported to benefit multiple organizational outcomes (see Wang et al., 2011, for a meta-analysis). By creating visionary messages, transformational leaders inspire subordinate commitment to a shared vision and greater effort to task completion; more importantly, transformational leadership is suggested to be one of the most effective leadership styles across cultures (Wang and Gagne, 2013). Therefore, it is important to understand the antecedents of transformational leadership for the purpose of leadership training and development.\nTheory and hypotheses development: Political skill\nMethod: Participants\nResults: Descriptive analysis\nDiscussion: At the composite level, we found that leader political skill is positively related to followers' perceptions of their leaders' transformational leadership. This finding confirms the proposition made in previous research that political skill benefits not only leadership emergence (e.g. Ewen et al., 2013), but also leadership effectiveness (e.g. Snell et al., 2014). According to our analysis, politically skilled leaders are able both to convince their followers to pursue their proposed vision and to provide individualized support, which ensures that their leadership is seen as more transformational. With the commitment to the proposed shared vision and personalized assistance from their transformational leaders, the followers have higher performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the sub-dimensions of political skill and transformational leadership, arguing that in a Chinese sample, social astuteness, networking ability, and interpersonal influence will have a stronger impact than apparent sincerity. Additionally, transformational leadership is argued to mediate the relationship between leader political skill and subordinate job performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used a dyadic, cross-sectional design where all data were collected at a single point in time and supervisors were matched to their followers.\nFindings: The results support that transformational leadership mediates the relationship between leader political skill and follower performance. Additionally, social astuteness was positively related to leader charisma, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation; whereas, interpersonal influence was related to leader charisma and intellectual stimulation. Apparent sincerity was not related to perceptions of transformational leadership.\nPractical implications: The findings imply that the authors might be able to design more customized training to reduce the costs of leadership development programs. Specially, in China, focus should be paid to increasing social astuteness and interpersonal influence only.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of the few to examine the relationship between the sub-dimensions of political skill and transformational leadership. This is especially noteworthy in the context of the Chinese sample employed, as most political skill research has been done in western contexts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Using social media in the wine business: An exploratory study from Germany	[ "Marketing research", "Germany", "Consumer behaviour", "Customer loyalty", "Survey research", "Surveys", "Value analysis", "Wines" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Internet has contributed massively to globalisation and to the geographic decoupling of producers and consumers. One of the driving forces behind both globalisation and anonymisation, this medium, ironically, creates communication channels that can bridge this distance to a certain extent. In recent years, the Internet has developed from a mere source of information into a force that communication experts now call the 'Social Web' (Schindler and Liller, 2012). First, the latest developments in the field of social media should be identified here. Facebook, Twitter and other services allow people to remain participants in never-ending conversations. These conversations are already taking place through different platforms, accelerated by the intuitive functionality and epidemic spread of social media. Germany's Facebook, for example, recorded > 25 million users in December 2012 (Roth, 2012).\n2. Theoretical foundation: 2.1 Literature overview\n3. Current research: 3.1 Study 1: social media usage by German wineries\n4. Summary and managerial implications: A producer survey involving German wineries and a consumer survey among the Facebook fans of a selected winery were conducted to investigate the use of social media, first, by the producers and, second, by the consumers. The aim of our investigation was also to evaluate the effectiveness of these media. These two studies demonstrated that social media as a new communications channel have a place in communicating with customers and prospective customers, as well as in promoting products and brands. In addition, they are able to generate extra turnover for companies/brands.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to conduct two studies to investigate the use of social media tools by wineries in Germany and assess the impact of Facebook membership on customers by comparing them with customers who were not members. Today, a vast number of books and studies are being published about social media in general, but less is known about their usage and effectiveness in the wine industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The first study was conducted among 321 German wineries. It focused on the attitudes and preferences of the winemakers regarding social media, and it analysed the daily use of this new communication tool. The second study took place in August 2012, and it set out to define the value that accrued to a winery from having Facebook fans. This analysis was based on an online survey with customers of the winery as well as on a comparative analysis of the buying patterns of customers who were Facebook fans and those who were not. The analysis compared the turnover from the purchases of both groups over a period of three years.\nFindings: It was determined that 60 per cent of German wineries did communicate with their customers using social media. Facebook was the most important social media channel, followed by Twitter and YouTube. Of the winemakers interviewed, 40 per cent planned, in the near future, to implement additional activities involving social media. The consumer study proved that Facebook fans had a higher turnover compared to the non-Facebook fans of the winery studied. This finding emphasises the loyalty of Facebook fans. In addition, the study revealed that Facebook fans are open to receiving sales offers from the company which they support.\nPractical implications: Winery owners should be aware of the effectiveness of this modern communication tool. This is not only because Facebook fans generate a much higher turnover but also because of the possibility that they are interested in additional special offers on Facebook, which could mean an expansion of the available sales channels.\nOriginality/value: To our knowledge, this kind of overview about the Germany wine sector as well as about the value of a Facebook-fan of a winery has not yet been undertaken.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managerial strategies to make incentives meaningful and motivating	[ "Motivation", "Professionalism", "Health policy", "Financial incentives", "Patient-choice reform" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Healthcare systems worldwide face the challenges of increasing demands and limited resources. To drive efficiency, policy makers are introducing financial incentives and provider competition based on their presumed motivational effect. However, evaluation studies show inconclusive results (Fotaki et al., 2008; Flodgren et al., 2011), leaving both researchers and practitioners puzzled regarding how to improve policy. One part of this problem is the lack of conceptual models and empirical data that describe the process whereby the financial incentives are filtered through organizations to influence staff motivation. Although we can expect managers to play a key role in the translation and integration of incentives, their role has seldom been considered in previous research on incentives. The aim of the present study is to explore the strategies managers use as intermediaries between policy reform and staff motivation. We conducted an exploratory qualitative study of a local Swedish case that illustrates the general application of financial incentives and competition in healthcare markets. The study includes professionals in managing positions at healthcare providers involved in a patient choice reform in specialized orthopedics.\nMethods: We conducted an explorative qualitative study of market-inspired patient-choice reform in specialized orthopedics based on interviews at six healthcare providers.\nFindings: The analysis confirmed that the managers considered themselves intermediaries between the governance model and their staff. The respondents described four major alignment strategies they applied in their roles as managers. The aim of these strategies was to reconcile the requirements of the model and their staff preferences. One additional strategy, which involved overruling the model, was used more rarely in situations in which staff motivation was at risk of being reduced. One proposed but unrealized strategy was to improve the system through a dialogue with policy makers. The six strategies are described below, preceded by a description of the contextual knowledge possessed by the managers - knowledge that was a key prerequisite for their efforts to contribute to alignment (see Figure 2).\nDiscussion: The present study shows that the managers indeed play an intermediary role in connecting the policy and staff levels of healthcare systems and that they use several alignment strategies to make the governance model studied more motivating to staff. The strategies they employ are based on their knowledge of the practical consequences of the governance model at the provider level, but the strategies are also formulated in relation to the perceived motivational preferences of the staff.\nConclusion: The present study aimed to explore managers' strategies as intermediaries between policy reform and staff motivation using empirical data from a local case study. The main conclusion is that managers have a central role to play in making policy motivational in practice and potentially buffering negative consequences at the staff level. Their knowledge and awareness of multiple perspectives on healthcare provision and professional culture could also be used in the co-production of future health policies. Managerial and professional logic should be integrated with the demands and logic of health policy. Such a partnership could realize the creation of policies that support high-quality care and efficient resource use, which has been found to motivate healthcare professionals.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Policy makers are applying market-inspired competition and financial incentives to drive efficiency in healthcare. However, a lack of knowledge exists about the process whereby incentives are filtered through organizations to influence staff motivation, and the key role of managers is often overlooked. The purpose of this paper is to explore the strategies managers use as intermediaries between financial incentives and the individual motivation of staff. The authors use empirical data from a local case in Swedish specialized care.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conducted an exploratory qualitative case study of a patient-choice reform, including financial incentives, in specialized orthopedics in Sweden. In total, 17 interviews were conducted with professionals in managerial positions, representing six healthcare providers. A hypo-deductive, thematic approach was used to analyze the data.\nFindings: The results show that managers applied alignment strategies to make the incentive model motivating for staff. The managers' strategies are characterized by attempts to align external rewards with professional values based on their contextual and practical knowledge. Managers occasionally overruled the financial logic of the model to safeguard patient needs and expressed an interest in having a closer dialogue with policy makers about improvements.\nOriginality/value: Externally imposed incentives do not automatically motivate healthcare staff. Managers in healthcare play key roles as intermediaries by aligning external rewards with professional values. Managers' multiple perspectives on healthcare practices and professional culture can also be utilized to improve policy and as a source of knowledge in partnership with policy makers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants and academic achievement effect of Facebook use in educational communication among university students	[ "Facebook", "Uses and gratifications", "Academic achievement", "Social influence", "Social presence", "Educational communication" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The rising ubiquity of social networking sites (SNS) in students' daily lives has been accompanied by investigations on the tangible impact of SNS use in academic context. Researchers have continued to gather evidence on whether Facebook can be used as a pedagogical tool (e.g. Selwyn, 2009; Tess, 2013; Ainin et al., 2015). While many educators are enthusiastic about the potential of Facebook's pedagogical role, researchers remain in an experimental stage in terms of investigating whether students have shifted their ways of learning using Facebook and the links between SNS use and academic achievement (Aydin, 2012; Elaine et al., 2015).\nLiterature review: Use of SNS and academic achievement\nResearch model and hypotheses: The influence of Facebook use and gratification in educational communication\nMethods: Data collection\nStatistical analysis: In this study, partial least squares (PLS) path modeling was chosen for several reasons (Hair et al., 2016). This study represents an exploratory study that developing new concepts to verify the determinants of EduCom and the associated impact on academic achievement. PLS path modeling is an appropriate causal modeling technique to perform such an incremental research. Second, predictive-oriented PLS path modeling is a favored technique to identify the key constructs of EduCom by maximizing its explained variance. Third, PLS path modeling is appropriate to deal with current complexed research model (8 structural paths and 34 indicators). Unlikely traditional regression, PLS path modeling can estimate cause-and-effect-relationships simultaneously with multiple dependent variables. Fourth, our data are considered relatively normal because the skewness and kurtosis metrics of all indicators are within +-1 and, thus, suitable for the bootstrapping procedure in PLS path modeling. Additionally, our post hoc statistical power analysis shows that statistical power for the current sample size (n=640) surpassed the 80 percent threshold level for an a level of 0.05. In other words, the statistical power for detecting causal effects using PLS path modeling is adequate and robust. Finally, current PLS modeling provides importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA) to explain the comparative advantage of constructs toward endogenous constructs. Such information provides more insights concerning the importance and performance dimensions for practitioners to prioritize constructs for managerial actions.\nData analysis and results: We used PLS path modeling to assess the psychometric properties of the measurement instruments and to test the hypotheses in the research model. SmartPLS v.3 software was used to run the analysis.\nImportance-performance matrix analysis: Importance performance-matrix analysis (IPMA) represents a method to assess the importance (total effect size) and performance (average latent variable scores) of perceived attributes by respondents in evaluating their comparative advantage (Hair et al., 2016). IPMA depicts the importance (x-axis) and performance (y-axis) in a two-dimension map. We used IPMA to offer information concerning the relative importance and performance of determinants (i.e. subjective norms, purposive value and EduCom) that are statistically significant with their respective endogenous construct.\nDiscussion: Purposive value was the only U&G factor that linked to EduCom. The purposive value findings support the argument that SNSs are important communication and interaction media (Cheung et al., 2011; Nkhoma et al., 2015; Oliveira et al., 2016). This study offers new evidence confirming that students are keen to use Facebook for out-of-class communication and for learning purposes. That is, goal-directed users engage in EduCom to satisfy individual needs to improve learning experience.\nConclusions: The aims of this study were to explain why students use Facebook for educational communication and to explore the relationship between EduCom and academic achievement. Social influence, social presence and the uses and gratification theories are adopted to identify the underlying factors that influence EduCom. The results show that the purposive value and subjective norms positively influence the EduCom, and the latter explains perceived academic achievement among university students. Overall, it implies that university students aware the instrumental purpose of EduCom in facilitating learning process. University students are subject to compliance force of social influence to use Facebook for educational communication.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that drive students to use Facebook for educational communication and explore the impact of Facebook use for educational communication on perceived academic achievement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted through a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from student Facebook users at a large technology and engineering university in Malaysia. Partial least squares path modeling was used to test the hypotheses in the research model.\nFindings: This empirical study showed that Facebook use in educational communication is determined by subjective norms and purposive value. Facebook use in educational communication positively affected perceived academic achievement.\nPractical implications: The findings provide useful insight for higher institutions and educators regarding the potential academic effects of integrating Facebook into higher education learning. Moreover, this study provides insight into the factors that drive Facebook use in educational communication.\nOriginality/value: Prior studies have largely investigated the determinants and the effects of Facebook use among university students. However, little research has focused on educational communication phenomena. This study investigated determinants and academic achievement effect of Facebook use in educational communication among university students.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Assessing brand personality associations of top-of-mind wine brands	[ "Surveys", "Brands", "Survey research", "Brand management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The wine market is characterised by an ever-increasing plethora of brands that compete against each other (Jarvis and Goodman, 2005). Therefore, it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate any wine product from its competitors in what has become an extremely fragmented market.\n2. Literature review: Previous studies have concluded that brands are particularly relevant to the wine decision-making process (Johnson and Bruwer, 2007; Atkin and Johnson, 2010). Wine consumers often choose wine brands within a set of \"safe brands\" that are associated with consistent quality in consumers' memories. Accordingly, they seek out regions and brands with a track record of creating pleasant experiences of wine consumption for consumers (Bruwer and Wood, 2005; Schamel, 2006). Therefore, brand knowledge plays a positive role in wine choices by lowering the level of perceived risk (Mitchell and Greatorex, 1989) inherent to purchase decisions involving alternative offerings.\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Portuguese green wine market\n4. Research results: 4.1 Sample characteristics\n5. Conclusions: In the pursuit of market success, it is important for wineries to have a strong brand or stage of brands. Brand knowledge is known to influence consumers' reactions to brand-related stimuli and to determine whether particular wines will be chosen over other wine brands. In this study, brand knowledge was evaluated with data gathered from wine consumers, through the concepts of brand awareness and brand personality perceptions. Aaker's conceptualisation of brand personality was used to assess consumers' perceptions of top-of-mind green wine brands, by means of the multiple correspondence analysis.\n6. Theoretical contribution: This research contributes to the findings of previous studies of the wine market that examined brand personality perceptions. From a theoretical point of view, it reflects the usage of the most popular instrument for brand personality measurement in a new market context, in which Aaker's brand personality dimensions were evaluated in reference to a specific region (northern Portugal) and a specific type of wine (green wine).\n7. Managerial implications: This paper is also provides value to wine industry practitioners. The results show that in spite of the numerous green wine brands currently available in the market, six brands dominate in terms of brand awareness. Top-of-mind green wine brands are perceived by consumers with clear and distinctive brand personalities, and a small subset of brand personality attributes produced this brand positioning. Therefore, brand personality management appears to be an important issue for brand differentiation. We believe that small to medium wineries within viticulture areas can build strong brand personalities and create distinctive brand images despite the limited resources at the wineries' disposal - particularly at a regional level. Indeed, of the six brands analysed, only two of them use mass media campaigns, and, overall, it has been quite challenging to generate broad awareness of the majority of these brands.\n8. Limitations and future research: There were a number of limitations associated with this study, including sample size and geographical coverage. As we used a convenience sample, the findings cannot be generalised to a wider population. A larger number of responses, particularly from consumers of other viticulture areas, would provide greater flexibility and accuracy. Another aspect that merits future research is to test whether wine brands have the same clear meaning for consumers living in different geographical areas. Despite its limitations, this exploratory study provides a preliminary look into the important issue of brand knowledge of green wine brands.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine brand knowledge of wines produced in a selected Portuguese viticulture area. More specifically, we intend to understand how consumers organise brands that have the highest awareness in their memory in terms of perceived personality traits.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was developed to assess brand awareness of Portuguese green wine brands and brand personality using Aaker's brand personality framework. Multiple correspondence analysis was used in this study to present the relative positioning of the top-of-mind green wine brands.\nFindings: Despite the large number of green wine brands available on the market, six brands dominate in terms of brand awareness. Top-of-mind green wine brands are marked with clear and distinctive brand personality, and a small subset of brand personality attributes serve as significant criteria for brand positioning.\nPractical implications: The results of the present study could be beneficial for academics and practitioners, as it reveals that the top-of-mind brands within a specific viticulture area could exhibit a clear positioning based on personality traits. Therefore, brand personality traits might provide a mechanism for wine managers to distinguish or differentiate their wines.\nOriginality/value: This work contributes to the findings of previous studies held to study brand personality perceptions. From a theoretical point of view, this paper reflects the usage of one the most popular instruments for brand personality measurement in a wine market context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does time impact relational norms in bilateral exchange? The small business case	[ "Partnership", "Small enterprises", "Information exchange", "Brewing", "United Kingdom" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research into business-to-business relationships has focused on the conceptual development of models describing the evolutionary process or stages from \"initiation\" to \"termination\" (Ford, 1980; Dwyer et al., 1987; Heide and John, 1992; Ganesan, 1994; Wilson, 1995; Batonda and Perry, 2003). Although time is implied as a key factor in the advancement of relationships and the establishment of relational norms it has received scant attention. The study by Heide and John (1992) confirmed the presence of supportive norms between OEM and their buyers. These relational norms were shown to be a higher order construct with flexibility, information exchange and solidarity as sub-dimensions. Few studies with the exception of Anderson and Weitz (1989, p. 320), have empirically investigated the role of time. Their results suggest that \"dyads which survive the fragile years are a significant asset\" in bilateral exchange. This study examines the effect of time during the early \"transitory\" stage with the latter \"established\" phase of ongoing dyadic trading for which there has been scarce regard in small business and enterprise development literature.There is no consensus on the definition of small firms (McCartan-Quinn and Carson, 2003; Verhees and Meulenberg, 2004). The closest and most relevant for this study is that offered by Cameron and Massey (2002), who outline small businesses as those employing less than 50 employees. In addition, Carson and McCartan-Quinn (1995, p. 25) observe that small firms have \"have a distinctive managerial style, independence, ownership, scale and scope of operations and limited resources; further their marketing decisions may be based on what lager firms (perhaps leaders in the industry) have done\". This characterisation of the small business firm underpins the setting for our study which focuses on the public house in the brewer-public house exchange.The paper is divided into four parts. First, the research problem and the propositions are presented supported by a review of the relevant literature. The next two sections discuss the research approach together with an analysis of results. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of the findings are reviewed.\nLiterature and proposition: Social Exchange theory provides the rationale for bilateral relationship building. Social exchange is regarded as a dynamic adaptive process concern with expectations about behaviour between interacting parties that evolve over time (Scanzoni, 1979). Establishing enduring relationships and supportive norms provides a protective device against deviant and opportunistic behaviour in the exchange. This is particularly true in bilateral exchange with asymmetry in both economic and relational power as is the case in our study. Relational norms mature through time resulting in a reduction in social and cultural distances and giving rise to shared values, mutual interest and joint commitment (Macneil, 1978, 1980; Dwyer et al., 1987; Heide and John, 1992; Ford et al., 1993; Heide, 1994; Berthon et al., 2003; Tellefsen and Thomas, 2005).The older a relationship the greater the likelihood it has passed through the \"critical transitory phase\" of instability to a phase of stability with a recognition of mutuality of interest and benefit to both parties (Dwyer et al., 1987). In other words, dyadic partners either terminate the relationship or move beyond the exploratory and initiation stages (Ford, 1980; Dwyer et al., 1987; Heide, 1994). Over time partners learn of each other's idiosyncrasies and enhance their mutual understanding and personal trust (Williamson, 1985; Anderson and Weitz, 1989; Hallen et al., 1991; Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Kalwani and Narayandas, 1995). Heide and John (1992, p. 42) speculates that over time \"as relationships develop, supporting norms may evolve\". Furthermore, relational norms might not be discrete but continuous phenomena which are \"very much time related\" (Ford et al., 1993, p. 360). Therefore the propositions under investigation can be stated as follows:P1. Relational norms are a second order construct reflected by three sub-dimensions - flexibility, information exchange and solidarity.\nResearch method: A positivistic approach has been adopted in examining the structure of relational norms and in assessing the impact of time between trading partners.Population and sampling\nAnalysis and discussion of results: Given that this is a cross-sectional study a presumption is made that in general the longer the period the dyadic exchange the higher the levels of relational norms. Their presence is likely to be reflected in the brewer-tied house exchange where the relationship is less transitory with an average life of 6.9 years trading with the same partner compared with the brewer-managed house exchange whose average life span was only 3.4 years. Therefore, the assessment of the propositions relied solely on the tied public house sample.Tied firms were divided into two sub-samples; those trading for three years or less and those trading for more than three years with the same brewer. The criterion of three years was chosen because, in the majority of cases, this is the minimum duration for tenancy agreements between tied houses and brewers (Spicer et al., 1994). After three years either trading continues, through new tenancy arrangements, or it is terminated. The continuation is influenced not only by the economic but also the behavioural aspects of bilateral exchange (Stern and Reve, 1980).After removing extremes and missing values, the two sub-samples contained 73 cases of those trading for 3 years or less and 83 cases of those trading for more than 3 years. Both datasets were subjected to three testing procedures:1. test of differences in the means;2. confirmatory factor analysis; and3. regression analysis.The intention was to observe any discrimination in the results between the two time specific datasets. These are presented and discussed below.Test of differences in the means\nTheoretical and practical implications: Several models (e.g. Ford, 1980; Dwyer et al., 1987) provide conceptualisations of the development of relationships between trading partners that imply a time dimension. Relational norms that eminent from such relationships appear to be time dependent, however, there are some theoretical and empirical concerns. Firstly, supportive norms are dependent upon expectations and adaptation of past behaviour (Shaw, 1984). To capture such behaviour, researchers need to assess the importance and relevance of the distribution lag nature of expectations and this should be incorporate formally in any future conceptualisation. Secondly, to truly account for the time dependence a longitudinal study would be more appropriate (Schendel, 1997). According to Wilson (1995, p. 335) \"the influence of the different stages of the relational development process is not accounted for within a cross-sectional design\", whereas most empirical research in business related areas uses data obtained from cross-sectional surveys. This limitation needs to be addressed in future studies by considering not only other bilateral exchanges in other commercial sectors (e.g. franchising and dealerships, that are predominantly composed of small to medium size enterprises), but also through longitudinal designs.For the management of small firms this study suggests that it does take time to build beneficial relationships and that these are reflected in the dimensions of supportive norms of flexibility, information exchange and solidarity. It is worth noting that the perception of support from trading partners leads to interactions beyond those strictly required by contractual obligations (Heide and John, 1992). Further, where transaction specific investment (Williamson, 1985) is required for the execution of the exchange the \"anticipation of high switching costs give rise to ... interest in maintaining a high quality relationship\" (Dwyer et al., 1987, p. 14) and this ultimately results in mutual benefit for the partners.Continual survival of ongoing exchange requires certain sub-processes that ensure an acceptable degree of certainty, efficiency and effectiveness. According to Heide's (1994) typology these include: role specification, planning mechanism, adjustment process, monitoring system, incentive system and means of enforcement. Therefore relational norms are necessary but not a sufficient pre-requisite for enduring successful bilateral exchange. In addition, contextual and environmental antecedents that impact business relationship formation must be considered by both researchers and managers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to assess empirically the presence of relational norms and the effect of time during the \"transitory\" and \"established\" phases of bilateral exchange for small business enterprises. Relationship development has recently become a central research focus in business management literature and is currently gaining more prominence when addressing the small firm sector. To-date conceptual work has concentrated on the development of business-to-business relationships through sequential time dependent stages, including empirical work on the dimensions of relational norms. However, little attention has been given to role of time in this process of relationship building.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The commercial setting is the UK brewing industry which is characterised by a few large suppliers (breweries) and many small retail buyers (public houses). The focal dyad for the study is the brewery-public house relationship. Data was gathered through a telephone survey to: confirm the presence and structure of relational norms between trading partners; and assess whether time impacts the development of these norms.\nFindings: - For longer established bilateral exchange covariance based structural equation modelling confirmed the presence of relational norms as a higher order construct reflected by three dimensions: flexibility, information exchange and solidarity. Further, regression analysis supported a positive relationship between the length of the trading partnership and relational norms.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The implication of this study is that trading partners should nurture relationships through its early developmental stage to ensure enduring successful partnerships. The study needs to be replicated using a longitudinal design and alternative dyadic relationships, e.g. franchising and dealership arrangements.\nOriginality/value: - The research provides empirical evidence supporting business-to-business relationship conceptualisations underpinned by social exchange theory.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Role as a mechanism for rotating leadership in a group	[ "Leadership", "Management roles", "Group behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The premise is that anyone who presumes to step into a leadership role can learn to distribute and rotate the tasks of leadership, helping create and develop groups to solve organisational problems they would find difficult to solve alone. This article presents leadership in terms of complimentary roles, with choice of role being dependent upon context. The objective in doing so is to create awareness of the roles available, and the changing relative importance of those roles as a group develops (Sheard, 2007), The establishment of roles within a group is dependent upon a measure of self-discovery on the part of its members, combined with a perception of both the group's and wider organisation's needs as a whole (Sheard et al., n.d.).The concepts advanced here are extensions to a branch of the self development school of leadership known as the \"functional\" approach to leadership. The functional approach to leadership focuses on the ability of an individual to influence, and be influenced by, a group in the implementation of a common task (House, 1977; Bass, 1985). In order for leadership responsibilities to be met, certain functions need to be performed with a function being defined as what you do as contrasted with what you are or what you know (Adair, 2003, p. 36). Aspects of the current study relating to group development and role theory are respectively extensions of theory reported by Parsons (1951) and Tuckman (1965).\n2. The study: The inquiry into the extent to which a role-based perspective can provide insight into how leadership within a group can be shared and rotated was undertaken within an organisation manufacturing rotating turbomachinery. The longitudinal study that underpins this article has been based on over ten years of ethnography, action research and collaborative inquiry methodologies (Sheard and Kakabadse, 2002, 2004, 2007).Qualitative inquiry uses various techniques in working to capture the nuances and complexity of the social situation under study (Flick, 1998; Johnson and Harris, 2002). Here, the social situation under study is the groups that executives form. The complexity of the social situations is the mechanism by which executives share and rotate leadership within those groups.\n3. The six stages of role rotation: Leadership is contemplated in terms of four roles, and group development in terms of six stages of group development. Executives consciously choose to adopt one of the roles available, and attempt to remain aware of the stage a group has reached through its development. Contemplating leadership in terms of role and group development in terms of stage facilitates the rotation of leadership within a group, and as a consequence the progression of a group though the stages of its development. Before considering how leadership rotates amongst group members, however, it is first necessary to clarify why it is reasonable to conceptualise leadership in terms of role and stages of group development.3.1 Group development\n4. Conclusions: A new role-based leadership framework and its practical application are presented. Leadership is described in terms of four complimentary roles - i.e. king, warrior, tactician and elder - with each group member adopting one of the four roles. None are characterised as adopting purely follower roles. Once the responsibilities and tasks of leadership are shared, then the group amongst whom they are shared must work together.A group's development is described in terms of six stages, i.e. mobilising, confrontation, coming together, one step forward, two steps back, behaving as one and mourning the past. The relative importance of each role at each stage of a group's development is clarified by characterising both in terms of eight key factors. The dual characterisation provides insight into which roles are most important at each stage of a group's development, clarifying from and to whom leadership should rotate.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study seeks to propose that executives need to be prepared to adopt roles as a mechanism for rotating leadership if those groups of which they are a part are to perform to their full potential.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A validated framework provides insight into the leadership roles executives can adopt when part of formal, informal and temporary groups. The methodology adopted is qualitative, focusing on the application of previously developed frameworks.\nFindings: - Adopting a role is found to enable the rotation of leadership within a group, which in turn facilitates development of the group.\nResearch limitations/implications: - A one-organisation intensive case study of a multinational engineering company engaged in the design, development and manufacture of rotating turbomachinery provides the platform for the research. The frameworks will require validating in organisations of different demographic profiles.\nPractical implications: - The concepts advanced and implications discussed provide an insight into the role-based nature of leadership. The practical steps individual executives can take to adopt a role, and in so doing develop the group of which they are a part, are highlighted.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is an investigation into, and study of, the process by which executives adopt roles as a mechanism for rotating leadership within a group. In so doing, it is suggested that executives contribute more positively to the development of the groups of which they are a part by being more adaptive and responsive to changes in their surrounding context.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Nigeria's construction industry: barriers to effective communication	[ "Communication", "Nigeria", "Organizations", "Construction industry", "Attribution theory", "Barriers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Poor performance of construction projects remain a major problem in both developing and developed countries (Flyvbjerg et al., 2003). Almost every publication in the field of construction management reiterates this concern. Although Toor and Ogunlana (2010) have suggested the need to use other metrics (such as safety, stakeholder satisfaction, etc.) to evaluate performance of construction projects; cost, time and quality largely remains the most popular performance indicators. Despite the existence of several studies addressing poor performance of construction projects (AlSehaimi et al., 2013; Ramanathan et al., 2012), it is evident that this remains a re-occurring problem. Empirical evidence from a previous study suggests that ineffective communication among stakeholders is a significant factor responsible for poor performance of construction projects (Atkinson, 2002; Ng et al., 2004). In a similar vein, Meng (2012) found that improved communication amongst stakeholders is vital to meeting project performance objectives. Hence, an understanding of communication practice within the construction industry is an important element in the process of improving performance of construction projects. The present research effort focusses on gaining insights into the factors responsible for ineffective communication in the Nigerian construction industry.\nReview of literature: Barriers to effective communication in the construction industry\nResearch method: To date, various methods have been used to investigate communication problems in the field of construction management. Dainty (2008) categorized research approaches utilized in construction management studies into four groups, namely quantitative, qualitative, mixed and review. The factors that affects choice and suitability of a particular research method are largely dependent on the research situation and research problem (Yin, 1994; Wing et al., 1998). The need to compare and replicate, maintain low interference between researcher and participants, objective measurement of the phenomenon been studied, objective assessment of reliability of validity of findings, generalization of findings and testing of a hypothesis are key strengths of the quantitative approach (Amaratunga et al., 2002; Wing et al., 1998). A questionnaire survey approach was chosen because it is suitable for collecting data from a large group of respondents (i.e. contractors, clients and consultants). This approach has also been used in similar previous studies (see Shohet and Frydman, 2003; Thomas et al., 1998) found in literature.\nData analysis: Ranking of the barriers to effective communication\nDiscussion of findings: Discussion of mean score results\nSignificance, limitations and areas for further research: Previous studies have shown that identifying significant factors causing a problem is critical to improving professional practice in the industry (see Hon et al., 2013; Jarkas and Bitar, 2012). Effective communication is beneficial to various stakeholders involved in construction projects. The present study focusses on examining the barriers to effective communication. In total, 15 barriers to effective communication were identified and the importance of each examined via a cross-sectional survey. The research findings provide stakeholders (i.e. clients, consultants and contractors) with valuable insights needed to overcome these barriers and improve communication in Nigerian construction projects.\nConclusions and recommendations: In order to identify and assess the barriers to effective communication among project teams within the construction industry, a cross-section survey was conducted. Previous studies found in construction management literature affirm that effective communication among project team will result in improved project outcomes. In addition, very little is known about the barriers to communication in developing counties. The present study addresses the gap in knowledge by examining the barriers to effective communication in the Nigerian construction industry using attribution theory paradigm.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Communication plays an important role in the quality of the relationship, trust and collaboration among construction project teams. Literature suggests that effective communication is vital for achieving improved project performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the barriers to effective communication in the Nigerian construction industry, using attribution theory paradigm.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Questionnaires detailing 15 barriers to effective communication were administered to consultants and contractors engaged in the Nigerian construction sector. In total, 100 valid responses were analysed using mean score, factor analysis and factor score.\nFindings: Unclear project objectives, ineffective reporting systems and poor leadership were ranked as the most significant barriers to effective communication. Factor analysis uncovered that the principal reasons responsible for ineffective communication include: managerial and technical barriers and credibility and background barriers.\nPractical implications: The results provide information on barriers which needs to be addressed in order to improve communication in construction projects in Nigeria. There is a need to conduct post-completion reviews of construction projects so that project team members can learn and share knowledge on past experiences. Although the present study was conducted in the Nigerian context, it is envisaged that the research outcome will be widely applicable to other developing countries.\nOriginality/value: The study provides insights on the perceived barriers to effective communication in Nigerian construction projects. The paper presents the direction for further research aimed at improving communication in construction projects in Nigeria.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Politics and school education in Australia: a case of shifting purposes	[ "Schools", "Government policy", "Politics", "Education sector", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For some decades in Australia, national (federal) governments have sought to intervene directly in the schooling responsibilities of State and Territory governments through, for example, the use of tied grants and grants for new non-state schools. More recently, allied with this intervention, has been an attempt to impose the ideology of the market on government schools as well as on non-government schools. A central theme running through these agendas - intended or unintended - has been a shift in the purposes of education, with a privileging of what might be seen as the private purposes of schooling like social mobility at the expense of the public purposes of schooling seen here as embracing notions of democratic equality, citizenship, equity and social justice. Of note is that such agendas are not unique to Australia, but are evident in various guises in many other countries where policy making at the political level has impacted on the purposes of schooling.This paper explores federal government schooling policies in Australia in the period since 1972 and on funding and policy priorities and their effect on this shift in purposes of education. We address some of the dynamics and results of these policies and interventions, highlighting how school education in Australia has been, and continues to be, shaped by them. Since the late 1980s, we argue there has been a consistent narrowing of the schooling agenda to one that gives primacy to the purposes of schooling that highlight economic orientations and more recently, an emergence of private purposes. While schools have always served both public and private purposes, when the shift away from public purposes is so significant to diminish them relative to private purposes, questions about the very nature of school education as offered in Australia need to be raised. Importantly, the issues raised here are consistent in broad terms with developments in many other countries, such as the UK. With the current federal Rudd Labor Government approaching the half-way point in its first term and a national curriculum being rolled out, it is opportune to reflect on the extent to which the shift to a focus on the private purposes of schooling that occurred particularly under the previous Howard Government has either been maintained or whether the pendulum has begun to swing back to a balance between public and private purposes.\nBackground and framework for discussion: The purposes of schooling\nState and Federal government dynamics: To some extent, federalism and the different ideological perspectives of Federal, State and Territory governments has had a moderating effect on educational restructuring in Australia (Blackmore, 2004)[2]. Under the Australian Constitution, State and Territory governments are responsible for schooling. Yet, as in other areas of Federal-State relations, schooling has been fraught with tensions, particularly as the Commonwealth has encroached more and more upon the responsibilities of the States and Territories. Such infringement was a particular feature of the recent Howard Government but its antecedents go back at least to the Whitlam Labor Government (1972-1975). Ultimately, the more managerialist practices and Federal government policies have encroached upon State and Territory school systems, the greater the impact on public purposes. As Singh and Taylor (2004, p. 6) have put it, \"local contexts and actors are likely to shape the specific form of local educational discourses and practices\". In this regard, Lingard suggests that \"the apparent educational policy convergence across nations ... [is] mediated, translated and recontextualised within national and local structures\" (Lingard, 2000, p. 80).A brief political historical perspective - pre-Howard Government\nConclusions and wider implications: This article has highlighted how school education policy emphases have affected how the purposes of schooling have been understood and enacted, and suggested that public purposes of schooling such as social justice, equity and the development of active citizens have become less prominent with respect to private purposes. In Labarre's (1997) terms, in Australia, democratic equality purposes have been downplayed from a pre-eminent position under the Whitlam Labor government in the 1970s, and social efficiency and social mobility purposes privileged. In particular, social mobility purposes gained primacy during the years of the Howard government, while social efficiency purposes have been significant under both Labor and Coalition governments.It could be argued that schooling policies have come full circle. The highly bureaucratised education systems of the pre-1970s were replaced by the devolved systems of the Whitlam Government. But with the managerialist school-based management agendas of the 1990s and 2000s, and the federal government's desire for a national curriculum, there has been a steady departure from the social democratic priorities of the 1970s. Allied with such a shift, it has been argued here that there has been a retreat from the democratic equality (public) purposes of education to a much greater prominence on social efficiency (economic) and social mobility (private) purposes. The rhetoric of the current Rudd government suggests a potential realignment in this situation. For example, the discourse of documents such as the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians suggest there might be a re-visiting and re-emphasis on public purposes not in evidence across the years of the Howard government. However, recent national education policy priorities such as national testing and enhanced accountabilities for school leaders and others suggest otherwise.While there is clearly a place for both public and private purposes in schools, one ought not be privileged at the expense of the other. It remains to be seen whether the policy developments across the next few years will widen debate surrounding schooling in Australia, and result in a revisiting and a refocusing on public purposes of schooling education, a position not in evidence under the influence of government, especially Federal government policies of the last few decades.While this discussion has been located in the Australian political and educational contexts, there are clear messages and implications for those in other countries where similar managerialist and market policy agendas are evident. Indeed, this includes most developed countries across the globe. The questions to be posed in these countries are similar to those addressed in this discussion. These questions revolve around critical reflections on the impacts of key policy decisions on the purposes of education: What is it we expect of our schools and schooling systems? In particular, policy makers are encouraged to consider the broader social, individual and economic effects of their policy decisions on the very nature of the future society they are creating through the educational, experiences and opportunities available to young people in schools. What messages do our young take away from their school experiences as to their understandings of the purposes of schooling? How do these messages shape their understandings of, and the priority they might give, to being an engaged and contributing citizen in their community? Or do they see school as mainly about providing a competitive advantage for them as individuals and getting a job at the expense of a more collective and inclusive future?Almost all developed countries have an increasing interest, some would say obsession, in determining future education policy based on performance on key national and international tests. It is timely to consider whether, as discussed here, major policy agendas such as those focused on testing programs can shift the balance in the purposes of education to a privileging away from those concerned with the critical contribution education makes to the broader well-being of its citizenry. It is likely that the contestation around the purposes of education will be on-going. Labaree (1997) provides us with some clear lenses through which we can critically reflect on what purposes might be privileged by policy decisions. Certainly from an historical perspective in Australia, it is clear that the pendulum from public to private has shifted in recent decades. A key question is where do we want that pendulum to settle as current education debates and policies determine schools and their purposes in this country for the immediate future? There are clearly implications for school leaders in all this as they are at the juncture of managing the tensions often emanating from the demands and implications of a new (political) policy and the more immediate local demands of their school community. It has been argued here that in recent decades these external demands have impacted on the very purposes of education and have played out in practice in a variety of ways. Contestation over where the pendulum settles is likely to continue. In Australia, the rhetoric of the Melbourne Declaration, suggests a more even-handed outcome in terms of purposes of schooling - the reality is yet to be realised.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to argue that there has been a privileging of the private (social mobility) and economic (social efficiency) purposes of schooling at the expense of the public (democratic equality) purposes of schooling.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper employs a literature review, policy and document analysis.\nFindings: - Since the late 1980s, the schooling agenda in Australia has been narrowed to one that gives primacy to purposes of schooling that highlight economic orientations (social efficiency) and private purposes (social mobility).\nPractical implications: - The findings have wider relevance beyond Australia, as similar policy agendas are evident in many other countries raising the question as to how the shift in purposes of education in those countries might mirror those in Australia.\nOriginality/value: - While earlier writers have examined schooling policies in Australia and noted the implications of managerialism in relation to these policies, no study has analysed these policies from the perspective of the purposes of schooling. Conceptualising schooling, and its purposes in particular, in this way refocuses attention on how societies use their educational systems to promote (or otherwise) the public good.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Donation appeals rewarding fitness in the context of CSR initiatives	[ "Corporate social responsibility", "Experimental design", "Donation proximity", "Fitness appeal", "Perceived CSR engagement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to the annual reports by the Charities Aid Foundation, the World Giving Index ranking of the USA has been steadily declining since 2014, from first in 2013 to fifth in 2017 (CAF, 2017). Particularly, the percentage of US population donating to charities has decreased from 63 to 56 per cent, and now the USA is ranked on 13th place in terms of monetary donations among 146 countries (CAF, 2017). Such numbers call for an effective way to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to encourage people to donate to those in need.\nTheoretical background: Fitness appeals of donation\nStudy 1: Participants and design\nStudy 2: Study 2 was different from Study 1 in two key ways. First, we measured donation intention as an actual behavioral outcome to boost the practical significance of our findings. Second, we replicated the experiment with a new donation cause, Habitat for Humanity, to enhance the robustness of our findings. One could argue that the fitness appeal in Study 1 had a natural fit with the cause (the American Heart Association), thus making such appeals highly attractive.\nGeneral discussion: The present research provides insight into how service companies can use fitness appeals in their CSR initiatives. We examined the impact of donation appeal types on consumers' donation participation, as well as the moderating role of donation proximity. The findings indicate that people tend to perceive the company to be more socially responsible when the appeal involves local beneficiaries and rewards fitness. The positive impact of the fitness appeal was not observed when the donation involved faraway targets. Additionally, our mediation analyses further indicate that the perceived CSR engagement has a spillover effect on participation likelihood and willingness to donate when the initiative supports local beneficiaries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the donation appeals requiring physical effort on consumers' willingness to donate in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Moreover, this paper investigates the moderating role of donation proximity on consumers' attitudinal and behavioral responses to CSR initiatives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two studies were conducted using a 2 (donation appeal type: fitness vs general) by 2 (donation proximity: nearby vs faraway) between-subjects experimental design. The authors recruited 234 participants from Qualtrics' online panel (Study 1) and 122 participants from Amazon's Mechanical Turk (Study 2).\nFindings: The study findings indicate that the consumers tend to perceive the company to be more socially responsible (i.e. perceived CSR engagement) when the donation appeal involves local beneficiaries and rewards fitness (i.e. fitness appeal). The positive impact of the fitness appeal was not observed when the donation involved faraway targets. Additionally, the mediation analyses indicate that the perceived CSR engagement has a spillover effect on behavioral outcomes (e.g. willingness to donate) when the initiative supports local beneficiaries.\nOriginality/value: This study provides several theoretical contributions to the services marketing literature by examining the role of fitness appeals in enhancing perceived CSR engagement and investigating the moderating role of donation proximity on customers' willingness to donate to charities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Emotional state representation and detection method of users in library space based on body posture recognition	[ "Library", "Image processing", "Emotional expression", "Characterization and detection", "Emotional state of users", "Information commons (IC) space" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: University library is an important part of higher education, which is responsible for teachers and students to obtain document information resources. Meanwhile, with the continuous development of science and technology, the university library not only plays an important role in the scientific research of college teachers and students but also scientific researchers (OU-yang, 2019). Therefore, the development of the times puts forward new requirements for the service of university libraries. With the development of science and technology, more and more information is developing toward digitalization and diversification (Du, 2019; Lu and Lin, 2014; Zhong, 2018). Nowadays, new technologies emerge in an endless stream and the service demand changes constantly, which brings a huge impact on the service mode of the university library. The service mode of university library has changed fundamentally, which is not only reflected in the service of information resources but also in the new environment of high-quality learning, communication and research in university libraries, that is, the construction of information commons (IC) (Liu, 2014; Zhou and Wu, 2017). Compared with the classroom, the library IC has a freer atmosphere. Users are not restricted by departments, ages and majors in the IC of the library. The environment is comfortable and the learning atmosphere is rich. IC first appeared in 1993; at that time, to meet the requirements of \"user-centered,\" university libraries in the USA launched this service model. At the very beginning, IC was just a room where users could write papers and make software programming. After years of continuous progress and improvement, it has developed into a place that provides users with various forms of information integration services (Zhang, 2018). In the big data era of internet +, the requirement for IC has changed, and its characteristics have also changed. The principles of IC construction summarized by Robert Hill are group, flexibility, universality and adaptability (Ren, 2006). Chinese scholars also put forward that synergy, universality and dynamics are the biggest characteristics of IC (Zhang, 2006). The elements of IC are physical space, resources, services and personnel (Bian, 2007). Some people also think that IC construction should be carried out simultaneously from five aspects, namely, physical building layer, human resource layer, virtual space layer, infrastructure layer and a financial support layer (Cheng, 2014). How to divide the space reasonably, how to provide better service for users, how to divide the space most reasonably and how to design the function are all the problems that the library must face for its existence. At the same time, university libraries must understand the latest learning methods, user habits and their real-time mental state in space, so as to build IC and create a dynamic, comfortable and collaborative space environment.\n2. User emotions and information commons settings, user emotions and body language: Emotion is the general term for a series of subjective cognitive experiences, which is the psychological and physiological state generated by various feelings, thoughts and behaviors. In the service of university library, on the one hand, librarian emotion will affect work effect; on the other hand, it will also affect the result of the study. Therefore, user emotion analysis has become a hot spot in the field of natural language processing (Fei and Fang, 2012; Tang et al., 2015), and also an important factor to be considered in the future library service. University library users are mainly college students. In 1998, the US Education Federation made \"the role of emotion in students' learning and achievement\" as the theme of its annual meeting. As then, the study of academic emotions has attracted much attention (Haddock et al., 1999). In 2002, Pekrun et al. first proposed the concept that academic emotion is the sum of emotions directly related to learning activities and learning outcomes (such as pleasure generated during learning and anger generated by learning requirements) (Drake et al., 2007). Zhao Shuyuan AEQ (the achievement emotions questionnaire) in the Chinese academic emotions table was revised, which still retains the nine sentiment classification (Tang et al., 2015; Zhao and Cai, 2012). The results reveal the important connotation of the influence of academic emotion on learning and success. The university library provides students with a variety of cognitive tools and learning resources and becomes a place for their mutual communication, cooperation and exploration, as well as a learning IC for users. In 2014, the council on library and intelligence resources released the changing library and intelligence services business report, which predicted that most of the world's library buildings will be \"knowledge-sharing spaces\" by 2030. User emotion and library scene play an important role, while emotional perception is difficult to express and evaluate. Many physical parameters in IC such as noise, color, illuminance and temperature will have an impact on users' emotions. Users with different physical conditions and emotions will have different requirements for library IC scenes. Different library scenes have different effects on the emotions of users (Nancy Fried Foster, 2014; Sinke et al., 2012). Therefore, it is very important to study the relationship between emotions and library IC situational construction. In the actual case, the physical situational parameters of IC have an important role with user emotion, which is mainly reflected in these physical quantities, namely, noise, color, lighting and human density. The change of situational physical parameters will affect user emotion, and it is necessary to systematically select the physical parameters in the construction of the IC. According to the emotional classification methods of arousal and valence state, four basic emotions are selected as the main discussion objects, namely, happiness (positive arousal and high price state), pleasure (positive arousal and low price state), anger (negative arousal and low price state) and sadness (negative arousal and high price state). Other emotions are merged into these four categories according to the clustering method (Tracy and Robins, 2008). To better play the role of library IC and corresponding to these four types of emotions, the influence of scenery physical parameters on the emotional relationship is considered, respectively. A link is established between four different situations of IC (Wang et al., 2018) and four IC physics situational parameters can be obtained using user emotion.\n3. Body language and expression parameters of the user's emotional state: In real life, it usually includes the coordination of gestures and the preparation of specific meanings. It is widely considered as a fast language to understand other people's emotions. Because body postures contain information about emotions, actions and intentions; emotional cues on the body include specific head, arm, legs, torso movements (sitting, standing, lying and more) and dynamic features (leaning forward, leaning backward and more). To sum up, the physical state of users can reflect their emotional state. It is impossible for users to keep a physical state unchanged during the reading in library IC. The change of body state is mainly because of the need of body rest or the reflection of emotional change, so the change of body state can reflect the change of reading emotions (especially attention) except resting. If the users in Library IC are in a good mood and pay more attention to reading, the body will be in a relatively stable state for a long time; the relative changes of body posture will be very small even not for a long time. The user's body is basically motionless or in addition to sleeping, the speed and spatial frequency are very low, but only a few users are sleeping. If the user is in bad mood and pays less attention to reading, the first is the increase of head movement and then the body posture will also change, such as the change of limbs. That is, the body movement will occur. The spatial frequency of movement has certain value. If the user's mood is relatively poor, reading attention will be seriously decreased and all parts of the body will change; that is, generate movement. The spatial frequency of moving will change their faces first, then their limbs, and finally, their whole body. The worse their emotions are, the higher the speed of body posture movement and the higher the spatial frequency of posture changes will be. Therefore, the movement rate of body parts and spatial frequency of posture transformation can represent the emotional state and reflect the attention to learning. It can be seen from this that, we can basically see the emotional state distribution of users by detecting the body motion state, including the moving speed and spatial change frequency of body posture.\n4. Users' emotional state detection method based on the video image: 4.1 The basic theory of video image numerical processing\n5. Verification based on this method: To verify the correctness and feasibility of this method, eight pictures are extracted from a surveillance video image (https://haokan.baidu.com/v?vid=8322836045710282389&pd=bjh&fr=bjhauthor&type=video) as shown in Figures 3(a)-3(h). Every two images have an interval of 1 s. According to the sequence of image groups, the superposition calculation processing is carried out, and seven superposition results are obtained as shown in Figure 4. A total of seven binary processing images are achieved based on Figure 4 and the results are shown in Figure 5. The moving DC values are 0.3, 0.7, 0.8, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0 per cent, respectively, as shown in Figure 5. As there is no change in the number of library users during this time, that is, it is constant. Therefore, the percentage of moving pixels represents the percentage of per person per unit time (that is, RCR S). Based on Figure 4, it can be calculated that the number of users is 44. The number of continuously moving pixel areas in each corresponding period based on Figure 5 is, respectively, 6, 16.13, 2, 5, 1 and 0. According to formula\n6. Conclusion: According to the needs of IC construction for users' emotional state detection in the university library, this paper discusses the effects of environmental physical parameters of IC on user emotion and constructs the correlation between several typical emotional states and the physical parameters of IC. In view of the significance of users' overall emotional state monitoring to the construction of library IC, the paper studies the relationship between the overall emotional state of users and their body language by using the theory of EBL. It also proposes a method to express the overall emotional state of users. Based on the video surveillance images of IC, the definition and calculation method of two parameters representing the overall emotional state of users are given. These two parameters are RCR and ASF. The classification is put forward by setting the threshold values for these two parameters, which can be divided into two categories as good and poor. In addition, according to the actual situation, it is proposed that body inching and large-scale movement should not be taken as the detection results for improving the accuracy of overall emotional state detection. Through sampling the video monitoring images in a university library IC in a certain period of time, this method is applied to obtain the effective detection results. By comparing the results with the corresponding video monitoring results, it is found that the results obtained by this method are correct and reliable. Meanwhile, the feasibility and correctness of this method is verified. The method in this paper can effectively overcome the inaccuracy of manual identification of video monitoring images, especially in the case of a large number of users; because the difficulty of manual identification is numerous. Therefore, the method in this paper can effectively help the construction of university library IC space and provide basis for the setting of environmental parameters. Finally, the construction of library intelligent IC space can be carried out to ultimately improve the library service efficiency. Because of the variety of emotions, the method in this paper is only to identify and classify the whole emotion of the user group. The more accurate method needs further research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In the information commons (IC) space of library, it is very important to recognize the emotional state of users for better playing the role of IC. In view of this point, this paper aims to discuss the human expression of user emotion.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An emotional state recognition method based on body posture change under video monitoring is proposed. In this method, two parameters are proposed to represent the emotional state of users. Finally, the distribution of users' overall emotional state is recognized.\nFindings: It is found that the change of human posture reflects the emotional state of users to a certain extent. The spatial frequency of the user's average body position change and per capita body position change can reflect the spatial distribution of individual and body position change, respectively.\nOriginality/value: The method in this paper can effectively overcome the inaccuracy of manual identification of video monitoring images, especially in the case of a large number of users and effectively help the construction of university library IC space and provide a basis for the setting of environmental parameters.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of actors in interactions between "innovation ecosystems": drivers and implications	[ "Innovation systems", "Knowledge economy", "Industrial district", "Innovation ecosystems", "Local systems", "Technological cluster" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper deals with the role of actors and innovation in local systems. It specifically tries to relate the literature of \"innovation ecosystems\" with the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) literature on interaction. In particular, the IMP literature is considered in this paper as a relevant stream of research that may contribute to explain innovation that occurs within local systems. The IMP tradition in fact has always looked at interaction as a key engine of business networks (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995; Hakansson et al., 2009) and considers it as a valuable conceptual category that can explain many relevant phenomena (Hakansson and Waluszewski, 2013) such as innovation. The paper considers interaction as a micro-level perspective that can explain the role that actors may play for innovation within local system.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Natural and Innovation ecosystems\n3. A conceptual framework: Basing on the analysis of the literature, we assume that NIS and RIS can be analyzed as real ecosystems.\n4. Research implications and conclusions: The theoretical framework proposed in this paper points out the central role of the IMP thinking to explain innovation that occurs at a local level. As highlighted in the literature review, the \"innovation ecosystem\" represents a growing research area that considers local (regional or national) relationships in innovation. In our view, the analysis of the \"innovation ecosystem\" can be arguably integrated by the IMP vision, generating a new way of conceiving innovation in local systems. In fact, the learning/teaching role that focal actors may play in interactions with actors within the ecosystem and in other ecosystems is a fundamental component to explain the flux of knowledge that nurture any local system. However, as pointed out in the literature review, this specific mechanism is neglected in the literature that addresses the local dimension of innovation in ecosystems. The micro-level perspective that stems from the IMP view that specifically considers the interaction as the main driver to explain innovation is interpreted in this paper as generator of flux of knowledge and, hence a determinant of innovation, among the actors and for the local system. In this sense, our paper contributes to the current academic debate on innovation in local systems, by relating the micro-level perspective stemming from the IMP debate to the macro-level perspective of \"innovation ecosystems.\" By identifying and defining some fits/misfits we then propose some potential explanations on the role of teacher or learner that an actor may play in interaction. Hence, as pointed out, the research implications mainly regard two level of analysis. The research team aim at identifying the implications both at a micro-level, by focusing on the single dyads within the ecosystems, and at a macro-level, for the innovation ecosystem as a whole. In particular, the theoretical framework defines three potential types of relationships that should be further investigated. The fact that interactions within and across innovation ecosystems may generate parasitism, symbiosis or commensalism relationships is in our interpretation a possible explanation of the innovation generated within an ecosystem. At the end, the mix of the different type of relationships that characterize an innovation ecosystem can explain its development. This is a valuable result of our theoretical reasoning, as the IMP approach can be useful to define the predominance of one on the other type of relationships, contributing to explain the success or a decline of any local system of innovation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the role of the actors (especially firms) in interactions between contexts defined as \"innovation ecosystems.\"\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper presents a conceptual framework. A review of the literature to frame the concepts of innovation ecosystems and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) approach is presented. A possible integration of the two concepts is then discussed.\nFindings: The paper adds new discursive inputs to the concept of innovation ecosystem that validate its use in the context of the knowledge economy and extends the theories of knowledge, by analyzing the role that various actors who populate an innovative ecosystem play in the creation, learning, use, and dissemination of knowledge.\nOriginality/value: The paper furnishes an approach to the research on knowledge management and innovation, in the attempt to relate the IMP Group approach with the perspective of the \"innovation ecosystems\" concept.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Caste and religious diversity on formation of social capital: A field survey in India and measurement issues	[ "India", "Religion", "Multicultural societies", "Ethnic minorities", "Social capital", "Caste", "Discrimination", "Racial discrimination" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the last few decades, the idea of social capital has enjoyed a remarkable rise in both theoretical and applied social science research. The idea of social capital is one of the most successfully introduced concepts in Economics and social scientists have long recognized the role of social capital in facilitating human interactions. Formation of social capital requires interactions between at least two people and usually among a large group of people. A number of studies have looked at the concept of social capital (World Bank, 2002; Charles and Kline, 2006; Fafchamps and Minten, 2002). Jayal (2001) explains its dynamic nature over time. Fafchamps and Minten (2002) argue that the study of social capital has been increasingly gaining ground in developing countries because of the existence of imperfect market structures in these countries. As emphasized by World Bank (2002), social capital is formed within the network of social relationships among people, and contributes to economic and social development. In view of World Bank (2002) and Grootaert et al. (2003), social capital plays an increasing role in its poverty reduction strategy. There are a number of studies along similar lines, such as the role of social capital in the form of collective action in common property regime and in the delivery of public services in facilitating economic growth and other socio-economic outcomes (Knack and Keefer, 1997; La Porta et al., 1997; Bahry et al., 2005; Zak and Knack, 2001; Easterly and Levine, 1997; Alesina et al., 1999).An influential contribution to the discussion on the negative relation between ethnicity and social capital formation is found in several studies (Charles and Kline, 2006; Bahry et al., 2005; Knack and Keefer, 1997; Alesina et al., 1999; Easterly and Levine, 1997; Zak and Knack, 2001), but such studies have been mostly done on ethno-linguistic characteristics and race. There is hardly any research on the impact of caste and religious diversity on social capital in an Indian context. This study is important on the grounds that India is the most populated country in South Asia and the second most populated country in the world. Moreover the current caste and religious conflicts are, in a significant sense, a variant of the modern problem of ethnicity or race but it is rarely captured in the Western media (Chakravorty, 1995). Using field survey data collected from municipal wards located in India this paper tries to explore empirically the impact of caste and religious diversity on formation of social capital at an individual level.The next section presents the review of literature which introduces key concepts of social capital. Section 3 discusses the theoretical framework. Section 4 presents the data set and different measures of variables used in our study. Survey findings are presented in section 5. Section 6 concludes.\n2. Literature review: We build on two strands of literature - forms of social capital, discussion on the measurement of social capital and a literature on the relation between ethnicity and social capital. By doing so we are able to test our hypothesis regarding the ethnicity and level of social capital in an Indian context.2.1 Forms and measurement of social capital\n3. Theoretical framework: On the basis of the literature review presented above we propose certain hypotheses that are to be tested using field survey data.Our study stresses the negative linkage between formation of social capital and diversity along caste and religious divisions in an Indian context. Our study is important in that it tries to explore the impact of diversity along caste and religious dimensions on the non-structural individual social capital[1] in an Indian context whereas all the previous literature focuses on diversity along ethno linguistic and racial lines and most of these studies consider social capital at aggregative level.This study also emphasizes social capital's fundamentally interactive nature in which all forms of an individual's stock of social capital are ultimately derived from pair-wise connections between individuals. This paper seeks to examine two hypotheses:H1. Individual's pair-wise connections with people of the same type (homogeneous) of individuals in her social sphere have high performance affecting the formation of social capital at an individual level as compared to interactions between different (heterogeneous) individuals.H2. For both types of interactions (between same type and between different types), the level of social capital is higher for non-structural individual forms as compared to structural forms.\n4. Primary data and measurement: 4.1 Sampling procedure\n5. Survey findings: The field survey of this study considers individual level data related to the indicators of social capital in various forms and their networks: structural forms of social capital in the individual's interactive nature are transmitted in the form of associations, groups or organizations and networks; cognitive social capital in the form of solidarity, conflict resolution and collective action and mutual trust and cooperation that persist without being formalized in associations, groups or organizations (non-structural individual forms of social capital).The demographic characters of our sample are shown in Table I. Of a total population of 2,265, the male population is 1309 (57.8 percent) and the female population is 956 (42.2 percent). The sex ratio is 730. It suggests a bias towards males among our surveyed households. Education is measured in terms of years of schooling, divided into five categories - illiterate, primary, secondary, higher secondary and high. Among the various educational levels, the proportion of illiterates is higher in almost all caste-based and religion-based mostly heterogeneous localities compared to homogeneous localities. Turning to higher-level education (secondary and higher secondary), the proportion is greater for homogenous municipalities.Income is separated into five classes. It is observed from Table I that 60 percent of households live below the poverty line in the caste based mostly heterogeneous municipality, whereas for the mostly homogeneous group it is only 20 percent. Turning to the religious dimension, about 87 percent of households live below poverty line in the mostly heterogeneous municipalities, whereas the proportion of households living below poverty line is about 34 percent in the homogeneous one.Table I suggests that in case of both caste and religion the majority of households in mostly heterogeneous municipalities live below the poverty line (Rs 469), whereas in mostly homogeneous municipalities the majority of households live in relatively higher income ranges.Labor market position is measured in four categories: agricultural laborer, other laborer, occupation related to trade, and commerce and services. The percentages related to the occupational structure for mostly heterogeneous caste-based and religion-based municipalities suggest that the majority of them are employed as wage labor (combining both farm wage employment and nonfarm wage employment). On the other hand, the majority of employed persons in homogenous municipalities along caste and religious dimensions are employed in high return-based economic activities such as trade and commerce and service which require higher skills.The summary of the field survey outcome is given in Tables II and III for mostly homogenous and mostly heterogeneous municipal wards for caste and religion based diversity respectively. All the entries in Tables II and III are in percentages of respondents.The data set and results imply that for every dimension, the formation of social capital for each individual is higher among the same (homogeneous) individuals along caste and religious dimensions in the social sphere, and for each individual irrespective of interactions between same or different (heterogeneous) types, the level of structural social capital in the form of associations and cognitive form are lower than individual form of non-structural social capital which persists without being formalized in organizations. The data set collected from the survey on structural and non-structural social capital suggests that the level of individual non-structural social capital is higher for each individual of all groups - homogeneous and heterogeneous.\n6. Conclusion: This paper has addressed the impact of caste and religious diversity on the individual level of social capital. We have done a field survey in four municipalities of West Bengal state in India to test if formation of social capital is adversely affected by caste and religion based ethnic diversity. Using different measures of social capital the results of our analysis strongly support adverse effect of ethnicity on individual non-structural social capital. Although the results are based on a small number of observations, this study highlights an acute social structure of a developing economy where diversity based on caste and religion affects individual's pairwise interactions and plays a significant role on the formation of social capital. Our result shows that heterogeneity along caste dimension leads to a lower level of trust among people and therefore the formation of individual non-structural social capital is low. But the same is not always true for religious heterogeneity. In our study, Santipur municipality is the most diverse municipality along the religious dimension. Although the value of religious diversity index ETHNIC is not high for this municipal ward, if we take into account all seven religious groups, the two major religious groups, Hindu and Muslims live in geographically segregated localities. The residential segregation between groups leads to a lower level of trust. It is the concentration of minority groups rather than diversity that leads to the lower level of trust in this locality. Our paper thus also supports the views of Uslaner (2002), which suggest that residential segregation isolates people of different backgrounds and lowers generalized trust.In future research, more attention could be paid to find out the mechanisms through which ethnic diversity influences the formation of different types of social capital in India. According to the World Bank, social capital is heavily influenced by economic factors like income, as well as political and cultural factors. Using cultural factors like caste and religion as the policy variables and other factors as important determinants of social capital formation, further empirical investigation is required to quantify and identify accurately the impact of different aspects of ethnic identity and other important factors on individual level social capital in developing and transitional economies like India. The analysis is to be done with some caution on the issue of direction of causality between social capital and economic factors. As yet no clear mechanism is known to researchers. Future research should also follow Putnam's line of thinking on finding empirical evidence on the positive effects of bridging social capital.The present study shows that social structure plays a significant role in the individual level formation of social capital, absence of which might create a more unequal status and unequal opportunities, higher tensions and rivalries, more social conflict and political instability between different ethnic groups along caste and religious dimensions. It may in turn create a strong impediment to all round development of society.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to address the impact of caste and religious diversity on individual-level social capital.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Based on the World Bank's field tested assessment tools, SOCAT, the field survey of the authors' study considers data related to most of the indicators of social capital. This study considers stratified random sampling method. The selection of four municipalities was done by purposive method and the data include information on 440 households from four municipal wards chosen from four municipalities of West Bengal. Out of four municipalities, two are most homogenous (Serampore) and most heterogeneous (Ashoke Nagar Kalyan Garh) along caste dimension and the other two are most homogenous (Purulia) and most heterogeneous (Santipur) religion based municipalities. Caste and religious heterogeneity are measured by an index of ethnic fractionalization, ETHNIC; the index calculates the probability that two randomly-chosen individuals will not belong to the same group.\nFindings: - Using different measures of social capital, results of the analysis strongly support adverse effect of ethnicity on individual non-structural social capital. The data set and results imply that for every dimension, the formation of social capital for each individual is higher among same (homogeneous) individuals along caste and religious dimensions in their social sphere. Moreover the level of structural social capital in the form of associations and cognitive form are lower than individual form of non-structural social capital for each individual, irrespective of interactions between same or different (heterogeneous) types.\nOriginality/value: - The study is important in that it tries to explore the impact of diversity along caste and religious dimensions on the non-structural individual social capital, in an Indian context; whereas all the previous literature focuses on diversity along ethno-linguistic and racial lines and most of these studies consider social capital at aggregative level.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Safety improvements from health lean management implementation: Evidences from three cases	[ "Healthcare", "Process management", "Case studies", "Health lean management", "Clinical risk management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The costs of healthcare systems in developed countries have been increasing during the last two decades, due to aging population, the emergence of new diseases, the adoption of even more expensive healthcare technologies and medicines and the request of high-quality levels by customers and ethical principles. These context factors, added to the issues of global economic crisis, have generated serious constraints, especially for the organizations that are guaranteed and funded by public institutions, whose resources are dramatically reducing.\n2. Theoretical background: The recent academic and managerial healthcare literature is devoting a great attention to managerial and organizational solutions able to enhance both service effectiveness and efficiency. These performances are usually inserted among the dimensions of healthcare quality, whose definition is not so obvious. Several scholars have tried to define quality in healthcare, but, as explained by Mosadeghrad (2013), the definition depends on the adopted perspective and it changes if provided by diverse stakeholders. According to the Institute of Medicine (2001), the dimensions of healthcare quality are: efficiency, safety, effectiveness, patient centeredness, timeliness and equity. Inside or in addition to these concepts, scholars have included other dimensions (Arah et al., 2006), for instance: continuity of care, appropriateness, equity, accessibility, acceptability. Performing well in all of them is challenging, but it is requested to the healthcare providers.\n3. Objectives and methodology: In the previous paragraph, the need to adopt new managerial approaches has been stressed in order to develop a patient-centered, safe, equitable, efficient, acceptable, accessible, timely and effective healthcare service, according with the definition of quality of care (WHO, 2006; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2011; Institute of Medicine, 2001). The development of methodologies that combine different managerial approaches seems a viable solution. In particular, the integration of HLM and CRM could lead to a new synergic methodology that takes advantages of both approaches. Notwithstanding, no empirical evidences have been analyzed in order to define guidelines for implementing L&S projects, useful for an efficient and safe process management in healthcare.\n4. The hospital context of the cases: The cases have been selected from the \"Azienda Sanitaria di Firenze\" (ASF) that is a public organization of the healthcare system of Tuscany (Italy). It serves Florence (Firenze)'s province to which four district zones belong: \"Firenze,\" \"Southeast (Sud-Est),\" \"Northwest (Nord-Ovest)\" and \"Mugello,\" with a catchment area of more than 800,000 inhabitants (the second widest in Italy). The ASL (\"Azienda Sanitaria Locale\" - \"Local Health Unit\") includes six hospitals with around 1,022 bed places and 6,519 employees. The ASL territory is composed by organizations that guarantee the continuity of care: 13 accredited houses of private care (that provides 805 bed places), 120 directly managed structures and 168 affiliated ones; moreover, the ASF is connected with the territory through a network of 740 general physicians and pediatricians as well as nurses for homecare (around 752 people are cared at home).\n5. Results of the within-case analysis: Although the healthcare services offered a satisfactory answer to the demand with performances aligned to the best regional and national standards, a more efficient resource use seemed necessary. The ASL had also to comply with the regional laws 22/2000, 40/2005 and 60/2008 that drew a plan for a hospital managerial reorganization through a rational valorization of the resources and the formalization of a new organizational structure aiming to guarantee quality and efficiency for patients. This could be achieved with a flexible and competitive system based on waste reduction, putting the patient and its needs at the center of it and opening the hospital to the territory by integrating with the social community.\n6. Discussion comparing the three analyzed projects: Considering Table I, objectives of HLM are pursued in the analyzed cases adopting tools and practices of only HLM (5S and P4EPVH) or of HLM and CRM, and patient safety improvements are directly or indirectly obtained, in addition to efficiency increases (Figure 2).\n7. Conclusion: contribution, limitations and future research: Contributing to increase the understanding of L&S projects, in this paper evidences were grasped for organizational aspects (actors, roles, operational mechanisms, procedures), phases, tools, practices and key factors enabling a successful L&S project implementation, by analyzing and comparing three cases. From the results, it emerges that HLM can be a support for CRM and, adopting a hospital vision that overcomes the local focalization, an integrated methodology should be considered.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In a context where healthcare systems have to face multiple challenges, the development of a methodology that combines new managerial approaches could contribute to pursue and achieve multiple objectives. Inside the research stream that intends to combine health lean management (HLM) and clinical risk management (CRM), the purpose of this paper is to study the significant features that characterize HLM projects obtaining patient safety improvements (L&S projects).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The novelty of the research implies to adopt qualitative research methodology, analyzing in-depth case studies. L&S projects at different organizational levels have been selected from the same hospital. Following a research protocol, data have been collected through semi-structured interviews and they have been triangulated studying reports and archival documentation.\nFindings: Comparing the three cases, it emerges that HLM can be a support for CRM since safety improvements can be achieved solving organizational issues. Analyzing the significant features of the three cases, relevant differences have been highlighted among them. At the end, first indications useful for achieving safety improvements from lean project implementation have been grasped.\nOriginality/value: This research provides a preliminary contribution to a new research stream that aims to develop a synergic methodology combining HLM and CRM. The first provided indications can be followed by hospital managers who wish to learn how to implement projects achieving patient safety improvements besides efficiency enhancement. After testing and exploiting the obtained results, a new methodology should be developed moving toward a safer and more sustainable healthcare system.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Information activities as serious leisure within the fanfiction community	[ "Reference", "Self-publishing", "Librarianship", "Free publications", "Serious leisure", "Fanfiction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Fanfiction exists as a subset, or type, of self-published cultural product. The communities that create and share these cultural products are fans of a story, text, game, movie, or song who wish to develop new, unsanctioned works, based on those existing root-texts. Fanfiction has a long history (see Derecho, 2006; Coppa, 2006) beginning in print (see e.g. the University of Iowa's special collection of fanzine ephemera), but the migration of these communities to the online medium over the last 20 years has created an explosion of content and readership for the fanfiction community.\nTheoretical framework: The activity of crafting cultural products through voluntary participation in fanfiction communities exists as a serious leisure (SL) pursuit. SL, a theoretical approach first defined by Robert Stebbins[1], is a useful framework for this research. For Stebbins (2007), leisure is an overarching concept and is understood as an \"uncoerced activity engaged in during free time, which people want to do and, in either a satisfying or a fulfilling way (or both), use their abilities and resources to succeed at this\" (p. 4).\nBackground literature: Fanfiction\nResearch questions: There is a certain perception of fanfiction as having a \"wild west\" atmosphere, which is accurate. Fanfiction crosses boundaries, genres, and shakes canon texts around like a snow globe. While these fanfiction creations are wide and varied, fanfiction communities do have an established culture and members interact with each other and work to craft and publish works through the communities' own, established cultural norms and conventions.\nMethod: In order to explore these questions, a diverse collection of fanfiction publishing platforms, blogs, and associated websites were examined. These sites vary - from those that welcome a variety of genres and foci to those that are more narrowly focused to a specific culture, title, genre, character, or audience. While the proportion of sites investigated to sites existing is not possible given that sites can be created and disbanded every moment, major sites of focus were strategically included to capture a large and popular cachement of stories. Large, generalist platforms included such sites as fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own (AO3). The non-generalist sites consisted of large, actively updated communities focused on the Twilight trilogy, the Teen Wolf and Glee television series, as well as those focused on a particular culture or audience (see Appendix for a full listing of all sites included). The corpus of sites examined was populated from the authors' knowledge of the genre and communities, as well as in consultation with fanfiction community members. Five fanfiction readers known to the researchers were directly consulted (see also Price and Robinson, 2016).\nFindings: Examination of these sites revealed significant information-related activity. Some sites present multiple types of informationrelated activities, while others are more specialized. Informationrelated activities are organized under the following three themes: collecting, wayfinding, and organizing. Each provides insight into the various ways in which the fanfiction community has taken on informationrelated activities. Quotes used are captured directly from the site using the screen names and grammar true to fanfiction convention.\nDiscussion and conclusion: As shown above, it is clear that the fanfiction community participates in SL-based information- and libraryrelated activities. These activities are integral and have been deliberately developed leading to practices that guide the community. Certain activities described broadly as \"information phenomena,\" collecting, wayfinding, and organizing, map clearly to aspects of LIS professional practice, sometimes with intriguing results.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Fanfiction communities are actively engaged in creating cultural products. These large online communities have created and developed conventions that guide their solutions to gathering and presenting their work. The purpose of this paper is to investigate those conventions looking for evidence of information-related pursuits as serious leisure (SL) (Stebbins, 2007).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A diverse collection of fanfiction publishing platforms, blogs, and associated websites were subject to a qualitative inductive analysis (Lincoln and Guba, 1985). Platforms included both generalist sites like Archive of Our Own and more focused sites such as Teen Wolf Fic Finder.\nFindings: Findings show significant information-related activities around collecting, wayfinding, and organizing. Collecting centers on platform policies focused on scope. Wayfinding relates to peer review as well as various reference-like work including reader's advisory, reference questioning, and the creation of pathfinders. Organizing looks to the unique organizational schema created and used by the fanfiction communities.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors explore implications of these activities in reference to the fanfiction community and the library and information science (LIS) discipline. The fanfiction community is shifting out of an ephemeral existence and into one of a more permanent digital heritage. Fanfiction is an SL pursuit that also has much to offer for consideration to the LIS discipline.\nPractical implications: With respect to the wayfinding and organizing conventions of fanfiction communities, these activities provide librarianship with the opportunity to consider traditional activities in new ways.\nOriginality/value: Fanfiction is a little studied phenomenon in SL and in LIS. This research provides connections to both areas.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Making organizational change stick: leadership reality checks	[ "Business improvement", "Organizational change" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Organizations around the world are putting tremendous energy into the process of change so that they are in a better position to compete in a global economy (Friedman, 2005). Organizations frequently use a change cycle that identifies an improvement opportunity, analyzes the situation, develops a plan for improvement, implements the plan and measures performance. A critical part of this process is ensuring that performance improvement is maintained once the change is implemented. In our interviews and research with a wide audience of business leaders, we have found several patterns on making change stick that have strong implications for development and learning and that warrant discussion (Longenecker et al., 2007):* Leaders have a tendency to declare victory prematurely. Leaders can confuse improvement with success as they are frequently looking for information that tells them what they are doing is working and that they have won.* Managers can easily \"take their eye off of the ball\" once improvement begins. Leaders are frequently involved in an overwhelming number of activities which result in a loss of focus causing slippage and/or a relapse to former practices.* For any improvement to be real and lasting, work group members have to change individual behaviors and habits and stick with those changes. This requires ongoing focus, attention and discipline on their part because of the challenge of maintaining new behaviors in the face of ongoing work challenges.* Leaders must reinforce appropriate individual and work group performance/behavior on an ongoing basis until desired practices become habits. If this reinforcement is withdrawn prematurely old habits return and sustainable performance improvement is in jeopardy.* Organizations have a wide variety of non-financial and financial rewards that can be used to reinforce desired improvement behaviors. Yet these rewards are frequently not effectively or strategically used by leaders to reinforce desired performance.All of these challenges make it tough getting improvement behaviors to stick. Frequently, leaders are so consumed with everything that is on their plate that they can become distracted and take their eye off of the task at hand when attempting to make a change effort part of their operating culture. This is especially true when they experience big change and everyone is excited about initial improvements. This interim success feels good personally and organizationally and provides a sense of relief that an objective has been achieved and that the changes are working. And, unfortunately, in many cases, those same busy people involved in the change then divert their energies to other activities/tasks, thwarting the momentum needed to ensure a true completion of the initiative at hand. This tendency to declare victory too soon can actually undermine development and learning at both the work group and individual level. In addition to that challenge, leaders sometimes fail to celebrate a successful change with all of the tools available at their disposal. In failing to do so, they have thrown away the opportunity to reward desired behavior and motivate people to do more of the same. Making organizational change stick is vital and here are three reality checks that can help you as a leader make change stick.\nReality check no. 1: make sure that improvement is real: For the leader of any change effort, it is imperative to know whether your team actually achieved the intended results that your improvement effort had been designed to achieve. Success or failure is not always easy to measure or apparent to everyone. To determine if your effort was a success, go back and review how you defined winning and success at the start of your improvement effort and look at improvement from the perspective of the key parties involved. To understand and evaluate how successful an initiative has been, you must:* Review your goals and definition of winning. How do the metrics you used to measure your results compare to initial goals and definition of winning?* Consult your customer(s). How have they benefited from what you have done?* Monitor your competitors. What is their reaction and/or response to your change initiative?Most of us realize that, ultimately, the customer's response on most initiatives is the true measure of success. Customer satisfaction must constantly be monitored and measured. The exact same issue can be true as it pertains to our competitor's response to changes. From the competitors' standpoint, your good news is often their bad news. And typically, it results in a response or reaction. Their reaction just might let you know that you really did improve and that you should be ready to respond in kind.\nReality check no. 2: do not declare success prematurely: Premature celebration causes leaders and teams alike to lose focus and motivation for doing the things that are necessary for improvement to hold up. The temptation to declare victory and celebrate all of our achievements can get in the way of making the necessary adjustments and providing the leadership and reinforcement necessary to make changes stick. This is truly a challenge for most leaders to fight the urge to claim the victory of a change initiative prematurely. The costs of doing so might include finding ourselves right back where we started (or even worse).\nReality check no. 3: lead so as to make changes stick: Making sure that change sticks really comes down to doing the things necessary to ensure that whatever changes you have made to produce improvements are maintained. This means that leaders and team members maintain their focus and discipline in doing the things that are necessary for the improvement practices to become habits.There is an extensive amount of research about the challenges that we all face in attempting to take new behaviors and turn them into habits. None of us have to look too far to see the challenges people face in attempting to break old habits and replacing them with new ones. Business leaders are quick to point out that change efforts frequently fail when leaders do not do the things necessary to help people develop the ability and motivation to make changes part of their individual daily activities (Deutschman, 2005).\nMake change stick: Given this background, we have learned a great deal about how to help organizations stick with changes. Your team has just executed a successful change initiative and the performance outcomes you were hoping for have been realized. Your team has achieved their goals and you want to declare victory but you are holding off until you are sure that improvement will hold. Here are some very specific things that have emerged from our research that can help leaders turn the behaviors/practices that led to improved performance into the work habits that will maintain better performance:* If you want change to stick, start with yourself. You must demonstrate the behaviors that are necessary as a leader to maintain the performance of your team. Create a system for yourself that will encourage you to do this and consider using a mentor or personal coach to help you stick with your personal game plan.* Keep people focused on the positive aspects/outcomes of the changes that you are making. Help people see that their hard work in the change process is making a difference and is worth the extra effort required.* Do not use fear as the primary motivator for a change effort. Fear as a motivator gets old quickly and keeps people in a negative frame of mind which makes it easier for them to not want to think about change. Look for ways to inject excitement, healthy competition and even fun into change efforts so people equate positives with the change.* Continuously develop and train people to perform their new tasks/behaviors. Equip your people with both the confidence and requisite skills necessary to perform with great proficiency while at the same time experiencing the advantages and motivation associated with personal development.* Create support groups of people who are going through or who have gone through a similar experience. It is critical to create ongoing awareness, camaraderie, focus, counsel and accountability for maintaining new behaviors. Look for opportunities to bring team members together to discuss what they are experiencing and to encourage each other.* Foster individual accountability for new behaviors. People experiencing change need to know that their performance is being critiqued and assessed on an ongoing basis. Increasing both formal and informal performance appraisals during periods of change can help create this accountability.* Continually reinforce the positive outcomes of successful behavior. Leaders must creatively reinforce successful behavior with praise and other rewards on an ongoing basis while also addressing inappropriate or undesirable actions at both the individual and group level if change is to stick.* Use visual aids of appropriate actions and behaviors. Visual aids can and should be used to keep appropriate behaviors in the forefront of team members thinking even after performance improvement takes place.These are just a few of the things that effective leaders do to help the members of their team develop and learn during periods of change. Do not assume that change efforts will turn into long-term success without leadership that develops and maintains these practices. Maintain the same focus and sense of urgency that enabled your team to get ahead in the first place and you will be in a better position to make positive change stick!\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - With organizations trying to compete on a global scale, they are constantly putting energy and resources into performance improvement and change initiatives. The purpose of this research is to make it clear that sustaining performance improvement and making change stick is a truly challenging component for most enterprises.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper identifies three key factors that have strong implications on development and learning in organizations dealing with this subject. This paper discusses how to make sure that improvement is real, avoiding declaring success prematurely and leading so as to make change stick.\nFindings: - The paper discusses the factors and from these are found some specific actions for business leaders serious about real change and improvement.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides useful information for business leaders who are serious about real change and improvement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Dynamic capabilities in aged care service innovation: the role of social assistive technologies and consumer-directed care strategy	[ "Service innovation", "Dynamic capabilities", "Aged care", "Consumer vulnerability", "Social assistive technologies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Consumer vulnerability is defined as a negative circumstance whereby a consumer's ability to independently engage with their community is threatened (Montgomery et al., 2011; Hutton, 2016). Although consumer vulnerability is a broad concept in service marketing research, it has been less investigated in the aged care industry (Berg, 2015). The aged care industry is characterised in a changing environment where vulnerable older people with mental and physical disabilities request different levels of care services, thereby requiring the industry to respond their changing expectations. Furthermore, substantial variation in financing, care management and the delivery of aged care have exposed this industry to a complex environment in which service providers must utilise innovative strategies.\n2. Background and hypotheses development: 2.1 Dynamic service innovation capabilities and social assistive technologies\n3. Social assistive technologies used in this study: Despite that there is a wide range of social ATs such as smart watches, smartphones, smart tablets, in this study, we applied only social robots as we believe this type of technology can adapt easier as social robots can communicate with people. A social robot is an autonomous intelligent machine with the capability to interact and communicate with human and physical presence in social environment (Rabbitt et al., 2015). Heerink et al. (2010) contended that the use of social robots for vulnerable older people is easier than other smart devices because these innovative technologies concentrate on human engagement. O'Neill et al. (2014) noted that the assessment of social robot performance for researcher is easier and more accurate than other devices, as they can verbally and non-verbally interact with the users.\n4. Methodology: This study used cross-sectional survey method to validate the proposed model and test research hypotheses (Creswell, 2013).\n5. Results: 5.1 Data screening\n6. Discussion and conclusion: The purpose of this study was to address RQ1 and RQ2. To address these questions, 11 hypotheses were proposed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: By developing a conceptual model, the purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the role of social assistive technologies in facilitating the process of service innovation in care providing organisations to adopt the principles of the consumer-directed care strategy and reduce perceived consumer vulnerability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a cross-sectional survey method, the authors collected data through a survey questionnaire distributed among 335 aged caregivers and specialists. The conceptual model and its 11 research hypotheses were examined using confirmatory factor analysis in structural equation modelling. The rival and mediation models were also estimated.\nFindings: The conceptual model was validated and eight of eleven hypotheses were supported. It was found that dynamic capabilities are crucial to developing service innovation concept in care providing organisations. In this way, social assistive technologies play a facilitating role to promote the consumer-directed care strategy throughout care providing organisations and allow care providers to enhance wellbeing of vulnerable older people based on their socio-economic status. From the lens of aged care providers, it was also found that the consumer-directed care strategy implemented in aged care facilities may help reduce consumer vulnerability among older people especially when they use social assistive technologies in their service settings.\nPractical implications: This study suggests aged care service providers should boost dynamic service innovation capabilities to improve the need for social assistive technologies in aged care facilities with respect to the importance of the consumer-directed care strategy.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the development and validation of a conceptual model for the use of social assistive technologies to sustain service innovation in aged care business models and enhance the consumer-directed care strategy's performance to better understand consumer vulnerability among older people.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Service quality and customers' behavioural intentions: Class and mass banking and implications for the consumer and society	[ "Society", "Service quality", "Behavioural intentions", "Public sector banks", "Private sector banks", "Consumer and policy implications" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: 1.1. Public policy in the financial sector in India\n2. Methodology: 2.1. Sample design and data collection\n3. Results: 3.1. Factor analysis of the SERVQUAL scores\n4. Conclusion: The study shows that dimensions of service quality are important determinants for behavioural intentions. Even though SERVQUAL has been studied in the banking context, the explicit connections between service quality dimensions and customers' behavioural intentions has been relatively under-researched in the banking sector. This study aimed to probe the link between the individual dimensions of service quality and customers' behavioural intentions in the case of public and private sector banks in India and explore the consequent societal implications for consumer and public policy. Linking both constructs at their dimensional level increases the diagnostics of explaining customers' behavioural intentions.\n5. Limitations of the research and directions for further research: Future research can focus on \"service excellence\" being extended beyond assessment of the quality of services towards evaluation of the quality of life outcomes to which public organizations contribute, appraisal of the quality of public governance processes and quality of performance in meeting social objectives. The findings of the current study also deserve replication across other countries with different cultures, in order to explore how service quality influences customers' behavioural intentions, in the context of both private and public sector banks and explore the consumer policy implications therein. This study was primarily quantitative. In future research, in-depth interviews can be carried out in to capture aspects of customers' perception of service quality and their behavioural intentions that are not possible to cover with SERVQUAL and similar quantitative studies. The analytical procedure itself, i.e., a factor analysis of difference scores of SERVQUAL has received considerable attention in the literature in the recent years. Even though SERVQUAL has been reported to have greater diagnostic power to highlight areas for managerial interventions in the event of service quality shortfalls, the SERVPERF scale according to many researchers, provide a more convergent and discriminant valid explanation of the service quality construct. In future research, both SERVPERF and SERVQUAL may be compared to assess the profile, overall service quality, areas of service quality shortfall and number of factors obtained.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how the different dimensions of service quality influence customers' behavioural intentions in the private and public sector banks, that is, in class and mass banking, respectively, and the implications for the service provider, consumer, society and consumer policy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A contextually modified SERVQUAL instrument was used to capture customers' perceptions of service quality followed by exploratory factor analysis to study the dimensionality of service quality in retail banking. Multiple regression was used to probe the influence of the dimensions of service quality on customers' behavioural intentions.\nFindings: The study revealed four dimensions of service quality in retail banking, namely, customer-orientedness, reliability, tangibles and convenience and showed that the service quality factor customer-orientedness comprising of the responsiveness and attitude of employees is most important in influencing customers' behavioural intentions in the case of private sector banks and reliability of the service is most influential in the case of public sector banks.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research can focus on \"service excellence\" being extended beyond assessment of the quality of services, towards evaluation of the quality of life outcomes, to which public organizations contribute, appraisal of the quality of public governance processes and quality of performance in meeting social objectives.\nPractical implications: Retail bank managers must realize the importance of employees providing competent, reliable service in the case of public sector banks and their responsiveness and behaviour towards customers in the case of private sector banks, as the keys to foster a culture of service excellence.\nSocial implications: High-quality financial consumer policy must not only be able to increase customer satisfaction with financial services but also build security and trust in public administration through transparent processes and accountability. In this context, with public agencies being regarded as service providers and citizens as customers, the concept of quality must also visualize public agencies as catalysts of a responsible and active civic society.\nOriginality/value: This study explores the relationship between service quality and customers' behavioural intentions in the private and public sector banks by linking both constructs at their dimensional level. It highlights major implications for the service provider, society, consumer and public policy based on the different needs, characteristics and requirements of customers of class and mass banking, that is, private and public sector banks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Governing the activation of older workers in the European Union: The construction of the "activated retiree"	[ "European Union", "Governance", "Ageing", "Older workers", "Social policy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: European citizens aged 50-69 are at once in process of a life-course transition, and subject to a policy-in-transition, one intended to transform the status, possibilities and characterisation of their lives over the next five to 20 years. This paper assesses these policies-in-transition, especially policies intended to activate those known as older workers (50-64 year olds) and those between 65-69 years of age[1]. As the activation of older workers impinges directly on pensions and social exclusion policies, the active ageing agenda takes us to the heart of how the EU is governed, and how it governs through social policy. This is especially important as the EU has recently been developing a specific and expanding role in defining and shaping policy issues which traditionally were at the heart of national welfare states (notably employment, pensions and health).We argue that governing the \"activation\" of older workers in the EU implicitly institutes, among other things, a new category of social subject in the European Union, namely the \"activated retiree\". The latter elides the former distinction between employment and retirement, and in doing so, undermines the social rights attached to retirement. We use the term \"activated retiree\" to describe the newly emerging socio-political regulation of those who (will) find themselves in this age category. The term also points to the reconfiguration of relationships between the actors who are involved in doing the regulation, namely, the \"division of labour\" between EU, member states, markets and individuals. The \"activated retiree\" is the product of tensions and contradictions, as well as a core of agreement, between different strands of governance in the EU. It remains to be seen whether it will have any resonance among individual member states, but as we argue below, we believe it will.The first section of the article outlines our analytical perspective on governance; the second section addresses the procedural and organisational aspects of governance in respect of older workers in the EU (what we call the operational dimension of governance); the third section undertakes an analysis of the substantive policy content (what we call the formal dimension of governance) by examining the ways in which the targets of EU active ageing policies are constructed, and the implications of these for the kind of employment and pensions which \"older workers\" can expect under such policies. The conclusion draws together the analysis from each governance dimension to discuss the contradictory social subject category of the \"activated retiree\".\nOn governing social subjects in the EU: There have been many studies examining the emergence of the open methods of co-ordination (OMCs) as new policymaking processes for social policy in the EU, and their evolution as a mode of governance (e.g. de la Porte and Pochet, 2002; Jacobsson, 2004). There have been rather fewer, although thorough, evaluations of their impact as a policymaking mechanisms on individual member states (see, especially, Pochet and Zeitlin, 2005 with Magnusson; also Lopez-Santana, 2006), but even the latter studies do not evaluate the content of these policies sui generis. Indeed, the development of the EU's social policy and employment agenda and its interaction with the practices and overall governance of the OMCs has received even less attention (see O'Connor, 2005; Bruno et al., 2006; Daly, 2006). We contend that EU-level developments in social policy and reforms to the organisational and procedural aspects of policymaking should be assessed jointly to appreciate the significance of changes in both.Our article explicitly brings together an analysis of the policy content with an analysis of how this content is articulated within the practices and procedures for policymaking instituted by the OMCs - including the most recent reforms. We apply at the EU level an analytical perspective on governance developed in earlier work (Carmel and Papadopoulos, 2003). Both the modes of governing (what we call the operational dimension of governance) and the content of what is to be governed (what we call the formal, or substantive, dimension of governance) are analysed in terms of what each individually and jointly contributes to the institution and legitimation of power relationships in any one instance of governing. Thus these two dimensions - the formal and the operational - are mutually constitutive of governance and our approach involves the joint analysis of these distinct but inseparable dimensions.We maintain that, ultimately, governance is a process of socio-politically institutionalising and regulating categories of social subjects. It is a process whereby these categories can be reproduced or altered or new categories created and it involves \"the 'steering' of [...] subjects' behavioural practices towards particular social and politico-economic goals via a set of institutions and processes that aim to maintain or change the status quo\" (Carmel and Papadopoulos, 2003, p. 32). This means that we assess the generation, authorisation and acceptance of social subject categories not only among those who are the target of policy (e.g. unemployed, pensioners, lone mothers) but also among those who are involved in making and delivering policy (agencies, social \"partners\", policy makers). All these categories of subjects, and their relationships - i.e. those to be governed and those to do the governing - are created, reproduced or changed through the interaction of the formal and operational dimensions of governance[2]. In this context, we believe that modes of governing in the EU, in tandem with what and whom they coordinate and to what ends, comprise the emergent forms of socio-political regulation in the EU. In terms of European social policy, this ultimately defines the contours of a European \"social\", and what can legitimately be defined as the limits of EU social policy making (Carmel, 2005).\nGoverning the activation of older workers: the operational dimension: Tensions in Lisbon agenda and organisational imperatives of active ageing\nGoverning the activation of older workers: policy content: Who are the \"older workers\"?\nConclusion: Our article began by noting that older Europeans, aged 50 to 64 and beyond, are at once facing the life course transition from employment to retirement and they are subject to a policy-in-transition regarding both their employment and retirement. We employed an analytical framework that differentiates between formal and operational aspects of governance to explore recent changes in the EU governance relating to older workers and pensioners. These changes reveal both tensions and points of consensus between different visions of what is the European \"social\" and how is to be governed in relation to older Europeans.The increasing integration of the employment strategy with the economic growth agenda of the revised Lisbon programme, signifies further dissociation of employment from social protection and locates it, operationally, within the realm of governing the \"economic\". Social protection is now dealt within the OMC SP-SI, through combining the politically and economically more significant areas of pension and health with the former OMC/incl that, institutionally, used to be rather weak. This combination of dissociation and strengthening, however, reveals notable existing tensions and even contradictions between different visions.On the one hand, the \"active ageing\" agenda, promoted under the OMC/empl, articulates a productivist and rather utilitarian vision: the older worker needs to be \"activated\" for the purpose of economic growth and to avoid a waste of human resources while an individualisation of the responsibilities of the activated older worker is discursively promoted. S/he is expected to be employed for longer in an increasingly insecure labour market and to save for retirement in a rather insecure financial investment market, where s/he will bear the risk of any investment. On the other hand, the social protection agenda promoted under OMC/SP-SI seems rather less determined by productivist terminology and considerations. Though accepting the overall direction of reform, it raises some substantial caveats by, for example, highlighting that any promotion of longer working lives should be accompanied by a concern for pension adequacy. There is also recognition that caring and other activities, not just employment, are socially and individually valuable; that protection of the social dimension of life remains a matter for governments both in social security, especially pension provision, and in the regulation of this provision by private pension funds. In this agenda, retirement at or before statutory retirement age is clearly not inherently delegitimated as culpable behaviour while the implied obverse of the ever-older \"older worker\" of the future is not the indigent and irresponsible retiree, as is implicit in the productivist vision.These tensions in agendas, pulling in different directions, and resting on different assumptions regarding the legitimate scope of EU governance, produce the contradictory subject position of the \"activated retiree\", which in most member states remains an oxymoron. We used this term as an equivalent to an ideal type to capture the institutional reconfiguration of rights and responsibilities between EU, states, markets and individuals currently underway regarding the social risk of old age. We concluded that what is espoused is less responsibility for the state and more responsibility for individuals and households who are called to address this risk in, and through, the market. Governing the \"activated retiree\" involves steering individual behaviour towards individualised practices which, in our view will further fragment the social experience of the transition to retirement and increase inequalities in terms of gender, income and occupation. For those unable to secure a pension in the market being an \"activated retiree\" will not be a choice but the only option.Finally, in terms of a wider reflection on European governance, we want to emphasise that both the operational and formal dimensions of governance are necessary to understand and explore the impact and significance of the revised OMC/Lisbon framework and the role of the \"active ageing\" agenda in it. One question for us must now take centre-stage: that of meta-governance. Namely, how are the OMCs themselves to be governed as a totality, in terms of both their operational aspects, and the tensions in the substantive policy. Despite the 2005 Lisbon strategy reforms it seems to us that the tensions and contradictions between different visions of the European \"social\" will continue to trouble the governance of policies towards older European workers for the years to come.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to evaluate the EU's \"active ageing\" agenda as a governance strategy for the activation of older workers, and its impact on the regulation both of those who make, and those who are the objects of, policy. This case study is used to reflect more broadly on the implications of governance strategies for the regulation of social subjects in the European Union (EU).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper adopts a model of governance comprising two dimensions, namely formal policy (policy aims) and operational policy (policy means). This model is used to explain how and to what effect, discourses and institutions interact in EU governance to produce particular forms of social subject regulation; in this case, activation.\nFindings: - For the operational dimension, the paper explores how contradictions and tensions within and between employment, pensions and social inclusion policies are reflected in, and the products of, a re-allocation of responsibilities between the EU, member states, social partners, and individuals. For the formal dimension, it explains how employment for older workers is constructed as having a different meaning to the employment of other workers, and how EU discourse on active ageing disguises crucial inequalities between groups of older workers, both pre- and post-retirement.\nResearch implications/limitations: - The paper concludes that active ageing policy in the EU institutes a new category of social subject, apparently eliding the former distinction between employment and retirement, namely the \"activated retiree\".\nOriginality/value: - The paper demonstrates the efficacy of the two-dimensional approach to the empirical analysis of governance strategies and identifies how key tensions in the production of EU social policies directly impact on the regulation of social subject categories in the EU.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Enterprise social media: combating turnover in businesses	[ "Enterprise social media", "Perceived work stress", "Turnover intention", "Workplace integration", "Job satisfaction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Although research on turnover first appeared around 1920 (Hom et al., 2017), the issue of turnover has become increasingly important in recent years as both organizations and researchers have been struggling to find ways to reduce its impact. Turnover is concerning to knowledge-based industries, particularly in information technology (IT) organizations (Harden et al., 2018), as they struggle to find and retain skilled workers (Kochan et al., 2012). Turnover has an inverse impact on an organization's financial performance (Cascio and Boudreau, 2010; Hancock et al., 2013). The cost to replace an employee is estimated to be more than 1.5 times one's annual salary (Hewlett, 2007; Mayfield and Mayfield, 2007; Cascio, 2006). Turnover has indirect costs, which include a loss of organizational workers with tacit knowledge (Eckardt et al., 2014), reduced socialization leading to lower retention (Leidner et al., 2010) and inefficiencies resulting from job changeover (Hinkin and Tracey, 2000); and direct costs, which include the overheads of recruiting, selecting and training new employees (Hinkin and Tracey, 2000). Not only have these negative organizational consequences fueled increased interest in understanding employee turnover, but there have recently been concerns due to low birthrates and the rapidly increasing retirement wave of babyboomers in many countries (Cho and Lewis, 2012; Lewis and Cho, 2011; Kwon, 2017). Searching for additional means to reduce turnover, some managers have turned to enterprise social media (Leidner et al., 2010; Koch et al., 2012) for workplace social integration. Therefore, the literature is well documented in terms of the effects of turnover. Yet, our understanding of the link between enterprise social media and turnover intention is still incomplete, in part because previous research lacks an integrated model that examines reactions to enterprise social media, using an integrated theoretical framework. In this paper, we develop a model that recognizes that employees' usage of enterprise social media in the workplace can be a source of increased workplace integration and improved work perceptions, ultimately decreasing turnover intention. The current study seeks to address this gap through the lens of social capital theory and emotional dissonance theory (Abraham, 1999) as underlying frameworks.Although the literature has covered the consequences of social networks within organizations in the past decades (Holtom et al., 2008), our understanding of the impact of enterprise social media (ESM) on turnover is still far from complete. For example, prior research found external social media (a form of social networks) use improved performance (Ali-Hassan et al., 2015; Gao et al., 2016; Cao et al., 2016; Wu et al., 2016; Moqbel et al., 2013; Moqbel; Iftab, 2015; Kock et al., 2016; Kock; Moqbel, 2019), although research has yet to determine whether internal social media (i.e. ESM) decreases turnover intention. Despite the anecdotal reports of the positive impact of ESM within organizations (Koch et al., 2012; Leidner et al., 2010), very little empirical evidence is known about its impact on turnover. This study, thus, fills this gap in research by empirically investigating how ESM use combats turnover by impacting work perceptions - including workplace integration, perceived work stress, job satisfaction and turnover intention. This paper draws on the social capital theory and emotional dissonance theory (Abraham, 1999) as underlying frameworks.Our findings offer insights for managers who may be evaluating whether introducing ESM would be beneficial for employees.This paper is organized in the following manner: Section 2 provides the research background, theoretical framework and hypotheses. Section 3 highlights the research methodology - explaining the process constituting the proposed methodology, including the preprocessing of the data, the design, development and validation of the research model. Section 4 presents the results and elaborates on the findings. Section 5 discusses future research, limitations to the research and the practical and theoretical implications to managers and Information Systems (IS). Finally, Section 6 offers concluding remarks of the research findings.\n2. Research background and hypotheses: 2.1 Work aspects of enterprise social media\n3. Research methodology: To test the proposed theoretical relationships in Figure 1 above, we collected data from working professionals at an IT corporation in the Midwest region of the USA through an online survey.The ESM software platform consists of a suite of applications, including social networking, blogs, wikis, discussion forums, document management and search capabilities to find experts - capabilities that allow employees to communicate, collaborate, innovate and learn from one another. 3.1 Respondents\n4. Results: 4.1 Hypothesis testing\n5. Discussion: This research examined how ESM augmented workplace integration; workplace integration enhanced job satisfaction and also decreased turnover, and job tensions (perceived work stress) - job satisfaction and perceived work stress influenced turnover intention.Our results suggest that workplace integration should be maximized in businesses, because it increases a person's job satisfaction and decreases work stress perceptions, ultimately leading to lower turnover intention. SNS had been found in prior research to cultivate positive personal life attitudes and behaviors (Brissette et al., 2002; Steinfield et al., 2008). Similarly, when SNS are incorporated in businesses in the form of ESM, perceived workplace integration increases. Thus, it is important for employees to engage in relationships at work. ESM use is a way that we found to increase workplace integration, which is, as suggested in the results of this study, a key in improving work-related outcomes, including reduced turnover intention.This research found that workplace integration perceptions decreased perceived work stress and increased perceived job satisfaction due to emotional dissonance. Because people prefer their emotional state to be consistent with their organizational experience, workplace integration influenced work stress and job satisfaction perceptions. Thus, this research found that employees' perceptions of workplace integration could potentially begin a positive feedback loop for how employees perceive their work environment. In this study, ESM was found to augment workplace integration and offers one way to begin the positive feedback loop.Job satisfaction perceptions were found to decrease turnover intention, similarly due to emotional dissonance. This finding confirmed prior research and supported the emotional dissonance theory that a person's emotional state affects intention to leave. Employees are much more likely to leave their job if their emotional feelings about their job are negative. This research identified ESM use as one way to indirectly keep job satisfaction perceptions positive.Perceived work stress was found to increase turnover intention due to the emotional dissonance theory. The results suggest that organizational workers may decide to quit a work environment when there are increasing levels of tension in their current jobs. Our results confirm past research that suggested tension associated with the employees' present work is related to turnover intention (Zhao et al., 2003). As a result, employees may seek employment elsewhere, increasing turnover intention. Thus, perceptions should be taken seriously, and businesses should proactively try to maintain employees' positive perceptions toward work. This research found that ESM is one way to minimize work stress perceptions.In summary, ESM was found to improve work perceptions and turnover intention because of social capital and emotional dissonance that improve job satisfaction and workplace integration and reduce perceived work stress and turnover intention. 5.1 Managerial and theoretical implications\n6. Conclusion: ESM were found to improve work perceptions and decrease turnover intention. The social capital theory and emotional dissonance were underlying theories used to support our hypotheses. ESM were found to increase workplace integration. Workplace integration increased job satisfaction and decreased perceived work stress and turnover intention. Job satisfaction decreased turnover intention, while perceived work stress increased turnover intention. These findings are especially important for managers who are evaluating whether it is beneficial to incorporate ESM in businesses.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how enterprise social media (ESM) use combats turnover by impacting work perceptions, and ultimately turnover intention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study undertook a survey at a major information technology (IT) corporation. Data from a total of 276 working professionals were collected to test the proposed research model.\nFindings: The structural equation modeling results show that ESM increase workplace integration; workplace integration decreased turnover intention, augmented job satisfaction and also reduced job tensions (perceived work stress) - job satisfaction and work stress perceptions influenced turnover intention.\nResearch limitations/implications: Low response bias is one of the limitations in this study, although this study used a priori and post hoc measures to mitigate non-response bias. This study contributed to the theory by improving our understanding of the role of ESM in combating turnover by impacting work perceptions through the lens of social capital and emotional dissonance theories. This study also has practical implications for managers. The results suggest that incorporating ESM within organizations improves employees' perceptions and behaviors - providing an option for managers to consider it as a way to save costs associated with employee turnover.\nOriginality/value: Although several studies have been conducted on ESM, our understanding of the impact of ESM on work perceptions and turnover is still far from complete. This paper helps to close the gap in literature by improving our understanding of how ESM combats turnover by influencing work perceptions in an organization, which provides an essential contribution to research and practice in the field.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A framework to capture and reuse process knowledge in business process design and execution using social tagging	[ "Social tagging", "Process knowledge discovery", "Task/role recommendation", "Social BPM", "Task recommendation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Social business process management (BPM) as a research discipline has only recently emerged to predicate the integration of social software in the BPM lifecycle (Schmidt and Nurcan, 2009). Social BPM fuses BPM practices with social networking applications, with the aim of enhancing the enterprise performance by means of a controlled participation of external stakeholders in process design and enactment (Brambilla and Fraternali, 2012). More specifically, social BPM has been introduced to overcome the limitations of the traditional approaches to BPM. The most prominent of these limitations is the separation between process design and execution, which often causes discrepancies between the processes as they are designed and the way in which they are actually executed, which is often referred to as the model-reality divide (Palmer, 2011). Additionally, because of this separation, valuable first-hand knowledge generated by users during process execution may remain unused during process design and also prevented to be shared within the organisation (Schmidt and Nurcan, 2009).\n2. Background and related work: Social network features have been considered previously in the context of BPM by Koschmider et al. (2009), in the aim of generating social networks from historical process logs. However, the extracted social network is only descriptive and there is no process-based recommendation to support the users during the different stages of BPM.\n3. Social BPM framework: Our social BPM framework is defined by a static \"conceptual\" view and a dynamic \"behavioural\" view. The former view illustrates the main entities and concepts in our framework and their relationships. The latter view depicts the information and action flow between the identified entities.\n4. Social process design and execution: At the core of our approach lies social tagging, which supports role recommendation and task recommendation. In this section these concepts are elaborated further to illustrate how they are each used to support social BPM.\n5. Implementation and evaluation: This section first presents the proof of concept prototype, which evaluates the feasibility of our framework. Then we evaluate the applicability of our approach in one case study involving two separate ad hoc processes.\n6. Discussion: As far as the research contribution of this paper is concerned, the social BPM approaches presented in the literature review are limited to including social extensions, such as polls, dynamic enrolment, social sourcing, voting and ranking/commenting (Brambilla and Fraternali, 2012; Brambilla et al., 2011), to the process design stage. This clearly does not overcome the separation between the process executors and designers typical of traditional BPM, which leads to the model-reality divide downfall. Because of their reliance on the traditional BPM lifecycle, approaches to social BPM in the literature (Brambilla and Fraternali, 2012; Brambilla et al., 2011; Silva et al., 2010) tend to support structured or at most semi-structured processes, instead of ad hoc processes as the framework presented in this paper. For example, while ad hoc type of tasks/activities have been introduced in the social BPMN language extension (Brambilla and Fraternali, 2012), these ad hoc tasks are still embedded in an overall predefined process during process design.\n7. Conclusions: This paper presented a framework for social BPM using social tagging to exploit emergent process knowledge about user experience and skills to support the design and execution of future process instances. Our framework particularly addresses the limitations of traditional BPM, such as the model-reality divide and lack of information fusion. In our framework, process design and execution become blended, thus there is no or limited gap between the designed processes and what is actually executed. The applicability of our framework is limited to ad hoc business processes, and it does not extend to highly procedural and codified processes. We evaluated our framework by applying it to two processes in a charity organisations and using real data and participants. Two separate ad hoc processes were considered, organising a study circle and organising a residential retreat.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for social business process management (BPM) in which social tagging is used to capture process knowledge emerging during the design and enactment of the processes. Process knowledge concerns both the type of activities chosen to fulfil a certain goal and the skills and experience of users in executing specific tasks. This knowledge is exploited by recommendation tools to support the design and enactment of current and future process instances.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The literature about traditional BPM is analysed to highlight the limitations of traditional BPM regarding management of ad hoc and semi-structured processes. Having identified this gap, an innovative BPM framework based on social tagging is proposed to address these limitations. This model is exemplified in a real case scenario and evaluated through the implementation of a prototype and a case study in real world non-profit organisation.\nFindings: An overview of the social BPM framework is presented, introducing the concepts of role and task recommendation, which are supported by social tagging. The prototype shows the buildability of the social BPM framework as an extension of a Wiki platform. The case study demonstrates that the social BPM framework improves user collaborativeness in designing and executing process instances.\nResearch limitations/implications: The applicability of the framework is targeted to ad hoc and possibly semi-structured business processes and it does not extend to highly procedural and codified processes. A single case study limits the generalisability of the evaluation results.\nOriginality/value: The social BPM framework is the first to introduce task and role recommendation supported by social tagging to overcome the limitations of traditional BPM models.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Corporate communications from the CEO's perspective: How top executives conceptualize and value strategic communication	[ "Institutional theory", "Objectives of corporate communications", "Principal-agent-relationships", "Role of communication professionals", "Corporate communications", "Neo-institutionalism", "Strategic communication" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A common and rarely questioned reasoning in academia argues that the rising impact of reputation, public trust, legitimacy, and authenticity in the business world (Carroll, 2013; Cradden, 2005; Gilmore and Pine, 2007) leads to an increasing importance of corporate communications (Cornelissen, 2014; Gregory et al., 2013). However, empirical research indicates a gap between the perceived importance of communications and soft as well as hard indicators of its relevance in organizations. In a recent study, a large majority (87.0 per cent) of 2,027 professionals working in communication departments across Europe stated that communication has become more important for their organizations in a given time frame, but only 14.8 per cent of them reported increased budgets compared with other functions (Zerfass et al., 2013, pp. 90-98).\nResponsibilities and institutions for corporate communications: The gap between the rising importance of communication for corporations and the relatively slow advancement of professional communication functions can be explained by taking a closer look at the distribution of communication responsibilities in any organization. Communication demands from stakeholders and media reports usually address a whole entity, such as a specific company or brand. Organizations themselves are also enacting their environments by interpreting markets and stakeholder settings and by defining visions and business models. As such, the core responsibility for communication as well as for all other strategic decisions and activities is located within the boardroom.\nEmpirical studies of communication from the CEO's perspective: In contrast to the large number of studies analyzing the status quo and future of strategic communication from the communicator's point of view (e.g. Berger and Meng, 2014; Zerfass et al., 2013), very little is known about the perspectives of top executives. Only a handful of dedicated studies have been published during the past 20 years.\nResearch questions and hypotheses: Insights from the literature review have been used to construct hypotheses for each of the research questions developed above. As the qualitative status of most existing research makes it difficult to define concrete numbers, all hypotheses test either priorities (most important ratings by respondents) or approval by the majority (agreement by more than 50 per cent of respondents). The research questions outlined above can thus be complemented with hypotheses:\nMethod and sample: In order to answer these research questions, a quantitative survey among CEOs, managing directors, and executive board members - only at the top level of the organizational hierarchy - of German corporations was conducted. As small-scale qualitative studies were already able to identify patterns in the field, a quantitative approach was appropriate to gain a broader understanding of the situation. The most comprehensive address list of corporate executives in the country, called the Hoppenstedt Manager Database, was used to identify the population. The database provided only postal addresses. Therefore, all top executives were invited by the researchers with a letter including a personal access code to an online questionnaire.\nResults: The empirical study showed that CEOs and executive board members value the importance of corporate communications and its contribution to organizational success. They take their own roles as corporate speakers and personal communicators very seriously, whereas the perceptions of the professional communication function and some instruments in use (especially social media) are less encouraging.\nDiscussion: This empirical study confirmed most insights from previous qualitative research in various regions of the world. There are shared understandings, expectations, and experiences of top executives, which can be conceptualized as cognitive institutions in business. The cognitive patterns of principals cause opportunities and constraints for agents such as communication professionals, departments, and agencies (Zerfass et al., 2014). Overlapping perceptions might facilitate the influence and quality of corporate communications. Rivaling perceptions can be a cause of misunderstandings and poor performance.\nLimitations and further research: The research reported here has, like any study, several limitations. While the survey was able to identify the average perceptions and experiences of CEOs and executive board members, it does not make any statements about the situation in specific companies. Standard deviations indicate that different pictures might emerge in some organizations, which is important to know when interpreting the results. Nevertheless, this study provides an insight into the overarching cognitive institutions, some of which are influenced by independent variables at the level of organizations (size, market focus) or individuals (leadership tenure). The empirical findings are restricted to the sample conducted in Germany. This is the largest European country and fourth-largest economy in the world with a highly developed system of corporate communications. Results might differ in other regions. The analysis confirmed some differences between B2B and B2C companies, but did not allow for a detailed analysis of industry factors, and the overall results do not claim to be representative.\nAcknowledgments: This research was supported through a grant given by the Academic Society for Corporate Management\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions and expectations of chief executive officers (CEOs) and executive board members concerning: the relevance of public opinion and contribution of communication performance to organizational success, the communicative role of top executives and their interaction with professional communicators, the objectives and values of corporate communications, and the importance of various disciplines and instruments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A quantitative survey was conducted among top executives of listed and private companies operating in the largest European country, Germany (n=602).\nFindings: The study identifies a traditional mindset: top executives focus on primary stakeholders (customers, employees) instead of secondary stakeholders (politicians, activists), they value mass media higher than social media, and they rate speaking more important than listening. Moreover, communication professionals are not always the first choice when CEOs and board members reflect on the topics at hand. Advanced visions of strategic communication developed in academia and practice have not yet arrived in many boardrooms.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample is not representative for all CEOs in corporations and it is limited to one country.\nOriginality/value: While the performance of corporate communications depends heavily on the perceptions, beliefs, and expectations that top executives hold towards communication and its contribution to organizational goal, little is known about this. Most knowledge is based on qualitative interviews and small-scale samples. This study provides an overview of previous insights and takes a broader empirical approach.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Modeling the effect of CEO power on efficiency: Evidence from the European non-life insurance market	[ "Insurance", "Efficiency", "Productivity growth", "CEO power", "Productivity rate", "Chief executives" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: For an astute insurance situation analysis, it is important to measure their performance relative to other firms of that sector. In the traditional financial literature, a number of financial ratios like the return on assets, return on equity have been used. Other studies focus on the value creation. These traditional methods estimate only a mean function whereas the goal of efficiency frontier method is to measure the distance between each observation and efficiency frontier. Thus, since the development of the efficiency measures and its rapid evolution, the conventional methods become obsolete.In reality, many factors can influence the efficiency and productivity in the insurance firms. Like other types of business, insurance can be affected by the decision of the chief executive officer (CEO). In the literature a few studies focus on the relation between variables used in the measures of CEO power and the efficiency in insurance. In fact, a number of studies focus on the effect of governance in insurance industries.The aim of this paper is to calculate, compare and evaluate the effect of the CEO power on efficiency. Also, it is focused on identifying their effect on the total factors productivity growth. For this reason we decompose this work into three sections: in Section 3, we will present the SFA model used to determine efficiency and we will incorporate the CEO power scores in this function. In Section 4 we present the sample and the data. To valid empirically our work, we will use a sample of 142 non-life insurance industries operating in some major European countries in the period between 2002 and 2008. The empirical implications are developed in Section 5. Finally, concluding remarks will be given accordingly.\n2 Literature review: 2.1 Efficiency history\n3 Functional form specifications: the integration of the CEO power on the cost functions: 3.1 Multiple output translog cost frontiers\n4 Data and estimation methodology: 4.1 The sample\n5 Results and interpretations: 5.1 Result of the two cost function model: classical model and model with CEO power integration\n6 Conclusion: This paper developed two research areas. In the first, we included the CEO power score in the cost efficiency function and tested their influence on the different European countries. In the second we suggested another way of developing of the total factor productivity in which we included the effect of the CEO power growth. As a result, we found that the power of the CEO in the European insurance markets has a significant effect in the construction of the cost frontier of insurance sector. Hence, the power of the CEO can also influence the growth of the productivity. The optimal power of the CEO can allow the insurance firm to be more productive and more efficient. We found also that the most important European insurance achieved a positive total factor productivity growth on average over the period between 2002 and 2008. France and The Netherlands, nevertheless, achieved a negative growth on average in total factor productivity.Finally our empirical results showed that directors' decisions can influence the management in terms of efficiency improvement. In fact, market discipline represents the ability of investors, customers, evaluators and intermediaries to influence a company's management. Looking at banking is especially interesting, since market discipline in this field has been studied extensively. To the best of our knowledge, no study has made a thorough analysis taking into account the discussion about the market discipline effects on insurance efficiency. So, how significant is this effect?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Many factors like CEO (\"the chief executive officer\") decision can influence efficiency and productivity in insurance firms. This paper seeks to address this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To test the effect of CEO power on the efficiency and the productivity of the European insurance industries, the authors use the flexible Fourier cost function and they decompose the total factor productivity growth.\nFindings: - The result shows that after the integration of the CEO power score, not only efficiency scores in each country have changed, but also the order of non-life insurance systems. Also, the CEO power influences the growth of productivity and an optimal power of the CEO can allow the insurance firm to be more productive and more efficient.\nOriginality/value: - In this paper the authors model a new cost function in which they include the CEO power score; they also decompose the total factor of productivity in which they include the effect of the growth in the CEO power score.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Automotive supply chain models and technologies: a review of some latest developments	[ "Economic trends", "Supply chain management", "Business policy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent times, manufacturers have tended to rationalise their activities to concentrate on core competencies and business services and outsource more of the non-core activities to existing or new supply-chain partners. The consolidation of supply chain management as a principal component of a company's business strategy has been in part motivated by a series of trends affecting several manufacturing sectors. Some trends identified in the academic literature include:* globalisation (Gunasekaran et al., 2001; Papageorgiou et al., 2001; Bowersox et al., 2002);* outsourcing (Gunasekaran et al., 2001; Davenport and Brooks, 2004);* time-to-market (Papageorgiou et al., 2001);* mass customisation (Da Silveira et al., 2001; Duray et al., 2000); and* pricing pressure (D'Alessandro and Baveja, 2000).Globalisation is a trend reflected in the reduction of trade barriers, de-regulation of commerce and the use of information technology (IT) to facilitate links to potentially anywhere in the world. Apart from increasing competition in every market, globalisation provides organisations with the opportunity to find synergies and reduce costs.In their work, Gunasekaran et al. (2001) identified outsourcing as an important trend present in industry. Indeed, outsourcing is becoming one of the main strategies adopted by organisations that find it increasingly difficult and less economical to produce their needs on their own. The authors emphasised that the ever-increasing trends in globalisation and customer responsiveness demand logistics-sensitive organisations.Reduction of time to market, switching from mass production to mass customisation and compression of product life cycles are trends forcing permanent changes to the way companies do business. Business drivers affecting supply chain management policies in sectors such as retailing and manufacturing include:* cost management, which covers cost reduction and efficiency/savings (Mehta, 2004; Olhager and Selldin, 2004);* constant change in customer needs (Coronado et al., 2002);* unpredictable, new business opportunities (Gunasekaran et al., 2001);* environmental sustainability (Turkay et al., 2004);* access to/adoption of IT resources (Ho and Lin, 2004);* access to/adoption of manufacturing technology (Khouja and Kumar, 2002);* performance and stabilisation (Bullinger et al., 2002; Chan, 2003);* reduction or complete elimination of waste in business operations (Mason-Jones et al., 2000); and* slim profit margins (Munson et al., 2003).The past decade has witnessed the consolidation of diverse supply chain management models. Retail and grocery supply chains have pioneered the use of vendor-managed inventory (VMI), efficient consumer response and collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment initiatives. Electronics-computer-semiconductor supply chains have been re-designed to support efficient, build-to-order (BTO) product manufacturing and vehicle manufacturers have witnessed the advent and maturation of sequenced supply from first-tier suppliers on adjacent supplier parks. Material and cargo movements are being tracked using global positioning systems and third and fourth party logistics providers are co-ordinating the inter-modal, transportation of goods.\nInnovative supply chain business models and IT: BTO initiatives, now seen as a potential source of competitive advantage, have been embraced by different manufacturing sectors and are gaining broad attention from all branches of industry (Du et al., 2003). According to Automotive News (Autoweek Online - 4 July 2002), huge potential cost savings have kept automakers busy on their BTO initiatives. A BTO initiative implies substantial changes to the way companies operate. Moreover, immediate impacts of BTO initiatives may involve:* reduction of cycle times and inventory turnover;* increase in the number of data links between suppliers; and* relocating production facilities near main customer production facilities.In the view of some practitioners, BTO means shifting from a situation where products are pushed through the supply chain, to one where they are pulled through the chain on demand; from build-to-stock to BTO where the manufacturer basically builds products to its customers' specifications (Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, 2003).The adoption of BTO initiatives comes with a series of challenges. The performance of the supply chain is key in determining the success of any BTO initiative. Having a supply chain capable of dealing with BTO requirements is as important as having accurate product definition and quick-customisation response capabilities. For example, the adoption of inbound logistics solutions to support BTO initiatives requires the support of robust IT applications. Williamson et al. (2004) highlighted that inter-organisational information systems are used to integrate processes within a business and synchronise the operations of all partners in the supply chain. In the view of the authors, the internet has improved inter-organisational information systems' capability and therefore is being adopted as a routine platform for information systems development. In the view of Ho and Lin (2004) new technologies such as web services, wireless applications and advanced software applications can help to facilitate supply chain collaboration.\nNew technology solutions for supply chain management: Three new technologies: web services interoperability for supply chain management, radio frequency identification (RFID) and collaborative product commerce (CPC) are discussed in this section.Web services interoperability for supply chain management\nInbound logistics solutions: Supplier parks\nConclusions: Industry trends like globalisation along with drivers such as unpredictable business opportunities have converged at a time BTO initiatives are being widely adopted in the manufacturing sector. The success of any BTO initiative is dependent on a sound and efficient supply chain management policy. In the automotive sector, the consolidation of business models such as supplier clusters, the use of third-party logistics operators, modularisation, sequenced supply, VMI and the use of web-based information systems are now complemented by sophisticated business models such as supplier parks and full-service-vehicle supply. Furthermore, supplier parks and full-service-vehicle supply, two inbound logistics solutions designed to support BTO initiatives, are IT-dependent.The three technologies reviewed in this paper, web services, RFID and CPC may consolidate and expand the use of supplier parks and full-service supply. For example, the use of RFID is critical for the operation of a vehicle-assembly plant. It is common to find RFID tags attached to painted bodies. Once a vehicle is released for assembly, the OEM and suppliers located in the supplier park are able to trace every single vehicle as it goes through all the stations comprising the assembly process. According to De Wachter and Pleysier (2004) there is a large interest in RFID, mainly because of the push of large retailers. These retailers demand additional traceability from their suppliers, Wal-Mart and TESCO, two big retailing companies, request its first 100 suppliers to use RF tags on pallets and packaging. Still some industry standards like operating frequencies for RFIDs or UDDI business registries for web services are needed to ensure the widespread utilisation of these technologies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To critically review business trends and drivers affecting the performance of supply chains and build-to-order initiatives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is a comprehensive review of the potential implications of two inbound logistics solutions: supplier parks and the notion of full-service-vehicle supply in addition to developing technologies such as web services interoperability, radio frequency identification (RFID) and collaborative product commerce (CPC).\nFindings: - It is expected that the wide adoption/consolidation of supplier parks and full-service-vehicle supply and technologies such as web services interoperability, RFID and CPC will facilitate/promote the adoption of build-to-order initiatives.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The business models and technologies presented in this paper have been developed and exploited mainly in the automotive sector. Their success could have a big impact if transferred to other industries. Only a handful of technologies/business models affecting supply chain management have been reviewed.\nPractical implications: - The widespread use of the technologies and inbound logistics solutions presented in this paper might require the development of sophisticated measurement tools to assess the performance of the entire supply chain. The developed tool has to capture the state of the supply chain in terms of synchronisation, bullwhip effect, pipeline inventory, cycle times, stockout and backorder incidents plus other metrics associated to the operation of the firm including sunk costs, invested capital and ROI.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides a sound review on technologies and business models critical for supply chains developing build-to-order capabilities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Celtic Tiger found in education jungle	[ "Educational policy", "Economic booms", "Entrepreneurialism", "Ireland" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: It would not cause too much debate to suggest that Ireland in the late 1950s was a depressing country. It had suffered greatly from decades of poor economic performance and the constant haemorrhaging of its population through emigration. Overcrowded classrooms and poor physical school structures meant that only 10,000 students took their Leaving Certificate in 1957 (Ferriter, 2004). Meanwhile, third-level education remained the preserve of the elite and a total of just 8,653 students were present in all of Ireland's third-level institutions by the end of the 1950s (Ferriter, 2004). The most popular solution to the ills of the time was for thousands of poorly educated people to sail to England, America, and other destinations in the hope of earning some kind of living.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - While the growth of the Irish economy (\"Celtic Tiger\") has been well documented, not enough attention has been given to the role of education as a cornerstone for the success. This paper seeks to review education policy in Ireland over the past 50 years and to identify the significant educational initiatives that helped shape modern Ireland.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Primarily utilising history books and governmental papers with specific reference to education policy in Ireland, the paper is a review of the relevant literature offering an insight into a variety of schemes instigated by various Ministers for Education over the past five decades.\nFindings: - The key finding was that the consistent education policies of the preceding decades bore fruit: during the 1990s, there was growing demand for educated human capital in all developed countries, and its ready availability in Ireland helped to attract foreign direct investment and to promote the development of indigenous companies.\nOriginality/value: - This paper uses education policy in Ireland to create a link from mass emigration in the 1950s to the \"Celtic Tiger\" boom years of recent times.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Service quality of sports centers and customer loyalty	[ "Consumer loyalty", "Service quality", "Sports marketing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The sports industry can be classified into sports facility, sports goods, and sports service businesses. According to the 2014 sports industry statistics from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the number of nationwide sports businesses was 92,293, registering an increase of 1,800 businesses compared to 2013. From these, 37.9 percent are sports facility businesses, 35.7 percent goods businesses, and 26.4 percent service businesses. Sports facility businesses comprised 35,412 companies (i.e. 42 percent) in 2012, 35,314 (39 percent) in 2013, and 34,942 (37.9 percent) in 2014. It appears that sports facility businesses reduced significantly, considering that the overall sports industry is showing an increasing trend (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 2015).\nResearch method: Subjects and sampling method\nResults: Research model goodness-of-fit test\nDiscussion and conclusion: The present study tested a structural equation by setting up the hypotheses and model as to determine the effect of the service quality of sports centers on customer loyalty and intention to adhere to exercise. This section comprehensively discusses the results presented in the previous section.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to establish the effects of service quality of sports centers on customer loyalty and intention to adhere to exercise.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 500 questionnaires were distributed to five sports centers located in the city of Seoul, of which 472 were returned and used in the data analysis. The collected data were subjected to frequency analysis, exploratory factor analysis, a reliability test, and structural equation model analysis using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 18.0.\nFindings: The results show that, first, service quality, comprising the two factors of the facilities of sports centers and instructors, positively influences customer loyalty. Second, the service quality of sports centers positively influences the intention to adhere to exercise, and, third, so does customer loyalty.\nPractical implications: Management needs to make more efforts to strengthen service quality, comprising facilities and instructors, in order to increase customer loyalty, represented by the sense of closeness with and attachment of customers using sports centers, as well as to increase the need for exercise.\nOriginality/value: Previous studies on the service quality of sports centers have been limited to customer satisfaction, customer trust, reuse intention, recommendations to others, consumption behavior, and relationship commitment. Since the research on the direct relationship between service quality of sports centers and exercise adherence is still limited, this study provides data and implications relevant to the management of sports centers by investigating the relationship among service quality of sports centers, customer loyalty, and intention to adhere to exercise.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Online retailer reputation and consumer response: examining cross cultural differences	[ "Cross‐culture", "Reputation", "Website quality", "Emotion", "Perceived risk", "United States of America", "South Korea", "Consumer behaviour", "Shopping", "Retailers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As online shopping has proliferated worldwide, differing consumer online behavior has been observed across countries. The differences in consumer behavioral responses in online shopping may be due to underlying cultural differences, as suggested by numerous studies that have investigated culture as a critical determinant explaining consumption behavior (e.g. Kailani and Kumar, 2011; Kim et al., 2008; Liu et al., 2008; Moon et al., 2008; Tong, 2010). Even with increased wealth and convergence of technology across nations, cultural variables still act as a stable predictor of internet consumption behavior in different countries (Goodrich and De Mooji, 2011). Further, culture generates different consumer response patterns towards presented online stimuli (e.g. Davis et al., 2008), which is not surprising as culture consists of a set of values, norms, and symbols guiding individual behavior (Parsons and Shils, 1951). A number of studies on cross-cultural consumer behavior base their discussions on Hofstede's cultural dimensions and suggest that countries that differ in their cultural classification exhibit different behavioral propensities (e.g. Choi and Geitsfield, 2003; De Mooij and Hofstede, 2010; Goodrich and De Mooji, 2011; Javenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999; Mazaheri et al., 2011; Steenkamp et al., 1999).This study focuses on cultural differences in the role of internal and external frame of reference as related to emotional, cognitive and behavioral reaction, based on Mehrabian and Russell's (1974) Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework. In the S-O-R framework, an organism is represented by affective and cognitive intermediary states and processes that mediate the relationship between the stimulus and response. Past studies found cross cultural differences in the relationship between website stimuli and consumer responses (e.g. Davis et al., 2008) or the cross cultural differences in the effect of organismic response (i.e. emotion) on attitude and behavior (e.g. Mazaheri et al., 2011). Nevertheless, there is to our knowledge no research that has examined how cultural difference determines the magnitude of the effect of internal and external stimuli on consumer emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses. Therefore, this study aims to fill this void by proposing a comprehensive model that assesses the cross-cultural differences in the interrelationships among internal evaluative criteria (i.e. website quality), external frame of reference (i.e. reputation), and organismic reactions (i.e. emotion and perceived risk), which in turn impact behavioral response (i.e. purchase intentions).In order to increase the understanding of the effects of different cultures on online consumer responses, this study selected the US and South Korea with a view to comparing their cultural characteristics and their impacts on online consumer behavioral responses. There are two main reasons for comparing Koreans and Americans. First, it is reported that the number of internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants of the two countries is ranked above the OECD average (OECD, 2011). In 2012, online sales in the US was increased by 13.9 percent to $364.66 billion (eMarketer, 2013) and increased by 11.3 percent to about $29.8 billion in South Korea (Statistics Korea, 2012), indicating that online retailing is prevalent in both countries. In addition, the two countries represent cultural characteristics that are different from one another (Park and Jun, 2003). In general, Americans are individualistic and have low uncertainty avoidance, whereas Koreans are traditionally collective and have high uncertainty avoidance (Hall, 1983). Hofstede (1980) reports high uncertainty avoidance for Koreans and Japanese, and low uncertainty avoidance for Americans. It is also noted that China, Japan, and Korea, countries that share a Confucian cultural background, exhibit higher levels of collectivism, whereas in North America, people desire \"uniqueness\" and wish to be independent of others (Triandis, 2000). The difference between individualism and collectivism is also noted in Lee and Green's (1991) study; this study reports that Koreans exhibit stronger collectivism in their decision making than Americans. Within the different cultural contexts of the two countries, this study aims to investigate the cross cultural differences in the effects of online retailer reputation and website quality on consumers' emotional and cognitive (i.e. perceived risk) reactions, which lead to purchase intention.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Stimulus-organism-response model in cultural contexts\n3. Method: 3.1 Instrument\n4. Analysis: 4.1 Sample description\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Conclusion\n6. Limitations of the study and future research: Even though it was not intended, the majority of the respondents were female, and their evaluation was mostly of online apparel websites. This did not bias the result of the study as the two sample sets were comparable in their demographics and online shopping behavior. However, this study has limitations since the result can be generalized only to a certain group of consumers. In future research, other cultural dimensions (e.g. long-term orientation) should be included in order to examine how culture can explain the differences and similarities of online consumer behavior toward pure-play online retailers and multi-channel retailers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to investigate cross cultural differences in the impact of online retailer reputation and retail quality on consumers' emotional and cognitive (i.e. perceived risk) reactions, which lead to purchase intention, based on stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Two cultures, US (individualism, low uncertainty avoidance) and South Korea (collectivism, high uncertainty avoidance) were chosen for comparison for their contrast in cultural characteristics. Multiple group analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed in order to compare the structural model in two different cultures.\nFindings: - The results indicate that while the overall mechanism underlying the decision making process is similar for the two countries, differences are found in the relative importance of the factors determining consumers' cognitive and emotional reactions as well as their intention to purchase online.\nResearch implications/limitations: - The majority of the respondents were female and their evaluation was mostly towards online apparel websites. It did not bias the result of this study as the two sample sets were comparable in their demographics and online shopping behavior, yet the result may be generalized to a limited extent.\nPractical implications: - The results suggest that retailing strategy may vary in response to cultural differences. In East Asian countries that share Confucian values, targeting consumer emotion through experiential cues may not yield as significant result as it may in the USA.\nOriginality/value: - This study will add value to the current literature by examining the cultural difference in consumer psychological process and its consequent effect on purchase intention focusing on reputation as key external stimuli.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Living-dwelling \| the importance of half-private spaces in the neighborhoods on the city borderline	[ "Sustainability", "Participatory", "Process management", "Neighborhood", "Social interaction", "Self-assessment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is a different methodological approach regarding urban sustainability agenda. The role of municipality authorities has an important role when public space is under consideration. Local authorities commonly assume the community needs and propose environmental solutions by using previously gained experience. Frequently, it derives from previous experiences from similar problem. Therefore, the purpose of this work is presenting the participatory action project, in an attempt to redefine the aprioristic approach, which does not bring significant results for the local community regarding the sustainable concept as an estimative goal. Usually similarities are recognizable on a global level, but sustainable approach of local community is recognizable on a local level as well. The research presented in this paper will also give us the opportunity to realize how participatory actions in local community, between residents, their representatives and experts in the area are inherent in defining the aspects of social sustainability in architectural research. By involving the different parties in the design process, it is the assumption of creating an architectural concept with social significance for the final users. Depending on the standpoint, each party has particular specific role regarding their participation in the whole process. To achieve these assets, it is necessary to emphasize the academic plausible methodology.\nTheoretical background - sustainable model: The recent and most commonly used definition of sustainability known as the Brundtland definition established in 1980s at the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development is: sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). For successful implementation of sustainable development, the ability of members of certain communities to develop processes and structures, which not only meets the needs of its current members but also supports the ability of future generations to maintain a healthy and sustainable community is necessary.\nStrategies of managing social sustainability - participatory actions research: In the attempt to redefine the implementation of sustainable concept, we would like to explain plausible methodology, which gives significant results for the local community. A crucial goal is to elaborate an approach based on the \"principle of inquiry into the actual or proposed actions of people, by and with those affected,\" to reach the social aspect of particular group of people (Chevalier and Buckles, 2008). It is important consideration to realize how participatory actions in local community, between residents, their representatives and experts correlate the aspects of social sustainability in architectural research processes.\nFM perspective through participatory action research - result-based management and process management: Methods adapted from psychology to engage social sustainability, provide unique answers to the crucial question of how to mobilize cultural values and systems of knowledge and learning. Techniques to ask questions such as problem domain and social domain, offer both simple and advanced ways to build on local knowledge and value systems, using methods that avoid fixed terms and ideas and make use of differences in language and culture (Chevalier and Buckles, 2008). According Lindkvist et al. (2018, p. 7), there is no clear connection between the strategic level of political and municipal goals and local operational level of the people working and living in the neighborhood. In this way, the social construction of sustainability in cities is district dependent on the cultural values and priorities of that district. Furthermore, the authors state that this top-down approach to developing areas where users' views are excluded may mean that cities' sustainable agenda is not meeting the goals as expected. There are various studies within the building context where users are excluded from the rationality of sustainable technical implementation, resulting in unintended consequences that may run counter to the sustainable goals.\nSkopje experience: Social sustainability as a collaborative process within communities was a workshop topic realized in December 2013 by students and professors from the Faculty of Architecture in collaboration with Municipality of \"Centar,\" Skopje. The whole research process of the public needs, data collection related to the regulations and proposal of the architectural concept was a perfect opportunity for collaboration with Municipality of \"Centar\" within their on-going activities. This collaboration process between involved parties in participatory action project brings together culture, community and professional identity and all-important determinants for early-phase planning (Boge et al., 2018, p. 53). According to Xue et al. (2019), urban facility management offers a systematic knowledge, which can solve the barrier to co-creation very well. At the same time, collaborative process as an intermediation between the strategic city needs and local needs of a district could bring facility managers to build close relationships with citizens, business companies and public institutions. Description of collaboration process between two institutions has the following methodological assets:\nLiving-dwelling: a participatory action between students of architecture and the residents in neighborhood of \"Ilinden\" municipality, Skopje: Being one of the fast-growing suburban areas of the city of Skopje, the Municipality of \"Ilinden\" has developed specific urban living and dwelling patterns that could serve as a sustainable model for future development of the city. Through observing and contact with the dwellers, particular social and cultural habits regarding the usability were recognized in spatial organization of their courtyards. According to Temeljotov Salaj (2005), the interaction models between individual and environment are based on analyses of social variables (individual and group, personality, culture, part, organization, social-economic environmental processing, sphere and frequencies characteristics), considering the influence of physical facts and variable's analyses of nature and shaped environment (characteristics of architecture and landscape, characteristics of the processes).\nTechniques/methodology: The social analysis techniques, as a result from the second session, were created that reflect basic living patterns: What are the problems that people encounter, who are the actors or stakeholders affected by a situation or with the capacity to intervene and what are the options for action? (Chevalier and Buckles, 2008). As a conclusion of summary, more knowledge of social theory should be included in the field of FM facilitation of creative environments in the perspective within the urban planning that gives opportunities to create spaces for informal social interaction (Temeljotov Salaj et al., 2018a, 2018b). The half-private spaces, house's front yard that are meeting the public zone of the street, have been in the focus for possibilities for reprogramming and restructuring of the neighborhood landscape. Architectural scopes have been created by leading the following steps as a methodological strategy of the workshop:\nResults: By analyzing the results from collected data, we were interested about the level of social significance of courtyards regarding residents' lifestyle. We statistically analyzed the results by conducting one-way ANOVA analysis of variance in terms of participants' age and number of members in households, fence properties, level of social relations between neighbors and house yard program. The characteristics of the analysis are presented in Table 1.\nDiscussion and conclusion: These techniques provided a theoretical conclusion as a summary. If the private space is defined as a local world of inhabitants and the public space as a global world of strangers, then the half-private space can be defined as an in-between zone. Its importance as sustainable model for future development of neighborhood becomes an integral part of the city. The passers-by create the street landscape and define the neighborhood image simultaneously involving the local dwellers in it.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the participatory action project, in an attempt to redefine the aprioristic approach, which does not bring significant results for the local community regarding the sustainable concept as an estimative goal. The purpose of introducing the process management (PM) as a technique was to incorporate the collaboration between academic research with ongoing activities of local authorities, and furthermore to preserve living and dwelling patterns to make them sustain within the neighborhood in time.\nDesign/methodology/approach: PM is a method of approaching planning that can be used in complex, unpredictable situations common in the field of development and social change. The method allows stakeholders to pursue different goals or activities within a common project. Under such circumstances, the planning process must respond to many interests as a key aspect of the public interest of a particular community. This concept helps planners by anticipating the precise events and activities to satisfy the larger goals and processes.\nFindings: This study sets out with the aim to establish sustainability definition in this case study, i.e. based on the notion of the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, the management of the project described in these participatory activities has attempted to resolve the complexity of stakeholder positions in the contemporary community. Emphasizing the social content, general and specific objectives of the project interact and evolve during this process of implementation of sustainable methodology and become the subject to negotiations and compromises, which change during the process.\nResearch limitations/implications: The survey could help to get the needed information to create correlated activity diagrams. They represent the actual and the proposed situation in the neighborhood regarding social interaction between the dwellers and their interlock of interests on different scales. These are highly mutable components that depend on a certain period. The hypothesis regarding certain research problem could give significant statistical differences, but depend on relevant survey questions.\nPractical implications: A common topic is established - the importance of half-private spaces. The students have learned how to create and use analytical tools in the process of creating a program that has social significance for the inhabitants. In terms of the study curriculum, the students benefit from this project as a part of their education process. Local authorities and dwellers also become aware of the significance of particular social values regarding property value and land use assessment.\nSocial implications: Social sustainability becomes a project where the planning process must respond to many interests as a key aspect of public interest where municipal sustainability requires self-assessment, to reinforce the connection between citizens and local authorities as their real representatives.\nOriginality/value: The hypothesis regarding social behavior gave significant differences when the following aspects were statistically analyzed: time-sharing between household members, the importance of house yard preferences, barrier properties between households and negotiation boundary between neighbors (space compromise). Urban Facility Management (UFM) is seen as the primary factor in creating an urban ecosystem, which has people and the environment as the main driving forces.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A decision support system (DSS) for facilitating the scenario selection process of the renegotiation of PPP contracts	[ "Contract", "Public private partnership (PPP)", "Management", "Case study", "Project management", "Decision support systems", "DSS", "Spreadsheet", "Renegotiation", "Financial model", "Re-equilibrium" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Public private partnership (PPP) is a delivery method which depends on co-operation between the public sector and the private sector in order to be able to finance mega infrastructure projects. PPP contracts include one or more of the following components: design, build, finance, operate, maintain, own, transfer, lease, develop, buy or refurbish. The combinations of those trades usually vary depending on the level of involvement of the private sector, the ownership status of an asset and the source of financing (Davies and Eustice, 2005). The choice between the PPP delivery method and other conventional delivery methods depends on many factors that should be looked at thoroughly. One of the main factors is the value for money (VFM). The VFM is the difference between the project value that is incurred by the private sector in case of choosing the PPP option and the project value if executed by the public sector. Although the cost of borrowing for the private sector is usually much higher than the cost of borrowing for the public sector, the PPP option, in many cases, may have a higher VFM for several reasons, such as the ability of the private sector to provide better and more efficient services than the public sector (The Construction Management Association of America, 2012). Private sector know-how is another reason for choosing a PPP approach. A VFM study should be conducted to determine whether the PPP option is more efficient in the long run than other procurement methods. In other words, the public sector should only choose the PPP option over conventional procurement methods when the private sector is providing a better service with more efficiency, or when the private sector is providing a higher VFM.\nLiterature review: Almost all PPP advantages lead to the same conclusion: a better VFM. According to Skanska,\" the net present value of a public project consists of the whole life cost of procuring services, the cost of finance, and the cost of risks retained by the public sector, as shown in Figure 1 (Skanska, 2004). When going for the PPP option, the public sector reduces the whole life cost of procuring services and the cost of risks retained by the public sector; however, it increases the cost of finance.\nThe methodology: This framework is a fragment of a comprehensive research which aimed to developing the re-equilibrium scenarios of PPP, and selecting the optimum scenario which fits both the public and the private sector. The framework consisted of eight modules: a User-Interface Module, a Risk Allocation Module, a PPP Valuation Module, a Financial Model Re-equilibrium Module, a Scenarios Development Module, a Scenarios Selection Module, a Reports Module and a Sensitivity Analysis Module. However, for the purpose of this paper, the research shall focus on the scenario selection process.\nDiscussions and analysis: The previous framework can be applied using computer software including Microsoft Excel 2013, VBA programming language, and the Precision Tree 5.5 for Excel add-in. In order to demonstrate the application of the framework developed, data were used from a case study that represents a wastewater treatment plant which has faced a renegotiation problem due to a delay by the public sector to deliver the influent water (the wastewater to be treated by the plant), and a delay by another public institution to provide the effluent pumping station. In each of the modules, the data used shall be explained in their context.\nConclusion: The purpose of this research is to develop a tool which will assist the re-equilibrium process of the financial model of PPP contract. Re-equilibrium is the process of adjusting the cash flow of the PPP project to return the rate of return of the private sector to the original rate of return at the contract commencement. Contract renegotiation at this stage is necessary to protect the rights of the different stakeholders of the project. The model is developed using Microsoft Excel 2013, VBA programming language, and the Precision Tree 5.5 for Excel add-in.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Public private partnership contracts tend to have longer contract durations compared to other conventional procurement methods. A contract renegotiation becomes inevitable in most of the cases. The renegotiation process usually develops a number of scenarios in order to regain the contract equilibrium. The purpose of this paper is to facilitate the renegotiation process by offering an automated system to select the optimum renegotiation scenario that preserves the rights and the interests of the project stakeholders.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The common renegotiation scenarios used are: increasing the service charges, increasing the concession period or paying a lump sum amount to the party of concern in order to maintain a fixed rate of return and keep the return on equity constant. In this paper, a method of selecting the optimum scenario among the different scenarios is proposed. This is done using a weighted sum model to calculate the weights and ranks of a number of factors influencing the stakeholders' decisions. A DSS is developed with the aid of Microsoft Excel, VBA programming language, and the Precision Tree 5.5 for Excel add-in.\nFindings: The renegotiation process has been facilitated by using an automated system that maximizes the benefits of both the public sector and the private sector. The optimum renegotiation scenario has been selected for the case of the model.\nOriginality/value: The developed framework is of great benefit to project stakeholders, including the private sector, the public sector and the users of the service. It saves time and money invested in lengthy negotiations, and it enforces transparency and mutual trust between the different parties by providing a tool that significantly minimizes conflicts during the renegotiation process and defines clear steps to be followed in order to reach an agreement that will maximize the benefits for both the private and the public sectors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Provision of facilities management services in Sri Lankan commercial organisations: Is in-house involvement necessary?	[ "Outsourcing", "Sri Lanka", "Facility management", "Commercial organizations", "In-house", "Screening framework" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Facilities management (FM) is a relatively new and rapidly evolving profession (Barrett and Baldry, 2009). The International Facility Management Association defined FM encompassing many disciplines to ensure proper functioning of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology (IFMA, 2014). FM services are increasingly being outsourced to achieve better efficiency and cost effectiveness (Jiang et al., 2006). According to Deloitte's (2014) global outsourcing and insourcing survey, Real Estate & Facilities Management (RE&FM) has been highlighted as a future growth sector for outsourcing, with asset and lease management services to be having the highest growth potential within the sector (Deloitte, 2014). To provide FM services in-house or through an outsourced provider is a major and complex decision for an organization (Assaf et al., 2011). The main determinants of outsourcing according to Ikediashi et al. (2014) are to improve a company's focus, cost transparency, stakeholders' satisfaction, cycle times, competencies, quality of service, flexibility and share risks with the outsourced partner. The main determinants of in-house provision are control over cost, quality and response time of a service and loyalty to management (Cotts et al., 2009).\nLiterature review: The decision to outsource activities of an organization is dealt with different theoretical perspectives and the following are the most prominent:\nResearch methods: The study design used for this research developed in two stages:\nConceptual model and interview results: Deciding on how to procure an FM service through in-house or outsourcing is an internal decision for an organization and is based on necessary facts. However, in practice, most of the organizations rely solely on cost and quality factors to make this decision (Cotts, 1999). Hence, choosing an appropriate FM approach, especially for commercial buildings, becomes very important, as they provide a significant contribution to the economy. Further, commercial buildings obviously have a variety of organizational, structural and operational elements compared to other facilities. Therefore, it is commonly accepted that to manage this complex environment, proper selection of FM services is crucial. To increase the concentration of efforts on the core business, senior or executive management should evaluate the full array of options for procuring FM services and select the most effective sourcing method which is best suited to the organization.\nResults of the questionnaire survey: Demographic characteristics\nDiscussion: The results demonstrate that most of the factors considered for strategic, tactical and operational FM functions are relevant to Sri Lanka. The respondents have preferred overall the strategic functions be delivered in-house, while the tactical and operational functions to be outsourced. They have placed a very high emphasis on having in-house staff looking after facilities to meet business needs, creating service partnerships, identifying business requirements and having a coherent view based on a master plan of the property. It further strengthens the popular belief that in-house facilities managers have a significant role to play in developing and maintaining facilities to attain the organizational objectives, competitiveness and continuity. The tactical functions were thought to be better delivered through outsourcing with a particular emphasis on ensuring policies, guidelines and contracting strategies are in place for efficient service delivery. This observation is very similar to the results of a survey conducted by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) on the retail sector, where non-core strategy and tactical elements of their real estate portfolio were often outsourced to reduce costs and improve performance (CBRE, 2010).\nConclusions: A decision on whether to outsource or provide in-house the FM services of an organization is a complex decision that necessitates a holistic, multi-dimensional examination of many factors. There is currently no generalized approach for this. Understandably, each organization possesses a unique array of features all contributing to a different level of FM involvement. The aim of this paper was to determine the theoretical perspectives underpinning sourcing strategies relevant to FM services and to identify attributes which make a commercial organization suitable for this treatment. From the Sri Lankan case study, several attributes have been determined which assist in identifying the suitability of outsourcing versus in-house strategies. It is clear that the facilities managers of commercial organizations perceive FM services that are aligned toward strategic functions to be more suitable for in-house delivery, while those that are aligned toward tactical and operational functions should be outsourced.\nAcknowledgements: Parts of the section of this paper related to review of literature is a revised and expanded version of the following paper entitled \"In-house versus outsourcing facilities management: A framework for value-added selection in Sri-Lankan commercial buildings\" presented at the \"Second World Construction Symposium 2013: Socio-Economic Sustainability in Construction\", Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 14 and 15, 2013. This submission is now based on the quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire survey, and previously not included within the cited literature review-based paper. In addition, the authors carried out a detailed quantitative analysis, which was verified using a very small number of interviews (n = 3) as outlined in the methodology section. The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to two anonymous reviewers and the editor of Facilities for their constructive and helpful comments which have enhanced the quality of earlier versions of this paper.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore sourcing strategies for facilities management services using core-competency theory of outsourcing. The aim is to develop a screening framework for deciding the suitability of outsourcing versus in-house delivery for these services based on three levels of managerial functions prevalent in a typical commercial organization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was administered for facilities managers in Sri Lanka to investigate the relative importance of these managerial functions for facilities management services and obtain their opinions on the best delivery mode. The managerial functions were derived from a literature review and verified using three semi-structured interviews prior to the questionnaire survey design.\nFindings: The findings showed that facilities management services that are aligned to strategic functions are suitable for in-house delivery, while those that are aligned to tactical and operational functions for outsourcing.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further studies should be conducted and extended to other types of organizations beyond commercial ones. Secondly, the quantitative study employed a smaller sample (n = 40), and the survey items were based on the review of literature which was verified using a very small number of interviews (n = 3).\nPractical implications: The proposed framework can be utilized when choosing the best facilities management approach for commercial organizations in developing countries such as Sri Lanka.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the body of knowledge on the subject of facilities management by exploring the context in Sri Lankan which has not previously been done.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Measuring leader behaviour: evidence for a "big five" model of leadership	[ "Leadership", "Validity", "Employee engagement", "360-degree feedback", "Psychometrics", "Big five" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In a recent review, Lowe (2015) identified at least 30 different models of leadership. The sheer number of leadership models available for researchers to study and practitioners to apply in organisations leads to a number of questions that can impede research and practice. For example, what new information does a certain model provide over another model? Are certain models simply presenting the same theories and ideas (or parts thereof) as other models but using different terminology? The current state of leadership research and practice is reminiscent of a former time in the research of human personality where research was limited by a plethora of models presenting the same ideas using different language. Adopting a common, empirically derived language of human personality proved useful for the progress of human personality research (DeYoung et al., 2007). We propose that such a common language in leadership research and practice would be similarly useful for researchers and practitioners to create, disseminate, and apply leadership research. The aim of this study was to propose a common language of leadership called the leadership big five. The leadership big five is a broad model of leadership integrating several existing leadership models into five common factors. The leadership big five aligns with the most established, popular, and exhaustive model of human personality, the five-factor model of personality, also known as the \"big five\" (McCrae and Costa, 1997). This alignment provides researchers and practitioners the opportunity to understand leadership behaviour from a new broader perspective compared to previous models of leadership, and the opportunity to discuss leadership using a common language.\nMethod: Participants\nResults: Missing data\nDiscussion: The present study aimed to explore the existence of a \"leadership big five\" - a five-factor model of leadership providing an overarching framework and integrating existing leadership models.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence for a \"leadership big five\", a model of leadership behaviour integrating existing theories of leadership and conceptually aligned with the most established model of personality, the big five. Such a model provides researchers and practitioners with a common language to describe leadership behaviour in a field with a plethora of leadership models. The model also describes a wider range of leadership behaviour than other models of leadership, and presents dimensions that correlate with important organisational outcomes as demonstrated in this study.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 1,186 employees completed the Voice Leadership 360, a survey designed to measure the leadership big five, collectively rating 193 managers from a range of different sectors and industries, using a 360-degree survey methodology.\nFindings: Confirmatory factor analyses and internal reliability analyses provide evidence for 22 lower-order factors of leadership behaviour that aggregate into five higher-order factors of leadership aligned with the big five personality descriptors. Further evidence for the validity of the model is indicated by significant correlations between 360-degree survey ratings and raters' judgements of leaders' personality, and significant correlations between 360-degree survey ratings and both work unit engagement levels and manager reports of work unit performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The cross-sectional design is the main limitation of the present study, limiting conclusions that changes in leadership behaviours will lead to changes in organisational outcomes. The primary research implications of this study include the support for an integrating model of leadership behaviour that aligns with a large body of psychological research, as well as the development of a survey that can be used for future exploration of the model.\nPractical implications: Practitioners may use the results of the study to rethink how they develop competency frameworks and measure leadership behaviour in organisation development contexts. This broad model of leadership and the familiarity of its dimensions could increase the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions, and the presented survey provides a reliable and valid tool for 360-degree assessments.\nOriginality/value: The study provides evidence that leadership can be described in a structurally similar way to human personality. It presents a leadership model that consists of a broader range of leadership behaviours related to organisational outcomes compared with previous models of leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of Zika on local businesses	[ "Economics", "Disaster prevention", "Economic impact", "Zika" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The medical costs associated with a Zika outbreak include diagnosing cases and treating the sick. The public health costs are much broader and include those associated with public education, developing and taking preventative measures, and case ascertainment (Staples et al., 2014). Because of widespread media attention (Ungar, 1998; Dalrymple et al., 2016; Sell et al., 2016), costs may also be associated with negative impact on economic activity (Sands et al., 2016) in high-risk areas (The World Bank, 2016). A variety of studies of economic impact of disease note that outbreaks can have a psychological impact on people far greater than the actual probability of being impacted by a disease outbreak (Smith, 2006). In studies on SARS in Beijing, China, and foot and mouth disease in the countryside of England, researchers concluded that businesses in outbreak areas were deeply impacted by a drop in demand, even if nationwide, long-term economic impacts were relatively minor (Thompson et al., 2002; Hai et al., 2004; Siu and Wong, 2004; Koegh-Brown and Smith, 2008). Furthermore, a study of outbreaks of influenza found that places with greater ties to the global economy, such as Miami, would be impacted greatly (Verikios et al., 2015). Transmission rates are predicted to be the highest in the Southeastern USA (Shacham et al., 2017). Limited data exist regarding the economic impact of Zika in particular, given the fact that it has only become highly prevalent in some localities relatively recently. One recent study (Macciocchi et al., 2016) reported that companies sponsoring the 2016 Olympic Games experienced negative stock returns following early announcements from international organizations about Zika, but these negative shocks did not persist following subsequent advisories.\nMethods: Procedures\nResults: Impact on revenues and profits\nDiscussion: Our study revealed some important findings. First, the majority of businesses reported declines in revenues and profits, suggesting that hysteria caused by a small number of confirmed Zika cases significantly impacted businesses. Despite the business downturn, very few laid off workers or reduced their prices. This was consistent with the business owners/managers belief that the downturn would be temporary and business would return once the outbreak was over. Laying off workers would have resulted in additional costs of hiring and training once business returned to normal, and changing prices would have required changing signage, print advertising, and website content. In addition, the Miami Bayside Foundation launched a microloan program, targeted at Wynwood businesses, to provide $2,500-$20,000 to cover payroll expenses. This program may also have mitigated the impact of Zika on employment. The most consistent finding across businesses was frustration with the government; all reported dissatisfaction with the communication and responsiveness of state and local governments.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In June 2016, the first cases of Zika were reported in the USA in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, Florida. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survey of Wynwood businesses about their perceptions of their financial well-being and the government and media's responses to the Zika outbreak.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey instrument was developed, and 44 owners/managers of Wynwood businesses were interviewed by telephone or in-person during the period when the outbreak was being managed.\nFindings: Businesses reported downturns in revenues, profits, and customer traffic following the Zika outbreak. Believing that the downturn would be temporary, few businesses laid off workers or reduced prices. All businesses reported dissatisfaction with the government's response to the outbreak.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to document the impact of Zika on businesses located in outbreak areas. The findings highlight the business impact of Zika outbreaks and suggest a need for improved communication and response from state and local governments to business concerns when future outbreaks occur.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Redirecting under-utilised computer laboratories into cluster computing facilities	[ "Computers", "User studies", "Resource management", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Increasingly, computers have become part of the mainstream provision of services for students to complete their academic studies at university (Newby, 2003). One of the paradigms of equity of access in the information age is that universities have a moral responsibility to provide adequate computing facilities to their students (see also Solomon, 2002). These are usually provided in the form of computer laboratories or computer pools which are fully maintained by the university, and which allow access not only to centralised computer software but also to the resources of the intra- and internet. For students from weak economic backgrounds, these laboratories are often the only computer facilities they have ready access to, and have therefore become an essential component of their study (Newby, 2003). The provision of these facilities must consider the competing requirements of scheduled academic tutorials and workshops and ad hoc use by students to complete assignments and other activities.However, because such computer laboratories are an expensive resource for any university to operate and maintain, it is essential that they are both properly managed and appropriately allocated. This is further complicated by the demand for the latest and most advanced technology in these laboratories for both teaching and learning. Additional pressures for computer resources come from not only the student body but also from the academic area, which required adequate computer technology to support research. Within most universities there are only limited opportunities to provide high-powered and sophisticated computer facilities to meet the needs of all users. Therefore, universities need to be continually resourceful on how most efficiently and effectively to provide such capital-intensive services. A proactive stance is required. In this study we show how the return on investment can be improved by using computer laboratories as a cluster computing facility.\nThe institution and rationale of the research: Established in 1989, Charles Sturt University (CSU) is a multi-campus institution located in central New South Wales, Australia. In 2003 over 42,000 students were enrolled both in Australia and its overseas operations, studying both in traditional on-campus mode and via distance education. In Australia CSU maintains campuses in Albury-Thurgoona (3,100 students), Bathurst (9,200 students), Dubbo (450 students), Goulburn (5,000 students) and Wagga Wagga (6,900 students), with study centres in additional localities. Given its multi-campus location, CSU has long espoused the provision of a seamless digital infrastructure, including online teaching, student administration and communications. As a corollary of this technological roll-out, CSU has provided a range of computing laboratories on each campus, providing access to both IBM-compatible and Macintosh machines. All computing laboratories are open during working hours, with at least some of the labs on each campus having 24-hour swipe-card access for all enrolled students.While such provision both fulfils an ethical obligation to ensure that the socio-economically weak segment of the student population is not disadvantaged and also provides all on-campus students with ready access to computer applications and lecture materials in non-face-to-face academic times, the question has to be asked whether the facilities are adequately utilised. If not, it is the university's prerogative to reduce the number of machines available, or to redirect the computing power of these machines during idle periods of time for university research projects.Anecdotal evidence by the student body suggests that the computer laboratories are over-utilised and gaining access to them is often difficult. Complaints levelled at the administration of the university include statements such as: \"Students don't have enough computers\"; \"Students require technical support\"; \"More students on campus means more computing resources are required\".\nMethodology: The research reported in this paper investigates the utilisation of the computer facilities provided at the three main campuses of Charles Sturt University - Albury-Thurgoona, Bathurst and Wagga Wagga.The data used for this investigation are the individual log-in records for each of the computer laboratories at each of the three campuses. The data used for the analysis were depersonalised and limited to the number of log-ins per machine. The time frame of the analysis is June 2001 (week 23) to August 2003 (week 36).An analysis of student log-ins\nDevelopment of a cluster facility: In common with information technology related disciplines at many other universities, several academic groups at CSU depend on access to fast, state-of the-art computing facilities in order to maintain their research at the leading edge by international standards. There is a demand for high performance computing (HPC) facilities, which has a high importance placed on it by both national and local grant-giving bodies. PhD and Honours IT projects at CSU depend on access to such facilities, and the use of a HPC facility has contributed directly to a number of successful grants, awards, and partnerships.Many universities satisfy some of this need by building their own clusters, which often proves a valuable and cost-effective resource (Deveau, 2001). The possibility of developing such a cluster at CSU arose when the need for HPC facilities was coupled with the awareness that computers in the student laboratories are under-utilised, especially outside normal office hours.The idea of utilising spare computing capacity for other tasks is not new. It has been exploited, for example, by the Seti@Home project (Anderson et al., 2002), and has proved very successful. The idea of configuring many computers to act as one powerful computer is also not new (Sterling, 2001). Beowulf clusters have now secured their place as the predominant high-performance computing architecture (Maxon, 2004). However, the innovation of the approach taken at CSU is to allow the computers in the student laboratories to be configured as a research resource during periods of low student demand, while still maintaining normal student access when required. The initial study focussed on the Thurgoona campus, where a strong demand existed for a HPC facility to support research.The available resources consist of:* three laboratories at the Thurgoona campus, each containing 20 PCs running Windows XP;* two laboratories at the Albury campus, each containing 16 PCs running Windows XP;* one laboratory at the Albury campus, containing 16 MACs running OS X; and* additional laboratories at the Bathurst and Wagga Wagga campuses.An initial investigation revealed the following issues that imposed constraints of operating a clustered HPC facility:* The bandwidth between campuses is limited, and must be shared with existing users. There is no budget to upgrade infrastructure.* Existing computers must be used, with the exception of providing one server to act as a job submission machine.* Operation of the cluster must have minimal effect upon users of the laboratories, i.e. students.* Installation of the cluster must be performed in collaboration with the university's Division of Information Technology (DIT). Computers in the student laboratories are heavily \"locked-down\", with installation of any non-university approved software tightly restricted by staff of DIT.* The operating system used on the majority of the computers is Windows XP, which would not be the first choice for many research users. This either requires researchers to write code that can run under Windows, or to run an alternative operating system, such as Linux, and restrict student access during these periods. The latter option requires 40 or more PCs to re-boot automatically and flawlessly twice in every 24-hour period.* Any computer can be removed from the cluster at any time without warning, either by manual log-in (when a student enters the laboratory to use a computer), or by reconfiguration of the computer by DIT staff (as part of their maintenance procedures). The cluster must be adaptive, so any job running on a node can be suspended or aborted.* Disk space and memory use of the cluster client should pose no noticeable reduction of performance for student use.* Changes to cluster node configuration should be performed centrally to reduce maintenance time, and must be linked to existing maintenance schedules.While it can be appreciated that these issues pose some serious constraints on the provision of HPC services, the cluster facility comes at a very low infrastructure cost. Assuming, for example, that only 60 PCs from the Thurgoona campus are used, with each PC costing approximately Aus$2,000, a resource worth up to Aus$120,000 is potentially available at very little encumbrance to other users. Moreover, the computers are high-quality machines, regularly upgraded by DIT staff at no cost to the research teams using the HPC facility.In 2003, the university's Centre for Research and Graduate Training agreed to support the project by providing funding for a part-time professional officer to conduct a pilot study at Thurgoona, and for the purchase of a server to manage job submissions. We investigated the following scenarios:* configuration of as many machines as practical to run jobs on a Windows platform in the background; and* configuration of laboratories that are open only during business hours, so that machines re-boot into Linux in the evening, and re-boot into Windows XP the next morning.The first option allows the maximum number of machines to participate in the cluster, but means that there is no control over the number of machines participating at any time. A student or other person logging in to a machine will disrupt any cluster job running on that machine. However, the facility is available 24 hours a day: cluster jobs may run during business hours as long as the student demand is sufficiently low. The second option presents a number of disadvantages. First, the number of machines participating in the cluster is quite limited, as only two of the three laboratories at Thurgoona are closed to students out of business hours. There is no guarantee that this will not change in the future. Second, the system is more complicated - there is more to go wrong. Third, maintenance procedures would be much more difficult. Fourth, the cluster would be available only overnight and at weekends. Because of these reasons, we opted for the much easier first option. It is worth noting here that the use of such a resource for two very different purposes necessitates some compromise.We also investigated two models for distributed computing: \"processor farm\", where a program runs on a single machine, but many copies of that program can be run simultaneously; and MPI-style programming, where a program is split into components that run on several machines. At this point we were dealing with the issue of access, as the computer laboratories are tightly controlled by DIT in order to guarantee security. In negotiations with DIT we were struck by the need to avoid undoing several years of careful work by DIT that has resulted in a secure facility that allows highly reliable access to students. We determined to attempt the much simpler model first, evaluate this in terms of its impact on student use of the laboratories, and investigate the MPI model later.Initially a search was made to determine suitable cluster software at minimal expense. The most promising software, Condor (Basney et al., 1997), was selected as it provides the following features:* it is compatible with Windows and Linux;* it allows single-machine and MPI-type code to run;* it is highly configurable;* it allows job suspension and resumption; and* it is freeware.This software was initially installed on three PCs that had been discarded from other projects, and connected on a private network. In this way we were able to investigate configuration and security issues before installing on the laboratory machines, and therefore avoid any disruption of services to students. Subsequently we performed several tests to measure the effectiveness of the cluster and its impact on student use. These results will reported elsewhere (Cornforth et al., 2005).\nDiscussion: The analysis of the utilisation of the computer laboratories has shown that the labs are, on the whole, under-utilised. While the available machines cater for the crunch periods near the end of semesters, and other peaks when major assignments are due, the rest of the time they are largely idle.The use of existing computer facilities as a cluster promises huge savings on capital investment but introduces constraints, including the conflicting needs of the two very different types of user. Providing computers for general use requires stability of installed code base and care with security issues, but research users often want to install and run different software and reconfigure machines. In practice we found that compromises must be made.When there are high demands upon available bandwidth between campuses, there is an advantage on restricting the cluster to one campus, or individual clusters on each campus.We conclude that the use of student laboratories as a research tool is feasible, and offers a satisfactory solution to the problem of machine use, justifying the presence of the laboratories and leveraging CSU's investment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To provide administrators at an Australian university with data on the feasibility of redirecting under-utilised computer laboratories facilities into a distributed high performance computing facility.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The individual log-in records for each computer located in the computer laboratories at the university were investigated. The log-in data were investigated over a 24-hour/seven day a week period between June 2001 and August 2003. The data were analysed in terms of student access to the computer facilities during \"normal\" business hours, weekend times, and the semester breaks.\nFindings: - The computer laboratories were hugely under-utilised, with less than 10 per cent of all log-ins occurring during off peak times (7 pm-8 am). Similarly, only weekends were likewise under-utilised. This strongly suggests that this spare computer capacity could be used for alternate means during these times.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future research needs to determine whether the needs of the general computer laboratory user who requires a stable and secure system can coexist with the users of a high performance computer facility where different software and differently configured computer systems are required.\nPractical implications: - This research has the potential for universities to utilise more effectively their computer laboratory resources by allocating under-utilised resources into other projects, such as to a high performance computing facility (HPCF). The cost of these re-allocated resources would be a fraction of the cost compared to a scenario in which a separate dedicated HPCF had to be provided.\nOriginality/value: - This paper suggests an alternate utilisation of the spare computing laboratory resources available at many universities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Micro-credentials: the potential of personalized professional development	[ "Engagement and learning", "Organizational change and learning", "Professional development", "Personalization", "Micro-credentials" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In 2016, Klaus Schwab introduced the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is characterized as the explosion of industrial innovation from fast-paced emerging technologies and digitalization across the world. This has yielded profound and systemic changes in organizational structures (Schwab, 2016). The ease of access to information facilitates personalized learning systems and emphasizes highly specialized skillsets of workforce employees. Therefore, Schwab (2016) noted that the job markets in the 4IR will require more high-skilled and specialized workers. This shift is directly connected to the field of education, where the role of professionals is to prepare students to successfully navigate within society. There is a need to analyze how personalized and specialized environments can impact the field of education and in so doing, start the process of altering systems and conventional ways of supporting educators and students so they may be better equipped to succeed in the 4IR.\nConnecting MCs to State Initiatives: The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (2015) has granted more flexibility for states to rethink and redesign teacher evaluation systems to promote professional learning and growth. Under ESSA, educators and administrators are expected to increase access to personalized learning for students with diverse needs. Higher expectations for creating more complex, student-centered learning environments for all learners has urged some states to provide educators and administrators with opportunities to receive personalized professional learning as well, often through the offering of MCs. Currently, MCs are referenced in nine state ESSA plans (i.e., Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New York State, North Carolina, Tennessee). These states demonstrate a close relationship between MC and personalized professional learning opportunities and/or tools.\nInnovation: Traditional PD is often delivered in a whole group format aimed at providing instruction tailored to the needs of districts and/or schools. It is also often costly, bound by time and space and provides little opportunity to demonstrate mastery of content. Typically, this type of PD is offered in a single setting, and there is rarely an extension or follow-up of the content learned (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2014). By design, MCs address many of these challenges by offering PD that is personalized, competency-based, flexible, and collaborative (see Table I). Though relatively new to education, MCs have the potential to not only provide meaningful PD, but to align the field of education with current trends in industry and business.\nAccessing Micro-credentials: As interest grows around MCs, many wonder where and how to access them. Multiple organizations have developed platforms that deliver MCs, provide opportunities to assess submitted materials, and collect relevant data. Given the high number of platforms available, MCs can vary in earner expectations, content structure and time it takes to complete the MC.\nConclusion: The rapid growth of technology and the 4IR is impacting all sectors of society. The field of education is both learning from and informing these changes. One way this is occurring is through the development of portable, competency-based, on-demand PD. Many leaders and states see the potential MCs offer and are incorporating them into state education policy. With the benefits MCs afford educators, PD has potential to become personalized, authentic, and delivered in novel ways. Although opportunities are numerous, this remains a new innovation that will require continued monitoring, evaluation, and research. None-the-less, the potential of MCs is drawing interest from industry leaders, non-for-profits, and educational organizations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this article is to introduce micro-credentials as an innovative, personalized professional development modality. With traditional time bound professional development (PD) offering largely whole group instruction with little feedback or a focus on skill mastery, micro-credentials have the ability to develop educator skills, provide relevant content, encourage flexibility, and measure earner mastery. Although relatively new, state leaders and administrators are exploring the use of micro-credentials to improve educator practice at the individual level. Such efforts encourage systems change aligned with new technologies and advancements.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This article is designed to review the impetus for the use of micro-credentials in education and the potential this personalized professional development has to change and improve traditional support of educators' professional growth and skill development. We structured the article to first introduce the possibilities micro-credentials (MCs) have in initiating systems change in education. We then define MCs and explore their use in state policy. Additionally, we present the benefits MCs offer and how an individual would select and complete one. To conclude, we connect all elements in the article and emphasize the need for further research and analysis.\nFindings: Findings from our review indicate that 9 states are currently exploring the use of micro-credentials in their state ESSA plans. We recognize that there are several benefits of micro-credentials that make them appealing to state leaders and administrators. These include personalization, competency, flexibility, cost efficiency, and collaboration. It is noted that a large number of organizations are offering micro-credentials and it is most often the responsibility of educators to determine which micro-credentials meet their needs and may be utilized for continuing education credit. Steps in earning micro-credentials are similar across platforms, though content, assessment expectations, and depth vary widely.\nOriginality/value: Rapid strides in technology have created change and advancements to societal norms, required workforce skillsets, and personalization. As a result, leaders in education are exploring new and innovative ways to provide professional development to educators. This article will introduce the concept of micro-credentials and explore their focus on personalization, competency-based learning, flexibility and skill development. Individuals interested in shifting the delivery and methodology of traditional PD will be intrigued by the potential micro-credentials offer and the work that is currently being done to explore this PD option.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Analysis of customer portfolio and relationship management models: bridging managerial dimensions	[ "Marketing departments", "Purchasing", "Customer relations", "Buyer‐seller relationships" ]	[ { "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.\nReview of portfolio models: It is logical that the explanations rooted in human and social psychology would hold great promise in advancing our understanding of stock market behavior. More recent research has attempted to explain the persistence of anomalies by adopting a psychological perspective. Evidence in the psychology literature reveals that individuals have limited information processing capabilities, exhibit systematic bias in processing information, are prone to making mistakes, and often tend to rely on the opinion of others. Rabin and Thaler (2001) discusses the explanation of risk aversion in the expected utility theory is not plausible by providing examples of how the theory can be wrong and misleading. They call for a better model of describing choice under uncertainty. It is now widely agreed that the failure of expected utility theory is due to the failure to recognize the psychological principles governing decision tasks.The modern portfolio theory assumes that markets are one-period mean-variance efficient and ignores the investor's holding period. Merton (1990) introduced the time dimension to portfolio theory and laid the theoretical groundwork for inter-temporal portfolio selection, option pricing, performance evaluation, and dynamic investment strategies. There were other models that have been developed including the two and three dimensional axes along with single, two and three step analysis phases over the period. Figure 1 exhibits the historical depiction of the portfolio theories.During the last 20 years a number of portfolio models have been specifically developed to address this situation, they have taken the relationship as the unit of analysis and can be assumed to be based on an understanding that long-term, interactive relationships are often the norm in this type of market structure. These models include those proposed by: Cunningham and Homse (1982), Fiocca (1982), Campbell and Cunningham (1983), Yorke (1984a), Shapiro et al. (1987), Krapfel et al. (1991), Rangan et al. (1992), Yorke and Droussiotis (1994) and Turnbull and Zolkiewski (1997).Relationship portfolio concepts\nAlternative dimensions in portfolio models: The customer value concept is influenced by the organizational performance and determines the structure of competitive advantage towards setting decision boundaries of the consumers. The process of delivering customer value is developed within a microeconomic framework of the business organizations. The role of the organizations may be viewed from the perspective of customer describing the ratio of outputs (e.g. perceived use value, reliability, safety, comfort) that customers obtain from the organizational system. The business organizations play a critical role in helping the existing customers and prospective customers in understanding the value associated with their buying decisions. However, in many cases organizational factors should be considered in their interdependence such as customer satisfaction, reputation, and development of core competences.Reviewing the existing portfolio models and analyzing the gaps thereof it may be required that the customer portfolio models be structured in reference to the market environment and value determinants. The portfolio decisions of customers depend on subjectivity of the market environment that appears in different forms. In constructing the portfolio decision model, the expectation formation process is based on the market environment factors like industry and product attractiveness, risk, customer life cycle and variables of human behavior and the economic factors. There are some portfolio decision models discussed in the following text that may be considered as a supplement to the existing models and a contribution to the topical knowledge base.Market environment-related portfolio concept\nManagerial implications: This review clearly shows that customer portfolio analysis can provide strategic input into a firm's planning processes and may also be the key to a successful relationship management strategy (managing the corporate social capital). However, the use of portfolio analysis should only be undertaken after due consideration has been given to the limitations inherent in the analysis and particularly the identification and definition of the important criteria for analysis. There are two main issues which result from the review of literature:1. How can subjective (management) values be incorporated into the calculations? Many of the examples showed to a greater or lesser extent the difficulties of this.2. Which variables are the most pertinent? In conjunction with this, it seems that apart from calculations of the profitability of the various projects and customers, quantitative measures of customer/portfolio management have not been easy to identify.It is apparent from the various practical attempts to use the portfolio models that although these models are inherently appealing as a means for analysis, in practical terms they are extremely difficult to define. The real problem lies in the fact that the definitions simply do not involve easily collected \"hard\" data; for example, many organizations do not have mechanisms which allow them to calculate the real \"cost to serve\" individual customers or even market segments. All firms want profitable customers and valuable relationships. The difficulty comes with the associated calculations. In view of a firm being embedded in three types of relationship portfolio and believing that portfolio analysis provides the key to successful relationship management, we may have unwittingly described the inherent constituents of corporate social capital: customer relationships, supplier relationships and indirect relationships. Many of the variables that are proposed in the models reviewed in this paper are clearly related to the revenues and capital assets of the firm. It may be of importance to further recognize the conceptualization and empirical research that more explicitly integrates the contributions of sociology and business-to-business marketing.The concept of the indirect portfolio needs further development in reference to the competitor portfolios. The models focusing on this aspect should allow a strategist to map the links from competitors to an organization's customers and suppliers, when considered in totality. Such concept should be able to discuss the competitor actions. Likewise the supplier or potential customer portfolios could be introduced and applied in deriving decisions about targeting new customers or selecting new suppliers. Advances in technology mean that modelling such data should be easily accomplished. There is further scope for empirical testing and for conceptualization. In particular, rigorous comparisons of the various axes proposed in the different models needs undertaking along with the provision of definitive descriptions of the component, especially when qualitative issues are at hand. The standardization of such definitions is essential if the models are to be effectively and efficiently used as a strategic decision making tool.The above discussion on the customer portfolio models raises the issues as how relationship portfolios can provide a mechanism for developing a coherent relationship management strategy. Choice of appropriate models or dimensions is complex, as it partly depends on the nature of the company and partly on micro-environment that is perceived by the company in reference to the relationship management competitors' share emergence of new markets etc. The two-dimensional matrices do not provide enough depth of analysis. The answer may lie in the step-wise analysis (Fiocca, 1982; Campbell and Cunningham, 1983) or in multi-dimensional analysis (Turnbull and Zolkiewski, 1997). The choice of model must also be made with full consideration of the limitations of using portfolio modelling. It has been observed through variety of applications of the models that these models are inherently appealing as a means for analysis, in practical terms they are extremely difficult to define. The real problem lies in the fact that the definitions simply do not involve easily collected \"hard\" data; for example, many organizations do not have mechanisms, which allow them to calculate the real \"cost to serve\" individual customers or even market segments. The issue of customer profitability and relationship value has an inherent appeal in all the models. All firms want profitable customers and valuable relationships. The difficulty comes with the associated calculations. However, the suggestion of Shapiro et al. (1987) that the real costs of supporting various customers should not be considered in isolation by managers and that they should be aware that high variations in these costs do often exist It is also crucial that the data used to calculate customer profitability takes into account, the adaptation/development costs for new products/services as well as the more \"tangible\" indirect costs such as sales expenses. Yorke (1984b) notes how infrequently management attention is paid to the effects in terms of net profit of applying resources to a particular segment or even a particular customer.The application of these models needs a strong support of database and computation skills. On a tactical level managers need to consider the optimum spread of customers on a matrix. This needs careful attention and the application of managerial judgement and experience. It cannot be prescribed by a text. They should also be prepared to vary their management style in response to the analysis they prepare. For example a different style may well be needed to deal with customers who do not yield much profit and present high costs to serve. All of these have postulated that portfolio theory is a useful theoretical approach to the analysis, categorisation and management of supplier-customer relationships. Despite this, there has been relatively little empirical research reported that informs other researchers, academic or managerial, about the reality of relationship management. It is currently not clear what methods companies actually use for managing relationships or whether they include a formal, academic system. At the moment it is not known how systems for managing relationships, academic or otherwise, are physically put into practice within companies.Customer portfolio management is a multi-level process that encompasses understanding the customer portfolio, developing a plan, managing implementation of the plan and evaluation thereof. The managers of the company may identify high-potential customers, increase their value through target offers, and personalize their service to ensure loyalty and to drive up the profit opportunities. The following applied portfolios may be developed by the companies in order to gain the high customer value-high profit matrix:* High profitability - customers who have high actual and potential value, coupled with relatively low cost to service.* High potential - customers who have high potential value, medium actual value, and low cost to service.* Underperforming - customers who are currently unprofitable.The customer portfolio management process should then lead to plan and create strategies to maximize return on customer relationships, either by portfolio or individual accounts.Customer profitability is one of the most frequently used and most important a key figure for customer valuations. This may be easily calculated as the difference between revenue and costs. The customer portfolio analysis is more useful to perform detailed customer contribution margin analysis including different revenue types, costs of products, acquisitions, and services and retaining customers in order to produce a better coherent picture.\nConclusions: The customer portfolio models reviewed in the paper conceptually address the functional relationships between the customers and suppliers in the process of marketing. The new thought process has been exhibited in the customer portfolio models structured in reference to the market environment and value determinants in order to enhance the scope of the existing portfolio models. Customer relationship management may be described as the strategic process involved in developing interactions between a company and its customers with an objective of optimizing current and lifetime values of customers for the company as well as maximizing satisfaction for customers. The customer relationship strategies implant values that help in managing portfolios and retaining the customer and market segments for long-run in maximizing the profit of the firm.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The customer portfolio and relationship management have been of contemporary interest to the academics and practitioners. This paper aims to systematically analyze the review and critique of this important area and broadly to discuss the customer portfolio theories and their implications in reference to marketing and purchasing perspectives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The major conceptual contributions in the area of customer portfolio and relationship management have been categorically analyzed in the paper. The paper provides an insight of how marketers interpret and describe companies' actions and the discussion provides a framework for relationship management, the central tenet of which is to enable managers to invest their resources in the most efficient and effective way.\nFindings: - The review of literature shows that the customer portfolio analysis can provide strategic input to the firm towards developing a successful planning process. The conceptual discussion in the paper on relationship management may lead the strategies in managing the corporate social capital. The alternative models have been developed in the paper in reference to the market environment and values concepts discussing the triadic relationship among the organization, supplier and customer that reflects on the contemporary managerial perspectives.\nOriginality/value: - The managerial implications of the discussion presented in the paper would be helpful to plan and create strategies to optimize returns on customer relationship over time. This paper would be of interest to the scholars as well as practitioners engaged in strategic planning of a firm.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brand equity in the Portuguese vinho verde "green wine" market	[ "Surveys", "Brand equity", "Structural equation models", "Brand loyalty", "Brand awareness", "Green wine market" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper builds on the literature on brand equity by researching brands defined by their region of origin, as is the case for wine (Atkin and Johnson, 2010). In the wine market, designation of origin acts as a brand. Wine regions, thus, establish a perception of the authenticity of products and make them hard to copy.\nLiterature review: The wine market context\nResearch methodology: Research context\nResearch results: Evaluation of measurement model\nConclusions: Hundreds of wine labels and operators are present in the wine market, and some wines are produced by relatively small family businesses. Therefore, building brand equity is of utmost importance in the context of this highly competitive and fragmented marketplace. Even though brand equity creates competitive barriers based on consumer behaviours, it also offers sustainable competitive advantages.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the main determinants of brand equity in the context of brands defined by their region of origin, as is the case for Portuguese green wine.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from a sample of wine consumers in Portugal through personal interviews (N = 200). Structural equation modelling was then applied to study the causal relationships between brand equity and its dimensions (i.e. brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand association) for top-of-mind green wine brands, based on Aaker's conceptual Framework (Aaker, 1991).\nFindings: The study's results reveal that brand loyalty is the most influential dimension of brand equity for Portuguese green wine and that the links between brand equity and both brand association and perceived quality are significant. These findings can help Portuguese wineries to prioritise - and allocate resources across - brand equity dimensions.\nOriginality/value: Although the literature identifies dimensions of brand equity in other industries, the literature on the wine market is still sparse. This study, therefore, contributes to expanding this body of knowledge.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Motivation-based segmentation of local food in urban cities: A decision segmentation analysis approach	[ "Local food", "Motivation", "Laddering", "Means-end chain", "Decision segmentation analysis", "Market segmentation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction and literature review: 1.1 Local food: definition and consumers' motivation\n2. Methods: The MEC methodology application for this study closely follows the research guidelines of MEC theory (Olson and Reynolds, 2010; Pieters et al., 1995; Reynolds and Gutman, 1988). The DSA approach selected for this study refers to guidelines developed by Reynolds (2006).\n3. Results: 3.1 Means-end chain\n4. Discussion: 4.1 Consumer motivation and segmentation toward local food\n5. Conclusions: The DSA produced two stable segments, namely value-for-money and health benefits. This study confirms that the use of the DSA technique can help researchers to standardize the segmentation process of HVMs attained from using the laddering technique.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the motives of urban consumers when purchasing local food products using means-end chain (MEC) analysis and second, to introduce an alternative approach to segment the market based on consumers' motivation using decision segmentation analysis (DSA).\nDesign/methodology/approach: DSA was used as advanced segmentation procedure of hierarchy value maps (HVMs) produced by MEC analysis.\nFindings: The findings suggest that there are two main segments of local food consumers in urban Indonesia: value-for-money and health benefits. The value-for-money segment is dominant when making local food purchasing.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study sample is not representative of local food consumers in urban Indonesia as only three urban cities were interviewed.\nPractical implications: An understanding of the motivation-based segmentation of local food in urban cities is a useful tool in order to reinforce and attract local food consumers to consume more locally grown food.\nOriginality/value: This study reveals the motivation-based segmentation of local food in urban cities in Indonesia.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Equity and justice for all: The politics of cultivating anti-racist practices in urban teacher education	[ "Equity", "Oppression", "Justice", "Critical race theory", "Race", "Anti-racist practices", "Critical whiteness studies", "Urban teacher education", "Literacy teaching" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In this article, we examine the politics of cultivating anti-racist practices with pre- and in-service teachers in post-secondary contexts in the USA, and the associated tensions of engaging in this work for equity and justice in urban teacher education. Much has been written about the importance of teachers connecting to students' out-of-school lives in ways that increase student academic achievement and advance educational justice. Strategies for doing so include, using assets-based practices in teaching and learning (Duncan-Andrade and Morrell, 2008; Irizarry, 2011) and linking curricula to students' community and cultural identities (Paris, 2010; San Pedro and Kinloch, 2017). While these connections are important, we believe they must be situated within an explicit engagement with teachers' anti-racist practices that foreground the reality that students of color are systematically marginalized by the institution of schooling.\nTheoretical framings: Critical race theory\nMethodology and design: In this article, we discuss findings from two different research studies that collaborated with a large urban school district and an urban university in the Midwestern USA. Undertaken during a time of relative social progress in the USA (i.e. prior to the 2016 US presidential election and the Trump era of increased, public displays of violent white nationalism), both studies critically examined the role of equity, justice and anti-racism in urban teacher education. More specifically, both studies addressed concerns that involved:\nFindings: Research Vignette 1: Ms. Washington, anti-racist practices and literacy teaching\nDiscussion and conclusion: We began this inquiry by emphasizing the importance of navigating the politics of teaching through an intentional centering of equity, justice and anti-racist practices in our collaborations with pre- and in-service teachers. Analysis of our data revealed that creating spaces in which teachers can story - or exchange, critique and reflect on - feelings of marginalization and racism, and other oppressions is central to creating and enacting liberatory forms of urban teacher education. For Ms. Washington, the impact of naming racism and its presence in her ELA classroom became a powerful tool in how she worked with students to be heard and to reject the silencing and/or appropriation of their stories by others. By creating contexts, or more specifically, dialogic classroom spaces for critical storying, she modeled an explicit commitment to equity and justice: she centered race as a unit of analysis, she viewed stories as a pedagogical tool and she fostered open, humanizing relationships among students. We believe that the creation of such spaces and the storying of experiences with racism can lead to more authentically collaborative, equitable interactions among students, between students and their teachers, and among teacher educators, researchers and the in-service teachers with whom they collaborate. This is important work that can advance anti-racist pedagogies and educational justice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the cultivation of anti-racist practices with pre- and in-service teachers in post-secondary contexts, and the tensions of engaging in this work for equity and justice in urban teacher education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper relies on critical race theory (CRT) and critical whiteness studies (CWS), as well as auto-ethnographic and storytelling methods to examine how black in-service teachers working with a black teacher educator and white pre-service teachers working with a white teacher educator enacted strategies for cultivating anti-racist practices.\nFindings: Findings indicate that for black and white educators alike, developing critical consciousness and anti-racist pedagogical practices requires naming racism as the central construct of oppression. Moreover, teachers and teacher educators demonstrated the importance of explicitly naming racism and centralizing (rather than de-centralizing) the political project of anti-racism within the current socio-political climate.\nResearch limitations/implications: In addition to racism, educators' racialized identities must be centralized to support individual anti-racist pedagogical practices. Storying racism provides a context for this individualized work and provides a framework for disrupting master narratives embedded in educational institutions.\nOriginality/value: Much has been written about the importance of teachers connecting to students' out-of-school lives to increase academic achievement and advance educational justice. Strategies for forging those connections include using assets-based practices and linking school curricula to students' community and cultural identities. While these connections are important, this paper focuses on teachers' explicit anti-racist practices in urban education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of geographic spillovers in employment policy planning: an empirical investigation for Russian regions	[ "Employment", "Technological change", "Regional analysis", "Geographical spillovers", "Least squares dummy variable corrected estimator", "Russian regions" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: It is not simple to analyse the relationship between innovation and employment. Indeed, innovation could lead both to direct impact and many indirect effects. On the one hand, process innovation produces a labour-saving effects, while product innovation is generally labour-friendly. On the other hand, process innovations could determine decreasing prices, a higher demand and production, and these effects could compensate job losses (Vivarelli, 2014).\n2. Literature review: Smolny (1998), studying firm-level data from Federal Republic of Germany in 1980-1982, finds the positive effect of innovation on employment. Further, Blanchflower and Burgess (1998) take panel data from Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys in Australia and the UK and show the positive effect of new technology on employment growth. Van Reenen (1997) takes panel data on the UK firms for 1976-1982 and shows positive effect of innovations on employment. Greenan and Guellec (2000) run the non-linear, two-stage least squares analysis on French manufacturing firms over the period 1986-1990 and show the job-creating effect of process and product innovation. Meanwhile, there are studies where the positive R&D or innovation spillover effect is not clear. Klette and Forre (1998) from the data on Norwegian manufacturing firms do not clear-cut positive effect of between net job creation and the R&D-intensity of the firm. The similar result was found in Piva and Vivarelli (2004, 2005) for manufacturing firms in Italy for 1992-1997. The results of the both studies show the presence of \"a significant - although small in size - positive relationship between innovation and employment at the firm's level in the 1990s\". Brouwer et al. (1993) for the cross-section of manufacturing firms in Netherlands for 1983-1988 show negative relationship between expenditure on R&D and employment. Antonucci and Pianta (2002) take data on manufacturing firms from eight European countries for 1990-1996 and show the negative impact of technological change on European industries.\n3. Data sources: The empirical analysis takes regional-level data on R&D, technological innovations and employment in Russia, which are freely available on the official portal of Russian Federation Federal State Statistics Service {the Russian abbreviation is Rosstat [previously known as Goskomstat (State Committee on Statistics)] www.gks.ru}. In our analysis and model formation, we use the following groups of indicators: indicators of innovation activity; indicators of R&D; indicators of national accounts; labour and population statistics; and social condition variables. In our panel data model, we run the analysis for 2010-2016 for 85 Russian regions (Federal subjects as Russia has the federal structure of regions)[1].\n4. Theoretical framework: This section, following Garcia et al. (2004), Aldieri and Vinci (2018), gives a basic theoretic outline for our empirical investigation on Russian Economy. We consider the case of a multi-region economy where firms minimize costs, and invest in R&D for process and product innovations. These latter, once made, enter the production function at the beginning of the next period when entrepreneurs, keeping in mind new technologies, and according the expected demand, decide product price and employment levels.\n5. Empirical strategy: To estimate the effect of geographical spillovers on the employment, we consider a model linked to R&D (or technological innovations), innovation systems and knowledge spillovers, as in Rodriguez-Pose and Villareal Peralta (2015).\n6. Analysis of results: To explore which factors linked to innovation systems affect employment across regions in Russia, we consider static and dynamic models. Firstly, we run heteroscedasticity-consistent random effects (RE), after controlling for the Hausman Test, where we cannot reject the null hypothesis of independence between the independent variables. Secondly, we use a generalised method of moments (GMM), where endogenous lagged variables as instruments. Moreover, additional variables are selected as instruments: women's share in total population; unemployment rate; infant mortality rate; roads length per GDP; and number of crimes (Figure 5).\n7. Robustness analysis: To develop a robustness analysis concerning the investigation implemented in the previous section, we move towards two directions: on the one hand, we consider the technological innovations stock instead of R&D capital stock to account for the investments in innovation indicator; in this manner, we compute a spillover variable based on the expenditures on technological innovations (spillT); on the other hand, the annual depreciation rate (d) can be calculated taking into account different acceleration factors for innovative firms. Beyond a depreciation rate of 15 per cent, we check also for 40 and 100 per cent (Figures 7, 8 and 9).\n8. Conclusions and policy implication: The aim of this paper is to look at the factors driving labour creation in Russia, by focusing our attention to the role of innovation policy. We combine innovation variables with indicators linked to social conditions (social filter component). To compute the geographical spillovers across 85 regions during the period 2010-2016, we use latitude and longitude coordinates to identify the distance between Russian regions according to the Haversine formula. In this manner, we measure the spillovers as the weighted sum of the R&D capital stock based on computed distance according to the accessibility index procedure. This study's contribution to the literature is to explore whether geographical spillovers are labour-friendly or labour-saving in Russia. The finding is very important in terms of policy implications for supporting employment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to look at the factors driving labour creation in Russia, while paying attention to the role of innovation policy. The study considers innovation variables with indicators linked to social conditions (social filter component) and geographical spillovers for 85 regions during the period 2010-2016.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In particular, the study uses latitude and longitude coordinates to compute the distance between Russian regions according to the Haversine formula. In this manner, it measures the spillovers as the weighted sum of R&D capital stock on the basis of computed distance, according to the accessibility index procedure.\nFindings: The finding is very important in terms of policy implications for supporting employment. As the results stress that own innovation produces labour creation effects, while knowledge spillovers are labour-saving, the study could conclude that regional innovation policy may have undetermined the objective of an efficient level of absorptive capacity able to benefit positively from external innovation.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the literature by exploring whether geographical spillovers are labour-friendly or labour-saving in Russia.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Asynchronous discussion forums in the changing landscape of the online learning environment	[ "Distance learning", "Communication technologies", "Group discussion" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Over the past few decades, advancements in asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies have sparked and continue to facilitate the proliferation of online courses, degree programs, and institutions. Leading the way with this proliferation has been the use of asynchronous discussion forums (ADFs). Evolving from the use of asynchronous CMC technologies for individual correspondences (i.e. e-mail) ADFs provide a means for groups of individuals to communicate in a collaborative manner - unrestricted by time or location. With the inherent ability to facilitate learning among groups of students in this anywhere/anytime environment, ADFs have strengthened the traditional concept of distance education while meeting the changing needs of the higher education marketplace - providing pedagogically sound opportunities for a higher education within a global society.As the number of online courses, degree programs, and institutions continue to proliferate, ADFs continue to be an embedded component of the online learning environment. Importantly, however, the extent and manner in which ADFs are being incorporated into this environment has diverged in several different directions. For instance, while ADFs may be a primary component of some online courses - serving as a virtual classroom - in others, it may serve only as a supplementary resource to other types of instructional technologies. In either of these instances, ADFs may be highly structured as instructors provide specific questions for students to address. When used as a supplement to other types of web-based technologies and pedagogies, ADFs may be highly unstructured - serving as a forum for community building among learners.As with all instructional tools, the extent and manner in which ADFs are incorporated into the online learning environment must be grounded on appropriate pedagogical goals and sound epistemological perspectives. Interestingly, however, a review of the research reveals little insight toward this end. In particular, no study to date has explicitly depicted the different ways in which ADFs are incorporated into the online learning environment. Consequently, the literature sheds little light on the relationship between:* the structural and functional possibilities of the ADF; and* particular pedagogical goals and epistemological perspectives.This insight is becoming increasingly essential to guide best practices within the online learning environment, and to benchmark instructional quality within the increasingly competitive marketplace of higher education.This report will present a preliminary framework based on the current findings of a large-scale study in which the different ways that the ADF is being used throughout the online learning environment is examined with respect to pedagogical goals and epistemological perspectives. The findings presented here are based on an analysis of web-based documents and subsequent informal interviews with scholars from 27 different institutions offering entire degree programs entirely online. The selection of these institutions was the result of convenience sampling within a pool of over 50 institutions. The identification of these original institutions was based on the following criteria:* full degree program offered entirely online; and* recognized by appropriate accrediting body or parallel professional organizations (if outside the USA).At the time of this report, the insights needed for this framework were gleaned from 27 of these identified institutions. These insights and preliminary framework are presented in this report as a work in progress.\nThe online institution: The close examination of the distinguishing features of the myriad online institutions reveal that best practices and instructional quality cannot be addressed in a vacuum, nor generalized across all contexts. As made apparent by this study, best practices and instructional quality are intricately situated within the context of institutional settings. Forming the basis of this identified context in this report was the organizational structure and subsequent overarching goals of each institution. Based on the analysis of each institution with respect to these overlapping features, three categories were established as the foundation of this proposed framework. These categories are conceptualized as institutional models - depicted in this preliminary framework as:1. the corporate model;2. the academic model; and3. the independent model.The categories of institutional models identified here have been discussed in various other contexts, with varying terminology. The corporate model was depicted by Luskin (2002) in his depiction of the corporate university. Evolving from corporate learning centers with physical classrooms to online training programs, the corporate university is one that now offers entire degree programs online for working adults. As explained by Luskin (2002), and confirmed by this study, several of these corporate universities have attained accreditation status through partnerships with accredited traditional universities, and have now become a full competitor as a virtual university in the higher education marketplace.Twigg (2003) as well as Hodgkinson and Holland (2002) highlights key structural features and goals of the academic model. In separate case studies, these scholars depict the traditional university in its efforts to extend its course offerings into the online learning environment. As these and other scholars highlight (Engelbrecht, 2003; Luskin, 2002), such efforts are prompted by the need for the traditional university to remain competitive in the marketplace of higher education opportunities.Finally, the independent model describes the for-profit institution, established independently (i.e. not corporate-based) - aimed at the adult learner who is seeking a college degree in a flexible learning environment. Crow (1999) highlights this type of institution in Virtual Universities Can Meet High Standards - as he addresses the criticisms evoked by the accreditation of Jones International University. As highlighted by Crow, institutions such as Jones International provide many of the same academic resources found within the traditional university (e.g. libraries, academic advisors, etc.) - differing only in that these resources are provided via the world wide web.\nInstructional models: In conjunction with shared institutional structures and goals, the instructional models of each institution within each of these three categories continued to shape this categorical framework. These instructional models were identified with respect to:* primary method of delivery;* content resources; and* learning activities.The manner in which these components varied with respect to each institutional model is shown in Table I.With these different instructional models identified and juxtaposed with respect to each institutional model, the next step toward establishing this framework was to provide a detailed depiction of the particular facets that distinguish the function of the ADF. On careful examination of the ADF within each of these contexts, the function of the ADF was identified with respect to:* the role of the instructor;* student requirements; and* assessment of student learning.The manner in which the function of the ADF varied with respect to each of these elements, within each identified institutional model, is shown in Table II.\nEpistemological perspectives: While the structure and function of the ADF does vary with respect to the institutional and instructional models, it is becoming increasingly important to recognize the epistemological perspectives that are being reflected within each model. With the pertinent facets of the ADF explicitly identified here, the unique attributes of each model can readily be associated with particular epistemological perspectives. For the purpose of this preliminary report, these associations are shown in Table III with respect to:1. a cognitive constructivist perspective;2. a social constructivist perspective; and3. a didactic/behaviourist perspective.The epistemological perspectives that are reflected in the ADF have important implications for guiding best practices and benchmarking instructional quality in the online learning environment. These implications will be discussed in the concluding section of this report.\nConclusion: implications and interpretations: As a result of this preliminary analysis, fundamental aspects of instructional quality and best practices involving the use of the ADF are brought to light. First, while the ADF may have contributed substantially to proliferation of the online learning environment, and continues to be an important component in this powerful new learning medium, the function and subsequent structure of the ADF does vary with respect to an array of important items. Included among these items are institutional and instructional models. To ensure that best practices and instructional quality are accurately recognized and appropriately benchmarked, it is imperative to interpret the findings of empirical studies involving the use of the ADF within the context of these two items. Toward this end, scholars and researchers are encouraged to use this preliminary framework as a reference point for interpreting and presenting empirical research findings.Next, while the structure and function of the ADF does vary with respect to institutional and instructional models, this categorical distinction may often be pragmatically based - dictated by organizational bureaucracies and instructional technologies available. As the higher education marketplace becomes increasingly competitive and the online learning environment continues to proliferate, it is becoming increasingly important to merge these pragmatic limitations with epistemological perspectives. While important arguments have been made regarding the potential of the online learning medium within particular epistemological perspectives (Bonk and Cunningham, 1998; Jonassen, 2003), the intent of this framework is simply to illuminate each of these perspectives - with respect to the structure and function of the ADF. This explicit depiction of the ADF with respect to each of these epistemological perspectives provides a pedagogical basis from which best practices can be appropriately guided and ultimately benchmarked.Finally, crucial to the success of all institutions of higher education is the recognition from the appropriate accrediting body or parallel professional organization - indicating set standards of quality have been met. Currently, such standards and subsequent decisions are often made by scholars whose expertise lies within the traditional university setting - often with minimal insight toward the dynamics of the online learning environment. Given the increasingly competitive nature of the higher education marketplace, this possible lack of insight can be compounded with a possible conflict of interest - resulting in inaccurate and unjust judgments regarding the quality of the online institution. To ensure that such decisions are made accurately and justly, it is essential that best practices and instructional quality within the online learning environment are appropriately benchmarked and made readily available for all stakeholders in the online learning environment. Toward this end, practitioners, scholars and influential academics are encouraged to apply, modify and extend the preliminary framework presented here - to establish a clear and solid foundation on which best practices and instructional quality are explicitly recognized and accurately interpreted.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This report seeks to address the preliminary findings from a large-scale study of the different ways in which the asynchronous discussion forum (ADF) is being used in the online learning environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A conceptual approach is taken.\nFindings: - The structural and functional variation of the ADF is depicted within a framework of institutional and instructional models. Epistemological distinctions are made with respect to the role of the instructor, student requirements, and the assessment of student learning.\nOriginality/value: - The paper brings to light fundamental aspects of instructional quality and best practices involving the use of the ADF.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An urban growth model of office property development: The case of Hong Kong	[ "Floor space per employee", "Land supply", "Office development", "Urban growth model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Development of new office space plays an important role in the economy of Hong Kong. For instance, while office property development represents a large amount of capital outlay, it also constitutes a considerable portion of gross domestic product (GDP) in terms of construction, property management and maintenance (Ho, 2005). This sector has been playing a crucial role and represents a significant share of Hong Kong's wealth. In particular, being the financial hub in the region, office accommodation continues to be an essential revenue-generating sector of the economy. The motivation for this paper is accordingly attributed to several emerging trends. With all positive signs of the mainland China becoming Asia's economic giant, Hong Kong's role as the financial service centre is indeed showing further promise. This will enhance the outputs from the financial, business and other business service sectors, and therefore the office space sector supporting them is anticipated to experience sustained growth. In addition, intended mega investment projects by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, especially cross-border infrastructure projects would enhance economic activities with the mainland China. Office-sector demand, being a derived demand, is primarily influenced by the expansion of the financial and related sectors. Demand for office space undergoes significant changes because different business sectors are undergoing distinctive processes of change that have spatial and temporal variation (Rabianski and Gibler, 2007). Office-space demand is a continuous process of adjustment and realignment due to changes in technology, work practices, corporate management and environmental concerns. These changes bring significant variations to occupiers' demand for office space.\n2. Floor space-usage pattern in the Hong Kong office market: Hong Kong has undergone a remarkably rapid urbanization over the past three decades. This urbanization process has led its population (working and living) to intensify their economic activities in the inner city (Jayantha and Lau, 2008). The population density in Hong Kong is relatively higher than that in other Asian cities, such as Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo (Hui and Lam, 2005). Most of the land in Hong Kong is designated as \"Country Park\" with strict restrictions on development. Thus, the remaining areas need to support all the needs of the population. As expected, population density in some districts exceeds the overall average density level in Hong Kong, but often by a large margin. For instance, Kwun Tong district has\n3. Literature review: theoretical developments towards the urban growth model: Office property markets, over the year, have been characterized by periods of boom and bust (Fuerst and McAllister, 2010; McGough and Tsolacos, 1997; Key et al., 1994; Barras, 1983). Several reasons behind this instability (cyclical behaviour) of the market have been identified in the literature. One important reason is the inherent time lag between the decision to start a project and the completion of the project (Fuerst and McAllister, 2010). These time lags may force developers to develop under conditions of output price uncertainty, making optimal real estate investment difficult (Fuerst and McAllister, 2010). This instability situation can also be attributed to differences between over-building and effective demand (Hendershott, 2000; Wang and Zhou, 2000; Wheaton, 1999); accumulation of vacant space and over-reaction to the building uncertainties (Hendershott, 2000); supply elasticities being greater than demand elasticities; and increased delivery lag (Wheaton, 1999).\n4. An urban growth framework for office property development in Hong Kong: Urbanization brings significant changes to the urban landscape and gradually results in a changing spatial structure. In a rapidly changing environment like today, understanding urban growth and its process is very critical for city and urban planners (Knox, 1993). The urban growth process gradually results in a changing spatial structure in the city, and urban growth models explain these changing (evolving) patterns in cities. The built space supply, in particular spatial and temporal distribution of built space, is very significant in shaping the urban form in a city (Farooq et al., 2010). Real property development, in particular commercial office property development, plays a crucial role in a city's growth process. Therefore, a proper understanding of various aspects of urban dynamics is essential for a better understanding of the behaviour and the dynamics of office development activities in the city. This is especially true in a metropolitan city like Hong Kong.\n5. Empirical results: 5.1 Methodology, data and descriptive statistics\n6. Conclusions: Using a time-series data set of 30 years, the paper aims to explore significant determinants of office space development in Hong Kong, with an explanation for the underlying dynamics of office space development market. A co-integration approach based on ECM was first introduced in the study to test for co-integration and short-run dynamics for the series, before carrying out a multivariate regression analysis to explore and estimate significant determinants of new office space development. Surprisingly, the direction and the significance level (and magnitudes) of the coefficients on some of the explanatory variables are not as expected. For instance, property price and construction costs were found to be insignificant in the model, implying not any significant effect of these factors on new space development activities in the market. However, most importantly, empirical findings suggest that the newly introduced factor, SPE, will have a positive impact on new office space developments. The empirical estimates suggest that with a one percentage point change in SPE causing a 1.5 percentage point change in new office development starts. This finding will, no doubt, provide new insights into the less explored supply side of the office market literature. Prior to this study, there has been only little empirical research of supply aspects of commercial real estate markets (Fuerst and McAllister, 2010).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to estimate an empirical model for new office space development starts, based on the theoretical treatment of urban growth. The study introduces a new parameter, namely, office space-usage pattern, to the office space development equation and tests whether developers respond to non-price measures in deciding to commence new developments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study first introduces a co-integration approach based on an error correction model to test for long-run relations and short-run dynamics of new office space development. A multivariate regression model is then introduced to identify significant determinants that influence office development starts. The study uses annual data over a time span of 30 years.\nFindings: Estimated results provide strong evidence that the newly introduced parameter exerts a positive impact on new office space development. It suggests that if the average floor space per employee changes by one percentage point, new office development starts would change by 1.5 percentage point, indicating even a marginal change in floor-space usage per employee (SPE) would have a significant impact on new office space development. Empirical estimates also suggest a strong response of office development starts to the lagged land supply and office space stock.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper raises the concern about the importance of non-price measures of the supply-side of the office market. There is scope to address the research questions using better data sets. It is also possible to model the supply adjustment process more dynamically in an error correction framework.\nPractical implications: The findings would suggest that non-price measures, such as space-usage pattern, need to be taken into account when planning and estimating future office space needs. This finding provides valuable insight for our current knowledge on factors affecting new office supply.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to introduce office floor space usage as a determinant of office development starts in an urban growth conceptual framework for the Hong Kong office market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Can Bahraini patients accept e-health systems?	[ "Technology acceptance model", "E-health", "Computer anxiety", "Health literacy", "I-Seha", "I-Seha service" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Improved information systems have increased the opportunities and chances for people to introduce innovations and progress healthcare, which uses information and communication technology (ICT). E-health is the most recent healthcare revolution, which patients adopt in developed countries to improve health information sharing and to enhance quality, efficiency, cost and communication. E-health supports communication and encourages patient involvement. It assists patients to build a transparent relationship with all entities in the e-health systems and share relevant information instantly. Thus, e-health can sustain the whole health process and society generally. Kingdom of Bahrain healthcare professionals have a vision, which emphasises healthcare service improvements for the community by cooperating with stakeholders to enhance service accessibility and quality (Health Information Directorate, 2013). In response to this vision, the Ministry of Health in Bahrain has implemented the I-Seha service, i.e., replacing the current information system in all hospitals and health centres with a new improved document management system. E-health systems can be used to run daily routine transaction and communication and provide the fastest response time. Additionally, it provides people with available services rather than giving them false information on services that do not exist. E-health systems have challenges, documented by the World Health Organization (2007), such as maintaining the financial system and monitoring improvements in management and human resource plans. There is insufficient information on e-health system acceptance by Bahraini individuals. Therefore, we are motivated to examine e-health system challenges and its acceptance by individuals in the Kingdom of Bahrain.\nLiterature review: Coiera (2003, p. 406) reported that telemedicine is \"The delivery of healthcare services between geographically separated individuals, using telecommunication systems; e.g., video conferencing\". Eysenbach (2001, p. 1) gave a more sophisticated definition: \"E-health is an emerging field in the intersection of medical informatics, public health, and business, which refers to health services and information delivered or enhanced through the internet and related technologies\". The World Health Organization (2006) defined health technologies as health field medical devices used. Mukherjee and McGinnis (2007) defined medical devices as everything related to medical equipment and tools that are used in vitro diagnostics except for clinical procedures, medicinal products or tissue-engineered medical products. Medical research using grids is another e-health system, which has the ability to hold significant patient data. Healthcare Information Systems software usually handles patient appointments, patient data management, work schedule management and other health tasks.\nTheoretical framework and hypothesis development: We used an integrated model, which combines technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of reasoned action (TRA) into one framework. Davis (1989) compared TAM and TRA to predict technology acceptance. Davis (1989) reported that TAM could predict up to 50 per cent of the variance in behavioural intention (BI). In Jung's (2008) e-Health Acceptance Model (eHAM), the researcher found that eHAM could predict up to 32 per cent of the variance in Swedish citizens' intentions to use e-health. Consequently, we use TAM and TRA to develop an integrated model that emphasises the fit that can better predict the Bahraini patient's intention to adopt the e-health system. Moon and Kim (2001) mentioned that different factors may contribute to e-health system acceptance. Therefore, we are focused on core e-health factors such as patient trust (TR), computer anxiety (CA), health literacy (HL) and doctor-patient relationship (D-PR):\nInstrument and data collection: We used a quantitative and qualitative approach. To distribute the questionnaire, researchers used Google Docs and different social networking such as Twitter and WhatsApp. Survey forms were also distributed randomly by hand to people in health centres, universities and malls. We distributed 150 hard copies to various participants ranging from young to elderly people from different occupations representing Bahrain. Hard copies were given by hand to patients who visited Bahraini medical centres during the data collection period, which lasted for one month. For qualitative data collection, we used two tools: paper and pencil interviewing and computer-assisted self-interviewing. We chose a random sampling method, which is found to be appropriate and enable researchers to include many different patients for the required research sample. World Health Organization (2006) indicated that Bahrain's population is about 1,248,348, which includes 235,108 non-Bahrainis. The sample we chose includes Bahraini and non-Bahraini, as they are all potential e-health system adopters when it is implemented, which will affect the adoption process.\nData analysis: Respondent profile\nResults and discussion: Individual trust in e-health systems could be attributed to patients who have a positive attitude and low HL; they are, therefore, expected to be given and have accurate information. Attitude and HL are in concordance with the previous research (Beenkens, 2011). Unfortunately, the influences pertaining to SNs and CA on intention to accept e-health still cannot be determined. The findings pertaining to CA and subject norms in our study are unclear. In contrast, Karsh (2004) and Hart (2009) found that CA and social influences (SNs) positively and significantly affect the individual's intention towards e-health systems. Wills et al. (2008) and Venkatesh and Morris (2000) provided a further explanation on the insignificant influence for the SNs variable, which is in line with our research findings. Social norms appeared to be significant and have positive effects when regressed against variables such as age, gender, and experience, but no other variables. We believe that e-health is still new in the Kingdom of Bahrain and most patients do not know that it has been implemented. Regarding CA, a possible explanation could be that e-health systems deal with an individual's life, therefore, we think that individual enthusiasm and excitement may result from low CA. Moreover, Beenkens (2011) concluded that it is not easy to predict the patient's intention to adopt e-health using CA.\nConclusion: At a local level, we provide valuable data that can be used for implementing the Bahraini's e-health system. We conclude that needs and attitudes may simplify an easy way to use e-health systems. On a wider scale, our study provides important findings for modelling patients' behaviour and their attitudes towards e-health. We tested the System Acceptance Model that hypothesises individual acceptance towards using systems. We suggest that the integrated acceptance model is suitable for observing users' e-health system acceptance (Gartrell et al., 2015). The proposed model has been validated and offers a structure for future research with different user populations. We faced challenges throughout this study, such as an absent financial sponsor. We were motivated because this research is the first to Bahrain' e-health study, which may present an interesting opportunity for additional research. Meanwhile, more developed technologies will be released in hospitals/clinics and adopted by patients, which represent an opportunity for additional study that examines other e-health issues, promises and challenges. Having more private or public sector health centres that implement e-health systems in all their activities and processes would be taken into account. Finally, having a wider scope that includes more Bahraini hospitals and clinics helps doctors to be more experienced when using the I-Seha system, which will also lead to encouraging the patients to use it. For future research, we recommend focusing on the e-health system's internal users such as doctors, nurses and pharmacists. Follow-up studies with user interviews and questionnaires will help us to understand their needs in more detail. Future research could also add more user groups, such as managers. The eHAM could be tested in other places to ascertain whether attitudes vary by care setting and in different contexts. We need to discuss the factors affecting e-health system adoption from an individual perspective. To have a successful e-health adoption, nurses, pharmacists, among others, should have enough awareness about e-health concepts and practices (Gartrell et al., 2015).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether Bahraini individuals accept e-health system and the prominent factors affecting e-health system adoption in Bahrain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors adopted a quantitative and qualitative approach, i.e., a self-administered questionnaire, unstructured and a semi-structured interview, which were used to collect the data. A questionnaire was distributed to Bahraini residents selected randomly. The framework was based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of reasoned action (TRA). Important variables from both the TAM model and TRA theory were extracted and jointly used to build the research model.\nFindings: The findings indicated that the most factors affecting e-health adoption are trust, health literacy and attitude. Additionally, people in the private and government sectors understand e-health benefits.\nPractical implications: If healthcare professionals understand the factors affecting e-health system adoption from an individual and organisational perspective, then nurses, pharmacists and others will be more conscious about e-health and its adoption status.\nOriginality/value: E-health system adoption has become increasingly important to governments, individuals, and researchers in recent years. A novel research framework, based on TAM and TRA, was used to produce a new integrated model.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Management training: benefits and lost opportunities (part I)	[ "Management training", "Management development", "Organizational performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Quite a few organizations still look at management training as a nuisance or as something that is not taken seriously ... Yet we know that an untrained manager can create real problems for an enterprise and that a properly trained manager can make a real difference. Why an organization would approach managerial training in a cavalier fashion is beyond me but we do know that people are frequently thrown into managerial positions without a lick of preparation with potentially devastating consequences (a vice president of human resources observation)!\nA research study on management training: To explore the potential benefits of effective managerial training and the negative consequences associated with poorly trained managers, we conducted a research study with 278 seasoned managers from rapidly changing organizations to solicit their input on several important questions concerning the issue of management training. Managers in this study were on average 43.6 years of age; had 13.1 years of managerial experience; operated in 16 different functional business areas; and 76 percent male, while 24 percent female. Managers were asked to answer the following open-ended questions as part of a larger survey on management education:* \"Based on your experience, what are the potential benefits of effective management training?\"* \"Based on your experience, what are the negative consequences associated with poorly trained managers?\"* \"Based on your experience why do organizations fail to properly train their managerial personnel?\"The responses to each of these survey questions were content analyzed and frequencies for each category of responses tabulated. Findings of the first two research questions are presented in Tables I and II which contain the summary of responses to each of these questions arranged in rank order of frequency, with percentages attached. Question 3 will be explored part II of this series.\nThe findings on managerial training benefits and failings: When organizations are serious about improvement they make management training a priority and good things happen ... but there are always a lot of reasons for failing to properly train managers and in the end they all lead to trouble (a general manager's observations).In reviewing the findings, we begin with a question that might cause organizations that give inadequate attention and resources to management training to reconsider their approach: What are the potential benefits of an effective management training program? A review of Table I reveals that the managers in this study identified a number of important benefits that can come from effective managerial training programs. First and foremost, was the fact that training can expose the participant to new/better ideas and business practices which are needed in rapidly changing organizations. Second, managers stated that these types of programs often motivate them to improve performance (both their own and their operation's) and can actually help them develop and improve their skills.Third, managers use these programs as opportunities for reflection, introspection and self-appraisal, as well as opportunities to identify specific performance problems or deficiencies that need work. From this perspective, management training can serve as a mirror for managers to take a serious look at their leadership/management style, as well as specific issues related to unit performance and key personnel who report to them. Fourth, effective training programs can increase a manager's confidence, help reduce a manager's stress levels and can challenge a manager to think differently about their business situation and themselves. Finally, effective training programs can encourage managers to think about their career development and can simultaneously set a good example for their subordinates who see their leaders trying to learn and improve themselves through participating in these learning initiatives.Thus, the mangers in this study made it very clear that management training programs can provide a myriad of potential benefits to both the individual manager and organizations they serve when they are done in an effective fashion. With all of these potential benefits it would be easy to conclude that organizations and their human resource leaders would and should make management training a real organizational priority. But is this the case?To dig even deeper at reasons to engage in effective management training, let us review the findings of the next research question concerning the consequences of having poorly trained management personnel: \"What are the negative consequences associated with poorly trained managers?\" A review of Table II provides us with a rather eclectic list of factors that can hurt or even destroy any enterprise operating in a competitive marketplace when management training is not taken seriously. First and foremost, when managers are not properly trained there is greater difficulty in achieving performance goals than might otherwise be the case. Poorly trained managers, who do not possess the requisite skills, damage performance at both the individual and work group level. Second, there is a loss of employee productivity at a time when most organizations are clamoring to improve efficiencies and competitors are ready to take advantage of any faltering by a competitor.Third, when managers are not properly trained a host of \"negative people issues\" emerge including a loss of teamwork/cooperation, communication breakdowns, a loss of morale and increased workplace stress. When managers are in positions of authority and are not properly trained, a loss of focus on customer needs and operational profitability can easily occur, along with increased costs and lost business opportunities. Fourth, poorly trained managers create or fail to address quality problems or allow performance barriers to continue without resolution. They may not have the ability or focus to practice continuous improvement in their operation which is sorely needed in most enterprises these days. Fifth, poorly trained managers can breed absenteeism and turnover problems (often pivotal to organizational performance), frequently ignore or break organizational policies which affect morale and productivity and can even create potentially severe legal problems/exposure for the enterprise.Finally, untrained managers who learn via trial and error often develop bad habits because they never learn the most efficient and or effective ways to deal with issues or because they misinterpret feedback they might receive from the situation. Worse yet, subordinates who are trained by these managers can also learn and develop bad habits by observing the behaviors and the decision processes of these managers. This means that at some point these bad habits must be broken and new habits developed if these managers are to survive and the organization is to prosper.If you take a step back and consider the findings we have discussed, several broad insights emerge. First, how organizational leaders really think and feel about management training and development strongly impacts the effort, level, resources and effectiveness of these activities. When management training is not a top management priority, money is not spent, the organization places an over-reliance on trail-and-error learning, and there is an unwillingness to take the time to properly train and educate its leaders. Result: under performance from an organization's key managers and negative organizational outcomes. Second, when an organization assumes its leaders are already competent and/or there is no accountability for management development, management training will not be taken seriously and handled with the attention and care it deserves. Result: lack of continuous improvement and talent development in the managerial ranks. Finally, as pointed out earlier some organizations do not make management training a priority because they believe it is the sole responsibility of the individual manager. Result: uncoordinated, potentially inefficient and piece-meal self-directed efforts at filling the managerial skills gap.When these philosophical beliefs are part and parcel of an organization's culture and managerial fabric, management training will not be considered a source of potential competitive advantage and the organization will treat training efforts in a cavalier fashion. These situations, in turn, can best be described as critical lost opportunities to create high performance at both the individual and organizational level.\nIn closing: Organizations that want to effectively compete in the ultra-competitive business environment of the twenty-first century must pay careful attention to management training. A managerial training system should be incorporated into the corporate culture if an organization wishes to avoid the negative individual and organizational consequences caused by ineffective training practices (Longenecker et al., 1998b). Effective training requires knowledge, time, and discipline, and is best achieved when managers at all levels and HR managers function in unison to achieve the common goal to create a high performance management work force. Training must be planned and budgeted for all managers, regardless of level, and must be a top management priority. Those involved in management training should be recognized and rewarded for their participation in this critical activity.As we close Part I of this two-part series, we pose a critical question for you to consider prior to our reporting and exploring of this data in the next segment, \"Given the benefits of effective management training and the negative consequences associated with poorly trained managers, why do organizations fail to properly train managers?\"\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper explores the benefits of effective management training and consequences of ineffective training programs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Seasoned managers (278) working in rapidly changing organizations were surveyed on issues related to management training.\nFindings: - Content analyses revealed a number of specific benefits associated with management training. Conversely, managers identified a series of problems caused by ineffective management training.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Generalization of these findings to non-rapidly changing organizations is unclear.\nPractical implications: - Findings suggest that the effectiveness of management training has a significant impact on managerial and organizational performance.\nOriginality/value: - This paper voices the concerns and observations about managerial training from seasoned managers in rapidly changing organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leveraging collective intelligence: from univocal to multivocal representation of cultural heritage	[ "Crowdsourcing", "Collective intelligence", "User-generated content", "Cultural heritage crowdsourcing", "Foucault’s power–knowledge construct", "Representation of cultural expressions" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the era of pervasive internet technologies, users learn to exploit the potential of networked communication to impact cultural production and knowledge consumption and participate in what Levy (2000) described as collective intelligence. Levy argued that the network should \"mobilize and coordinate the intelligence, experience, skills, wisdom, and imagination of humanity.\" In this rather utopian view of collaborative culture, he suggested that we are moving away from \"the Cartesian cogito\" - I think, therefore I am - \"to cogitamus\" - we think, so we are. Thus, he argues, knowledge \"ceases to be the object of established fact and becomes a project\" in which \"[f]ar from merging individual intelligence into some indistinguishable magma, collective intelligence is a process of growth, differentiation, and the mutual revival of singularities\" (p. 17). Echoing Levy (2000), Surowiecki (2005) applies Simon's (1997) concept of bounded rationality, i.e., rational choice that takes into account the cognitive limitations of both knowledge and computational capacity in the individual's judgments and decision making Surowiecki argues that \"when our imperfect judgments are aggregated in the right way, our collective intelligence is often excellent\" (p. ix). Most importantly, he contends that the success of crowd intelligence is grounded on the conceptual and cognitive diversity of the crowd: \"Ultimately, diversity contributes not just by adding different perspectives to the group but also by making it easier for individuals to say what they really think\" (p. 39).\nHarnessing collective intelligence: Howe (2006) coined the term crowdsourcing to describe a new internet-based model to harness the creative solutions of a distributed network of individuals and defined crowdsourcing as \"the act of a company or institution taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call (para. 4). The crowdsourced labor market is analogous to a distributed computing system, with each worker equivalent to a processor that can solve a problem requiring human intelligence (Kittur et al., 2013). Bal et al. (1989) suggest that the main reasons for running an application on a distributed computing system are high speed through parallelism, high reliability through replication of processes and data, and functional specialization. Traditionally, crowd work comprised small, independent and standardized tasks that accommodated simple and small-scale work, but the concept now embraces larger dimensions in terms of both number of participants and scope of work, raising the issue of management. Kittur et al. (2013) identify two main features common to organizational behavior and distributed computing that could potentially benefit the future of crowd work: managing shared resources and managing producer/consumer and task/subtask relationships. Managing shared resources involves assignment of a pool of workers to multiple tasks that must be completed under a deadline, which is similar to mapping the task to the processor and governing the task partitioning process in distributed computing systems. The management of producer/consumer and task/subtask relationships requires arranging the task's sequences to ensure its completion in a timely manner.\nPower-knowledge construct in representation and organization: Traditionally, cultural heritage institutions have utilized conventional systems and standards of knowledge representation and organization, such as classification systems, subject headings and metadata schemas to ensure consistency in practice. For instance, a classification scheme \"establishes the physical parameters of the domain and ensures the meaning of each term [...] is not susceptible to the vagaries of natural language\" (Jacob, 2001, p. 87). Mai (2004), however, argues that classification is \"relative in the sense that no classification can be argued to be a representation of the true structure of knowledge\" because \"classification is merely one particular explanation of the relationships in a given field that satisfies a group of people at a certain point in time\" (p. 41). All systems of knowledge representation and organization thus exhibit biases because these systems are derivatives of particular times, places and worldviews, and they typically favor a prevailing mainstream perspective (e.g. Green, 2015; Olson and Schlegl, 2001). For example, Doyle (2006) observes that indigenous peoples in the USA have been marginalized in universal knowledge organization systems \"through historicization, omission, lack of specificity, lack of relevance and lack of recognition of sovereign nations\" (p. 437). As a result, indigenous peoples have had to acknowledge their effective marginalization by using inaccurate and imprecise organizations of documents and subject headings or by collecting their own items in \"smaller, flexible, sometimes ephemeral, private offline and online locations\" (Duarte and Belarde-Lewis, 2015, p. 679). Research on cataloguing feminist materials and materials for women illustrates that the existing standards include sexist terminology and situate topics in uncongenial contexts with a sexist effect (Olson, 2013, p. 9). Olson (2013) also argues that, classification standards have three common problems in representing women and women's issues: women are treated as deviations from a masculine norm, women's issues are isolated and therefore ghettoized, or women's issues are omitted altogether.\nDesigning a crowd site for cultural heritage: Ensuring open access to crowdsourced collections requires reconsideration of the traditional authoritative approach of strict adherence to established systems and best practices and standards, which is intended to safeguard the quality of representation and organization of the information. In this regard, the power that is centralized in such panoptical designs (Foucault, 1977) as, for example, Flick Commons projects, allows the crowd only to view and tag data while maintaining institutional authority over the whole process of representation and organization. Thus, even though cultural heritage institutions' crowdsourcing projects provide rich opportunities for engagement with collections, crowd contributions remain largely unintegrated with the participating agencies' systems of representation and organization and therefore less accessible (Dijkshoorn et al., 2017). According to Foucault's conceptualization of panoptical power as pervasive in our culture, in this way contributors' work is absorbed into the perspective of the panopticon, so their contributions reproduce the power-knowledge dynamics in which they are situated by unidirectional control, and the will of the centralized authority prevails. As an alternative, a crowdsourcing model that allows users not only to transcribe but also to actively review, edit and evaluate the data's completeness and accuracy would create a new multifaceted dynamic of representation and organization and greatly enrich their quality. Such as model would provide platforms that facilitate collaboration among volunteers, allowing expert and motivated volunteers to work hand-in-hand with less experienced volunteers to generate the quality vocabulary that would enrich representations. This approach offers the possibility of rethinking and bridging the traditional dichotomy between production and consumption of cultural heritage while avoiding the generation of representations that will be of little to no use at very high cost.\nConclusions: The emergence of internet technologies has vastly transformed and enriched cultural heritage institutions by providing opportunities to move beyond physical locations and make rich collections available in the digital realm. However, cultural heritage institutions also face the need to develop strategies and techniques that would enhance representation, organization and discovery of cultural heritage expressions. Several cultural heritage institutions have utilized crowd intelligence to make their collections more visible and accessible in existing communities of active internet users, such as Flickr. However, considering the pace at which digital information is generated, these institutions could benefit greatly from combining efforts both to create effective techniques of data processing and to utilize the efforts of committed volunteers to provide rich representation and organization of cultural expressions that would enhance its findability and use. Most importantly, sociotechnical environments should be nurtured to fully reap the benefits of not only the capabilities of advanced technologies but also the knowledge and commitment of active contributors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: After reviewing cultural heritage institutions; crowdsourcing initiatives and tension between univocal and multivocal views of those who interact with cultural expressions, this paper argues that to support vibrant and effective crowdsourcing communities while ensuring the quality of the work of crowdsourcing project volunteers it is essential to reevaluate and transform the traditional univocal, top-down approach to representation and organization. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper applies Foucault's power-knowledge construct and theories of representation to the processes and practices employed in cultural heritage crowdsourcing projects.\nFindings: Viewed through the Foucauldian lens, cultural heritage professionals are regarded as active parts of the power-knowledge relationship due to their direct engagement in the representation, organization and dissemination of knowledge, exercised not only through the traditional role of cultural heritage institutions as gatekeepers of knowledge but, more importantly, through the power of representation and organization of the cultural heritage.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides a theoretical understanding of cultural heritage crowdsourcing initiatives and proposes a framework for multivocal representation of cultural heritage expressions in which the voices of volunteers have the same validity as the voices of cultural heritage professionals.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Change management in Indo-Japanese cross-cultural collaborative contexts: Parallels between traditional Indian philosophy and contemporary Japanese management	[ "Motivation", "Employee engagement", "Indian management", "Cross-cultural change management", "Indo-Japanese spiritual values", "Japanese management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Despite its economic growth, foreign investors are finding it difficult to make money in India (Saranga et al., 2017). Among other factors, organization performance is determined by employee performance (Almatrooshi et al., 2016). It is long recognized that a firm's current and potential human resources are important considerations in the development and execution of its strategic business plan (Huselid, 1995; Schuler and Macmillan, 1984). Further, Gupta and Bhaskar (2016) found that it is imperative that multinational companies (MNCs) understand India culturally in order to be successful.\nCultural dimensions and change management: Classical thinking in strategic management holds that organizations change in order to maintain a fit between the organization, its strategy and the environmental landscape in which it competes (Andrews, 1971; Hughes and Morgan, 2008; Zajac et al., 2000). Despite this, the research indicates that managers and organizations are not universally open to change, even in the context of significant environmental upheaval (e.g. Covin et al., 1997; Fox-Wolfgramm et al., 1998; Hambrick et al., 1993; Hughes et al., 2010). Rather, managers develop, or have, strong commitment to existing policies and profiles which impedes changes to organizational systems, practices and strategies (Geletkanycz, 1997).\nProblem perception in the Indo-Japanese context: Management practice may be argued as little more than an elaboration, and to some obfuscation, of the universal attributes of managing everyday life (Knights and Willmott, 1999, p. 127). Thus, to the extent that management is part of life, philosophy can be expected to influence management behaviour. Consequently, the everyday nature and impact of values operating in workplaces, especially in a cross-cultural context, is imperative for managing change and has sustained longstanding interest (Jackson, 2004; Moran et al., 2014).\nBuddhism and Indian philosophy: implications for managing change in an Indo-Japanese collaborative setting: The argument has laid the preliminary ground in relation to prevailing values, clans, beliefs and communities both generally and in the Indo-Japanese context. The next stage of the paper probes deeper into the sources and nature of specific traditional Indian, and by relation, Japanese Buddhist values, and considers how these impact on change management. Prabhavananda and Manchester (1981) explain that the words of Buddha are consistent with the teachings of traditional Indian philosophy found in the Upanishads (p. 169):[...] it is easy to misinterpret him (Buddha) as denouncing the Vedic religion, whereas in fact he only brought to light the truth that religion does not lie in mastering the Vedas or other sacred books, but in realizing the spiritual life in one's own soul. This truth, as a matter of fact, is made manifest in the Vedas themselves - that the spiritual life cannot be attained by mere study of the Vedas, but by following their teachings, that is by living righteously, and by becoming aware of the light within one's own heart. [...] Buddha taught no new religion; rather he restated and reinterpreted the ancient and genuine Vedic faith, infusing new spirit.\nMethodology: Reflecting the legacy of Magala, Boje and Perez (2016) and their contribution to the cross-cultural field, especially support for the use of narratives, including storytelling, as a research methodology, Garcia and Gluesing (2013) recommend the use of qualitative methods in international organizational change research.\nFindings: Theme 1: long-term thinking\nDiscussion: At the end of the review of extant literature, there was sufficient cause to accept conceptually that there are significant conceptual parallels between traditional Indian philosophy and Japanese management methods. The contribution can be diagrammatically shown as follows:\nPractical implications: These findings have important practical implications for both Indian and Japanese managers. Explaining Japanese management (including its peculiarities as perceived by the west) from a Japanese perspective would make the peculiarities seem foreign; however, if it can be explained in cultural terms that Indians are at home with, it becomes easier to assimilate and adopt. This is quite similar to how Buddhism got accepted in China as recounted by De Bary and Hurvitz (1972):The fourth to fifth century Chinese author and apologist for Buddhism Mou Tzu (exact date unknown, sic) was once asked by a sceptic why Mou Tzu referred to pre-Buddhist Tao and Confucian classics to give a rationalization for Buddhism. To which Mou Tzu replied, \"I have quoted those things sir, which I knew you would understand. Had I preached the words of the Buddhist scriptures [...] it would have been like speaking to the blind man of the five colors or playing the five sounds to a deaf man\"(p. 133).\nConclusion: Though not all lessons from The Gita are found fully pervasive in modern Japanese management behaviour, the review of literature juxtaposed with the narratives from lived experience participant observations provide convincing findings that traditional Indian philosophy is relevant not only to management in general, but indeed is found to be well practised in contemporary Japanese management in concrete terms such as gambarimasu, equanimity, harmony, long-termism, Nemawashi and Ringi. The common ground of Buddhist traditions in Indian and Japanese thoughts have been demonstrated above as providing valuable material for managing change contexts in an effective and performative manner. This unseen, yet shared value system, in the workplace infuses change actions and patterns which are occurring in daily business interactions. Rather than allay spirituality at the point of entering work, rather the conjoined nature, and confluence, of Indo-Japanese values catalyses and enhances change management initiatives as so much is shared between the respective cultures. This paper has thus worked to enhance understanding of this cross-cultural change management issue, useful to both academic theory developments as well as foreign investors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Within the globalized commercial context, Japanese business activity in India has increased significantly. The purpose of this paper is to highlight common attitudinal traits that would facilitate orientation of Indian executives towards Japanese management methods through, for instance \"reverse adaptation\", using an approach other than cultural dimensions that have emerged in recent decades and consider how these play out in change management contexts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A literature review was undertaken which found significant parallels between traditional Indian philosophy and modern Japanese management methods, inter alia long-term orientation, equanimity and Nemawashi (pre-arranged participative decision making) and shared spiritual dimensions. The paper employed a methodology of participant observation and semi-structured interview approaches contextualized through lived experience methodology (Van Manen, 2015). These events are described and analysed narratively using a blend of qualitative participant observation and reflexive critical incident review.\nFindings: The findings, by examining the confluence of Indian and Japanese management, provide an innovative avenue of research and theory for change management.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research employs an inductive methodology which employs vignettes to examine Indo-Japanese contexts. The limits to generalization are recognized within the study. The paper offers important implications on Indo-Japanese collaboration and change management.\nPractical implications: These findings have important practical implications for Indian and Japanese managers who will be able to engage better within the dynamics of the Japanese work environment in Japanese subsidiaries in India. These same insights could also potentially facilitate wider examples of working in Japanese environments, either in Japan or outside Japan. At a more general level, the findings are relevant to all foreign investors in India for enhanced employee engagement by providing insights into spiritual values of Indian managers and their impact on change management situations.\nSocial implications: There is emerging research on how traditional Indian philosophy tenets can be found in modern (western) management. This paper provides reasons, based in the extant literature, to believe that modern Japanese methods can trace their origin in Buddhist Indian philosophical thought and offer important implications for managing change.\nOriginality/value: The paper offers in-depth original insights into Indo-Japanese collaborative contexts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Costly misunderstandings - measuring and assessing a global workforce to improve performance	[ "Risk", "Competences", "Assessment", "Confidence", "Risk management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Managing health and safety and reducing the risks of errors arising from employee incompetence and misunderstanding are becoming more important for businesses. We are living in an increasingly litigious society and errors stemming from employee incompetence in industries such as transport, utilities, oil and gas and pharmaceuticals could lead to deaths, personal injuries and millions of pounds in damages and compensation claims.\nAssessment choices: There are a number of different kinds of assessments, depending on budget and resources - from observations, simulations, through to multiple choice. However, you must bear in mind a number of important considerations before evaluating these options.Observational assessments, where an assessor observes individuals as they work are popular, but they have limitations. Firstly, the assessor needs to be highly trained and understand the key things to observe. Secondly, such assessments can be resource intensive as they tend to take place as \"training days;\" interrupting normal working schedules. There is also the risk that the results will not be objective as they are reliant on the views of the assessor as well as a \"one off\" employee performance that might not reflect their best work.One of our clients Eurostar previously relied on observational assessments as part of its employee development program. The company soon found however, that all its off-track training days were becoming dedicated solely to assessments, which allowed little time for on-going training without disrupting the business. The assessments were always conducted by the same assessor, which the company felt could lead to assessment predictability and familiarity. Eurostar wanted to update and automate elements of its competency management system and commissioned us to revamp the assessments and put in place an online assessment program to replace it.We created intelligent employee assessments that measure a combination of skills, knowledge and competence by testing people in realistic work-based scenarios and asking them a series of multiple response questions. The results measure accurately not only individual knowledge but highlight knowledge gaps and potential areas of risk - where greater training and development is needed. Over a period of three years, the program assessed Eurostar's drivers and then the company decided to broaden the assessment program to include train managers, control staff, signalers and dispatch staff.By automating its assessment program, Eurostar has reduced the amount of business downtime caused by the previous assessments and training days improve its knowledge and now has complete insight of drivers' competence levels. Consequently, it has introduced highly targeted training which is tailored to the needs of individuals - thus lowering risk and improving their safety and performance.\nAssessing for competence and confidence: There are weaknesses in other forms of assessments too. Simulations and one off projects can be expensive and do not always produce the most accurate results. This is because the projects tend to be divorced from realistic working conditions and also because individuals may act differently in test situations. There are also multiple choice assessments, but they cannot always be relied on as they are susceptible to guess work.Assessments that tend to produce the most accurate results have well designed questions that are validated by occupational psychologists and meet international/national standards. The questions are mapped against the \"ideal\" competencies for every role within a company and based on realistic scenarios an employee would encounter in their job. That way the results are meaningful and highlight accurately how well a person understands aspects of their role, how they apply knowledge, their decision making and likely behavior.Good assessments measure employee knowledge and correlate this with their level of confidence, enabling managers to know just how confident employees are about the application of their knowledge and understanding in the context of their job role.Occupational psychologists can design multiple response questions which cannot be guessed. Individuals are asked to choose their answers and rate how confident they are about their choice. These measurements reveal if a person is confident about the right or wrong knowledge which can reveal knowledge gaps, training needs, inappropriate behavior and employee misunderstanding - the big risk areas. The idea is for companies to become aware of the risks so they can address them with appropriate and targeted interventions to improve performance and eliminate risk.\nApplying assessment in practice: One other industry where this approach is being used is in Utilities. Assessments aimed at improving the knowledge and competence of individuals who work on highways and roads are being delivered. One of the biggest challenges these workers face is the risk of underground service or \"cable\" strikes which can cause deaths and serious injuries, as well as lead to big compensation claims. Sixty thousand strikes are reported annually (plus others which may go unreported) and the resulting injuries, contractor penalties and the impact on a company's reputation can be substantial. This is an area where technical training courses have been delivered in the past, but failed to make an impact - the cable strike incidents kept occurring.A bespoke training and assessment program has been developed for these workers, in conjunction with our partner utilities training specialist develop training which is based on the latest behavioral training and assessment techniques. The \"Cable Avoidance Evaluation\", will help companies improve the competence, knowledge and attitudes of operatives and supervisors, by enabling them to uncover the specific training requirements and support needed to improve the competence, performance and safety of individual workers.Employees will be evaluated by taking the online assessment which will ask them in-depth multiple response questions based on the true to life situations they face in their roles. Their knowledge, confidence and attitudes will be tested in detail on topics including pre-dig assessments, utility mapping, assessing pre-existing damage, how they check and use equipment, interpret cables and pipework and methods of excavating. The results will highlight their knowledge and how confident they are in all these areas and any specific skills gaps and training needs will be revealed.\nPilot study by the Energy and Utility Skills (EU Skills) Group, UK Sector Skills Council (SSC): A pilot of this Cable Avoidance Evaluation was recently undertaken amongst cable operators of five large utilities and contractor companies who are all members of the Energy and Utility Skills Group, the UK Sector Skills Council. The assessments were designed in such a way that the \"best\" employees will be those with a very low risk score - individuals with high understanding and high confidence in each area. Those that pose the highest risk will have poor understanding, but high confidence.The assessments revealed problem areas across all five companies in specific areas including checking and using equipment, utility mapping and the interpretation of cables and pipework - with all three areas showing medium to high risk.This pilot study not only highlighted individual knowledge gaps but indicated that common problems might be occurring across the Utilities sector. Interestingly, all of the company's results when plotted onto a graph revealed similar patterns of employee understanding and confidence, but with wide variations in performance in each topic.\nSummary: These are just two examples of sectors in which the risks are high and where companies need to put in extra effort to ensure every individual is competent, confident and \"fit to practice\". For that to happen, employee training and assessments must go hand in hand.To get the most accurate and meaningful picture of employee competence, companies need to invest in intelligent employee assessments, measuring employee competence and confidence at the same time in realistic work scenarios. Managers will then get a true picture of someone's performance including their strengths, areas for development and specific training needs. When this happens, companies will not only start to reduce risk they will have a more confident workforce that is performing at its best.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The article seeks to look at the risks that companies face if employees are not competent and to discuss how different assessment methodologies can be applied to improve employee competence, performance and reduce risks. The article aims to show that employee misunderstandings can be incredibly expensive and need to be reduced. The paper aims to cite research from analyst IDC which estimates that UK businesses lose PS18.7 billion a year as a result of employee misunderstandings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The article focuses on the different forms of employee assessments that can be used ranging from observational assessments and training days through to the use of \"intelligent\" online assessments that measure competence and confidence together.\nFindings: - The paper discusses the limitations of some assessments types such as observational assessments and then highlights how intelligent assessments have been used effectively to improve employee performance and reduce risk at Eurostar and also within utilities companies.\nPractical implications: - Intelligent online assessments can be used to help companies improve their training interventions, reduce the cost of training. Importantly it enables them to pinpoint incompetence and knowledge gaps and take action to reduce the risks of costly misunderstandings.\nSocial implications: - The paper aims at creating greater safety for society.\nOriginality/value: - The paper describes a more accurate way of assessing employees by measuring competence and confidence together.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Analysis of e-commerce transaction system's division of labor based on essential services quantity	[ "Simulation", "E-commerce", "Optimization model", "Division of labor", "Transaction efficiency" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, with the deepening application of information technology, e-commerce became a more important role in the world economic system and gradually became the new economic growth of many countries. At present, there are many different kinds of models of e-commerce, and the corresponding transaction system structures are also varied. In addition to the producers and consumers, the third-party transaction platforms, logistics service providers, payment middlemen are also important in these e-commerce models. They provide commodity circulation services to realize the trade of commodities, and we call them middlemen. Different kinds of middlemen constitute the e-commerce transaction systems (Figure 1).\n2. Transaction efficiency: 2.1 An overview of transaction costs and transaction efficiency\n3. Model building: 3.1 Problem description\n4. Simulation and analysis: We consider a transaction system with 100 middlemen. Every middleman has to decide how much resource should be distributed to four kinds of services. The prices of commodities, information services, logistics services and payment services are determined by the relationships between supplies and demands of the services in the system. The higher the supply is, the lower the price is. The higher the demand is, the higher the price is. The price functions of commodity are as follows:\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, according to the characteristics of the transaction system, we put forward the concept of essential services quantity and come up with a new definition of transaction efficiency. On this basis, we set up a decision model of middlemen's transaction services specialized production. Meanwhile we consider the influence of services' total supply and demand in the market on the prices, which makes the model more real. We simulate the middlemen's decisions to explore the effect of transaction efficiency on middlemen's division of labor and the effect of the degree of specialization economy, the price gradient and the relative equilibrium price on the results.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The division of labor of e-commerce transaction system is an important research topic. However, there is a certain disparity between the current mainstream research model and the reality, which leads to a biased result. This paper aims to find the effects of transaction efficiency on the evolution of e-commerce transaction system's division of labor and the relationships between the results and other parameters.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper puts forward a definition of transaction efficiency based on transaction services and establishes a model of middleman's specialized production decision of transaction services on this basis.\nFindings: The research results show that the transaction efficiency plays an important role on the change of middlemen's division of labor level. The degree of economic specialization, price of commodities and transaction services and other associated factors also affect middlemen's division of labor.\nOriginality/value: This paper is of great significance for evaluating the development level and forecast the development direction of e-commerce.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Opening up decision making: making sense of entrepreneur and reseller business-to-business strategies	[ "Decision making", "Strategic planning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.Mintzberg (1973) and colleagues (Langley et al., 1995) continue asking an important question on strategy -making: how do organizations make critical decisions and link them together to form strategies? Based on a review of the available literature he concluded that little systematic evidence exists about this important process, known in business as strategy-making and in government as policy-making (see Hulbert, 2003). Fortunately, since the early 1970s substantial advances have occurred in theoretical and empirical research on how and why strategy-making occurs. One research stream on strategy-making has been labeled the \"emergent stream\" approach (Nutt, 1993), whereby the researcher collects field data on many strategy-making case studies and immerses in the raw data describing each case to find the key decision making activities (e.g. Mintzberg et al., 1976; Woodside and Vyas, 1987).\nPropositions on entrepreneurial strategy-making: The four principal characteristics of the entrepreneurial mode of strategy-making proposed by Mintzberg (1973) serve as propositions distinguishing this mode of strategy-making from others (e.g. adaptive and planning modes). The following four propositions are based, in part, on Mintzberg's, 1973 statements:P1. In the entrepreneurial mode, strategy-making is dominated by the active search for new opportunities; problems are secondary and receive less attention.\nCausal mapping analysis: Causal mapping creation and analysis are mostly used as a form of content analysis that isolates the key assertions within a document that deal with causality, existence, and/or categorization. The links among decisions, activities/events, and the interactions among persons can be summarized through time within causal maps.Causal mapping can be applied to descriptive data (i.e. thick descriptions reported in case studies) on the streams of decisions and behavior occurring through the stages of formulation and implementation of new enterprises. Coding schemes developed by Axelrod (1976) with modifications by Huff et al. (1990) and Hulbert (2003) may be used to indicate causal and definitional relationships among the linkages in the causal maps; we used some of the coding categories developed by these researchers for the relationships proposed and found in entrepreneur strategy-making. The seven coding categories used here are summarized in Table I. The symbol, \"c\", for choice criterion in making a decision is the one additional category not found in the codes used by Barr et al. (1992).A \"map\" or series of related maps is then constructed by connecting specific events, decisions, and interactions of people with a symbol for the type of relationship observed. For example, consider the sentence, \"entrepreneurs search for specific opportunities, and the selection/formulation of new venture concept, to invest their energies into transforming into realities before searching for financial resources\". The linkages among activities decisions included in this sentence would be coded as follows: (search for specific opportunities) - (selection/formulation of new venture business model) - (search for financial resources).Three coders were trained to analyze several thick descriptions of cases on entrepreneur start-ups (for example of case study data used in the present study, see Follows, 1992). Following training and discussion on two of cases, the third set of codings were completed individually and tested to ascertain intercoder reliabilities. The average agreement among the three coders was a satisfactory 88 percent on the causal linkage codes assigned. Previous applications of near identical coding methods have achieved similar levels of high reliabilities (e.g. Axelrod, 1976; Barr et al., 1992).Following training and the establishment of intercoder reliability, all three coders were assigned to code a fourth case description on entrepreneur behavior, the Millie Hand Cooked Potato Chip case (Follows, 1992). The average intercoder reliability for the Millie case was 92 percent. Working separately, the three judges were also asked to provide a parsimonious map that further summarized the key concepts and links in the Millie Case. The three judges then worked jointly to combine their three summary maps into the one described in the results section.After testing for intercoder reliability and developing the parsimonious, summary, map. The three judges also worked together to combine their three detailed maps of the stages found in entrepreneur behavior in the Millie case. In developing their individual maps the three judges had concluded that three stages had occurred in the Millie case: start-up, growth, and demise.Finally, the three judges worked as a team to evaluate 17 decision areas in each of the three stages. A seven-level evaluation system was used ranging from: \"!!!\" for a remarkably effective decision/event to \"???\" for a disastrous decision/event. Because the evaluation assignments were made knowing the outcomes of the decisions and events, the assignments were made with few disagreements among the judges; disagreements were settled by discussion and consensus. Having the judges make evaluation assignments individually and testing for interceder reliability would be an improvement on this method.\nThe Millie Case: The \"Millie's Hand Cooked Potato Chips\" case is an undisguised thick description of entrepreneur behavior covering a five-year period, 1984 through 1988. Brian Shore was the entrepreneur who founded the company in 1984. Sales of the Millie hatched cooked chips (versus continuous cooked chips offered by larger competitors) increased from $500,000 to $3 million during the brief life of the firm.Limitations\nA generic causal-map model of one category of entrepreneur behavior: Figure 1 is the summary map developed by the three judges and based on their individual summary maps of the Millie case. Note that this summary map does reflect most of the defining propositions described as representative of entrepreneur behavior. For example, the first box in the map verifies the sixth proposition that most entrepreneurs have a history of starting several new ventures that fail.In Figure 1, search and venture concept formulation is shown as leading steps before funding search. This sequence fits the fifth proposition and what Stevenson et al. (1998, p. 7) focus on to define \"entrepreneurship as a behavioral phenomenon\". The appearance of box 14, unrealistic sales growth forecasts, is a concept that may often appear in entrepreneur causal maps; this concept may be an outcome of the fourth proposition that growth, not efficiency, is the dominant goal of the entrepreneurial organization; thus, the entrepreneur is focused on growth in sales volume, not cost control or profits. The rapid increase in costs reported in box 13 reflects the lack of cost control of the fifth proposition.Of course, empirically testing of the eight propositions is not possible based on a summary of one case. However, the summary presented in Figure 1 serves to illustrate that several propositions representative of entrepreneur behavior are likely to occur in causal maps of such behavior. Testing for the occurrence of each proposition is possible using large sample sizes of entrepreneur case studies (e.g. n>100). To test the eighth proposition on transforming entrepreneur to planning modes of strategy-making would require case samples to include successes and failures that extend through long time periods, for example, five to ten years of life for each case.\nDetailed causal map of entrepreneur start-up, growth, and demise: Start-up\nEvaluation of outcomes of 17 decisions areas across the three stages: Table II includes the summaries of the three judges' outcome evaluations of 17 decision areas. Note that between the start-up to the demise stages that a shift does occur in the number of decision areas be judged very good to very bad, for example, product design decisions shift from very good (box 6 in Figure 2) to remarkably good (box 1 in Figure 3) to very bad (box 15 at the end of Figure 3) between the three stages.Note also in Table II that the pricing strategy was judged very bad consistently across the three stages. Evidently, Mr Shore did not consider that the selected target market of young, upwardly mobile, professionals, might be willing to pay a higher price for a better tasting with all \"natural ingredients\". Most likely, the high-cost, low-price, strategy for the Millie chip helped the firm move to a negative cash flow and a lower quality image in customers' minds, than would have been achieved with the product's price being above competitors' prices.By the close of the company, only the outcomes associated with the packaging were considered positively. The outcomes of all other decision areas shifted negatively or remained negative. In Table II, decision area outcomes indicated by both an exclamation point and question mark (!?) are to indicate that the outcome contains both positive and negative outcomes. For example, product quality is unique in the start-up and growth stages, but might have been made substantially better with some consumer taste tests of alternative recipes.\nImplications for research on opening up decision research: Causal mapping may be used to both develop theoretical models of sets of propositions about processes representative of manufacturing entrepreneur strategy-making. Such deductively developed processes may be tested by comparing their predictions of the presence and sequence of decisions, events, and interactions of people with causal maps of actual entrepreneur behavior.Large size samples of thick descriptions of real-life entrepreneur cases may serve as databases for developing empirical causal maps. Such large scale studies on decision processes are appearing in the literature of organization science. As such, causal mapping analysis represents a tool useful in case study research and theory construction from such case study data and such analysis deserves wider use among researchers desiring to opening up research in decision making.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Aims to map business-to-business strategic actions to illustrate how manufacturers and resellers of new fast moving consumer goods interact when responding to environmental feedback to their decisions and to assess the effectiveness of alternative implemented decisions in assisting organizational growth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This report presents a detailed example of causal mapping analysis for a manufacturing entrepreneurial case study; the example covers processes linking events, decisions, and activities in business start-up, growth, and failure of the enterprise.\nFindings: - For the case study illustrating the mapping approach, between the start-up to the demise stages a shift does occur in the number of decision areas judged very good to very bad; for example, product design decisions shift from very good to remarkably good to very bad among the three stages. Pricing strategy was judged very bad consistently across the three stages.\nResearch limitations/implications: - For research on entrepreneur behavior, additional work on inter-coder reliability is needed to confirm the consistency of both creating concepts and coding linkages in such maps. Detailed causal maps are needed in large samples of entrepreneur case studies to test the propositions. The application presented here is exploratory only. Causal mapping analysis represents a tool useful in case study research and theory construction from such case study data and such analysis deserves wider use among researchers desiring to open up research in decision making.\nOriginality/value: - What really is happening and why? To help in answering, mapping thought-decisions-outcome dynamics over several stages of new product innovation and diffusion occurring among manufacturers and resellers provides an explicit sensemaking approach for executives.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Rotten apples in the top jobs: Bosses come in several shades of "bad"	[ "Behaviour", "CEOs", "Corporate governance", "Employees", "Ethics", "Human resources" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: John was the best sales director the company had ever had. He'd worked his way up from the sales force and now headed a team of men who either appreciated or tolerated his gruff, profane, \"man's man\" approach to them and their targets. The chairman and the board accepted his \"rough diamond\" persona. Loveable he wasn't but they loved the business he brought in.\nReckless executives guilty of colossal failure: Some bosses hide themselves away, burying themselves in statistics and reports, rather than developing workable strategies and adopting practices to get the best out of the workforce. Some bosses take too little advice and help from fellow directors or from subordinates - they might claim to be open to the opinions of others but then you find they just don't listen. Other bosses take too much advice and fail in sorting out the do-able from the detritus, the jewels from the junk.Some bosses tick all the \"how to be a good boss\" boxes but become victims of circumstance (economic recession being one such circumstance), and find themselves heading a once-great company which is haemorrhaging profits and market share. Despite their skills in previously running a successful business and in attracting and retaining talented staff, they are viewed as a liability. They can either harness all those skills and - with a bit of luck - turn the company around, or they can be fired and tarnished with the adjective \"bad\". Many a good man (and woman) has had that experience.Then you have the reckless bosses who, in retrospect, make you think \"How on earth did they get the job and what on earth did they think they were doing?\" Reckless is the word used to describe three top HBOS bankers who, according to the UK's Banking Standards Commission, were guilty of a colossal failure of management. The commission's report into the bank's catastrophic collapse said: \"The primary responsibility for the downfall of HBOS should rest with Sir James Crosby, architect of the strategy that set the course for disaster, with Andy Hornby, who proved unable or unwilling to change course, and Lord Stevenson, who presided over the bank's board from its birth to its death. Lord Stevenson, in particular, has shown himself incapable of facing the realities of what placed the bank in jeopardy from that time until now.\"\nCompany crumbling beneath their feet of clay: And the rotten apples aren't just in banking or in large organizations. They can be found in many sectors of business and in organizations of all sizes. There is a widely accepted view that ineffective top bosses should be forced out of office - not as a result of a company crumbling beneath their feet of clay, but before they do irreparable damage. When considering why this is often not done, we should remember that the people who would have to do the firing are possibly long-time associates - maybe golfing buddies - of the inept CEO. Maybe they think their own jobs might come under the spotlight.The existence of bad bosses out there isn't a secret. Neither are they an exception or an insignificant minority. There are plenty of them and people are talking about the situation. Just type in the words bad and bosses for an internet search and you'll be confronted with such tempting advice as* How to fire your bad boss;* Three steps to break up with your nightmare boss* Five ways to avoid being a bad boss;* Ten signs you've got a bad boss;* Eleven habits of highly ineffective managers;* Twelve characteristics of a bad boss;* Thirteen worst bosses of all time;* Fourteen horror stories about the world's worst bosses;* Nineteen tips on how to defend yourself against a bad boss; or* Have a bad boss? Treat him like a toddler.Inevitably some of the overwhelming amounts of advice on offer are more serious that others. One notable - and serious - survey, conducted among a thousand British workers on behalf of management consultancy Inspiring Business Performance (IBP), found that one in three bosses (35 per cent) behave badly, with 11 per cent \"bad\" or \"despicable\". In total, 12 per cent said their boss has displayed inappropriate behavior in the last 12 months, mainly bad language, bullying, lying and breaching confidentially. The researchers say British workers feel it is time their bosses cleaned up their act.According to the survey, British workplaces are rife with bad leader stereotypes such as Hitler and TV character David Brent but good ones too. However, UK workers seem less keen on having visionary bosses such as Richard Branson, preferring those who are good at team building.\nThe financial cost that shouldn't be ignored: IBP managing director John Telfer says: \"While not every boss in the country is bad there are clearly a good number of rotten apples as well as people that need more help to be a good boss. While it's fun to make comparisons between badly-behaved bosses and well-known characters, the reality is less funny. There's a financial cost that shouldn't be ignored as workers become less productive. Measuring bosses' behavior and its impact on the bottom line is vital for companies looking to maintain profitability and growth in the future British workers are often the source of valuable information and management need to gather these opinions and see what it tells them about how they treat their people and what they can do to make improvements.\"Terry Leap, a professor of management at Clemson University, USA, says: \"Observers are often amazed when executives with impressive track records are mysteriously transformed into corrupt and tyrannical monsters once they become CEOs. In truth, some rising executives often had serious character flaws that were either hidden or ignored for years.\"He says that corporate boards and search committees are not likely to detect personality problems of promising CEO candidates simply by examining their resumes or by conducting standard job interviews. \"This raises the question of how corporate boards or CEO search committees can penetrate the facade of an upwardly mobile executive who is, in reality, a wolf in sheep's clothing.\"One of Oscar Wilde's characters thought it absurd to divide people into good and bad, saying \"People are either charming or tedious.\" Experience in the business world forces us to disagree. It tells us that even charming (or tedious) bosses have the potential to be exceedingly bad at what they do.\nComment: This review is based on \"When bad people rise to the top\" by Terry Leap, \"Can P&G's CEO hang on?\" by Jennifer Reingold with Doris Burke, and \"Bosses behaving badly\" by John Telfer.Professor Terry Leap, author of \"Dishonest Dollars: the Dynamics of White-Collar Crime\", identifies danger signals to help corporate boards and search committees reduce the likelihood of hiring a dysfunctional CEO.Senior Editor at Fortune Magazine Jennifer Reingold reports (with Doris Burke) on the struggles which have faced consumer-goods giant Procter &Gamble and asks if a subsequent improvement in the company's fortunes would be enough to save the job of CEO Bob McDonald.John Telfer, Managing Director of UK-based management consultancy Inspiring Business Performance, suggests ways in which bad leadership behavior, that can have a detrimental impact on an organization's profitability, can be tackled.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - Business is riddled with bad bosses. Some are greedy, egotistical or corrupt, some merely ineffective or incompetent, while others display inappropriate behavior towards employees. So what can be done about it?\nPractical implications: - The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Triggers and inhibitors of illegitimate customer complaining behavior: Anecdotes from frontline employees in the hospitality industry	[ "Frontline employees", "Hospitality industry", "ICCB (illegitimate customer complaining behavior)", "ICCB incidents", "ICCB inhibitors", "ICCB triggers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Customer complaint is a pervasive consumer behavior and a global phenomenon in the hospitality industry (Baker et al., 2012). Many hospitality businesses are among the advocates of \"the customer is always right\" and encourage customers to voice their dissatisfactory experiences. However, hospitality businesses' keenness to put the customer first can sometimes backfire. Anecdotes from the hospitality industry show that it is not uncommon for some customers to complain for illegitimate reasons. The illegitimate, dishonest or unreasonable complaining behavior is referred to as illegitimate customer complaining behavior (hereafter \"ICCB\") in the consumer literature. Unlike legitimate customer complaints that almost always result from service failures, illegitimate complaints occur for various reasons but are not limited to customer dissatisfaction. In many cases, illegitimate complainers deliberately fabricate problems even though they are satisfied with the service (Jacoby and Jaccard, 1981). For example, a customer returns to a restaurant to complain that he/she is not happy with the taste of the food he/she ordered and consumed in the restaurant a week ago and claims a refund.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Illegitimate complaining\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data collection\n4. Findings: Data analysis procedures lead to the final findings of ICCB in the hospitality industry from the perspective of frontline employees. Specifically, the types of ICCB incidents, triggering factors of ICCB and inhibitors of ICCB are presented in this section.\n5. The model of ICCB triggers and inhibitors: Based on the analysis of 26 in-depth interviews with frontline employees, a conceptual model that summarizes the findings regarding ICCB triggers and inhibitors is proposed. Figure 3 illustrates the model. Four propositions associated with the model are discussed below.\n6. Conclusions and discussions: This study examined ICCB in the hospitality industry from the lens of frontline employees. Data from the in-depth personal interviews revealed seven types of behavioral manifestation of ICCB in hospitality businesses, which are ignoring, exhorting, whining, backtracking, dictating, fabricating and scheming, in the order of the severity of illegitimacy of the behaviors (from low to high). In addition, this study showed that, from the perspective of frontline employees, illegitimate complaints are triggered by three layers of forces (individual, organizational and environmental). The research also identified several factors that inhibit ICCB as perceived by frontline employees, which are regular patronage, high morals and business travel. A conceptual framework of ICCB and four propositions were developed, delineating different influences of triggers and inhibitors on ICCB and the dynamics between them.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The study aims to investigate the illegitimate customer complaining behavior (ICCB) in the hospitality industry from the perspective of frontline employees. In particular, this study identified ICCB incidents, ICCB triggering factors and inhibitors in the hospitality industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative research approach was adopted in this study by using in-depth personal interviews. Twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with frontline employees who had first-hand experiences with ICCB in the hospitality industry. The interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed following the procedures of open coding, axial coding and selective coding.\nFindings: Analysis of the qualitative data has revealed 7 types of ICCB incidents, 11 ICCB triggering factors and 3 ICCB inhibitors in the hospitality industry, as perceived by frontline employees. The study also proposed a multiple-layer model of ICCB triggers and inhibitors based on the results. Four propositions are developed delineating three layers of driving forces and the dynamics between ICCB triggers and inhibitors that exert joint effects on ICCB.\nResearch limitations/implications: Impacts of various cultural settings, different hospitality business settings (hotels vs restaurants) and profile information of frontline employees on ICCB need to be examined in future research.\nOriginality/value: Findings of this study contribute to the customer complaining literature and the hospitality service management literature by offering the frontline employees' perspective of ICCB. Hospitality businesses can benefit from this study by using the research findings to develop more effective company policies and training programs to recognize, monitor and resolve ICCB incidents.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How QR codes permit access to key information: An effective tool to enhance mobile learning	[ "Nursing", "Mobile learning", "Technology", "QR codes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Jack Welch once remarked that learning which translates into action is the best way to achieve lasting competitive advantage. The massive onus now placed on learning suggests that many firms have taken the words of the former General Electric CEO on board.\nMany ways to learn: These are sure exciting times where learning is concerned. The number of options available illustrates that training is no longer confined to traditional methods. Consequently, it is much easier to tailor programs to cater for a range of styles and preferences.\nQR codes: Technological advancement is a critical factor in the effectiveness of these learning approaches. Quick response (QR) codes are an ideal example of how technology can be used to facilitate learning. These codes have been around for the last couple of decades and have made their mark in a variety of contexts.\nToward effective learning in a healthcare context: However, research into the use of QR codes in medical and nursing education is minimal thus far. But the limited studies carried out noted some potential issues and identified factors that might enable wider usage and greater effectiveness. Technical problems and doubts over both quality and quantity of information were the main concerns raised. In one National Health Service (NHS) hospital in the UK, skills, behavior, and equipment issues meant that QR codes were not yet fully operational.\nComment: The review is based on: \"QR codes as mobile learning tools for labor room nurses at the San Pablo Colleges Medical Center\" by Maria Rowena Del Rosario-Raymundo. How QR codes can be used to enhance learning is explored in considerable detail here. The article incorporates a hospital-based case study to show how QR codes permit nursing practitioners to quickly access key information needed to improve patient care and increase learning. Factors that can increase the effectiveness of QR codes are identified, along with potential impediments.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: Technology has enabled many new ways of learning. One example is Quick Response (QR) codes in which information is encoded and stored for quick access when needed. This methodology has considerable scope to enhance mobile learning because of its just-in-time characteristic. Learners can more readily find appropriate information that is presented in a concise format. However, successful implementation of QR codes requires users to have access to a capable mobile device that is equipped with an up-to-date operating system and a camera. This will aid the scanning process as will a fast and reliable internet connection.\nPractical implications: The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Optimal CBM policy with two sampling intervals	[ "Long-run average cost minimization", "Optimal maintenance policy", "Proportional hazards model", "Semi-Markov decision process", "Two sampling intervals" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The systems used in manufacturing and industry operations can be generally in two different states, namely, the working state and the failure state. Systems start working in a good condition or in as-good-as-new state, but with the increasing operating time and wear they deteriorate and may fail if they are not preventively replaced or renewed. When the system fails, expensive corrective actions must be performed to bring it back to the working state and the system is unavailable during the repair time which reduces considerably its productivity.\n2. Problem description: We consider a deteriorating system which is subject to random failures. The system's failure rate depends on the system's age as well as on the values of a covariate process denoted by {Zt, t0} which describes the degradation of the system. The PHM framework is considered, i.e., the system's hazard rate depends on a baseline hazard rate function denoted by h0(t) which solely depends on the system's age, and a positive function denoted by ps(Zt) which depends on the covariate process only. Typically, the baseline hazard function is assumed to follow a Weibull distribution, and {Zt} is considered to be a continuous-time Markov chain with a 0 initial value, i.e., Z0=0. The system's hazard rate function at time t can be represented based on the following expression:(1)\n3. Computational algorithm in the SMDP framework: As stated previously, we start monitoring the system with longer sampling interval, D1. We compute the hazard rate using Equation (6) supposing that the system has not failed at sampling epoch n1D1 which means that x>n1D1. We partition the state space of the hazard rate (i.e. [0, U]) into K subintervals, where U is considered as a maximum of the hazard rate which is computed considering that the system deterioration process {Zt} is in the largest state.\n4. Numerical example: The proposed computational procedure is illustrated with a numerical example in this section. We use a real set of data from a fleet of heavy hauler truck transmission's spectrometric oil analysis histories. The data include 13 histories from the transmission systems obtained from maintenance records and oil analysis which consist of six failures and seven suspensions. The objective is to find an optimal CBM policy that minimizes the long-run expected average cost per unit time given the CM data. We compute the optimal sampling intervals D1 and D2 and the control limits th1 and th2 by minimizing the system's long-run expected average cost per unit time.\n5. Conclusions and future research: In this paper, we have proposed a new optimal sampling and replacement policy to minimize the long-run expected average cost in the PHM framework considering two sampling intervals. The system is monitored less frequently when it is in its early age and healthier state, and it is monitored more frequently when the system becomes older and starts to degrade. The degradation process is modeled as a continuous-time Markov chain with three states. The maintenance control problem is formulated in the SMDP framework. The formulas for the calculation of the conditional reliability function and the mean residual life are also derived. A numerical example using real data is provided to illustrate the whole procedure. The results show considerably better performance of the proposed model when compared with others replacement policies such as the periodic condition-based policy and the age-based policy. In addition, sensitivity analysis is performed to see the effect of Weibull parameter changes on the long-run average cost. In the proposed model, we assume that the system state is fully observable at each sampling epoch. As a future extension, we will consider the model with imperfect sampling information, i.e., the system covariate process is only partially observable and the CM data are stochastically related to the actual system state.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel condition-based maintenance (CBM) policy with two sampling intervals for a system subject to stochastic deterioration described by the Cox's proportional hazards model (PHM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, the new or renewed system is monitored using a longer sampling interval. When the estimated hazard function of the system exceeds a warning limit, the observations are taken more frequently, i.e., the sampling interval changes to a shorter one. Preventive maintenance is performed when either the hazard function exceeds a maintenance threshold or the system age exceeds a pre-determined age. A more expensive corrective maintenance is performed upon system failure. The proposed model is formulated in the semi-Markov decision process (SMDP) framework.\nFindings: The optimal maintenance policy is found and a computational algorithm based on policy iteration for SMDP is developed to obtain the control thresholds as well as the sampling intervals minimizing the long-run expected average cost per unit time.\nResearch limitations/implications: A numerical example is presented to illustrate the whole procedure. The newly proposed maintenance policy with two sampling intervals outperforms previously developed maintenance policies using PHM. The paper compares the proposed model with a single sampling interval CBM model and well-known age-based model. Formulas for the conditional reliability function and the mean residual life are also derived for the proposed model. Sensitivity analysis has been performed to study the effect of the changes in the Weibull parameters on the average cost.\nPractical implications: The results show that considerable cost savings can be obtained by implementing the maintenance policy developed in this paper.\nOriginality/value: Unlike the previous CBM policies widely discussed in the literature which use sequential or periodic monitoring, the authors propose a new sampling strategy based on two sampling intervals. From the economic point of view, when the sampling is costly, it is advantageous to monitor the system less frequently when it is in a healthy state and more frequently when it deteriorates and enters the unhealthy state.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Credit scoring and decision making in Egyptian public sector banks	[ "Neural nets", "Public sector organizations", "Banks", "Debit and credit", "Egypt", "Decision making" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The management of risk plays an important role in the banking sector worldwide. The focus here is upon the credit decision. Indeed this is one of the most critical banking decisions, requiring a distinction between customers with good and bad credit. The behaviour of former and current customers can provide a useful historical data set, which can be crucial in predicting new applicants' behaviour. One such data set is based on the commercial public sector banks in Egypt.According to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), Egyptian banks' credit facilities have increased by LE 19.90 billion (6.10 percent), reaching LE 343.90 billion (40.40 percent of the aggregate financial position) and representing 58.20 percent of the total deposits at December 31, 2006. Household sector bank credit, in total currency, accounts for LE 52,973 million in December 2006, an increase of 10 percent in six months. Also, loans and advances \"excluding discounts\" by maturity augmented by LE 19.70 billion (6.10 percent), reaching LE 342.70 billion (CBE, 2006/2007). In view of the size of lending activities and to make efficient decisions in the granting of credit for consumer loans, we posit that different statistical techniques may be beneficially introduced to supplement the judgemental techniques, which currently are based on single numerical evaluation systems and the CBE's own perspective of creditworthiness. Indeed discussions with key banking personnel have suggested that all public sector banks in Egypt are using judgemental techniques in their evaluation process.The categorization of good and bad credit is of essential importance, and is indeed the objective of a credit-scoring model (Lee et al., 2002; Lim and Sohn, 2007). The need of an appropriate classification technique is thus evident. But what determines the categorization of a new applicant? Characteristics, such as marital status, income and age, have been recommended (Chen and Huang, 2003). The classification techniques themselves can also be categorized into conventional methods and advanced statistical techniques. The former include multiple linear regression, discriminant analysis, probit analysis and logistic regression. The latter comprize an array of approaches and methods, such as, fuzzy algorithms, genetic algorithms, expert systems, and neural nets (Hand and Henley, 1997).MDA and LR have been used in building scoring models (Orgler, 1971; Boyes et al., 1989; Steenackers and Goovaerts, 1989; Banasik et al., 2001; Sarlija et al., 2004). These techniques perform well in this context (Baesens et al., 2003). MDA, in general, has better classification ability but worse prediction ability, whereas LR has a relatively better prediction capability (Liang, 2003). Neural nets are being widely used in many fields, including financial institutions in general and banks in particular (for example, Baesens et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 1999). In the last couple of decades, neural nets have been used as alternatives to conventional techniques. In choosing a neural net for such applications, pertinent issues include pattern recognition, and the use of feed-forward nets' architecture, such as the MLFNs and PNNs (Bishop, 1995; Masters, 1995).Comparisons between neural nets and traditional techniques support the superior ability of the neural nets, in terms of average correct classification rates (Desai et al., 1996; Baesens et al., 2003; Malhotra and Malhotra, 2003; Lee and Chen, 2005; Blochlinger and Leippold, 2006). One particular problem, highlighted by Lim and Sohn (2007), is that the assessment of default risk mid-term in the repayment plan can be elusive. Sample selection bias has been highlighted in other studies, particularly pertaining to the analysis of only applicants that have been accepted (Greene, 1998; Banasik et al., 2003; Banasik and Crook, 2005; Verstraeten and Van den Poel, 2005; Banasik and Crook, 2007).Therefore, the aims of this paper are twofold. First, the intent is to investigate how decisions are currently made within the environment under study. Second, the intent is to investigate whether the decision making can be significantly improved through the use of credit scoring models instead. To this end, an array of methods is considered for evaluation. To achieve this, it is necessary to deal with some technical issues, such as, the impact of sample proportion selection on the predictive capability of some fairly sophisticated techniques, such as probabilistic neural nets (PNNs) and multi-layer feed-forward nets (MLFNs). Such techniques will be compared with more traditional ones, namely, multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) and logistic regression (LR). The technique to be implemented is likely to affect the quality of the credit decision.Correspondingly, the chosen environment is the Egyptian banking sector, in which no other authors (to the best of our knowledge) have investigated the implications of introducing sophisticated statistical appraisal techniques in credit scoring. Since statistical techniques have not been used in the Egyptian public sector banks, the sample selection bias problem should be less serious compared with other studies, and this highlights the importance of the present study.This paper, which identifies the current practice of credit decision making in Egypt and assesses alternative credit scoring models for the Egyptian credit decision makers, is organized as follows, in the remainder of the paper: details of research methodology are provided next, followed by a discussion of empirical results, then the concluding remarks regarding implications for credit practitioners and suggestions for further research.\nResearch methodology: Our overall research questions are:RQ1. What are the currently used approaches to personal credit loan evaluations?RQ2. Can alternative credit scoring models offer the credit decision maker(s) more efficient classification results than the approaches used at present?In order to answer the research questions, two phases are proposed, namely, the investigative and the evaluative phases. Unlike other published work in this field, as a first phase of the research an investigation was conducted, as a pilot study, into which approaches are currently being applied by Egyptian public banks. Then, an evaluation of personal loan quality was undertaken, based on historical data provided by those banks, using new technologies for statistical credit scoring. Furthermore, in assessing alternative models, comparisons were made of the scoring capabilities of different models.Figure 1 explains the research methodology, comprising these two main phases. Implications for future implementation are also indicated in the figure. We begin with the investigative phase. So, at an early stage of this research the pilot study was undertaken. Initially, on an informal basis, four interviews were conducted with the key personnel in three of the major banks in Egypt. The purpose was to identify the key characteristics that Egyptian banks are at present using in their credit evaluations, and subsequently in their credit decision making.The second phase is evaluative. A historical data set was provided by the Egyptian public sector banks for the purpose of constructing the proposed scoring models. Figure 1 also explains the process of preparing the data by dividing them into training and holdout samples, details of which are given later. Alternative scoring techniques were then applied to these samples, and results compared between models, using two different evaluative criteria, namely average correct classification rates and estimated misclassification costs.As part of the longer-term plan of this research programme, the expected implementation phase is also set out in Figure 1, for there are potentially huge gains to be made, as reinforced by the statements by Altunbas et al. (1999) in reference to the introduction of different new technologies in large international banks. In our considered opinion, this includes the Egyptian public banking sector, because of the large size of their activities, as discussed earlier. During this implementation phase, the models are to be monitored and applied in the decision-making process in relation to new applicants; then the models will be re-run, based on an expanded data set.The common aim of the various models, which will be used for testing purposes, is to predict which applicants will default and which will not. So, let us consider alternative approaches available, namely, conventional multiple discriminant analysis and logistic regression, in addition to two different types of neural nets: firstly, PNNs, because of the categorical nature of the dependent/prediction variable; and, secondly, are MLFNs, for which five nodes are chosen with MLFNs, as a part of the software design.Multiple discriminant analysis (MDA)\nEmpirical results: Investigative phase\nConclusion and area for future research: There is a clear role for the application of statistical scoring techniques in the evaluation of the bank credit decision. However, at present the Egyptian banking sector applies judgemental techniques to consumer loans. Now, to introduce statistical scoring models should improve its decision making, but different credit decisions would be made dependent upon the chosen model, as evidenced by the analysis of a real data set of 1,262 personal loans. We have identified the currently used approach to personal credit loan evaluations, namely a judgmental approach, thus addressing the first of our research questions. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that alternative credit scoring models clearly offer the bank credit decision makers more efficient classification results than their currently used judgmental approach, which addresses the second research question.This paper has not only contributed to the literature on credit scoring, by providing an evaluation of personal loans in the Egyptian public sector banks, but also has demonstrated how credit classification techniques can be introduced in the real field to support the bank credit decision makers. We have found evidence of the superiority of credit scoring models to the currently used judgmental approach, which are expected to affect the quality of the personal credit decision process in the future, as demonstrated by the classification results and the EMCs results. The importance of the implementation of the proposed scoring models is a reduction in the default rates faced by the public sector banks.In addition to the variables identified in our review of previous literature, new predictor variables have been reported in this paper that have not been used before (as far as we are aware), for instance, a CBE report, corporate guarantee and a field visit. In Egypt, the banks are not allowed to give loans without the CBE report, which reveals a comprehensive credit history of the client, including loans from other banks, and so this report is of critical importance. The culture is such that the corporate employer of the applicant can be expected to give a guarantee for a personal loan. Also, the field visits are used to audit the declared purpose of the applicant's loan. Formally, without these cultural requirements, applicants can be denied loans. Hence, it is inappropriate to build scoring models in the Egyptian environment without considering these variables for inclusion in the models. Furthermore, the preferred model is affected by the sample size used in the training sample. Even though only accepted loans were analyzed in this study, the number of bad loans suggested a reduced sample selection bias compared with other studies.Future research should investigate the implications of different ratios of bad loans to good loans, which might affect the classification accuracy. Furthermore, other financial products, such as credit cards, house loans and mortgages, as well as other evaluative measures, such as the area under the ROC curve and GINI coefficient techniques, and other techniques, including genetic programming and fuzzy discriminant analysis, should be investigated.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The main aims of this paper are: first, to investigate how decisions are currently made within the Egyptian public sector environment; and, second, to determine whether the decision making can be significantly improved through the use of credit scoring models. A subsidiary aim is to analyze the impact of different proportions of sub-samples of accepted credit applicants on both efficient decision making and the optimal choice of credit scoring techniques.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Following an investigative phase to identify relevant variables in the sector, the research proceeds to an evaluative phase, in which an analysis is undertaken of real data sets (comprising 1,262 applicants), provided by the commercial public sector banks in Egypt. Two types of neural nets are used, and correspondingly two types of conventional techniques are applied. The use of two evaluative measures/criteria: average correct classification (ACC) rate and estimated misclassification cost (EMC) under different misclassification cost (MC) ratios are investigated.\nFindings: - The currently used approach is based on personal judgement. Statistical scoring techniques are shown to provide more efficient classification results than the currently used judgemental techniques. Furthermore, neural net models give better ACC rates, but the optimal choice of techniques depends on the MC ratio. The probabilistic neural net (PNN) is preferred for a lower cost ratio, whilst the multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) is the preferred choice for a higher ratio. Thus, there is a role for MDA as well as neural nets. There is evidence of statistically significant differences between advanced scoring models and conventional models.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future research could investigate the use of further evaluative measures, such as the area under the ROC curve and GINI coefficient techniques and more statistical techniques, such as genetic and fuzzy programming. The plan is to enlarge the data set.\nPractical implications: - There is a huge financial benefit from applying these scoring models to Egyptian public sector banks, for at present only judgemental techniques are being applied in credit evaluation processes. Hence, these techniques can be introduced to support the bank credit decision makers.\nOriginality/value: - Thie paper reveals a set of key variables culturally relevant to the Egyptian environment, and provides an evaluation of personal loans in the Egyptian public sector banking environment, in which (to the best of the author's knowledge) no other authors have studied the use of sophisticated statistical credit scoring techniques.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Employability and performance: a comparison of baby boomers and veterans in The Netherlands	[ "Job performance", "The Netherlands", "Employability", "Generations", "Ageing workforce", "Human capital theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As a result of the ageing population, researchers and practitioners alike have expressed an increased interest in how to manage the growing number of older employees at the workplace (Van Dalen et al., 2009). Indeed, the population is ageing and the share of older workers in the workforce is growing (United Nations, 2013). The global share of people aged 60 years or over increased from 9.2 per cent, in 1990 to 11.7 per cent, in 2013, and is expected to reach 21.1 per cent by 2050 (United Nations, 2013). The Netherlands is no exception in this global trend and it has been calculated that the demographic ageing process in this country will double in the years to come (Statistics Netherlands, 2011). By the year 2040, the over-65 population will include 4.6 million people vs 2.6 million in 2010 (Statistics Netherlands, 2011). The proportion of over-80s is anticipated to grow to 10 per cent by 2050, as opposed to 4 per cent in 2010 (Statistics Netherlands, 2011). As a consequence, governments and organizations are increasingly interested in how to deal with the ageing workforce in organizations. This study focuses on two generations of older workers in the Netherlands: the baby boomer and the veterans. More precisely, it examines how their self-perceived employability is related to their self-reported performance, based on the principles underlying human capital theory (Becker, 1993).\nLiterature review: Generations\nMethodology: Sample\nProcedures: An online survey measuring self-rated employability and self-reported job performance was constructed. A pilot study was conducted and some small adaptations in the formulation of certain items as well as the lay-out were made. Then the survey was put online and an e-mail was sent out to all working individuals of the job agency. The e-mail contained an explanation of the study and a link to the survey. It should be acknowledged that an online survey is problematic for the sample under study, since internet connection and use declines with age (Statistics Netherlands, 2007). However, it should also be noted that this does not apply to our specific sample, since all registered older workers had filled out other tests and forms online during their registration process, and show therefore that they have both an internet connection as well as the skills needed to work with a computer.\nResults: Table II contains the correlations, means, and standard deviations of the study variables.\nDiscussion: This study examined the differences between two generations older workers in the Netherlands: the veterans and the baby boomers. The paper aims to investigate the possible differences in internal and external self-perceived employability and how this perception influences their self-rated job performance. Based on the principles underlying human capital theory, it was found that workers who perceive themselves as highly employable perform better than those workers who have a more negative perception of their own employability. However, contrary to our expectations, the veterans perceived their own internal and external employability more positively than the baby boomers. A higher score on internal employability was expected based on the idea that organization specific human capital leads to higher internal employability, but we expected that the baby boomers would have more general skills, which would then positively influence their chances in the external labour market which was not confirmed by the results. This surprising finding can be explained in several ways.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the baby boomer generation and the veteran generation in the Netherlands perceive their own employability and how this is related to their self-reported job performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 973 workers in employment aged 45 and over filled out a survey measuring self-perceived employability and self-reported job performance. Data were analyzed by the use of t-tests and multiple regression.\nFindings: Based on the human capital theory, it was found that self-perceived employability was positively related to self-reported job performance. However, in contradiction with our expectations, the veterans perceived their internal and external employability as more positive than the baby boomers.\nOriginality/value: This study distinguishes between two generations that are part of the group \"older workers\". Moreover, we show that a positive relationship exists between one's perception of one's own employability and their self-reported performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Multilevel moderation analysis of change perception on change commitment	[ "Shared mental model", "Work stress", "Change commitment", "Change perception" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Empirical research has shown that organizational change is largely unsuccessful (Beer and Nohria, 2000; Shin et al., 2012). One major obstacle to success is human resource (HR) issues (Kotter, 1995). For example, employee commitment to change is imperative for successful implementation of change (Meyer and Herscovitch, 2001; Herscovitch and Meyer, 2002). Employees' support of organizational change is based on their change commitment, that is, their willingness to support, adapt to, and ensure the success of organizational changes (Herscovitch and Meyer, 2002; Kotter and Schlesinger, 1979; Piderit, 2000; Shin et al., 2012). Thus, employees' change commitment could more effectively predict the success of organizational change than broader organizational commitment (Choi, 2011).\nRelationship between change perception and change commitment: Employees' change perception refers to their perception of the company's readiness for, communication about, and training for organizational change (Chiang, 2010). If companies have high-quality communication, sophisticated management skills, and positive attitudes toward organizational change, employees perceive change as positive (Bouckenooghe et al., 2009; Chiang, 2010). In addition, change commitment represents employees' positive attitude toward organizational change and includes their willingness to adjust, support, and ensure the success of the change (Fugate and Kinicki, 2008; Herscovitch and Meyer, 2002; Kotter and Schlesinger, 1979; Piderit, 2000). Positive perception of organizational change can enable employees to cope with negative emotions, thereby mitigating psychological strain and enhancing change commitment (Begley and Czajka, 1993; Fugate and Kinicki, 2008; Kotter and Schlesinger, 1979; Piderit, 2000):\nOrganization-level moderating effect: SMM: The SMM construct refers to shared cognition among individuals in the sense of \"being in common\" or \"being on the same page\" (Mohammed et al., 2010). Development of an SMM is particularly important in approaching complex and innovative tasks, coping with dynamic and uncertain contexts, and building interprofessional teams (Dao et al., 2017; Korner et al., 2016; Mohammed and Dumville, 2001). An SMM can also reduce intragroup conflict, improve work satisfaction, and ameliorate high-stress situations (Lim and Klein, 2006; Santos et al., 2015). When members must work more efficiently as a team, an SMM can compensate for individual team members' weaknesses, improve communication patterns, and facilitate performance monitoring (Cannon-Bowers et al., 1993). Moreover, Langan-Fox et al. (2001) confirmed that task and team SMMs play key roles in change processes in the communications industry.\nIndividual-level moderating effect: work stress: Organizational change has been shown to cause work stress for employees who react poorly to change with uneasiness and uncertainty, particularly in relation to change in job responsibilities, career development, or work partnership (Ashford, 1988). In addition, Jamal (1990) demonstrated that work pressures (fatigue, depression, dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem) relate negatively with the level of commitment in organizational change, in terms of commitment to company values, individual effort, and employee retention. According to occupational stress theory (Fugate et al., 2008; Rafferty and Griffin, 2006), employees may be resistant to new systems and styles related to organizational change and, therefore, exhibit decreased work efficiency and commitment. In other words, role ambiguity, resistance, conflicts, and work stressors may increase with organizational change (Huy et al., 2014). Consequently, high work stress negatively influences employees' change perception and commitment, and therefore their support for organizational change:\nMethodology: Participants and sampling procedures\nResults: We conducted a CFA in AMOS to assess the discriminant validity of the four constructs: change perception, change commitment, SMM, and work stress. As recommended by Bagozzi and Yi (1988), we chose five criteria to measure model fit (kh2, kh2/df, GFI, AGFI, and RMSEA). Drawing on the method used by Farh et al. (2007), we tested four alternative models and compared them with the baseline four-factor model (see Table II). The results indicated that the four-factor model had a more adequate overall fit than the other models. The results also revealed the four variables were distinct constructs.\nDiscussion: During the past decade, enterprises have operated in a rapidly changing business environment; therefore, adjustments or organizational reforms are critical for survival. Furthermore, SMEs play a pivotal role in the development of emerging markets, not only as important contributors to economic value but also as \"heroes\" during the Asian financial crisis (Noble and Ravenhill, 2000). Therefore, attracting and retaining devoted employees, as well as encouraging positive work attitudes and behaviors that support organizational change, is an important concern for SMEs (Kotter and Cohen, 2002; van Knippenberg et al., 2006; Whelan-Berry et al., 2003). The goal of this study was to clarify the relationship between change perception and commitment by proposing that several contextual factors may moderate this relationship. We conducted a multilevel analysis to investigate the moderating effects of an SMM and work stress. The findings of this research are threefold. First, we found that change perception was positively related to change commitment. We also noted differences in change perception. These differences were significantly related to individual change commitment observed using direct cross-level analysis. Second, the organization-level moderator, an SMM, positively affected the relationship between change perception and change commitment. Third, individual work stress moderated the impact of change perception on change commitment.\nTheoretical contribution: Previous studies in the field of organizational change have shown that positive employee change perception enhances change commitment and supports organizations in implementing change (Begley and Czajka, 1993; Fugate and Kinicki, 2008; Piderit, 2000). Change commitment reflects a positive attitude toward organizational change and encourages employees to support successful organizational change. The findings of this study support past research regarding the positive effect of change perception, and more specifically, the TMT's and HR department's attitude toward employees' change commitment (Fugate and Kinicki, 2008; Kotter and Schlesinger, 1979; Piderit, 2000). Positive change perception helps organizations to alter employees' behavior and leads employees to support the change direction. In other words, the perception that the TMT has a high level of readiness, a positive attitude, strong channels of communication, and sophisticated management skills leads employees to develop change commitment.\nPractical implications: Regarding managerial implications, our research demonstrates that comprehensive organizational change plans are not sufficient to ensure successful change. One of the most important factors is the psychological effect of change on employees, which can influence the content, process, and results of organizational change. Thus, employees' attitudes and psychological response to organizational change are critical to the success of the change (Daft, 2000).\nLimitations and future research: Several factors limit the generalizability of the findings to actual work situations. First, this research used questionnaires that may not reflect the full range of employees' psychological responses. Further research should consider adopting qualitative research methods and interviews to gather more information about employees' ideas and perspectives. Second, the ability to draw conclusions on causal relationships is limited in cross-sectional data analyses. Thus, in future studies, a longitudinal research design should be used to investigate employees' psychological transformation. Third, this study tested the effects of antecedents on a dependent variable: change commitment. Future research can separately measure different coefficient of variation for three sub-dimensions of change commitment. Finally, this study focused on the employees of SMEs in Taiwan, which may limit generalizability to other industries and countries. Therefore, cross-cultural and cross-industry studies are necessary.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In implementing evolutionary or revolutionary change, considering people-related issues is critical. Based on the shared mental model (SMM) and occupational stress theory, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between change perception and change commitment by investigating the moderating effect of organizational-level SMM and individual-level work stress.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research tested the direct cross-level effect of change perception on change commitment, and the cross-level moderation analysis. The data collected from small and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan, and sampled 1,201 employees in 267 firms.\nFindings: Change perception would relate positively to change commitment. Moreover, the SMM positively moderated the relationship between change perception and change commitment. In addition, a significant negative-moderated relationship is found. There is a positive relationship between change perception and change commitment at low level of work stress. However, there is the opposite effect when work stress is high.\nOriginality/value: The generally understanding of the employees' attitudes and behaviors in organizational change, especially to investigate the moderating factors at cross-level analysis is limited. The results provide a basis for successful employees' change commitment, and the authors propose that both organizational- and individual-level moderating effects need to be considered.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
CEO inside debt, asset tangibility, and investment	[ "Investment", "Agency problem", "Asset tangibility", "Executive compensations", "Inside debt", "Liquidation value" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Agency problems arise due to the separation of ownership and control. A rich body of literature has studied the impacts of equity-like compensations (i.e. stocks and stock options) to mitigate the conflicts between managers and shareholders (Coles et al., 2006; Low, 2009). The other part of the agency problem between managers and debt holders arises when managers increase firms risk to benefit shareholders at the expense of debt holders. Jensen and Meckling (1976) hypothesize that there is an optimal mixture of equity-like and debt-like compensations to resolve the agency problems within the firm. They refer to debt-like compensation as \"inside debt\"[1]. Jensen and Meckling (1976) are the first one to suggest, in their theoretical framework, that CEOs face asymmetric payoffs with respect to firm performance because inside debt is unsecured and unfunded. They theorize that executives make managerial and financial decisions to mitigate the cost of debt if the executives have inside debt as part of their compensation packages.\n2. Related literature and hypothesis development: 2.1. The conservative nature of inside debt\n3. Variable definition, research design and data sample: 3.1. CEO inside debt holdings\n4. Empirical results and discussion: 4.1. Sample description\n5. Concluding remarks: As predicted by Jensen and Meckling (1976) and Edmans and Liu (2011), executives with more inside debt holdings align the firm's investment policy more with the interests of creditors. As asset tangibility increases the value that can be captured by debt holders in case of default or liquidation, managers with higher inside debt holdings should care more about the asset tangibility and asset liquidation value of the firm. In this research, we explicitly examine the relation between CEO inside debt and asset tangibility and liquidation value. We present empirical evidence to show that CEO inside debt has positive effects on the level of asset tangibility and liquidation value. These CEOs with higher inside debt ratios also engage more in tangible asset investment to preserve the liquidation value of the firm. We find consistent significantly positive effects from CEO inside debt ratios on all six measures (PPEGT, PPENT, TANGBLTY, LIQ, TANGAT, and CAPX) we use to proxy for asset tangibility and tangible asset investment. The positive relationships are robust in both OLS regressions and 2SLS analysis framework.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The authors intend to perform empirical analysis to test the theory proposed by Edmans and Liu (2011) that CEOs with more debt-like compensations care more about the liquidation value of the firm. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relations between CEO inside debt ratios and tangible assets (i.e. asset tangibility, liquidation value, and fixed asset investment).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) contemporaneous and lead-lag regression analyses. They also use two-stage least-square (2SLS) regression analysis for robustness check.\nFindings: The findings are fourfold: first, CEO inside debt has a positive effect on asset tangibility of the firm; second, CEO inside debt has a positive effect on the liquidation value of the firm; third, CEO inside debt has a positive effect on the tangible asset investment (as measured by capital expenditures) of the firm; and fourth, these positive effects are found in both the contemporaneous year and the subsequent year and in both OLS and 2SLS frameworks. The research provides further evidence that CEOs with higher inside debt holdings exhibit safety-seeking behavior. The authors document direct proof for the theory proposed by Edmans and Liu (2011) that these CEOs, like any creditors, care a great deal of the asset tangibility and liquidation value of the firm.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the existing literature by providing further empirical evidence to support that CEO inside debt holdings have impacts on firm investment decisions and capital allocations. Inside debt does help align the executive managers' personal incentive with firms' value, and mitigate the agency conflicts between managers and debt holders. This study provides significant empirical evidence to support the theory suggested by Edmans and Liu (2011) that CEOs with higher level of inside debt holdings do care a greater deal about the asset liquidation value of the firm, and these firms tend to invest more in tangible assets to preserve the liquidation value.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Improving ED specimen TAT using Lean Six Sigma	[ "Six Sigma", "Healthcare", "Lean", "LSS", "Turnaround time" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the evolution of quality, Lean and Six Sigma methodologies became famous in the 1980s during the continuous improvement years. As manufacturing companies continued to search for ways to improve their quality, new approaches were researched. \"Lean\" abbreviated the term \"Lean Production\" that was coined by James P. Womack, a former research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Womack and Jones, 2003; Sayer and Williams, 2007). Womack later founded the Lean Enterprise Institute. The term was used to describe the Toyota Motor Corporation's approach to manufacturing after Second World War. Lead by Taiichi Ohno and his team, several techniques were developed in the implementation of what became the Toyota Production System. Womack studied and capitalized on these techniques and later developed Lean Production. Lean's primary goal is to do more with less work and waste; i.e. less human effort to perform work, less material to create products and services, less time to develop the products and services, and less energy and space to produce the products and services (Allen, 2010; Maclnnes, 2009; Black and Miller, 2008; Sayer and Williams, 2007; Kim et al., 2006; Womack and Jones, 2003).\nBlood draw and specimen collection process: The process improved in this case study is a common blood draw and specimen collection process for the Emergency Department (ED). The hospital profiled is a 1,000 bed tertiary care teaching hospital. The blood draw process is a standard process used in hospitals to collect blood chemistry and hematology information for clinicians. The scope of the process was confined to the most frequently ordered blood tests and cultures - i.e. complete blood count with manual diff, Chem-7 Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), troponin, and urine (UPRN).\nDefining the problem: In the Define phase of Six Sigma's DMAIC methodology, the goals should include:\nMeasuring the process: In the Measure phase of Six Sigma's DMAIC methodology, the goals should include:\nAnalyzing the process: In the Analyze phase of Six Sigma's DMAIC methodology, the team tries to establish the key process inputs that affect the process outputs and to identify and determine the root cause(s) of the defects and confirm them with data. The goals should include:\nImproving the process: In the Improve phase of Six Sigma's DMAIC methodology, the team is expected to transition to solutions that will reduce or eliminate the problem. Specifically, the goals should focus on:\nControlling the process: In the Control phase of Six Sigma's DMAIC methodology, the team tries to maintain the gains achieved with the project by documenting, standardizing, and monitoring the work methods and processes. A key objective is to complete the project work and handover the improved process to the process owner, with procedures for maintaining the gains. The goals should include:\nConclusions and recommendations: In completing this project, the team's application of the Lean and Six Sigma methodologies did not adhere to the complete rigor of Six Sigma but the project and scientific structure of the methodology led to significant process improvements. The team's original goal was to improve the ED blood draw and specimen collection process, but other process improvement opportunities were identified and addressed. The team learned much about variation within the processes, inconsistencies among the processes and procedures, and signification wastes that were costing the hospital time and money. The team also noted that the lack of operational data in the hospital environment made data driven process improvement very challenging. In addition to the changes implemented during the project, the team closed out the project with a list of recommendations that included the following:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Lean and Six Sigma are continuous improvement methodologies that have garnered international fame for improving manufacturing and service processes. Increasingly these methodologies are demonstrating their power to also improve healthcare processes. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a case study for the application of Lean and Six Sigma tools in the reduction of turnaround time (TAT) for Emergency Department (ED) specimens. This application of the scientific methodologies uncovered opportunities to improve the entire ED to lab system for the specimens.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This case study provides details on the completion of a Lean Six Sigma project in a 1,000 bed tertiary care teaching hospital. Six Sigma's Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control methodology is very similar to good medical practice: first, relevant information is obtained and assembled; second, a careful and thorough diagnosis is completed; third, a treatment is proposed and implemented; and fourth, checks are made to determine if the treatment was effective. Lean's primary goal is to do more with less work and waste. The Lean methodology was used to identify and eliminate waste through rapid implementation of change.\nFindings: The initial focus of this project was the reduction of turn-around-times for ED specimens. However, the results led to better processes for both the internal and external customers of this and other processes. The project results included: a 50 percent decrease in vials used for testing, a 50 percent decrease in unused or extra specimens, a 90 percent decrease in ED specimens without orders, a 30 percent decrease in complete blood count analysis (CBCA) Median TAT, a 50 percent decrease in CBCA TAT Variation, a 10 percent decrease in Troponin TAT Variation, a 18.2 percent decrease in URPN TAT Variation, and a 2-5 minute decrease in ED registered nurses rainbow draw time.\nPractical implications: This case study demonstrated how the quantitative power of Six Sigma and the speed of Lean worked in harmony to improve the blood draw process for a 1,000 bed tertiary care teaching hospital. The blood draw process is a standard process used in hospitals to collect blood chemistry and hematology information for clinicians. The methods used in this case study demonstrated valuable and practical applications of process improvement methodologies that can be used for any hospital process and/or service environment.\nOriginality/value: While this is not the first case study that has demonstrated the use of continuous process improvement methodologies to improve a hospital process, it is unique in the way in which it utilizes the strength of the project focussed approach that adheres more to the structure and rigor of Six Sigma and relied less on the speed of lean. Additionally, the application of these methodologies in healthcare is emerging research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gear fault detection using dynamic transmission variance	[ "Spur gears", "Gear fault detection", "Gear fault diagnosis", "Hall effect sensor", "Transmission variance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Up to half of all operating costs in most industrial facilities are a result of maintenance (Mechefske, 2005). A range of different maintenance strategies may be applied to machines in order to assure optimum performance over the operational life at minimum overall cost, which maintenance strategy is applied in a particular case depends on a host of factors. Typically, because gearboxes are relatively complex, expensive to repair or replace, carry high loads and are often used in situations that are critical to production, a condition-based maintenance approach is employed. Condition-based maintenance involves monitoring physical parameters over the course of machinery life and using these parameters to detect, diagnose, and sometimes predict failure in a machine.\nBackground: As previously mentioned, the three most common methods for machine condition monitoring and fault detection in gearboxes are based on vibration, acoustic emission, and oil analysis. These three methods have been compared for a test rig where natural pitting was allowed to occur (Tan et al., 2007). The results indicated that acoustic emission levels showed higher sensitivity to pitting compared to vibrational analysis, but only at high torques. Vibration monitoring had a greater sensitivity at lower torques. Spectrometric oil analysis showed pit growth better in comparison to vibration signal analysis at high speeds; however, the oil has to be sampled separately and not during machine operation.\nTesting protocols, apparatus and instrumentation: Gears undergo two main types of stress when loaded. The contact load on the face of the gear generates a large contact stress as well as creating a bending moment, which leads to root stress. Gear deterioration and failure typically occurs due to one or both of these causes. Gradual gear tooth deterioration typically takes the form of tooth wear. The initial wear process, known as \"run in,\" removes high spots and surface deformities, resulting in a polished surface. This is not usually a concern, as the material removal rate drops off once equilibrium has been attained and the wear particles generated are removed by the lubrication system filter.\nSignal analysis: The output from the Hall Effect sensors is a sinusoidal curve relative to the absolute angular displacement between the sensor and the magnet/shaft. The dynamic range in this case was approximately +-1.7 V DC due to the sensor placement relative to the magnet. Both sine and cosine outputs were recorded to maintain a reasonable sensitivity at all rotational positions. Post-processing involved first normalizing the raw data to lie between +-1 V DC. This allowed sine and cosine information to be calculated directly from the raw signal. Zero phase moving point averaging was implemented to increase the signal to noise ratio.\nResults and analysis: Plastic gears\nDiscussion: The proposed method of measuring dynamic transmission variance was generally successful for detecting the presence of a gear faults in both plastic gears and steel gears operating under realistic loads and shaft speeds. This method was most notably successful in detecting the early onset of altered gear tooth profiles in plastic gears and tangential root cracks in steel gears. The results from the tangential and radial root crack tests on the steel gears are summarized in Table II.\nSummary and conclusions: In conclusion, the proposed method of condition monitoring and fault diagnostics using a Hall Effect sensor to measure shaft rotational position showed promising results.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study that used measurements of shaft relative rotational position, made using inexpensive Hall Effect sensors and magnets mounted at the ends of a gearbox input and output shafts, to determine gear \"transmission variance.\" The transmission variance signals, as a function of gear/shaft rotational position, were then used to detect and diagnose gear faults.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two sets of spur gears (one plastic and one steel) were used to experimentally determine the relative shaft rotational position between the input and the output gearbox shafts. Fault-free and faulted (damaged tooth faces and cracked tooth bases) gears were used to collect representative dynamic signals. Signal processing was used to extract transmission variance values as a function of shaft rotational position and then used to detect and diagnose gear faults.\nFindings: The results show that variations in the relative rotational position of the output shaft relative to that of the input shaft (the transmission variance) can be used to reveal gear mesh characteristics, including faults, such as cracked or missing gear teeth and flattened gear tooth faces, in both plastic gears and steel gears under appropriate (realistic) loads and speeds.\nResearch limitations/implications: The operational mode of the non-contact rotational position sensors and the dynamic accuracy limitations are explained along with the basic signal processing required to extract transmission variance values.\nPractical implications: The results show that shaft rotational position measurements can be made accurately and precisely using relatively inexpensive sensors and can subsequently reveal gear faults.\nSocial implications: The inexpensive and yet trustworthy fault detection methodology developed in this work should help to improve the efficiency of maintenance actions on gearboxes and, therefore, improve the overall industrial efficiency of society.\nOriginality/value: The method described has distinct advantages over traditional analysis methods based on gearbox vibration and/or oil analysis.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Supply risk management: model development and empirical analysis	[ "Supply chain risk management", "Continuous improvement", "Structural equations model", "Partial least squares", "Survey data", "Manufacturing industries", "Germany" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The recent past has seen a growing interest in supply chain management topics within the field of operations management research (Kouvelis et al., 2006). Popular initiatives like outsourcing, reduction of inventories, just-in-time concepts, and increasing inter-firm cooperation created much leaner supply chains. In a world without supply chain risks, such initiatives lead to the most cost-effective operation models with economic benefits for the entire supply chain. However, extreme leanness can also lead to more fragile supply chains (Kleindorfer and Saad, 2005). A single appearance of any fatal risk - be it a natural disaster, labor disputes, new import restrictions, or simply the blackout of an IT system - can cause a collapse of the whole supply chain. Taking the automotive industry as an example, such a production breakdown can lead to economic losses of more than 100 million dollars per day. In fact, the impact of supply chain disruptions on company performance has increased over the past few years (Hendricks and Singhal, 2005). Single sourcing (Hendricks and Singhal, 2005; Tomlin, 2006), low inventories (Craighead et al., 2007; Hendricks and Singhal, 2005; Schmitt and Singh, 2009), increased product complexity (Hendricks and Singhal, 2005) and a growing importance of purchasing as a value creation function (Zsidisin et al., 2000) allow only little margin for errors in this function and leave many supply chains highly vulnerable. At the same time, global organizations face an increasingly unstable environment in many of their markets (Manuj and Mentzer, 2008a; Wagner and Bode, 2008). With more vulnerable supply chains on one hand and more dynamics and complexity in a globalized world on the other hand, disruptions hit supply chains more often and with much worse impact on the continuity of production (Barry, 2004). The negative consequences are immense when risks are poorly managed or remain undetected (Hendricks and Singhal, 2003). Hendricks and Singhal (2005) also show that past supply chain research heavily focused on cost efficiency and less on robustness. In a recent survey of Poirier and Quinn (2004, p. 31), only one-third of the responding firms report that they paid \"sufficient attention to supply chain vulnerability and risk mitigation actions\". Thus, the implementation of lean concepts within supply chains must be accompanied by supply chain risk management concepts. Managing supply chain risks needs to be a primary objective of any senior executive team through the integration of risk management as part of each and every supply chain (Cohen and Kunreuther, 2007; Ghoshal, 1987; Tomlin, 2006).The literature on risk management shows that a common risk management process is generally organized into three steps: risk identification, risk assessment, and risk mitigation (Bode and Wagner, 2009; Kleindorfer and Saad, 2005; Tang, 2006). In the past, some of these authors also stressed the importance of an ongoing risk monitoring and iterative risk management process that is constantly adapted to the requirements of a changing environment (Bode and Wagner, 2009; Hendricks and Singhal, 2005; Kleindorfer and Saad, 2005). With no continuous improvement, even successful risk management processes will become weak and unable to identify and address risks with the right measures when environmental conditions change and new risks arise. Thus, we argue that risk management activities need to go hand-in-hand with a continuous improvement process in the long run.As to the best of our knowledge, there are only a few large-scale empirical studies on the effects of risk identification, risk assessment or risk mitigation on supply chain risk management performance. Hendricks and Singhal (2003, 2005) analyze in their event studies the stock price effect of more than 500 public disruption announcements made by companies. Wagner and Bode (2006) use a survey-based approach to investigate supply chain vulnerability including several supply chain characteristics. However, the effect of risk management processes and their resulting performance has not yet been analyzed in a large-scale empirical study. Nevertheless, it is important to understand the performance effect of risk management endeavors in order to provide managers with a clear business case to invest in such initiatives. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a model linking supply chain risk identification, risk assessment and risk mitigation to a company's risk performance. In our study, we first operationalize the constructs through an extensive literature review and link risk management efforts to risk performance. Furthermore, we include the effect of a continuous improvement process in our model. In a second step, we use partial least squares (PLS) analysis to evaluate the contribution of these upstream supply chain risk management activities on risk performance.The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: in second section, we place our study in the context of supply chain risk management research. Based on a literature review, we develop and operationalize our model in third section. Sampling and data description are then presented in detail in fourth section together with our measurement and structural model analysis. Fifth section includes the analysis of our findings and the discussion of the study results. We finally discuss the study's limitations and opportunities for further research in sixth section.\nUpstream supply chain risk management: Research on supply chain risk management classifies risks into operational risks and disruption risks (Tang, 2006) or refers to them as supply-demand coordination risks and disruption risks (Kleindorfer and Saad, 2005). Operational risks include the everyday management of the supply chain whereas disruptions risks are associated with unexpected events including natural disasters (Kouvelis et al., 2006). As a second dimension, Tang (2006) suggests structuring the literature on supply chain risk management according to the mitigation approach. Supply management, demand management, product management, and information management can all contribute to successful risk mitigation.Recent research stresses the importance of an integrated and holistic approach in supply chain management because a narrow view on a single focal firm cannot take into consideration the many interrelations of global supply chains (Buhman et al., 2005; Steele and Court, 1996; Wagner and Bode, 2006). Research has so far proposed distinct models and management tools for various steps in the supply chain. A common classification is the distinction between upstream and downstream supply chain initiatives. Likewise, risks can occur on the supply side and on the demand side (Kouvelis et al., 2006; Manuj and Mentzer, 2008b; Wagner and Bode, 2008). Similarly, Tang's (2006) classification of risk management approaches within the supply chain context also distinguishes supply and demand managements. We follow this classification; although we stress that the consideration of both - the demand side and the supply side - is always required. For example, specific knowledge about the demand-side impact is necessary when assessing supply side risks regarding a potential negative business impact. Nevertheless, supply and demand side focused risk management processes are quite distinctive in their actual implementation and require different kind of constructs and measurement items. This paper focuses on the upstream supply chain risk management sometimes also referred to as supply risk management (Wagner and Bode, 2006; Zsidisin et al., 2004) in order to ensure a clear focus of the study and its measurement items.\nConceptual model: Our research model includes five constructs and six relationships as shown in Figure 1. The constructs are defined in the subsequent sections and their operationalization is an-chored in the literature. We investigate the effect of risk identification on risk assessment which again is hypothesized to have a positive impact on risk mitigation. Risk mitigation only then directly contributes to risk performance because only risk mitigation activities can directly decrease the frequency and the impact of actual risk incidents on the operations of a company. Additionally, we examine the impact of a continuous improvement process on the quality of the risk identification, risk assessment and risk mitigation activities.Risk identification\nThe empirical study: Sample and data collection\nDiscussion and implications: Throughout this paper, we address the need for professional supply chain risk management activities along the risk management process - risk identification, risk assessment and risk mitigation. We argue that companies with higher competencies in these three process steps of the upstream supply chain risk management show superior performance when it comes to the reduction of the frequency and impact of supply chain risks. Our findings provide evidence that supply chain risk activities support the operational and strategic preparedness of organizations towards a wide range of risks. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first large-scale, empirical studies on the process dimensions of upstream supply chain risk management and contributes to theory and practice in several ways.Through the literature review, we significantly elaborate on existing theory. Our detailed operationalization of the constructs sheds further light on the problem of measuring risk management efforts and performance. With our scales demonstrating excellent consistency, the partial least squared analysis explains between 46 and 75 percent of the observed variances in our model. Thus, the presented items in our study provide a sound empirical starting point for further large-scale research in this area.As research on risk identification and risk assessment is scarce (Kouvelis et al., 2006), we put a special focus on these two constructs and clearly demonstrate their importance within the overall risk management process. Our results indicate that all constructs are closely linked to their antecedents, supporting the view of an integrated risk management process where risk identification, risk assessment and risk mitigation can only be successful when closely linked together. The high variances explained by our model support the notion that accurate risk assessment is only possible with excellent prior risk identification, just as risk mitigation is impossible without a prior risk assessment. Activities need to be performed sequentially in order to yield visible benefits for companies. These empirical results are also consistent with earlier findings in the case-based literature (Berg et al., 2008; Craighead et al., 2007; Zsidisin et al., 2000).Additionally, our results lend support to the application of traditional risk management constructs in the area of supply chain risk management. Even though the complexity of supply chains might lead to differing activities from traditional risk management, the basic risk management process is still suitable. Our study provides insights on how risk management tools and methods derived from previous studies can contribute to risk performance improvement. Kouvelis et al. (2006) argue that despite the surge of academic interest in supply chain risk management, implementation in practice still lags behind. Well defined measurement methods and clear evidence can help to translate risk management practices into a business case and justify further investments. Our results provide managers with a strong argument to invest in supply chain risk management projects (Chen and Paulraj, 2004).The empirical results both support the sequence of risk identification, risk assessment and risk mitigation and also offer a warning note to researchers. Further attention needs to be paid to the boundaries of the three steps because every company has slightly different process definitions especially for risk identification and risk assessment. Clear definitions of the scope and boundaries between the process steps are necessary in order to identify which supply chain risk management activities finally yield the highest benefits for companies.The strong effect of a continuous improvement process on risk identification, risk assessment, and risk mitigation lends support to the notion that supply chain risk management processes need to constantly adapt and integrate lessons learned from ongoing experiences. The impact is strongest from continuous improvement to risk identification which is in line with the idea that risk identification is the most undefined process step and can therefore benefit maximally from the integration of lessons learned and continuous improvement efforts. The strong effect of continuous improvement activities on risk identification also supports the view of a dynamic environment where activities need to be re-adjusted regularly. The impact of continuous improvement on risk mitigation is somewhat lower but still higher than on the mitigation activities. Again, this seems to confirm the decreasing impact of any continuous improvement effort on the supply chain risk management activities risk assessment and mitigation as both steps are much more standardized compared to risk identification.\nLimitations and future research directions: Our study lends credence to the notion that effective supply chain risk management processes significantly contribute to risk performance improvements. In addition, our study further elaborates on existing theory and provides detailed operationalizations of the major risk management constructs. In accomplishing these objectives, however, we have made several research design choices that result in some limitations for our study.Even though our sample covers a variety of industrial firms, the data were gathered solely within Germany. This limits the potential generalization of the study results. An application of the developed constructs should be tested using a broader sample with regards to both global and horizontal diversities. Like most studies in the past, we surveyed high-level supply chain professionals from individual firms who are capable of reliable assessments and are generally considered as a reliable source. The lack of multiple informants from each firm offers the opportunity for further research. It would be informative to replicate this study within an international setting surveying multiple sources and informants within the participating companies. We chose the PLS method for reasons of predictive power and small sample size. When we assessed the model using LISREL, not all the fit indices for our model satisfied the commonly applied thresholds. While this can be seen as a limitation of this study, our findings still help us to further develop theory in supply risk management. Our study clearly demonstrates the strong relationship among the analyzed constructs. The use of Likert-type scales prevents the collection of qualitative data that led to the perceptions indicated in the survey. A further interesting question that arises from our study is what specific risks primarily drive the supply chain risk management activities of companies. More qualitative research is needed to go deeper into the variety of different risks that require distinct assessment and mitigation strategies.Though our model notably sheds light on the effect of upstream supply chain risk management activities on risk performance improvement, it would be interesting to investigate what other factors contribute to upstream supply chain risk performance. Further research is needed, possibly using a longitudinal study approach to reveal in detail how frequency and impact of risk events change over time. This would provide even more detailed knowledge about the effect of risk management activities on risk performance. Furthermore, future studies might analyze how supply chain risk performance impacts supply chain performance. In addition, future research that incorporates both downstream and upstream risk management approaches into the analyses would provide a valuable contribution to the literature by further developing a holistic model for supply chain risk management.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for upstream supply chain risk management linking risk identification, risk assessment and risk mitigation to risk performance and validate the model empirically. The effect of a continuous improvement process on identification, assessment, and mitigation is also included in the model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A literature review is undertaken to derive the hypotheses and operationalize the included constructs. The paper then tests the path analytical model using partial least squares analyses on survey data from 162 large and mid-sized manufacturing companies located in Germany.\nFindings: - All items load high on their respective constructs and the data provides robust support to all hypothesized relationships. Superior risk identification supports the subsequent risk assessment and this in turn leads to better risk mitigation. The model explains 46 percent of the variance observed in risk performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study empirically validates the sequential effect of the three risk management steps on risk performance as well as the influence of continuous improvement activities. Limitations of this study can be seen in the use of perceptional data from single informants and the focus on manufacturing firms in a single country.\nPractical implications: - The detailed operationalization of the constructs sheds further light on the problem of measuring risk management efforts. Clear evidence of the performance effect of risk management provides managers with a business case to invest in such initiatives.\nOriginality/value: - This is one of the first large-scale, empirical studies on the process dimensions of upstream supply chain risk management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Taming the dragon: how to tackle the challenge of future foresight	[ "Forecasting", "Strategic management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: why foresight?: A recent survey in the USA on how employees understand their job tasks and their organization's goals and on how they support the achievement of those goals produced some astonishing results. Let's look at those results when applied to a soccer team of 11 players.Four out of the team of 11 know which of the two goals on the field is theirs, i.e. know their company's objectives. Just two players actually care, i.e. are motivated by their company's vision and goals. Likewise, just two players on the team know what position they are supposed to play and how they are expected to play in that position. In other words, only a small proportion of employees are clear about what they are expected to do in the company. Finally, two players in the team of 11 are actually playing against rather than for their team, i.e. holding back the interests of their unit or organization.It is not a very flattering picture of the modern business world. Whereas the ideal company is like a well-drilled soccer team with a cohesive strategy and a number of talented individuals working to achieve the same collective goal, this kind of effective teamwork is increasingly rare in today's fast-changing, complex business world. It is clear that if a company is not driven by its vision, strategy and values, it will be unable effectively to manage and use its potential competence-based resources. It will not be making adequate use of its creative knowledge capital.Creative knowledge capital refers to the company's competitive advantage, which is gained from the competent management of factors that generate new knowledge assets (Figure 1). Traditionally these factors are not a matter of conscious management, but they develop and unfold more or less by chance. The management of creative knowledge capital has to do with the organization's capacity to change, to anticipate change and to develop and take advantage of its employees' innovative skills and competencies. In product development terms these factors refer to intangible product or service attributes and to the symbolic environment in which the product is competing for customer attention. Another critical requirement is the ability of key personnel to read the information coming from the competitive environment - particularly its weak signals - and the ability of the organization to transform this information into a capacity for renewal and regeneration.The management of creative knowledge capital is not so much a matter of direct leadership and decision-making as of providing the conditions and circumstances for creativity and innovativeness. The company's future is influenced by both internal and external factors, by the organization and the environment. Within that environment, the position of the company and its products is ultimately determined by market forces. The market serves as a constant mirror for the company, and it is continuously monitored and analyzed with a view to strategic readjustment. The detection and processing of these signals in the marketplace requires a whole new set of tools.The organization, then, has a crucial part to play in building up the company's present and future competitiveness. For purposes of the effective management of creative knowledge capital it is essential that changes happening in the operating environment are continuously monitored. If something worked yesterday, that does not mean it will necessarily work tomorrow. One of the keys to a successful orientation to the future lies in foresight. This requires of the organization an inherent capacity for renewal, the development and assessment of which also requires systematic tools.Forecasting changes has become a core element of the strategic management of organizations. The management of creative knowledge capital therefore relies crucially on the ability to anticipate and prepare for changes. The purpose of this paper is to identify elements of creative knowledge capital in organizations. One of the most central among these elements, together with the capacity for renewal and innovativeness, is the ability of foresight.The business that wants to gain foresight into the future needs to adopt the outlook and attitude of an explorer. From the fifteenth century through to the eighteenth, European explorers discovered continents they had set out to search on the strength of little more than a hunch. Their expeditions were fraught with unimaginable perils and uncertainties, but they set sail nevertheless. The earliest maps they used dated from antiquity and were fundamentally flawed in that they were based on the Ptolemaic, geocentric worldview. This is why when they first arrived in the Caribbean, they thought they had reached East India.Most importantly, however, the early explorers expanded the horizons of the known world and kick started the phenomenal growth and development of Europe into our present-day modern society. Cartographers gradually adopted the heliocentric worldview by Copernicus, Galilei, Kepler and Brahe, accepting that the earth was round rather than flat. In the wake of the Copernican revolution, new and more accurate maps paved the way for explorers to penetrate ever deeper into the unknown. Gerardus Mercator, the most important cartographer of his time, drew the first map that covered the whole world by the late sixteenth century. The explorers and the maps that were created on the strength of their findings were crucial to the discovery not only of new physical continents, but also new concepts.In the future businesses will increasingly need to adopt an explorer's world view if they are to recognize and identify their opportunities in a world of which they can only have a sketchy idea. The basic rule is this: although we cannot know anything about the future, we still need to act as if we knew something (see Cornish, 2004). In other words we need to prepare for the future, continue to work and operate in the face of the profound uncertainty that confronts every explorer. The better we are prepared for the future, the better our prospects of success in our adventures.For more and more businesses today the search for novelty and a capacity for renewal are a condition not only for success, but their very existence. The main axis of competition is no longer between \"domestic\" and \"foreign\" businesses, but between pioneers and early adopters of new business concepts, on the one hand, and reactive and conformist organizations, on the other. As business guru Gary Hamel recently has pointed out:... management has allowed companies to cross new performance thresholds. Yet strangely enough, few companies have a well-honed process for continuous management innovation (Hamel, 2006).By contrast, Hamel continues, businesses have long had mechanisms in place for intensive product innovation; yet it is management innovation that in the long term matters most.This is why businesses need the outlook and attitude of an explorer. This is why foresight means something entirely different from the old school tradition of planning. The foresight paradigm is built around a very practical idea: that idea is to look for options and opportunities for change before the business is forced to change. There are countless examples of businesses that have neglected to invest in foresight and that consequently have been too late in spotting the trends and drivers of change that have transformed the industry.\nBasic rules for future foresight: So what are the factors that businesses must take into account as they set about the task of foresight? There are seven key principles for quality foresight (Cornish, 2004). Again, the analogy with exploration is useful.Look to the future\nConclusions: foresight as a challenge for visionary management: Our aim in this paper has been to highlight the principles that businesses should (and should not!) follow in their foresight activities and to show how foresight serves the development of knowledge capital in business companies. We have singled out seven key principles (Figure 3).First of all, businesses must stop staring in their rear mirror and turn their attention and energy instead to the future. Second, in the development of their business portfolio companies must invest more heavily in forecasting future needs. Third, companies must make use of incomplete knowledge. Fourth, companies must learn to expect the unexpected. The future is always different from what you have thought it will be; the key is to think about the future in terms of opportunities and alternatives, some of which will materialize and others not, depending on one's own actions. Fifth, it is important to integrate long- and short-term thinking in the company - too many allow the short-term perspective to dominate. Sixth, the organization must learn to be bold in its thinking and especially consider how the creative thinking of its employees can be translated into profitable business. And seventh, it is important to respect the knowledge that is accumulated in people in different parts of the organization and to develop that knowledge into a strength for the organization.Foresight, as the word itself implies, is about looking forward. Any business that does not look forward, but is bound to the past in its practices and structures, will not be able to see where it is going.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to highlight the principles that businesses should (and should not!) follow in their foresight activities and to show how foresight serves the development of knowledge capital in business companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper singles out seven key principles: look to the future; anticipate future needs; make use of incomplete knowledge; expect the unexpected; think long-term and short-term; dream productively; and respect knowledge.\nFindings: - This paper highlights the principles that businesses should (and should not!) follow in their foresight activities and to show how foresight serves the development of knowledge capital in business companies.\nOriginality/value: - The paper highlights a recent survey in the USA on how employees understand their job tasks and their organization's goals.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Open innovation in specialized SMEs: the case of supercars	[ "SMEs", "Open innovation", "Firm performance", "PLS-SEM", "Innovativeness", "Supercars" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past decade, scholars and practitioners have shown increased interest in open innovation (hereafter referred to as OI) and at least another decade of research into OI theory and practice is expected (West et al., 2014). The term has permeated many disciplines from business process management (Niehaves and Plattfaut, 2011; Niehaves, 2010) to energy management (Cagno et al., 2015), creating a variety of research streams and areas within OI literature (Dahlander and Gann, 2010; Huizingh, 2011; Randhawa et al., 2016; Schroll and Mild, 2012; West and Bogers, 2013). Amongst the considerable amount of literature describing the adoption of OI, research focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has gained considerable momentum. This is due to a number of initial studies (e.g. van de Vrande et al., 2009) recognizing the potential benefits such firms could achieve by adopting OI. In this regard, SMEs have been an interesting context in which to study OI because adopting more open notions and practices could help such companies deal with the \"liability of smallness\" i.e. the inherent challenge of limited resources and competences (Parida et al., 2012). This also opens the debate to consider if OI could be more appropriate for SMEs than for large firms as smaller organizations are better at translating innovativeness into firm success (Handrich et al., 2015).\n2. Theoretical background and conceptual framework: The literature on practices, models, and other notions of OI is vast. Therefore, our review of the relevant literature to support the theoretical framework was delimited by the elements proposed by Huizingh (2011) to understand better OI phenomena. These elements are the answers to the questions of when (the context dependency of OI), what (the content of OI), and how (the process of OI). First, we reviewed literature that considers the context when an SME choses to specialize in a type of product such as in the case of supercars and has the alternative to adopt OI to offset some of the limitations of its specialization strategy. Second, we have narrowed the literature that recognizes mainly the content of OI as a combination of innovation practices but also as a set of interacting models with different degrees of varieties. Third, we look at studies that provided insights about how the process of adopting OI could influence a firm's innovativeness level but also other relevant dimensions of its performance. Therefore, in the course of this section we will focus mainly on recognized and recent studies related with the above-mentioned criteria that limited our review on OI literature.\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Analysis and results: We followed the main phases of the SEM methodology (Hair et al., 1998), similarly to other studies investigating the relation between practices and performance (Aloini and Martini, 2013). These phases include specifying a theoretical model, defining a structural and measurement model, testing the model and interpreting the results. In general, we chose an SEM method because it is adequate to test relationships where a dependent variable in certain hypotheses becomes an independent variable in successive ones (Bianchi et al., 2014). However, this study used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) instead of the more widely applied covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM) approach. We chose PLS-SEM over CB-SEM for numerous reasons. The former requires fewer data to estimate loadings in comparison to the latter, thus it is appropriate for small sample sizes and complex models (Hair et al., 2016). Also, PLS-SEM can be a silver bullet in research situations when the data are abnormally distributed or it is necessary to estimate models with many indicators and relationships (Hair et al., 2011). Lastly, the predictive focus of PLS-SEM can be useful to study sources of competitive advantage (Hair et al., 2016), successful drivers of innovation (Storey and Kahn, 2010), and the role that certain practices can have in supporting OI (Podmetina et al., 2013). Considering these ideas, we used SmartPLS software (Ringle et al., 2005) to test the measurement and the structural model described next.\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Theoretical contribution\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence that adopting open innovation (OI) has on the innovativeness and performance of specialized small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper also examines the adoption of OI within a firm's practices and models, and within the three dimensions of firm sustainability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data from 48 specialized SMEs manufacturing supercars were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. SmartPLS software was used to conduct a path analysis and test the proposed framework.\nFindings: The findings suggest that high adoption of OI models tends to increase firm innovativeness. Similarly, the adoption of OI practices has a positive effect on innovativeness but to a lesser extent than OI models. The moderation results of innovativeness further show that OI models and practices can benefit the performance of SMEs. Specifically, two dimensions of performance - environmental and social performance - were found to be greatly influenced by OI.\nResearch limitations/implications: Due to parsimony in the investigated model, this study only focuses on OI adoption as practices and models without considering its drivers or other contingency factors.\nPractical implications: This paper could help practitioners in SMEs better understand the benefits of adopting OI to be more innovative but also more sustainable.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the literature on the role of OI practices and models regarding the dimensions of firm sustainability performance by being the first paper to investigate this relationship in the context of small and medium manufacturers of supercars.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Maintenance scheduling based on PROMETHEE method in conjunction with group technology philosophy	[ "Manufacturing", "Maintenance", "Fuzzy logic", "Manufacturing strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Maintenance is a vital part of any manufacturing operation, especially in the current global climate of intense competitive pressures where companies are looking for any source of competitive advantage. Maintenance is part of any manufacturing strategy and its objectives should be derived from the overall business plan as it can affect production by increasing capacity and controlling for the quality and quantity of the output. For many systems, such as aircraft, medical equipment and water utilities, it is extremely important that machines be kept running in accordance with their design specifications to prevent the occurrence of failure during operation.\n2. Group technology: Group technology is a methodology that identifies and exploits the similarities among the attributes of a set of objects and clusters them into cells accordingly (Abdelhadi, 2010). Cellular manufacturing is an application of group technology to manufacturing. In cellular manufacturing, machines, usually dissimilar in function, are grouped into cells. Such cells should ideally be responsible for the processing of a group of parts, called the part-family (parts with similar processing requirements). The idea is to process a family of components through a dedicated cell, thereby gaining the advantage of mass production without the problems of batching (Abdelhadi et al., 2015). Yong (2006) investigated and reviewed various similarity coefficients (SCs) in the cell-formation problem. Jaccard's (1908) SC is the most widely used general purpose SC: the Jaccard SC between machine i and machine j is defined as follows:(1)\n3. Multi-criteria decision-making approach: Multiple criteria decision making is a decision-making process whereby there are several options to select from at different levels and outcomes which generally are conflicting, as previously discussed.\n4. Developing the algorithm: In this paper, the formulation of the traditional PROMETHEE approach has been modified in order to be used in conjunction with the group technology methodology; the normalization decision matrix will be used as a SC matrix since is ranks the alternative based on their criteria importance. The developed matrix will be used to construct the tree diagram where the machine clusters are formed and can be used to schedule the maintenance operations.\n5. Case study: The case study under consideration consists of a manufacturing facility which wants to establish an MSM for their equipment. The company manufactures engineering products and components, such as bronze bars and engineered sand castings for valves and pumps, automotive, marine, and oil and gas industries; and vertical turbine pumps, including standard and custom pumps. The collected data show that there are 21 machines which can encounter ten different types of failure. Due to the confidentiality agreement with company we could not disclose the type of machines nor the specific type of failures. Based on historical data and the scientific literature, six criteria have been considered which can be affected by the machine failures, namely:\n6. Developing clusters of machines based on the normalized decision matrix: Using the single linkage clustering algorithm presented before, one can use the Minitab software to develop clusters based on the assumption that the similarities between machines represent Euclidean distances (Figure 2) (Table VII).\n7. Results analysis: By referring to the result of the Mintab output, one can infer the following conclusion: at step 1, machine no. 6 joined machine no. 18 with a similarity between these two machines with respect to the need for maintenance of about 84.6 percent, this is the first cluster developed with the highest similarity for conducting maintenance and this cluster is named cluster no. 6. Machine no. 19 joined machine no. 20 at a similarity level of 78.1 percent and is referred to as cluster no. 19, and so on for the first five clusters. Now, machine no. 16 joined cluster no. 1 to form a new cluster of three machines, namely: machine no. 1, machine no. 17 and machine no. 16 at a similarity level of 75 percent, and so on. The decision makers can decide the size of the cluster based on some other criterion such as the availability of the resources required to conduct the maintenance operation. It is for the maintenance department to decide the size of the cluster and the schedule for conducting maintenance.\n8. Conclusion: Using the concept of group technology in conducting preventive maintenance will result in the grouping of machines according to the impact of a failure based on the criteria specified by the decision makers, accordingly; it will facilitate the process of executing the maintenance itself by ordering spare parts and informing the maintenance personnel. For example, referring to Table VI, we have initially five groups, each of which consists of two machines clustered together based on their level of similarity; we have M6 joined to M18 (cluster 20) in one cluster, based on an 84.6 percent similarity level, while M8 is joined M9 in cluster 16 at a 75.3 percent similarity level, and so on. It is worth noting that the groups joined together are based on the overall similarity they can encounter, for example, each of the formed groups have the same positive or negative impact according to the criteria developed by the decision maker. Machines 8, 9 and 13 are joined into one group based on an almost 72.9 percent similarity level for all of the criteria under consideration. The proposed approach will facilitate preventive maintenance scheduling, especially when there is large number of machines with a high number of criteria affected by a given failure type.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to implement a strategic decision-making framework by selecting clusters of maintainable machines and scheduling their maintenance as part of a company's manufacturing strategy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Multi-criteria clustering problem in conjunction with the application of a group technology is used to establish clusters of maintainable machines based on their need for maintenance according to the type of failures they can encounter.\nFindings: Using the concept of group technology in conducting preventive maintenance will result in the grouping of machines according to the impact of a failure based on the criteria specified by the decision makers. Accordingly, it will facilitate the process of executing the maintenance itself by ordering spare parts and informing the maintenance personnel which will lead to minimize the maintenance cost.\nOriginality/value: The results presented in this paper are reliable, objective may be used to minimize the total cost of conducting preventive maintenance in a manufacturing environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Hermeneutics applied to the quality of empirical databases	[ "Databases", "Information management", "Quality", "Interpretive programs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The impetus for this paper is the pertinence of heuristics, the \"historical method\" and hermeneutics in the context of Computer and Information Science applied to the management of empirical databases. These traditional methodologies from the humanities, which have been used as scientific tools for over a century, can still be effectively applied even if these methods need to be adapted to the increasingly complex and interdisciplinary nature of contemporary application domains (see, for example, Aron, 1969; Dilthey, 1988).The sense-making process of interpreting individual empirical events comes about by placing the singular events in a more abstract and generalizing framework. Heuristics and hermeneutics offer the tools to create such a unifying and sense-making horizon. This framework is typically created through a continuous process of going back and forth between the individual observations and the larger context in which the observations can be framed. We can for example refer to the medical domain, in which theories evolve along with live experience, as demonstrated by the current research regarding the A H1N1 flu. This continuous process of matching the evolution of reality with updates of the sense-making framework also lies at the heart of our research on the quality of empirical databases.Hermeneutics, and particularly the temporal framework as developed by Fernand Braudel, have been applied throughout various application domains. Only a limited number of authors from the Information Science domain, such as Boyd Rayward (1996) and Ribes and Finholt (2009), have applied the temporal framework to their research. However, both authors limit the use of the framework to a level of analysis, and do not demonstrate how operational results can be obtained, nor do they enrich Braudel's framework with Norbert Elias's theory, for which time is an arbitrary construction resulting from the relationship between two or more sequences of transformation. It follows that their approach is not truly interdisciplinary, nor applied to concrete case studies.With the help of two largely differing case studies, this paper demonstrates how hermeneutics, applied to the temporal framework, can lead to operational results regarding the quality of empirical databases. After an outline of the strategic importance of data quality, section 2 gives an overview of the existing approaches which have been developed to tackle this issue and finally defines the originality of the hermeneutic approach we propose for data quality.The next section, which constitutes the core of the paper, develops in detail the concept of the temporal framework, based on the work of Fernand Braudel and Norbert Elias. A case study of Belgian social security databases, which manage the collection and redistribution of some 40 billion euro every year, is used to elaborate and illustrate the theoretical framework. These administrative databases store quarterly approximately 4,000,000 records, with several hundred corresponding attributes. Every quarter, hundreds of thousands of formal anomalies are detected, due to the ever-evolving nature of the reality that the database records aim to represent. Therefore, this application domain offers a suitable and strategic case to illustrate the use of the temporal framework coming to grips with data quality in empirical databases.The second half of the third section introduces a second case study from a different application domain, the cultural heritage sector, in order to exemplify the general approach of the temporal framework in a wide variety of application domains. Because of the very recent and still evolving nature of its holdings, the collection management database of the September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York struggles to find a stable and appropriate metadata scheme to adequately describe its collection. The case study reports on the development of a prototype which has been implemented into the collection management database to monitor the use of the different metadata fields over time, and thus to detect evolutions in the use of the different available metadata fields.The conclusions offer a critical evaluation of the temporal framework and point out to future research perspectives.\n2. Data quality and hermeneutics: The quality of databases, and of the data they contain, is considered today a strategic matter. The question is of primary importance when the data are used as a tool to assist decision making, or even real-world action. For instance, in May 1999, during the war in Kosovo, NATO mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade: the mapping databases that were used to guide the missiles contained a plan of the city which was obsolete and therefore inadequate. Hence, the untimely attack and the diplomatic incident which followed (Boydens, 2007).In database modeling theory (Elmasri and Navathe, 2007), a database is composed, on the one hand, of a structure (or \"database schema\") that specifies, on the basis of a set of integrity constraints, its semantically allowed content and, on the other hand, of a set of records (\"database extension\") or of data stored in the database and satisfying its structure at a given moment. The critical focus of this paper considers the interactions between the semantics of the database schema and the database extension. But how can one define data quality? We can start off with the ISO 9000 definition of quality, which describes it as the \"totality of features and characteristics of a product, process or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implicit needs\" (ISO, 2005). Therefore, the quality of a database denotes its adequacy with respect to the purposes assigned to it, which can be referred to as the \"fitness for use\" principle. \"Total quality\" does not exist, since the concept is relative: on the basis of a cost-benefit type analysis, the most pertinent quality criteria - that can be the timeliness of information, the speed of data transmission or of user access -- must be adopted in a given context.Starting from the 1990s, different strategies have been developed to approach the problem of data quality in information systems. Thomas Redman has developed a system-centered method in which three complementary analyses build a framework for the management of database quality: data modeling, data values and data representation (Redman, 1996). A mixed approach between the systems- and a more user-centered strategy was initiated in the beginning of the 1990s at the MIT, with the research of Mark Hanzen and the development of the total data quality management (TDQM) program of Richard Wang (Wand and Wang, 1996).Distancing herself quite radically from these two research centers, Boydens (1999) has developed a hermeneutic approach toward database quality. Although Redman suggests an interesting model that can be applied to a wide variety of contexts, he only deals with errors than can be formally identified and measured as such, such as discrepancies and incompleteness (see for instance, the \"data tracking\" model). But nowhere does Redman deal with the difficulty of human interpretation of information. Taking her critique a step further, Boydens (1999, p. 9) especially denounces the data quality research from the TDQM program, it being based on the assumption that it is possible to detect a formal error within a database by comparing the content of the database with the reality the database strives to represent:How can we know whether data are valid? The answer seems overly simple: in order to evaluate the correctness of values within a database, we should compare them with the reality the values represent. However, this line of thinking is underpinned by the implicit hypothesis that there is a permanent bijective relationship between data and the corresponding reality. We argue that this type of isomorphic relation does not exist in empirical application domains.Empirical information systems evolve over time, along with the interpretation of the values that they allow to determine. Based on the hypotheses of the TDQM program, information quality formulas have been developed, which propose to calculate, for instance, the required level of correction of a database regarding the reality presented in it (Madnick et al., 2009). Obviously, these formulas have never been put into practice within the industry.Currently, a set of data quality tools, based on data profiling techniques - standardization, matching and cleansing - are being effectively applied within the corporate world. These are all useful techniques, but they do not include the interpretative aspect of our approach, which is vital in the context of empirical databases. The technique of data cleansing, for example, involves the automated \"smoothing\" of the content of a database a posteriori by eliminating the values considered to be aberrant by using a set of formal correction algorithms. While this technique is valuable in the statistical domain, where a certain error rate is permissible, it is not valid in the administrative domain, where each individual case has to be considered (Olson, 2003). We also insist that data cleansing does not act on the causes of the \"no-quality\".To tackle the issue of data quality at a more fundamental level, one needs to clearly distinguish deterministic data from empirical data. The first are characterized by the existence of a persistent theory which makes it possible to decide whether or not a value is correct. This is the case with algebraic data: since the rules of algebra do not change over time, we can know at any time whether or not the result of a sum is correct. For empirical data, which are subject to human interpretation, theories change over time along with the interpretation of the values that it has made it possible to determine. This is true in the economic domain (e.g. with regard to the calculation of national wealth), but also in the legal and administrative fields, where the interpretation of legal concepts steadily changes with the constant evolution of real-world circumstances and jurisprudence. For example, when \"copy centers\" (i.e. shops offering photocopying services to their customers) first began to appear,, the nomenclature for European business activities (used in administrative databases in order to categorize companies) was quickly found to be inadequate for their classification: the best it could offer were the categories of \"printing\", \"book retailing\" or \"secretarial services\". To take the category \"copy centers\" into account, it was first necessary to amend the regulatory texts, and then to adapt the structure of the administrative databases accordingly. This remains crucial in the context of electronic administration. For example, the notion of \"principal activity\" of a company, which is fundamental to business registers, is a mutable factor whose reliability is difficult to evaluate. These problems are also encountered on a daily basis by labor inspectors doing fieldwork:In almost 30 years of doing this job [...], I have seen many points become subject to interpretation, and therefore to challenge. It's a little like a policeman stopping you for going too fast and telling you that you're driving at a \"dangerous\" speed. You could easily contest this notion (Baroux, 2006, p. 3).Thus, to address empirical data quality (i.e. \"fitness for use\"), the structure of the database has to evolve continuously along with the changes in the corresponding observable reality. We will now consider how to apply this mechanism using our temporal framework.\n3. \"Temporalites etagees\" and the mapping of database records with the evolving reality: Having demonstrated the impact of the evolution throughout time of the real world on the quality of a database and its records, which try to represent the same reality, we present a framework that helps to detect these evolutions and to develop operational recommendations.3.1 Understanding the temporal framework\n4. Conclusion: This article has illustrated how hermeneutics, embodied through the use of a temporal framework, can help to interpret changes in the quality of empirical databases and lead the way to operational recommendations. By doing so, we have adopted a radical interdisciplinary approach through the confrontation of interpretative theories from the humanities with operational theories in the field of database modeling. This confrontation contributes to the analysis of the iterative interaction between the schema of an empirical database and its corresponding extension and to the formulation of original operational solutions to improve database quality, i.e. its adequacy to observable reality and uses.In conclusion, we would note that phenomena similar to those observed in the administrative and cultural sector are found in every empirical domain. This is true, for example, in the world of stratospheric databases: before the discovery of falling ozone levels by British researchers in the 1980s, the corresponding low values were, as a matter of course, treated as anomalies (errors due to mis-measurement) in NASA's database for more than a decade (Boydens, 1999). The prevailing theory of the time, which was modeled in the NASA database, did not allow to entertain the possibility that such values might be correct. After the British discovery, NASA adapted the structure of its database, integrating the values previously regarded as errors due to mis-measurement into the set of permissible values. The management strategy described in this chapter therefore applies to all information systems whose structure evolves according to the interpretation of the realities that they aim to grasp. This is particularly true of empirical databases, in which the homogeneity of the formal codifications clashes with the heterogeneity of the empirical categories.Such a mechanism has been taken into account in the field of thesauri, as the ISO Standard (see for instance: ISO (1986)) includes the notion of \"candidate descriptor\", which takes into account potential new concepts corresponding to an evolution of the observed empirical reality. Nevertheless, in the case of thesauri, the discovery of new categories requires most of the time a pure intellectual analysis, even if semi-automatic approaches are under investigation (see, for instance, Schneider and Borlund (2005)). In the field of large databases, we show that a semi-automatic mechanism can be applied to this end on the basis of the monitoring of anomalies treatment or log files about metadata categories. Moreover, this phenomenon is not yet taken into account in the field of database modeling and data quality.In the future, we aim to pursue our work in the field of data quality by addressing some current shortcomings of our research and to deepen our understanding of the problem area. We have applied our analysis with the temporal framework in the field of administrative and cultural databases. In order to strengthen our research outcomes, both on a theoretical and an operational level, other application domains such as the medical, archaeological, military, etc., are envisioned.The paper mentioned the usefulness of existing data quality tools and methodologies to detect and correct anomalies in databases, which can then lead to updates of the database structure. We aim to work on a set of best practices, describing an optimal combination of an automated and a manual-interpretative approach to tackle data quality within empirical databases. The blend of automated and interpretative methods is particularly essential when confronted with large data sets.The long-term implementation of the strategies we propose requires the creation of a knowledge base containing documentation on the interpretation and the correction of values, but also of the restructuring process of the database and/or the metadata scheme. The implementation process of such a knowledge base needs to be formalized in order to automate certain parts of its construction and maintenance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to present a conceptual framework to analyze and improve the quality of empirical databases throughout time - with operational results which are measurable in terms of cost-benefit.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Basing themselves on the general approach of hermeneutics and, more specifically, on Fernand Braudel's concept of \"temporalites etagees\" and Norbert Elias's \"evolutive continuum\", the authors develop a temporal framework consisting of three stratified time levels in order to interpret shifts in the quality of databases. The soundness of the framework and its capability of delivering operational results are demonstrated by the development of a case study focusing on social security databases. A second case study in the context of digital cultural heritage is also developed to illustrate the general applicability of this interdisciplinary approach in the context of empirical information systems.\nFindings: - Contrary to the assertions of common theories that postulate a permanent bijective relationship between records in a database and the corresponding reality, this paper provides insights which demonstrate that a database evolves over time along with the interpretation of the values that it allows one to determine. These interdisciplinary insights, when applied practically to concrete case studies, give rise to original operational results in the ICT field of data quality.\nPractical implications: - The framework helps both the managers and the users of empirical databases to understand the necessity to integrate unforeseen observations, neglected a priori by virtue of the closed world assumption, and to develop operational recommendations to enhance the quality of databases.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is the first to show the potential of hermeneutics for the task of understanding the evolution of an empirical information system, and also the first to deliver operational outcomes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Standards-based governance of English teaching, past, present, and future?	[ "Standards", "Education reform", "Assessment", "English language arts", "English teaching", "Governmentality", "Constructions of English", "Neoliberalism", "Education policy", "Curriculum English", "English education", "Common core state standards" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Over the past three decades in the USA, a series of educational policies predicated on standards and accountability have transformed schooling, teaching and teacher education (Taubman, 2009). This standards and accountability movement is symptomatic of a global education reform movement that has framed policy problems and international debates within a neoliberal discourse of global economic competition, high-stakes testing, national curriculum and assessment systems, data and outcomes, teacher quality, evidence-based education, human capital, choice, free markets, privatization and entrepreneurism (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010; Hursh, 2008; Berliner and Glass, 2014; Ball, 2012; Taubman, 2009; Sahlberg, 2011). The uptake and effects of this discourse have been mediated by national, state and local differences and histories (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). At the same time, the globalization of education policy has led to an almost universal shift from social democratic to neoliberal orientations in thinking about educational purposes and governance, resulting in policies of corporatization, privatization and commercialism on one hand, and on a greater demand for accountability on the other. At the same time, educational purposes have been redefined in terms of a narrower set of concerns about human capital development, and the role education must play to meet the needs of the global economy and to ensure the competitiveness of the national economy (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010, p. 3).\nGovernmentality perspectives: Foucault's neologism, governmentality, offered different ways to analyze practices of government, particularly in modern nation states. It refers to more or less rational means to act upon others' actions - and to act upon one's own thoughts, desires and actions - to direct human conduct toward particular ends. Importantly, Foucault's view of \"government\" generally did not refer to the judiciary, legislative or executive branches of the State. On the contrary, the governmentality construct sought to sidestep more established critiques of judicial, legislative, state and sovereign power by adopting an older and broader definition of government as \"the conduct of conduct\" (Foucault, 1979). The term \"mentalities\" foregrounds how government - of a state, a ship's crew, a classroom and the self - is necessarily predicated on particular modes of thought, or rationalities.\nIRA/NCTE Standards: The IRA/NCTE (1996) Standards for the English Language Arts were developed in the early 1990s as part of a voluntary standards movement funded through the US Department of Education. Following a decade of \"crisis\" rhetoric concerning the perceived decline of US education, the federal government funded professional organizations to lead the development of \"content standards\" in English, mathematics, science and social studies.\nCommon Core standards: The CCSS anchor a policy ensemble that seeks to reconstruct much of the work of English teaching and teacher education. Now in the implementation stage, the CCSS both extend and break from earlier standards movements in the USA. In contrast to voluntary standards movements of the 1990s, the CCSS were developed in 2009 by a network of policy entrepreneurs (e.g. David Coleman), global management consultants (McKinsey\nThe past, present and vulnerable future of English in the standards age: The globalization of educational policy has ushered in significant changes to the ways in which education might be imagined, understood, regulated, and practiced in the early twenty-first century (Ball, 2012; Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). The past two decades, in particular, have given rise to new policy networks comprising policy entrepreneurs, state governors, philanthropists, foundations, for-profit and non-profit vendors and edu-businesses that operate independent of states, within states and on behalf of states (Ball, 2012; Picciano and Spring, 2013). Governed by neoliberal imaginaries, most state and federal policies now posit that educators and teacher educators can best address social, political and economic problems by complying with regulatory agencies and their mandated audit practices, being subject and subjecting themselves to surveillance and external controls and seeing their students - and themselves - in terms of quantifiable data (Taubman, 2009, p. 144). By standardizing professional practice in measurable and calculable terms, advanced liberal strategies of governing seek to attack enclosures of professional expertise, to subject the public sector to free market competition, to erode the influence of unions and professional associations and to enable external agencies to monitor and steer occupations that were previously governed by specialist knowledge and academic expertise (Rose, 1999). Thus, recent waves of standards-based policies have effectively shifted the governance of curriculum, teaching and teacher education away from teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, educational researchers, professional organizations and teachers' unions - and away from citizens and democratically elected bodies, such as local school boards and state and federal legislatures (Howe and Meens, 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to draw from overlapping scholarship in critical policy studies and governmentality studies to examine how recent standards-based education policies mark a pivotal shift in the aims and governance of English education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author traces this shift through a comparative analysis of the past two standards projects in the USA: the 1996 IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts and the 2010 Common Core State Standards.\nFindings: An analysis of the standards' comparative development processes, educational aims and governmentalities exemplifies a global shift toward new policy networks, neoliberal imaginaries and the interrelated policy technologies of managerialism, performativity and free markets.\nOriginality/value: This paper hopes to prompt more critical, reflexive and strategic stances towards standardization and the ways in which global education policies seek to reshape subject English and the future of teaching and teacher education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Document supply in Denmark	[ "Interlending", "Interlibrary loan", "Document delivery", "DanBib", "Library.dk", "Libraries", "Denmark", "Library automation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since 1994 Denmark has had a national union catalogue, which covers both public libraries and research libraries. This common database for all libraries has been an effective tool as a basis for interlibrary loan.A fundamental paradigm shift occurred when the national union catalogue was made accessible to the public through the establishment of library.dk in 2000. A database for user requests and for library-to-library requests was also introduced at the same time. This has been developed technically in the last ten years. The most important improvements being the automatic update from the national service of requesting into the libraries local databases and the automatic forwarding of user requests from library-to-library based on rules defined by the individual library.In 2011 the next big challenge is to establish an efficient system for handling access to digital resources. The real challenge is to handle both direct access based on licences from a library to which a user is connected and to handle access to resources not in licences from a library. Future ILL - or document delivery - will not only be to direct users of their home library but also to outside users, - either direct or via their home library.This article gives an overview of the current status of ILL in Denmark. Some new developments of physical ILL are mentioned and the challenges in developing general access to digital resources are described.\n2. Legislation: 2.1 Danish library act\n3. The library system in Denmark: 3.1 Organisation\n4. Danish document delivery/ILL guidelines: In 2001 IFLA published a major revision of the international guidelines for interlibrary loans and document delivery (IFLA, 2001) and they were the background for the Danish guidelines for cooperation between all types of libraries in Denmark (Hansen, 2001) as a follow-up to the Danish Library Act of 2000.These guidelines have been important in guiding and operating interlibrary loans and other fields of cooperation between all types of libraries in Denmark. The goal of interlibrary loan is to ensure the best possible access to information for Danish people in the shortest time to the broadest amount of knowledge and information resources. It was unspoken in the guidelines that ILL was seen as a supplement to lending and other services.The guidelines rank libraries which a library must use when selecting a supplier. This was implemented in the holdings in DanBib, where libraries are sorted according to these rankings. So public libraries must first use the regional library, then the public libraries in the same region, other regional libraries, and other public libraries and in the last resort the State and University Library. Another option is research libraries with special obligations and other research and educational libraries. Similarly research libraries must use other research libraries before public libraries.A request must preferably be verified in DanBib but if not, it may be forwarded to the Danish Loan Centre at The State and University Library. A library should not request titles not yet received. The development of library services in the last ten years has meant that these guidelines need updating:* The visibility of actual holdings information in DanBib means that librarians can first send requests to libraries where the item is on the shelf.* The level of automation has been growing over the years and from 2007 the user-initiated ILL request is sent to the first library on the list which can deliver immediately.* If all copies are unavailable in the user's own library, the request is sent to the library with the expected delivery date.DNLA is preparing to update the guidelines. As in most countries Denmark has rules to which libraries voluntarily commit. This next version will have a structure for each subject: first, what is determined by Acts and other official regulations and second what DNLA recommend. What DNLA recommend will be based on the widest consensus among libraries.The guidelines are supported by some new initiatives. The selection of libraries for library.dk has been based on the Danish Library Registry and the status defined by the library itself and only holdings from libraries with ILL responsibilities have been included. In late 2010 a new set of codes for ILL was launched. See more details in section 6 about future developments.As part of the preparations for new guidelines, the DNLM has revised the list of libraries with special obligations. During 2009 the libraries of the educational institutions for undergraduates were consolidated into nine university college libraries; in 2010 they became part the libraries with special obligations and a few smaller libraries were deleted because they no longer offered relevant materials.\n5. Technical components for ILL in Denmark: The current ILL system in Denmark is based on a mixture of databases and functions developed with the national union catalogue. The components will be described and then standards and specifications and lastly some examples of workflows using the components. The description of the components is not comprehensive - only the ILL relevant details are indicated.5.1 Databases\n6. Future technical developments: In 2011 some developments were agreed that improved further automation of ILL and the interaction between the national service conducted by library.dk and the local libraries.6.1 New codes for mark-up of materials\n7. What is available? - And the number of requests: If a direct request through library.dk is not possible, any citizen in Denmark can make a request for materials through the local library for free which will then use DanBib.7.1 DanBib\n8. How do we make physical items available?: 8.1 Printed resources\n9. How do we make electronic resources available?: DanBib contains many records for electronic materials - e-journals, e-books, open access-materials - for which there are different possibilities and ways of access.9.1 Access using library.dk\n10. For whom is it available?: Delivery services are available for registered users of libraries and for staff and students of many universities and other educational institutions. For physical material this availability is still based on registration as borrowers in the library - both for requests in library.dk and loans from the local library system.For digital content the situation is different. For public libraries and some research libraries the local borrower register is used. But for the universities and some other institutions the register of students and teachers/scientist is used which gives this category certain access rights.As described in section 9.1 the library.dk user interface tries to give the best possible access to digital content based on information from the libraries in the reported bibliographic records.A single point of login to digital services for libraries has been created: WAYF - Where Are You From (WAYF, n.d.). When the user meets a login page of a database, she needs to select her affiliated institution and WAYF then ensures access to databases and resources based on the rights of the institution. Most universities and other educational institutions use this service. This is similar to how Athens and Shibboleth are used in some other countries.A single identification for login was established in 2010 with EasyID (NemID, n.d.), which gives electronic access to banks and governmental services. Several libraries use EasyID as an alternative to traditional login. EasyID is only for Danish adults with a social security number and does not work for children and people without a social security number which is a weakness of the system.New developments are needed in this area and are described in section 12.\n11. How do we distribute the material?: 11.1 Danish delivery service\n12. Future digital delivery: Today digital content is propagated by:* The web site of the local library: a university library, a college library or a public library.* The common national portal: library.dk.Each library has different ways of accessing digital content. University libraries are always looking for new ways to conduct searches, not only in the library catalogue, but concurrently in other databases. Some libraries have included licensed articles and some freely available resources on the Internet in their catalogue. Until now the public libraries in Denmark have just presented a list of links to resources to their users - which are also accessible from home. Some public libraries, together with DBC, are working to develop a pool of accessible resources. The research libraries have different solutions with consolidated access to whatever licences they have purchased. Many university libraries use Primo from Exlibris. One library has developed a pool with articles from several vendors and some use a consolidated database from one supplier (e.g. from Serial Solutions).The above-mentioned big pool of resources (library metadata of physical and digital content and metadata and object from many sources) will result in some comprehensive search indexes. This will be used to give more direct access to data and metadata. These indexes will be nationally accessible which means that both local libraries and national services can provide users with the possibility to search in this pool and find material with rights to direct access - and just as important - material with rights to indirect access. For this the user can request and receive a file or maybe a print according to the conditions in the licence agreement.To ensure access for users we need to develop a technical infrastructure, where the user does not need to select a library or institution, but only has to identify herself. Then the system automatically detects the libraries and institutions, which provide rights to access for the user. And the system finds the best possible solution for delivery of material to the user. Preparations have begun to develop this system.12.1 Some user Cases\n13. Conclusion: In the 2001 guidelines the goal of interlibrary loan was to ensure the best possible access to information for Danish citizens; to give access with the shortest possible delay to the broadest possible knowledge and information resources. It was implied that ILL was seen as a supplement to lending and other services from the user's local library.The world has changed and the tasks for the libraries have changed with more and more digital materials available and this development will continue. All the same time it is still very relevant to improve and streamline ILL for physical materials and although Denmark has an efficient programme there is room for further improvements for access to digital materials.The vision for the national service, library.dk, was defined 12 year ago by the basic requirements: the user should select material (book, article, CD etc.), identify herself and choose the pick-up library. The selection of source for the delivery was - and is - not a task for the user, but for the libraries. This works and works well for physical materials. This vision is still valid, but needs to be extended: the user should select material (book, article, music etc.), and identify herself. But the delivery location is not necessarily a physical place, but can be an internet address (to pick-up) or an e-mail (to receive). The selection of the source for the delivery is not a task for the user, but for the libraries, as is identifying the best possible delivery format.The development has started, we have learned some lessons and now - July 2011 - a serious estimate is that within the next few years Denmark will have a highly effective system for sharing resources and information irrespective of the format.An important challenge is the need to focus on the user as a person, who may be registered at several libraries and institutions and not only as a user of one specific library. Streamlining and effectiveness are important, but moving the focus from library to user is even more important.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present the Danish inter-library lending (ILL) environment with the focus on its current status, the level of automation and future development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper describes Danish ILL cooperation.\nFindings: - Focussing on standards and automation delivers a better service. Danish ILL has a high level of automation. The combination of standards, interaction between systems and dedicated functions in the national system delivers an effective handling of ILL and document delivery.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first paper to provide a detailed overview of the modern ILL system in Denmark.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leadership development for managers in turbulent times	[ "Innovation", "Leadership", "Sustainable", "Development", "Management", "Learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The acronym VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) has been used to describe the turbulence of the modern world of work (Stiehm and Townsend, 2002). It owes much to earlier conceptions of rapidly changing organizational environments as \"white water\" (Vaill, 2008), with the need for leaders and managers to adapt to such change in an agile way. Its implications for managerial strategies have been explored and many organizations have embedded the concept in approaches to human resource management, in particular in managing talent and in human resource development. What is less clear is the extent to which management education has adopted the concepts of VUCA in the design and delivery of programmes for future managers and leaders.\nResearch approach: Leading now and in the future\nResearch issues: This paper examines the relationship between leadership, management education and the VUCA model of agile leadership. Its focus is where the three areas overlap.\nResearch methods: The grounded theory approach began with a review of the literature concerning the history of management education with particular emphasis on the UK experience. This drew on the contributions of Brech (2002), Clark (1951), Sanderson (1972), Wilson and Thomson (2009), O'Hare (2009) and a series of reports into management education from the Franks (1963) reportto the CMI (2014) Management 2020 report.\nFindings: Management education\nDiscussion: Evidence from a succession of reports clearly indicates that UK management education and development fares badly in comparison with other developed countries. Yet, an analysis of the requirements of regulatory, accreditation and professional bodies, many of them with an international emphasis, indicates that UK business schools meet these standards and that, furthermore, those standards include some, at least, of the skills and behaviours which the reports have found lacking. This creates a contradiction which deserves further exploration.\nConclusions: Although there is some recognition in the curricula of both higher education providers and professional bodies that leaders and managers need to possess skills to enable them to cope with uncertainty and change, little seems to be embedded in mainstream management development.\nFuture implications for management development: Successful development of managers and leaders depends not only on initiatives in the organizations in which they work but also on the foundations provided by business schools. There is a disjunction between surveys of the effectiveness of management education and development and the audits conducted by regulatory and accreditation bodies into the programmes conducted by business schools. One explanation is the relatively low emphasis in business schools on the agility required of managers and leaders to operate in an increasingly turbulent world. A greater focus on real-life situations through live consultancies rather than analysis of case studies may help to redress that imbalance. Continuing personal and professional development modules need to recognize explicitly the personal attributes which a VUCA world implies and proactively encourage the development of these.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In a turbulent economic climate, characterized by pressures to improve productivity and reduce costs, leadership and performance management have a more central role in helping to ensure competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to explore current demands on leaders; and endeavours to explore linkages between management education and agile leadership.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Taking a grounded theory approach, this paper uses the concepts of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) to investigate the impact on desired attributes of leaders and the extent to which this is underpinned by current management education programmes. It draws on the VUCA model of agile management to examine current practices and experiences and considers future trends. Empirical research includes case studies and analysis of management syllabuses.\nFindings: Syllabuses do not reflect the attributes that organizations expect leaders to possess and are content driven rather than process focused. VUCA is not yet mainstream in academic thinking.\nPractical implications: There is a disparity between the output of business schools and the expectations of organizations. This may affect productivity. It is suggested that the use of live consultancies may provide a more beneficial management development experience.\nOriginality/value: This research opens an international debate that seeks to assess the relevance of current management education to the needs of organizations for agile, high-performing leaders.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Perceptions of food labelling about allergens in food products in South Korea	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Knowledge", "Labelling", "Food policy", "Food allergens" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Food Allergy Research and Education reported that about 15 million Americans and 17 million Europeans are assumed to be at risk of allergic reactions to food (Dupis et al., 2016). In South Korea, various types of imported foods and changes of lifestyle and food consumption patterns are causing more food allergy responses, and only about 20-25 percent of people are aware of allergic reactions caused by food allergens (Korean Food Safety Research Institution, 2012). According to the South Korea Consumer Agency, during the period from 2008 to 2010, 1,744 cases of allergic reactions to food out of a total of 13,992 food safety-related cases were reported (Korean Food Safety Research Institution, 2012).\nMaterials and methods: Questionnaire design\nResults: Demographic characteristics of the respondents\nDiscussion: The results of this study have revealed several issues in current allergy labeling in South Korea. First, this study determined what information was perceived as important by consumers besides only considering improvements in the present allergy information labeling system. Consumers were concerned about the price and origins of the major ingredients. This shows that consumers are concerned about general information regarding the basic value of food and also food safety.\nConclusion: This study evaluated consumers' perceptions of the current food allergy labeling system as well as consideration of information when purchasing food products. The results of study have shown that some improvements are needed in order to deliver allergy information in a clear manner. Consumers thought that information regarding production or expiry dates, price, and origin of major ingredients was most important. In terms of allergy information, consumers made different recommendations for the information on nutrition labels. Improvements in font size, shape, and color should be implemented together in order to communicate effectively with allergic consumers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Allergy information on food labels is crucial to individuals with food allergies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what information consumers are concerned with as well as improving the allergen information on the product labels.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was developed based on previous studies and was administered to citizens in South Korea. Descriptive analysis and analysis of variance were conducted to find significances of important information when purchasing and improvement needed on the labels in relation to allergy knowledge.\nFindings: The results indicated that respondents were concerned about allergy information and general information regarding the basic value of food and also food safety. In addition, this study found knowledge of food allergies is not related to consideration of allergy information on labels.\nOriginality/value: This study measured consumers' perceptions of the current food allergy labeling when purchasing food products. This study concluded improvements were needed in order to deliver allergy information in a clear manner. Such as font size, shape, and color should be implemented together in order to communicate effectively with allergic consumers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An examination on the growth and sustainability of Australian transnational education	[ "Transnational", "Quality assurance", "Offshore" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Australian higher education institutions have played key roles in international education and have been one of the earliest developers of transnational education (\"TNE\"). According to Global Alliance for Transnational Education (1997), TNE refers to any teaching or learning activity in which the students involved are in a different country to where the institution providing the education is based. Students pursuing a TNE have been commonly referred to as offshore students.\nAustralian TNE: past and present: Australian universities have a long history of TNE which dated back to more than four decades (Heffernan and Poole, 2004). Historically, transnational programs/partnership have been initiated through individual academics or senior university leaders (Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), 2009; Carroll and Woodhouse, 2006; Debowski, 2008). In terms of the approach, TNE first started with partnerships and later universities opened offshore campuses. A few universities in Australia such as the University of New South Wales and Central Queensland University opened transnational campuses with millions of dollars of investment only to realize that such investment was financially not viable (The Observatory, 2007). Despite the impressive growth in the TNE space, universities have been criticized for a lack of institutional-wide strategy, leadership and governance of such programs (McBurnie and Ziguras, 2007). In the Australian context, the failure of various transnational campuses and partnership arrangements have led to a questioning of the extent to which such activities are rigorously planned and monitored (McBurnie and Ziguras, 2011; Stella and Liston, 2008).\nFuture of TNE in the major markets: Despite a few periods of slowed growth, the expansion of TNE activities by Australian universities has been impressive. Over the years it has been observed that the reliance on TNE as part of the revenue and international student recruitment strategy has increased. According to the Australian Government (2014), the top five countries for Australian TNE in the last five years have been: China, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong. Given the concentration of Australian transnational activities in these countries one has to ponder whether the growth of TNE in current major markets is sustainable.\nOnline learning and its impact on TNE: Another fast changing factor that is likely to have an impact on the growth and sustainability of Australian TNE is online learning. Online learning as a form of teaching and learning is not new. The proliferation of online learning, however, is a recent phenomenon. In Australia, Open Universities Australia and Seek Learning offer online learning to domestic students. Open Universities was established in 1993 (Open Learning Australia, n.d.) and Seek Learning has been operating since 2004 (Seek, n.d.). Through partnerships with different Australian universities, these two organizations appeal mostly to Australian students given the reach of the platform and Australian government funding. The threat upon TNE from these two institutions is thus considered minimal.\nSustainability of existing TNE model: The bulk of Australian TNE has been through offshore campuses or franchising. Of these two models, the intensive \"FIFO\" (or known as flying faculty) (Smith, 2014) is one of the most prevalent models of delivery. The reasons for this approach are partly for quality assurance to ensure equivalence of standards, and partly for marketing. However, the reality is that the heavy reliance on home-campus faculty to support transnational delivery is challenging, both at the institutional as well as the individual level.\nConclusion: Universities in developed countries have played a key role in TNE. The decline in public funding of universities has resulted in identification of alternative sources of income. So far, the key driver for TNE has been economic. The strategy, quality assurance and governance of Australian TNE has been patchy in institutions. There is evidence to suggest that some transnational programs/partnerships are operating at a loss (McBurnie and Ziguras, 2007). Institutions are now undertaking more thorough cost-benefit analysis of transnational activities using various performance data to assess financial viability. Historically, institutions have focused more on the profitability of transnational programs rather than ensuring rigorous quality assurance mechanisms to safeguard standards. As universities continue to search for new TNE ventures, it may be worthwhile to examine the growth and sustainability of current and future transnational programs/partnerships and campuses. Our examination of current Australian transnational markets suggests future decline as universities in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia reposition themselves to compete with other countries. Governments in these countries are also investing in higher education with the goal to create education hubs and to internationalize higher education. This phenomenon is attracting many international students to study in the above countries which were predominantly enjoyed by foreign institutions. The developments in higher education in Asia are also attracting many leading academics from western countries to seek employment in Asia.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics facing transnational education (TNE) in Australia through literature review in three major areas: policy changes in Australia and major importing countries of Australian TNE, and recent development in online learning and the impact of the prevailing TNE models. The paper concludes by shedding some light on how these changes could affect the sustainability of the growth of Australian TNE in the future.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on review of literature and use of secondary data on TNE in Australia. The paper analyzes the external quality audit reports with focus on TNE. It finally analyzes the future sustainability of Australian TNE based on growth of higher education in Asia and emergence of online learning.\nFindings: TNE is experiencing growth in Australia. Based on the current model such as setting overseas campus and partnerships, the growth may not be sustainable. The emergence of online learning and developments in Asian higher education may pose increased risk and competition. TNE has been subject to external scrutiny through the external quality agency in past. The current compliance-driven quality assessment may put the transnational quality assessment at risk with increased focus on assessing the quality based on review of documentation.\nOriginality/value: The paper is original and it is based on Australian TNE.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Stakeholders' perception of sustainability orientation within a major Romanian University	[ "Sustainability", "Lifelong learning", "Sustainable development", "Exploratory empirical research", "Stakeholders of universities", "Stakeholders’ perception" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Sustainability of universities represents the keystone of economic, social, political and cultural globalization. The twenty-first century has brought about profound changes in the economic mechanisms governing the operation of private or public organizations as well as of education and research institutions in general and universities in particular. Various international standards, rankings and typologies are increasingly used to cluster and position universities on the global educational market (Dabija et al., 2014; Bodea et al., 2015). Although sometimes controversial and seldom fully implemented for objective and subjective reasons, such regulations, procedures, norms and/or typologies, are hotly disputed in literature (Shi and Lai, 2013).\n2. Sustainability in universities: Organizations have become increasingly concerned with, and oriented towards, sustainable development (sustainability), particularly in the context of economic globalization and growing recognition of interdependencies between nature and human society. This has led to new requirements as to customers, local communities, regulatory authorities, banks, financiers and service providers (Dinu, 2010).\n3. Research methodology: To emphasize the way that the dimensions of sustainability defined by Martin and Schouten (2012) - economic, social and environmental orientation - might be transposed within universities and how these can be oriented towards the \"internal\" and \"external\" stakeholders of a university (Walsh and Beatty, 2007), an empirical exploratory research has been conducted. To do this, the theoretical concepts regarding sustainability were transposed into measurable statements (Pop et al., 2011). Such a research question seems to be relatively innovative given universities, as non-profit organizations (Pop et al., 2008; Borza and Crisan, 2015) need not implement sustainability principles in their activity at all costs. However, to a certain degree, universities set the general trends in society and, as such, should provide schools of thought and serve as positive examples of sustainable development worth following. Therefore, we believe universities and/or research institutions are also entitled to implement such principles in their activity.\n4. Research results: 4.1 Results of the quantitative research\n5. Conclusions: Because of the complexity of sustainability, the transposition of sustainability issues within universities is not a task that can be easily and rapidly accomplished. Other studies came to similar conclusions regarding some of the aspects revealed in this research. Although Emanuel and Adams (2011) have relied on factor analysis and mean evaluations, their findings show that students from different US campuses are also concerned on sustainability and environmental protection issues. Sustainability entails the university's willingness to assume major responsibilities and risks. To create a really \"green\" campus, tremendous financial efforts must be made, which often cannot be supported by the own budget. Drawing private funds and investments to modernize infrastructure could prove to be a laborious process, but it is necessary to develop a proper sustainable orientation and resources consumption.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The research attempts to aim to evaluate the perception that different stakeholder groups have of one of the largest and most important Romanian university with respect to its sustainability orientation. The exploratory empirical research reveals some important aspects which must be closely pursued and properly implemented by the management of the university to further develop sustainability strategies. The paper offers a novel approach regarding the way a university can and must focus on different specific measures on sustainability to gain a better position on the educational market, to attract new students and lifelong learning (LLL) programme participants, as well as to become a trend setter for defining and transferring good practices within the society.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected by questionnaires and in-depth-interview guides which were distributed to different stakeholder groups: bachelor (undergraduate) and master's students versus LLL programme participants coming from different high schools across the country enrolled on a training course organized by the university and high school principals versus staff members of the university holding coordination and/or management positions. The collected data were then analyzed by means of econometric analysis. Data validity, reliability and internal consistency were checked (Cronbach's a coefficient, \"item-to-total\" correlation, the KMO criterion (>0.7) and Bartlett's test of sphericity). With the help of exploratory factor analysis, the way in which different stakeholders value and perceive the specific measures and efforts undertaken by the university has been extracted.\nFindings: Students, LLL participants and members of the university staff perceived the university's positive orientation towards sustainability and the measures taken in this respect. All stakeholders expressed highly favourable opinions of the university's dealings with different sustainability aspects, such as its attitude towards its employees, its performance within the higher education market and its establishment of an attractive and innovative educational programme, in compliance with sustainability principles, environmental protection and modern attitudes towards society.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research has been conducted on a sample of students of bachelor and master level, belonging to the biggest faculty of the university (as to number of students and staff). In a more comprising study, the focus should also be on bachelor, master and PhD students of the other faculties of the university, as well as on citizens of the community or in general on people from Transylvania and/or Romania. The university under investigation is one of the most important employers of the region. Further dimensions of sustainable development could also be pursued in a future study.\nSocial implications: The university shows an orientation towards civil society by means of specific actions and programs. The university supports and takes part in the organization of cultural and artistic events in cooperation with local authorities and other cultural and/or social institutions and organizations. Respondents also refer to some examples of best practices that might be applied by education institutions to educate young people towards developing a proper sustainable mentality.\nOriginality/value: There exist almost no comparative empirical studies of sustainability on Romanian universities that take account of the perspectives of students, LLL participants and staff members. The findings have a high potential in developing a proper strategy for the university involved but could also be used by the government if designing a national wide policy regarding this issue. Different authors argue that young people are more conscious about sustainability, organic stuff, environmental protection, green marketing, etc. Taking into consideration the sensitivity of young peoples (students, staff members, etc.), as well as the fact that the university establishes social trends, the idea of studying sustainability in a university could be regarded as a novelty approach.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Using data to advance service: managerial issues and theoretical implications from action research	[ "Big data", "Action research", "Data-use", "Service advancement", "Managerial issue", "Theoretical implication" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With recent advances in data collection technologies, massive amounts and varied kinds of data are collected from individuals and firms in all industries (Atzori et al., 2010). The proliferation of (big) data has brought about services in which data-use significantly contributes to value creation. Automobile manufacturers analyze vehicle condition and operations data collected from onboard devices via telematics, and they provide various types of useful information to assist drivers on fuel efficiency, safety, consumable, and navigation (Lim et al., 2015). Insurance companies collect patient data and provide patients with healthcare-related information to improve healthcare safety, reduce cost, and develop sustainable relationships with them (OECD, 2013). Smart band-based fitness tracking services collect data from daily life, such as behavior, health, and food menu data, to help people achieve specific fitness-related goals, such as walking 10,000 steps a day (Takacs et al., 2014). Screen golf training services rely on data of users' golf swings to train users in achieving better stances and swing angles (Jung et al., 2010).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Using data to advance service\n3. Action research through five service design projects: 3.1 Research method selection\n4. Managerial issues in the use of data for service advancement: As with any large-scale initiative for change, the move to effective data-use for service was not easy. Our action research into this change through the five projects involved the analysis of real (big) data to understand customers, design of information content for customers, analysis of existing service cases in multiple industries that involved intensive data-use, interviews with experts and practitioners who had extensive experience related to data-use and service management, design and evaluation of new service concepts, and so on. All these activities were organized based on the literature including the studies reviewed in Section 2, performed through intensive collaboration with practitioners, and analyzed coherently to understand effective ways to use data for attractive and workable services. As a result, 11 managerial issues of data-use for service advancement were identified (see Figure 3). Studies reviewed in Section 2.1 indicate that services in which the use of data has a highly significant effect on value creation involve data collection, information creation, and information delivery activities (e.g. see the first paragraph of Section 2.1). As shown in Figure 3, each issue is classified based on its relevance to each activity, with the last issue being highly relevant to all three activities.\n5. Theoretical implications: Throughout our work on the five projects, we felt we could do a better job of problem solving if there were theories and methodologies for using new data to advance service. Given the 11 managerial issues, how can researchers help practitioners manage the use of data to advance service? Using data to advance service is a truly interdisciplinary research topic that requires combining different fields. We found multiple theoretical implications for using data to advance service through our action research in diverse projects, which were based on various studies in different fields, such as those introduced in Section 2.\n6. Concluding remarks: This paper reports real-world lessons from practices and projects aiming to advance service with data. One contribution of our work is the development of a service-oriented framework for using data effectively to advance service. The Internet of Things (Atzori et al., 2010), big data analytics (George et al., 2014), cloud computing (Iyoob et al., 2013), smart service (Maglio and Lim, 2016), and autonomous service concepts (Maglio, 2017) are all highly relevant to the use of (big) data for service, which is increasingly important in the modern data-rich economy (Ostrom et al., 2015). However, managerial issues in the use of these concepts for service advancement are not well known (Watanabe and Mochimaru, 2017). Rather than exploring individual points on the spectrum of using data to advance service, our study focused on a high-level view. The set of 11 issues provides a simple yet comprehensive framework for understanding and managing data-use in advancing service. In addition, we identified six items for future research to address the issues and to improve practice. The set of six research items could serve as an empirically identified basis for theory development. We believe this effort at developing holistic understanding will improve data-based service management in practice and contribute to synergy among different research fields across the managerial issues and research items.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The proliferation of (big) data provides numerous opportunities for service advances in practice, yet research on using data to advance service is at a nascent stage in the literature. Many studies have discussed phenomenological benefits of data to service. However, limited research describes managerial issues behind such benefits, although a holistic understanding of the issues is essential in using data to advance service in practice and provides a basis for future research. The purpose of this paper is to address this research gap.\nDesign/methodology/approach: \"Using data to advance service\" is about change in organizations. Thus, this study uses action research methods of creating real change in organizations together with practitioners, thereby adding to scientific knowledge about practice. The authors participated in five service design projects with industry and government that used different data sets to design new services.\nFindings: Drawing on lessons learned from the five projects, this study empirically identifies 11 managerial issues that should be considered in data-use for advancing service. In addition, by integrating the issues and relevant literature, this study offers theoretical implications for future research.\nOriginality/value: \"Using data to advance service\" is a research topic that emerged originally from practice. Action research or case studies on this topic are valuable in understanding practice and in identifying research priorities by discovering the gap between theory and practice. This study used action research over many years to observe real-world challenges and to make academic research relevant to the challenges. The authors believe that the empirical findings will help improve service practices of data-use and stimulate future research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding communication channel choices in team knowledge sharing	[ "Knowledge management", "Communication technologies", "Choice", "Information sharing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In our knowledge-based society, teams are often used to perform various functions within the organization. The ability to harness ideas, knowledge, and solutions within the organization for its people affects its competitive edge. The systematic process of \"acquiring, organizing, and communicating both tacit and explicit knowledge of employees so that other employees may make use of it to be more effective and productive in their work\" is called knowledge management (Alavi and Leidner, 1999, p. 6).\nLiterature review: Knowledge sharing: what makes employees more likely to share?\nResearch questions: Although researchers and practitioners understand the benefits of, and implementation strategies for, knowledge management initiatives, the factors contributing to positive attitudes and knowledge sharing behaviors, the research does not tell us what information and communication channels (ICC) employees actually use for sharing knowledge and why. If employee participation in knowledge management initiatives is important for team and organizational success, then we need to understand what technologies employees actually choose when sharing knowledge. In practice, employees have a wide array of information and communication technologies from which to choose, but they may not make rational choices when determining what ICCs to use for sharing knowledge. Orlikowski's (1992) research has confirmed the notion that technologies are not deterministic, but rather that employee selection and use of technologies emerge from situated practices. Hence, the existence of a wiki does not ensure its use for knowledge sharing. We forward the following research questions:\nMethodology: Procedure and participants\nResults and discussion: ICC access in the workplace\nLimitations and directions for future research: Ultimately, we intend to validate and refine the model forwarded in the present study. To achieve this end, we can overcome a number of limitations in the present study to pursue avenues for future research. First, because we used an online survey instrument, we were unable to capture substantial qualitative data. In future studies, we would like to gather additional qualitative data through in-depth interviews. For example, we can ask employees to describe specific, yet typical team knowledge sharing practices. We can also use interviews to look more closely at the nature of the knowledge employees share, rather than the dichotomous categories of general and sensitive information. The online nature of the present study constrained the number of qualitative items we could place in the questionnaire. After collecting interview data, we would combine the data from the present study with the results of our qualitative analysis to refine the four-layer model.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The goal of this paper is to develop and test a model that explains information and communication channel (ICC) choice for knowledge sharing in work teams.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper reviews relevant literature in information and knowledge sharing and communication channel choices to develop the four-layered model. From the four-layered model, an online questionnaire was developed to look at the ICCs that participants have available to them, the ICCs they actually use when sharing information in teams, and their motivations for making their ICC choices.\nFindings: Although participants reported having access to a wide variety of ICCs, they tended to rely on face-to-face interactions, telephone and e-mail for sharing knowledge. In accordance with the four-layer model, participants reported that ICC choice was impacted by the type of knowledge being shared. In addition, ease of use, reliability, convenience, and the ability of the channel to document communications were all factors motivating ICC selection.\nResearch limitations/implications: The layered model provides a framework for further research to investigate the factors at the outer layers of the four-layered model and the interaction among the layers in affecting ICC choices.\nPractical implications: The paper attempts to build a model that organizations can use as a guide to implementing strategies for information and knowledge sharing in teams.\nOriginality/value: This paper develops and partially tests a model to understand communication choices and information sharing. It provides a framework to examine \"traditional\" communication choices in the midst of the uproar of the availability of Web 2.0 technologies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Uncovering the corporate-knowledge gap: The key role of employee assessment	[ "Assessment", "Information gathering", "Employee records", "Organizational performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In these tough economic times, managers in companies across the UK are examining how to make the best use of their employees and increase productivity and competitiveness. In many cases, they are making decisions about redundancies, too.\nCustomised assessments - closing the knowledge gap: Managers need to have a clear picture of what employees truly understand versus what they think they understand. One way of doing this is by administering bespoke employee assessments that test both an individual's knowledge of every aspect of the job, and confidence in performing the role.While many companies have invested in employee assessments, they are used most commonly in the pre-employment stage to ensure the right people are recruited. This is often the last time people are assessed. Most people move through several different jobs and ranks in their lifetime, and their jobs often become increasingly complex. Managers cannot be certain that these individuals understand their new roles if they have not assessed their knowledge, understanding and confidence since they were initially hired.Individuals might be called upon to handle new processes and systems in their new roles or deal with new regulations or compliance that may have legal ramifications, if misunderstood. The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008, which came into force on 16 January 2009 and broadened the range of health and safety offences, demonstrates how a new regulation could seriously affect an organization if its principles are misunderstood. Under the Act, any health and safety offences could lead to a prison sentence for anyone in a business and a hefty fine if the case is taken to higher courts. The only way for managers to be confident that every individual in their organization understands and can adhere to such a regulation is to assess their knowledge. They can do this most effectively by placing them in assessment scenarios where they have to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. Any knowledge gaps are then immediately visible and can be addressed through training.Another important area where assessments are useful is in identifying potential operational risks. This enables managers to develop bespoke employee training to improve individual skills and performance, as well as help employees to reach their full potential. Along the same lines, employers should eliminate expensive \"one size fits all\" training and focus on pinpointing the exact training needs of individuals instead. The expense of such \"one size fits all\" programs is twofold; not only in terms of monetary value, but also in terms of overlooking important knowledge gaps that put the company at risk - like with the Health and Safety Offences Act 2008.Delivering bespoke training will also make employees feel more confident in their roles and, consequently, more productive. A report from Proudfoot Consultancy, in December 2008, revealed that 26 percent of UK workers' time is spent unproductively, with 1.3 days of every week spent doing things that do not deliver productive results. Improving employees' understanding of what their job roles truly entail would eradicate expensive mistakes, boost productivity levels, improve efficiency and increase employee confidence.Regular customized assessments can also help managers to make more accurate decisions about whom to promote and when. It is a big risk to promote someone who does not possess adequate knowledge, confidence or competence to succeed at a higher-level job with greater responsibilities. Assessments will show clearly when an employee is ready for such a move and highlight that he or she has the necessary skills, capabilities and confidence to perform well at a higher level. Promoting employees at the right time can motivate them, help to retain the workforce and reduce turnover. Conversely, companies may lose some of their best employees if those with the skills and competency to be promoted are constantly overlooked.The information gleaned from assessments is not only invaluable for knowing when to promote staff; it could help managers to make more accurate and informed decisions about redundancies. Having a clear picture of the skills, capabilities, and the training and development needs of every individual in an organization is critical if managers are to make fair, informed and rational decisions, which include an evaluation of training costs versus the cost of redundancy.An added benefit of measuring staff understanding is the identification of \"knowledge custodians\" who can act as champions or be highlighted as examples of best practice. There tend to be clusters of these individuals within every organization; they are the people that the other employees go to for specific work-related questions when no one else knows the answer. Knowledge custodians can also be invaluable in providing training and mentoring for underperforming employees.In a downturn, companies need to be as strong as possible and keep their best employees on board. Managers need to know who is indispensable and how they can pull together their workforce in the best way to be competitive and ready for the upturn. Uncovering the knowledge gap is just the first step.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Argues that organizations carrying out regular, customized assessments of all their employees are best placed to know when to promote staff. Such assessments can also help managers to make more accurate and informed decisions about redundancies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Highlights the reasons that many organizations allow a \"knowledge gap\" to develop about their employees, describes the ways in which these can prove costly to organizations, and explains how the knowledge gaps can be closed.\nFindings: - Reports that 26 percent of UK workers' time is spent unproductively, with 1.3 days of every week spent doing things that do not deliver productive results. One in four employees does not understand certain aspects of the job role.\nPractical implications: - Reveals that improving employees' understanding of what their job roles truly entail would eradicate expensive mistakes, boost productivity levels, improve efficiency and increase employee confidence.\nOriginality/value: - Provides information that is particularly valuable for organizations contemplating redundancies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evolving value propositions in knowledge-intensive business services	[ "Business-to-business", "Customer relationships", "Value proposition", "Knowledge-intensive business services", "Project business" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In today's business market, an innovative service offering is not enough. The value of a product or service must be crystallized for the customers (Olavarrieta and Friedmann, 2007). Thus, a competitive advantage in a service-based business depends, to a large extent, on its ability to develop a value proposition focusing on the customer's value-creation needs (Tokman and Beitelspracher, 2011). That proposition is further tested by its ability to attract targeted customer segments and also by its clarity to guide the service organization in the right direction (Rintamaki et al., 2007). It has been suggested that value propositions should be a fundamental part of an organization's business strategy (Anderson et al., 2006), moving the strategic focus from internal planning to customer experience and value creation. For example, according to Wouters and Kirchberger (2015), the process of crafting a value proposition stimulates an organization to consider their products, services and technology from the customer's perspective, supporting, representing, learning about and transforming prevailing knowledge.\n2. Varying value propositions in varying customer relationships - literature review: Today's business market is tough. Customers are becoming increasingly demanding, which means that issues, such as an ability to offer the right resources for the customer, value creation, perceived trust, commitment and economic satisfaction, become crucial criteria for firm representatives to consider when deciding with whom they want to cooperate in the industrial market. In this environment, the meaning of value proposition is highlighted in initiating new customer relationships, likewise in developing existing ones.\n3. Methodology: This study uses a qualitative case study method to produce the most comprehensive description of the research phenomenon (Gummesson, 2005; Johnston et al., 1999). Case studies go beyond providing a static snapshot of events and cut across the temporal and contextual reality. Like other qualitative methods, case studies are basically concerned with the researcher's interpretation. We have chosen to apply this method because of the complex nature of the research phenomenon, its need to be studied in a natural context, and the fact that we have little theoretical knowledge of the phenomenon (Bonoma, 1985) which has also led us to the exploratory approach (Yin, 2003). This study investigates projects and relationships among multiple organizations, which are phenomena that especially benefit from a case study as they take place within a very specific KIBS context. As the evolution of the relationship is also scrutinized, it is important to understand the dynamic and temporal dimensions.\n4. Forming value propositions in knowledge-intensive business services - analysis of the data: As mentioned, there was one service provider involved in this study and four of its customers, each relationship representing one of cases of this study. According to the service provider's representatives, general value proposition of this KIBS is based on its ability to provide a wide range of engineering services. In addition, the size of the company and its global operations are emphasized - both in service provider and customer interviews - as one important mean to offer functional value:\n5. Conclusions: In the present study, our contribution lies mainly in defining the elements of value proposition in KIBSs, in new relationships compared to established ones. In addition, we managed to make a division between project-related components of value proposition and more relationally focused elements. Consequently, evolution of value propositions can be defined as follows (Figure 3).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what value dimensions and related value components are highlighted in the value proposition of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), both at the relationship and project levels, how value propositions can differ between new and established customer relationships, and finally what is characteristic to the evolution of value proposition in the KIBS context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study uses a comparative, qualitative multiple case study method.\nFindings: The aim is to offer a comprehensive picture of the variety of value components in KIBS relationships, likewise, how the nature and composition of value proposition changes as a relationship evolves from conducting a single project toward a more established customer relationship. Individual experts seem to possess a crucial role in that development.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes theoretically by providing insights into the current literature on core dimensions and components of value propositions in this specific context, and differences there can be between new and established customer relationships. The study also offers much-needed, context-specific knowledge of knowledge-intensive services for managers. Empirically, these findings reflect the perspectives of both the service provider and four of its customers, ensuring a multi-sided description of the phenomenon.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How consumer-based brand equity relates to market share of global and local brands in developed and emerging countries	[ "Consumer-based brand equity", "Market share", "International marketing", "Developed countries", "Emerging countries", "Global brands", "Local brands" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Brand equity is one of the most established and popular concepts in marketing. Every year, companies spend large amounts of money to build, measure, manage and defend the equity of their brands. In academic literature, brand equity was first discussed in the 1980s (Farquhar, 1989) and since then, it has been investigated from consumer, company and financial perspectives (Keller and Lehmann, 2006). Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) encompasses extensive information about the value that consumers attribute to brands and is positively related to a variety of outcomes, including consumer (e.g. preference and purchase intention; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995), product-market (e.g. market share; Agarwal and Rao, 1996) and financial outcomes (e.g. stock returns; Mizik and Jacobson, 2008).Scholars have previously called for more research on several aspects of brand equity, including its measurement and management in national and international contexts (Christodoulides and de Chernatony, 2010; Christodoulides et al., 2015; Keller and Lehman, 2006). For example, Christodoulides and de Chernatony (2010, p. 57) stated that \"further research may look further into the conceptual and metric equivalence of brand equity such as in 'individualist vs collectivist' cultures, and also in 'developed vs developing' markets.\" Similarly, Keller and Lehman (2006) discussed the importance of further clarifying the link between \"customer-market\" and \"product-market\" measures of brand equity.Much has been achieved in recent years, as relevant studies have been conducted (Chatzipanagiotou et al., 2016, 2019). However, more studies are still needed on brand equity, especially in an international context. Few countries and limited sets of brands are usually included, and nonrepresentative samples of consumers are often investigated (see Figure 1 later in this paper). Moreover, the global/local nature of brands has been neglected so far, although this represents an important aspect widely discussed by global brand management scholars (Gurhan-Canli et al., 2018; Ozsomer and Altaras, 2008). In fact, companies working in international contexts face the challenge of how to measure brand equity cross-nationally in a comparable manner while managing global and local brands. The question often faced is, \"How can brand equity of different brand types (global and local) be grown cross-nationally in a way that builds the performance of these brands?\"The current paper focuses on CBBE in an international perspective, often referred to as \"international CBBE\" (Christodoulides et al., 2015), and its relationship with market share, a key product-related outcome (Katsikeas et al., 2016). Product-market performance measures are particularly relevant from a managerial perspective, as they reflect more closely managers' work than financial measures and offer useful insights into the effectiveness of managerial activities (Katsikeas et al., 2016). The positive relationship between CBBE and market share has already been demonstrated in the literature in both national (Agarwal and Rao, 1996) and international (Oliveira-Castro et al., 2008) contexts. The current paper expands the literature by focusing on the role that brand types (global and local) and country groups (developed and emerging) have in this relationship. By examining how CBBE components relate to market share for different brand types and in different country groups, the paper aims to better understand the nature of the relationship between CBBE and market share.To that end, the current paper uses consumer-survey-based data from one of the biggest multinational, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies. These data are aligned with an expanded conceptualization of Aaker's (1991) brand equity model and is combined with measures of market share derived from a retail panel. This paper is based on a wide set of countries (29 in total), both developed and emerging. It also considers more than 100 FMCG brands and accounts for their type (global versus local). In doing so, this paper contributes to the literature by clarifying how CBBE components relate to market share for different brand types (global and local) in different country groups (developed and emerging).This paper starts with a review of CBBE conceptualization, operationalization and outcomes, and of global and local brands across countries. This paper then describes the methodology adopted, specifically illustrating the consumer-survey-based data, the retail panel data and the classification of the type of brand; it also offers a description of the set of emerging and developed countries that are being investigated. In the data analysis and results section, this paper first assesses the structure of the CBBE model, then tests the hypotheses previously formulated. It concludes with a reflection both on the theoretical and managerial implications that can be derived from the findings, as well as on the limitations of this study and related future research avenues.\n2. Theory and hypotheses: 2.1 CBBE conceptualization, operationalization and outcomes\n3. Methodology: This research used data from 29 countries, combining three different sources of information: consumer-survey-based data; experts' coding and retail panel data. Consumer-survey-based data and retail panel data were provided by a large FMCG multinational company and the coding was developed together with experts working for the company. 3.1 Consumer-survey-based data\n4. Results: 4.1 Structure of the CBBE model assessment and invariance across countries\n5. Discussion: Data analysis showed that the structure of the CBBE held in both groups of countries, and thus could be used to test the hypotheses advanced by the current paper. The following analysis supported the general idea that the relationship between CBBE components and market share changes based on brand type (global versus local) and country group (developed versus emerging). Most, but not all, hypotheses were supported.With reference to developed countries, the analysis confirmed that the relationship that brand awareness (H1a), perceived quality (H1b), perceived value (H1d) and brand loyalty (H1e) had with market share was stronger for local over global brands. In the case of brand associations, the analysis found that the relationship with market share was stronger for global over local brands, contradicting H1c. The relationship between brand associations and market share was still significant for local brands, but the strength of this relationship was statistically inferior to that of global brands. An explanation for this finding could be that, as global brands develop a unique brand image across countries that supports communication and advertising with large budgets (Schuiling and Kapferer, 2004), the key brands associations characterizing these brands may be present in the mind of consumers more clearly, given that there is some evidence in the literature that the uniqueness and strength of brand associations are positively related to brand performance outcomes (Silverman et al., 1999).With respect to emerging countries, the analysis confirmed that the relationship that brand awareness (H2a), perceived quality (H2b), brand associations (H2c), perceived value (H2d) and brand loyalty (H2e) had with market share was stronger for global brands over local ones. These findings further support the notion that global brands have a prominent role and an overall advantage over local counterparts in emerging countries (Batra et al., 2000).The control used in the model (average price index) was significantly associated with market share, confirming the expected negative relationship between price and market share. This finding further supports the central role played by CBBE components in affecting market share (together with the influence exerted by the average price index).\n6. Conclusion: 6.1 Implications for research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) - conceptualized as consisting of brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations, perceived value and brand loyalty - and market share for different brand types (global versus local) in different country groups (developed versus emerging).\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper combines consumer-survey-based data, experts' coding and retail panel data of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands in 29 countries.\nFindings: In developed countries, the relationship between each CBBE component (except for brand associations) with market share is stronger for local than global brands. In emerging countries, the relationship between each CBBE component with market share is stronger for global than local brands.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper contributes to better understanding the relationships between CBBE and market share by showing how CBBE components relate to market share for different brand types (global and local) in different country groups (developed and emerging). Limitations arise from constraints related to existing datasets (e.g. limited number of variables and type of product categories considered).\nPractical implications: This paper offers insights to managers working in multinational FMCG companies, as it suggests which CBBE components relate more strongly to the global or local brands' market shares in different countries.\nOriginality/value: This paper analyzes the relationship between CBBE and market share by focusing on different brand types (global versus local) in different country groups (developed versus emerging). It does so by using a company dataset and showing correspondence with conceptualizations and measures of brand equity from the academic literature. It also considers a large set of 29 countries, extending research beyond national boundaries.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Antioxidant potential of oregano extract (Origanum vulgare L.)	[ "Antioxidant activity", "DPPH", "Phenolic compounds", "Polar compounds", "Tocopherol", "Fatty acids", "Fats", "Edible oils", "Chemical properties of materials" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Oils and fats are raw materials with a wide range of application, and are among the main components of food. They are compounds of great importance for human diet, because they constitute the greatest source of caloric energy for the organism. In addition, they present some elements that have important functions, such as fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids. They also act as a means of heat transfer in the frying process and are responsible for the palatability, flavor, color and texture, which are characteristics of fried and baked foods (Oliveira and Regitano-D'arce, 2004; St Angelo, 1996).Oils and fats are subject to several reactions that result in modifications of their original characteristics. Such modifications involve biological, physical and chemical alterations, in which the process of lipid oxidation is included (Namiki, 1990; Nawar, 1985).Antioxidants are commonly used to inhibit, prevent or delay the deterioration by oxidation (Pokorny, 2007). The most widely used synthetic antioxidants by the food industry are butylhydroxyanisole (BHA), butylhydroxytoluene (BHT), tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and propyl gallate (PG), whose action consists in the quick donation of a hydrogen atom to the free radical. However, during the thermal processing at 185degC, these antioxidants are volatilized and decomposed (Hamama and Nawar, 1991).Nevertheless, the use of synthetic antioxidants in the food industry has been questioned regarding its innocuousness. This way, researches are performed in order to look for natural compounds that present this functional property, acting as an alternative to prevent the oxidative deterioration of food and to reduce the use of synthetic antioxidants. Natural antioxidants can be found and isolated in several foods. Among the sources of natural antioxidants are cereals, mushrooms, herbs, spices and citrus fruit seeds (Perez-Jimenez and Saura-Calixto, 2005; Yanishlieva et al., 2006; Elmastas et al., 2007).Studies have demonstrated that some species of Origanum have antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, and have also emphasized that the biological properties of such species can vary according to the cultivation technique, origin, vegetative stage and harvest season of vegetal material (Milos et al., 2000).Considering the susceptibility of oils to oxidative processes and the tendency of using natural antioxidants to reduce nutritional losses of these oils, it becomes necessary to conduct a study on the antioxidant potential of oregano added to soybean oil under thermal oxidation.\nMaterial and methods: In order to conduct this study, the in natura spice was acquired in the local market in Sao Jose do Rio Preto - SP. The in natura spice was selected, and damaged leaves and roots were removed. Then, the spice was subjected to freeze-drying and the freeze-dried material was crushed in order to obtain a uniform powder. The synthetic antioxidant tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) - supplied by the company Danisco S/A - was used to compare the antioxidant effect of oregano extract. The experimental assays were performed with refined soybean oil without the addition of synthetic antioxidant, acquired in the local market.Obtention of the extract\nResults and discussion: The percentage yields, as well as the content of total phenolic compounds, the percentage of maximum antioxidant activity (AAMaximum) and the value of necessary concentration of extract to reduce in 50 percent (EC50) the free radicals of the ethanolic extract of oregano, are presented in Table I.The yields of ethanolic extract of oregano were of 25.3 percent. The findings of the research performed by Rodriguez-Meizoso et al. (2006) indicate yields of 29.1 percent for the acqueous extract of oregano; and Barros et al. (2010) have obtained yields of 30.69 percent for the methanolic extract of oregano. It is possible to observe that the results of these researches were superior to the results obtained in this study, due to the fact that the yields of an extraction depend on the solvent and method used.The concentration of total phenolic compounds of the oregano extract was 72.87 mg GAE/g. In the study conducted by Rodriguez-Meizoso et al. (2006), the content of phenolic compounds was 120 mg GAE/g, while in the study conducted by Brandstetter et al. (2009), the content obtained for the methanolic extract of oregano was 24.13 mg GAE/g. Such differences are evidenced by the strong influence of the solvent used over the amount of phenolic compounds extracted from the raw material, in other words, the more polar the solvent, the greater the amount of phenolic compounds extracted (Gamez-Meza et al., 1999).The higher antioxidant activity of the extract is associated to lower values of EC50, defined as the necessary concentration to reduce free radicals in 50% (Su et al., 2007). The EC50 value for the ethanolic extract of oregano was obtained by linear regression with R2=0.9814.The values obtained for maximum antioxidant activity and for EC50 of the ethanolic extract of oregano were 47.81 percent and 51.88 mg/mL, respectively. Caillet et al. (2007) have obtained values of maximum antioxidant activity for ethanolic extract and aqueous extract of oregano of 39.4 percent and 39.3 percent, respectively. Cavero et al. (2006) have found EC50 values between 53.8-118.3 mg/mL, using supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) to the obtention of oregano extract.The values of oxidative stability obtained in this study are presented in Figure 1. The oxidative stability is intimately influenced by the presence of antioxidants, which, on the other hand, undergo the action of high temperatures.It is possible to observe that the oxidative stability is inversely proportional to the heating time, due to the fact that there was a reduction throughout the heating time in all treatments. It is also possible to evidence that the OE treatment has presented smaller variations in the values of oxidative stability between the heating times.At the initial time, the TBHQ treatment presented higher oxidative stability. However, at the final time, the OE and Mixture treatments obtained greater stability values, evidencing that the ethanolic extract of oregano is the main responsible for the protective effect of thermal oxidized soybean oil. There were no significant differences between the OE and Mixture treatments. Therefore, no synergism between tert-butylhydroquinone and oregano extract was evidenced. After 20 hours of heating, the OE treatment presented a protective effect which was four times greater than the one presented by the SO treatment. While, in a study conducted by Lagouri and Boskou (1996), the addition of hexanic extract of oregano to oil has presented a protective effect 1.4 times greater.According to the results obtained for total polar compounds - Figure 2 - it is possible to observe that the initial values are between 1.38 percent and 2.04 percent in all treatments. Masson et al. (1997), when analyzing the amount of polar compounds of eight soybean oil samples, obtained contents between 2.4 and 4.7. By the end of the thermal oxidation process, the SO and TBHQ treatments presented values of 33.16 percent and 27.91 percent, respectively, which are superior to the limit of 25 percent of total polar compounds, defined by legislations (Firestone et al., 1991), indicating that such oils are inappropriate to consumption.The values of total polar compounds have increased throughout the thermal oxidation time, whereas the increase in the OE treatment was lower, evidencing that the extract was more effective when subjected to heating for 20 hours. It is also possible to observe that the OE and Mixture treatments have reduced the formation of degradation compounds in approximately 70 percent.The oxidative stability and total polar compounds of the treatments analyzed have presented significant correlation of - 0.88 (p < 0.01). This fact indicates that the amount of polar compounds is inversely proportional to the oxidative stability, in other words, the higher the amount of polar compounds, the lower the resistance to oxidation.The averages of tocopherols contents for treatments during thermal oxidation at 180degC are presented in Table II. Such values, regardless of the heating time, vary from 1.30 to 541.90 mg/kg. The presence of tocopherols in soybean oil is very important because they have nutritional value as a vitamin E source, and act as natural antioxidants, delaying oxidation. While the activity of vitamin E increases according to the sequence d-, g-, b-, a-tocopherol, the antioxidant activity decreases (Chaumontet et al., 2008).It is possible to observe that the contents of total tocopherols and their isomers have reduced in all treatments after ten hours. In the beginning of the heating process there was no significant difference between the treatments for total tocopherols and isomers. However, after ten hours, the treatments have differed significantly among themselves, except for the g-tocopherol. By the end of the thermal oxidation process, the OE and Mixture treatments presented the greatest behaviors regarding the reduction of the degradation of total tocopherols and isomers.In Figure 3, the degradation of tocopherols from the treatments subjected to thermal oxidation conditions can be observed. Throughout the thermal oxidation process, the OE and Mixture treatments have presented the greatest retention rates in relation to all isomers of tocopherols.For a-tocopherol, the OE treatment has presented higher retention percentage, with a value of 99.13 percent, while for b-tocopherol, the Mixture treatment has obtained retention of 80.52 percent. It is appropriate to emphasize that the OE treatment have presented greater retention for g- and d-tocopherol, with a percentage of 80.73 and 88.50, respectively. We can say that the addition of oregano extract to soybean oil had a protective effect for tocopherols.The composition of fatty acids from vegetable oils is directly affected by the temperature, especially if the oil has high amounts of unsaturated fatty acids, considering that they are more susceptible to lipid oxidation due to the presence of double bonds.Table III presents the composition of fatty acids from the thermal oxidized samples. The percentages of linoleic acid (C18:2) and a-linolenic acid (C18:3n3) have reduced in all treatments throughout the thermal oxidation process. The reduction of linoleic and linolenic fatty acids can represent nutritional losses, since these are essential fatty acids (Gladyshev et al., 2009).We can observe that the reduction of linoleic acid had greater percentages for the SO treatment (8.44 percent), and then for the TBHQ (6.64 percent), the Mixture (2.12 percent) and the OE (1.81 percent) treatments. The same has occurred to a-linolenic acid, where the SO treatment had the greatest percentage (27.23 percent), and then the TBHQ (26.42 percent), the Mixture (12.80 percent) and the OE (6.77 percent) treatments.According to Gunstone (1996), the soybean oil has approximately 15 percent of saturated fatty acids, 22 percent of monounsaturated fatty acids and 53 percent of polyunsaturated fatty acids. According to Table IV, the fatty acids profile of the soybean oil used in the thermal oxidation is close to these values, whereas the percentages of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated were 14.89, 25.55 and 59.57, respectively.In relation to the behavior of fatty acids throughout the thermal oxidation time, there was an increase in the content of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, and a reduction in the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which can be due to oxidation and polymerization.Results found in some studies indicate that alterations in oils and fats subjected to adverse conditions such as heating are more likely to occur in more unsaturated fatty acids (Moya-Moreno et al., 1999; Trindade et al., 2010).It is also possible to verify that at the times of ten and 20 hours, the OE and Mixture treatments presented the ability to delay lipid oxidation, due to the fact that they had lower contents of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, and higher contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids, when compared to the SO and TBHQ treatments.\nConclusion: When analyzing the data obtained, it was possible to verify that the ethanolic extract of oregano presented substantial antioxidant activity, represented by the value EC50, as well as by the total phenolic compounds.The antioxidant potential of the extract of oregano was evidenced in the results of oxidative stability, total polar compounds, tocopherols and fatty acids of the OE treatment. However, it was not possible to verify the synergistic effect between the natural antioxidant and the synthetic antioxidant, since the Mixture has presented similar results to those obtained in the OE treatment.Considering that the oregano extract - when added to the soybean oil in the concentration of 3,000 mg/kg - was the main responsible for delaying lipid oxidation, it is possible to recommend its use as an antioxidant for soybean oil, being considered an alternative to synthetic antioxidants.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This research aims to evaluate the antioxidant potential of oregano extract (OE), as well as its isolated and synergistic effect when applied to soybean oil (SO) under thermal oxidation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In order to determine the antioxidant activity of oregano extract and its synergistic effect with tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), thermal oxidation was performed using the following treatments: SO, SO with 50 mg/kg of TBHQ, SO with 3,000 mg/kg of OE, and SO with 3,000 mg/kg of oregano extract and 50 mg/kg of TBHQ (mixture). The treatments underwent heating at 180degC for 20 hours, and analyses of oxidative stability, total polar compounds, tocopherols and fatty acids composition were performed. The results obtained were subjected to analysis of variance and Tukey test for averages at 5 percent, using the program ESTAT version 2.0.\nFindings: - Considering the results of antioxidant activity and total phenolic compounds, it was possible to verify that the ethanolic extract of oregano has presented antioxidant potential. Furthermore, considering the results obtained in the analyses of oxidative stability, polar compounds, tocopherols and fatty acids profile, it was possible to observe that the extract has prevented lipid oxidation when added to SO.\nOriginality/value: - The study offers information on the use of natural antioxidants as an alternative to the use of synthetic antioxidants, which can be considered toxic.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A socio-economic framework of interpretation and analysis	[ "Social economics", "Research methods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For a long time a code seemed to exist arranging a sort of labour division between economists and sociologists. Economists were supposed to study the economy, while sociologists were supposed to analyse society. No one bothered much about a careful distinction between the concept \"economy\" and the concept \"society\"; it worked like a gentleman's agreement, leading to a long period of peace[1].In the period after the Second World War we have observed a growing amount of literature in which the economic approach is applied to traditionally non-economic areas[2]. Some called this development \"economic imperialism\". During the last 15 years we have observed a development that could be called \"sociological imperialism\": sociologists apply the typical sociological approach to the economy, including market behaviour[3].Notwithstanding these mutual interventions we observe hardly any co-operation between theoretical economists and theoretical sociologists[4]. Both approaches pretend to explain the same set of concrete human activities. Therefore we must find out whether they are rivals or complements that need each other. This article tries to argue in favour of the second option. Theoretical economics and theoretical sociology must finally be integrated to explain concrete behaviour of people in society, of which the economy is an important subset.As already said, there is growing mutual intervention, but these developments take place without growing co-operation between persons of each camp. Each group has its own journals, conferences and professional associations. This mutual isolation promoted the development of stringent scientific norms, which deviate significantly from each other. In our case these norms are related to what ought to be the paradigms with respect to content as well as to form of scientific research. This article will show how a more integrated socio-economic approach could be developed.In the following section we will present a short and concise treatment of the orthodox economic approach. In a third section we will do the same for a strict sociological approach. In section four we will discuss the interrelationships between the social and the economic aspect of human activity, leading to an integrated socio-economic framework of interpretation. In the final section we will evaluate the results of our analysis and draw some conclusions.\n2. Economic orthodoxy: 2.1. Introduction\n3. Sociological orthodoxy: 3.1. Introduction\n4. A socio-economic approach: 4.1. Introduction\n5. Conclusions: The basic message of the article is that human action is always the result of different motives driving people to act in particular ways. When studying the economy two motives play a dominant role, namely the economic and the social motive. The first motive explains economic action - which is not the same as economy. The second motive explains social action - which is not the same as society. Observable action then is the result of the simultaneous working of the economic and the social force. These forces are intertwined and cannot be observed separately.The economic motive originates from the omnipresent needs of a biological and psychological character, which can be satisfied via consumption of valuable goods. It means that people want to maximise their prosperity under the constraints of the stock of resources available. The social motive originates from the omnipresent desire to \"dominate other people\", which can be satisfied by challenging higher-ranked and by distinguishing from lower ranked people. It means that people want to maximise their status, although under the constraint of moral sentiments.The economic world is ruled by the condition of efficient allocation, while the sociological world is ruled by the condition of an acceptable distribution. Inefficient allocation can start a process of social and economic reactions that makes the imbalance larger, economically as well as socially. However, a distribution that is considered unfair by powerful groups can also be the beginning of a series of economically and socially motivated actions that might bring the economy out of balance. If we study systems of behaviour based on one motive only, the analysis can only deliver semi-finished products. To make our analysis of the economy more realistic we must integrate the two motives. Then we can analyse the checks and balances of the real life system \"economy\".The main objective of the socio-economic approach of the economy is to improve the quality of economic analysis; not to substitute it by a completely different alternative. The sociological part must be a complement of the orthodox approach because the economic motive matters very much when studying the functioning of the economy and because the analytical techniques of orthodox economics are quite sophisticated. Hopefully this article is a contribution to the synthesis that is so urgently needed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Economics and sociology are two different theoretical disciplines dealing with one and the same subject. The aim of the paper is to integrate the two paradigms into one framework of interpretation and analysis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Economics is presented as a science that approaches human behaviour being subject to the omni-present phenomenon of scarcity, assuming rationality and social independence of human actors. Sociology is presented as a science that interprets human behaviour as group behaviour. Groups are motivated to rank one another in terms of status. Integration must take place by relating the two analyses based on these paradigms.\nFindings: - The basic economic framework is about the relationship between preferences and scarce resources, determining the structure of allocation of goods. The basic sociological framework is about the relationship between the distribution of socially valued goods and the culture that gives goods their social meaning. A socio-economic framework is about the relation between allocation, distribution, culture and preferences.\nOriginality/value: - When applying the socio-economic framework to real-life phenomena both the economic and the social motives play a role in the explanation, which is not the case in applied economics and applied sociology.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consumer preferences for banking technologies by age groups	[ "Marketing", "Services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Research studies have confirmed that there is a negative relationship between technology adoption and age. These studies generally examine a specific instance of technology (e.g. use of the internet - Lam and Lee, 2006) and examine how use and/or adoption of that technology is related to increasing age. It would be natural to relate that relationship to the physical consequences of aging.\n2. Background and literature review: 2.1. Age influences on technology\n3. Methodology: In this study we look to an edge case to determine how the effects of technology adoption varies across age groups. As shown below, we compare college-aged subjects with a mature population that is relatively young. Age-related cognitive decline has been shown to be significant starting with those who are aged at least 27 years old (Salthouse, 2009). Therefore, this population comparison is still subject to cognitive differences. However, the two populations are relatively close experientially so that cohort-related differences are minimized.\n4. Data analysis and discussion: In order to explore the relationships between demographics and banking preferences and behaviors for various modes of banking, the data produced by the survey are analyzed with factor analysis and analysis of covariance.\n5. Conclusions: The literature suggests that physical age of an individual can influence their intent to adopt a new technology. The implication is that a future adoption decision can be understood by studying how the elderly of today make a current adoption decision.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The prevailing mindset is that younger people value and more readily adopt technology. The purpose of this paper is to determine if this is true with respect to banking practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted to evaluate the importance of mobile, online, and physical-based banking across multiple age groups. Factor analysis and analysis of covariance were used to evaluate the responses.\nFindings: The results show that older consumers see more value in traditional, physical-based banking, all ages are equally interested in currently emerging technologies (online), and younger users are more interested in the newest technologies.\nResearch limitations/implications: The stereotype of technology-adverse elderly may be too limiting. Age influences are not absolute barriers enacted by time, but are potentially learned behaviors.\nPractical implications: Practitioners interested in introducing new technologies to the elderly might consider making their innovations more compatible with existing technologies already in use.\nOriginality/value: This study builds on the concepts of technology adoption and previous work on aging as it relates to adoption. However, it is shown that cognitive declines are not the only factor that can explain age-related differences in technology usage. Cohort differences in experience and resources may also be important. This is of value not only to the banks, but to all businesses that rely on consumer use of technology to maintain the business relationship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Fuzzy sustainability incentives in new product development: An empirical exploration of sustainability challenges in manufacturing companies	[ "Case study", "New product development", "Process improvement", "Environmental management", "Innovation management", "Sustainable product development", "Sustainable design", "Sustainable operations management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Over recent decades, manufacturing organizations have shown a growing interest in managing the sustainability of their operations, supply chain, and products. There is growing pressure from government and society to deal with factors contributing to global warming, the scarcity of raw materials, and the deterioration of human rights (Seuring, 2004; Porrit, 2006). External incentives and pressures, such as environmental laws and regulations, customer demand for sustainable goods and services, and pressure from environmental interest groups, seem to compel organizations to take appropriate actions and manage their sustainability; and the literature suggests these are the primary determinants of manufacturers increasingly managing sustainability (Bansal and Roth, 2000; Seuring and Muller, 2008b).\n2 Relevant literature and research framework: The present study concentrates on the interface between sustainability and NPD in manufacturing organizations. In this section, we build and present our research framework. This is based on the systems theory of control (De Leeuw and Volberda, 1996) and operationalized using existing theory and literature on sustainability, innovation, and NPD. Before introducing the systems theory of control and our framework, we discuss our view on sustainability and NPD in the light of the mainstream literature and common definitions.\n3 Methodology: 3.1 Research design and sampling\n4 Results: This section first reports the initial assessment of issues related to sustainability (Section 4.1), followed by the results of the two rounds of interviews (Section 4.2).\n5 Discussion and conclusions: The aim of this paper has been to investigate the main challenges encountered by manufacturing companies that want to improve the sustainability of their products. We have used the systems theory of control to structure (Figure 2) and interpret the data collected through workshops and interviews with representatives of six case companies. In this concluding section, we discuss the main findings of the study and propose tracks for further research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper investigates the challenges encountered by manufacturing companies in managing sustainability in new product development (NPD). It describes six case studies of manufacturers aiming for sustainability improvements but experiencing difficulties in implementing them.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper starts with a literature study. Academic literature offers explanations as to why manufacturers want to implement sustainability in NPD, and suggests methods for such implementations. This paper employs the systems theory of control to build a research framework for analyzing the challenges. Empirical data are gathered through workshops and interviews with NPD managers in the case companies.\nFindings: In-depth analyses have provided three insights. First, the study shows that sustainability pressures and incentives in a firm's contexts can be fuzzy or even absent. The fuzziness of sustainability incentives is often neglected in the literature on sustainability and NPD. Second, the case companies face difficulties when setting the scope, goals, and ambitions that effectively direct NPD decisions and efforts toward designing sustainable products. Third, the results show that deploying sustainability methods, tools, and metrics, such as a life-cycle assessment or design for environment (DfE), are not sufficient to achieve sustainability in NPD. These findings call for research on sustainability and NPD processes in contexts where sustainability incentives and needs are fuzzy so as to acquire insights applicable to sustainable product development management that is proactive rather than reactive.\nOriginality/value: Instead of focusing only on the output of sustainable products, this paper presents a more nuanced perspective on managing sustainability in NPD. Moreover, by adopting the holistic perspective of the systems theory of control, the authors challenge the assumption that there are already sufficient external incentives to force companies toward greater sustainability. Consequently, in the light of proactive sustainability management, the authors recommend three tracks for further research: organization and filtering of information concerning sustainability pressures and incentives in a firm's context; and how to manage sustainability proactively rather than reactively.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A case-based methodology for lean implementation in hospital operations	[ "Lean implementation", "Healthcare", "Hospital operations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Healthcare faces several problems nowadays, such as high costs, low quality and restrictions of access (Costa et al., 2017). When it comes to hospital operations, these problems may be related to different sources of non-value-added activities, such as unnecessary examinations and administrative procedures, wrong prescriptions of drugs, medical errors, duplication of information and patients waiting for long for discharge (Hussain and Malik, 2016).\nLean healthcare implementation: Lean management is primarily based on the elimination of waste, assisting the process of value creation for all stakeholders (Liker, 2004). The main processes of an organization are those that create the desired value for the customer (Kollberg et al., 2007). In hospitals, the main processes are those responsible for the diagnosis, treatment and convalescence of the patient. The other processes are supporters of the essential services (Kollberg et al., 2007; Aronsson et al., 2011).\nResearch design: This research was conducted in three phases: literature review, case studies and development of the implementation methodology. The literature review, initially published in Gohr et al. (2017), aimed to collect lean healthcare implementation experiences in hospitals and thereby contributed to provide a partial answer to RQ1. With this purpose, ISI Web of Knowledge was used as the database for collecting articles on this topic. The main search strings for collecting papers in the database were \"lean healthcare,\" \"lean hospital,\" \"lean production\" combined with \"health,\" \"just in time\" combined with \"health\" and \"kaizen\" combined with \"health*.\" As a result, we found papers published since 2006 about lean healthcare, some of them reporting implementation experiences. However, although several reports of implementation of lean healthcare were found in hospitals, no evidence was found to provide sufficient support to design an implementation methodology.\nCase studies: Hospital 1\nInitial proposal and assessment: Considering the literature on lean healthcare and the findings from the case studies, an initial version of the methodology was proposed in two phases: preparation and application. Each phase had detailed steps to carry on the complete implementation of lean healthcare in hospital operations, focusing on what was defined in RQ2.\nMethodology after refinement: Following the assessment, we designed the final version of the methodology. Like the previous version, it was composed of two phases, preparation and application, as explained below (Figure 4).\nDiscussion and conclusion: This study began with two research questions unanswered by the lean healthcare literature. The first one concerns how lean thinking has been implemented in hospital operations. To answer this question, we reviewed the literature on it and thoroughly studied the implementation process in three hospitals. The second research question goes even further by highlighting the need to assist in the implementation process. For that, we proposed a methodology for implementation of lean healthcare in hospitals in two main phases: preparation and application. This methodology was developed from empirical evidence collected from case studies, considering the theoretical underpinnings available in the current literature on lean healthcare. After the assessment of the initial methodology, the suggestions made by experts were incorporated into the final methodology.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Although there are general methodologies for lean implementation in manufacturing companies, a specific methodology for the implementation of lean healthcare in hospitals has not been addressed by the literature. Addressing this gap, the purpose of this paper is to develop a practice-driven methodology for implementing lean in hospital operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three case studies were conducted to collect evidence on the lean implementation process in Brazilian hospitals. From empirical evidence and literature, the implementation methodology was proposed and submitted to critical assessment by experts from the field.\nFindings: The process of lean implementation was very similar in all cases, triggered by strategic planning and operationalized by continuous improvement projects. On the other hand, in all cases, the lean implementation teams had to deal with employees' resistance. These findings were valuable inputs to the development of the implementation methodology. After refinement, it was proposed a feasible, useful and user-friendly methodology.\nResearch limitations/implications: The proposed methodology was raised from the practice through case study research. However, the proposed methodology was not fully applied, and the associated performance measures were not elaborated in this paper. Therefore, more case studies and applications will be necessary to generalize the findings.\nPractical implications: The methodology provides practical guidelines that support lean implementation in hospital operations. Although it demands adaptations for each specific hospital setting, this initial step may encourage hospital managers to start the lean journey.\nOriginality/value: This study addressed the gap in the literature regarding the lack of methodologies for implementing lean healthcare in hospital operations. The methodology synthesizes the knowledge, principles and tools of lean thinking that can be applied in hospital operations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Intraday analysis of currency ETFs	[ "Currency ETF", "ETF arbitrage mechanism", "Pricing deviation", "Tracking error" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: ETFs have exploded in popularity in recent times due to their structural simplicity, cost efficiency, tax efficiency, diversification benefits and intradaily trading ability. The cost and tax efficiency stems from their unique legal set-up. ETFs are registered as either unit investment trusts, open-end funds or grantor trusts. Most equity ETFs are registered as unit investment trusts or open-end funds. Currency and commodity ETFs are most often registered as grantor trusts. Grantor trust's shares represent fractional and undivided beneficial interest and ownership of the assets that the trust holds. This means that in contrast to unit investment trusts or open-end funds that do not necessarily need to hold the exact assets and thus generate a tracking error, the grantor trusts hold the exact asset. This is the reason why most commodity and currency ETFs are structured as grantor trusts. However, the fact that the asset is held in storage, does not generate income and incurs expenses, such as compensation for accountants, trustees, distributors, custodians, etc., suggests that the ETF price would potentially constantly decrease relative to its underlying asset value. This naturally raises the interesting research question:\nLiterature review and methodology: To the best of my knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study of currency ETFs. Considering, that I am in an unchartered territory I relate this study to the equity ETF literature where the majority of the focus has been. Most equity ETF studies focus on the ETFs' arbitrage mechanism and tracking error.\nAnalysis: The intradaily-one-minute ETF and currency data are obtained from Pi Trading Corporation. The total assets (TA) and expense ratio (ER) data are from Morningstar.com and were retrieved on June 16, 2014. The intradaily-one-minute interval data starts at a different time for each of the six examined currency ETFs but ends on April 5, 2013. Table I provides description of the six currency ETFs used in the study - the Australian Dollar ETF, the British Pound ETF, the Canadian Dollar ETF, the Euro ETF, the Swiss Franc ETF and the Japanese Yen ETF. All ETFs have the same ER as of June 16, 2013, 40 bps, but they differ in terms of their size. The Euro ETF, FXE is the largest with $300 million in assets, whereas the British Pound ETF (FXB) is the smallest with $75 million in assets.\nConclusion: In this paper I study on intradaily-one-minute interval basis six currency exchange traded funds' performance, by using tracking errors and pricing deviations. I use these six currency ETFs as representatives of the grantor trust structured family of ETFs and examine whether portfolio value constantly is being eroded due to the unique nature of expenses of grantor trust structured ETFs. In addition I examine how these performance metrics relate to the exchange traded funds' arbitrage mechanism which ensures that the exchange traded fund closely replicates its underlying currency value. I find that the tracking errors are small and stable whereas pricing deviations at first are positive but become negative and constantly increase in absolute value terms, which suggests erosion of value. I also find that these exchange traded funds' arbitrage mechanism is more closely related to the exchange traded funds' pricing deviation than tracking error, which suggests that to currency ETF investors pricing deviation is more relevant than tracking error.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find if erosion of value exists in grantor trust structured exchange traded funds. The author examines the performance of six currency exchange traded funds' tracking errors and pricing deviations on intradaily-one-minute interval basis. All of these exchange traded funds are grantor trusts. The author also studies which metric is of more importance to investors in these exchange traded funds by examining how these performance metrics are related to the exchange traded funds' arbitrage mechanism.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The Australian Dollar ETF (FXA) is designed to be 100 times the US Dollar (USD) value of the Australian Dollar, the British Pound ETF (FXB) is designed to be 100 times the USD value of the British Pound, the Canadian Dollar ETF (FXC) is designed to be 100 times the USD value of the Canadian Dollar, the Euro ETF (FXE) is designed to be 100 times the USD value of the Euro, the Swiss Franc ETF (FXF) is designed to be 100 times the USD value of the Swiss Franc and the Japanese Yen ETF (FXY) is designed to be 10,000 times the USD value of the Japanese Yen. The author uses these proportions to estimate pricing deviations. The author uses a moving average model based on an Elton et al. (2002) to estimate if tracking error or pricing deviation are more relevant in ETF arbitrage and thus to investors.\nFindings: The author documents that the average intradaily tracking errors for the six currency ETFs are relatively small and stable. The tracking errors are highest for the FXF, 0.000311 percent and smallest for FXB, -0.000014 percent. FXB is the only ETF with a negative tracking error. All six ETFs average intradaily pricing deviations are negative with the exception of the FXA pricing deviation which is a positive $0.17; the rest of the ETFs pricing deviations are -0.3778 for FXB, -0.3231 for FXC, -0.2697 for FXC, -0.2697 for FXE, -0.6484 for FXF and -0.9273 for FXY. All exhibit skewness, kurtosis, very high levels of positive autocorrelation and negative trends, which suggests erosion of value. The author also found that these exchange traded funds' arbitrage mechanism is more closely related to the exchange traded funds' pricing deviation than tracking error.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper uses high-frequency one-minute interval data in the analysis of pricing deviation which might be artificially deflating standard errors and thus inflating the t-test significance values.\nOriginality/value: The paper is relevant to ETF investors and contributes to the continuing search in the finance literature of better ETF performance metric.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Linking service design to value creation and service research	[ "Service innovation", "Service research", "Customer experience", "Service design", "Design thinking" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: According to Aksoy (2013) the two most tracked measures regarding customer behavior are customer satisfaction and likelihood to recommend. From the customer's perspective though, expectations concerning service quality and satisfaction have been increasing, thereby making the experience of value creation a top priority for organizations across all sectors. A focus on customer satisfaction and service quality, which used to be the ticket to play and stay, is no longer enough in today's increasingly demanding markets. Instead, service innovation is the new ticket, with service design emerging as a critical mindset that organizations need to master in order to innovate successfully.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for understanding service design and how service design relates to central concepts within service marketing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: For companies, service design is growing in importance and has become a crucial capability to survive in the service-dominant economy. Service design increases the capacity to improve not only service experiences but also organizational design. On this premise, the authors propose a conceptual framework.\nFindings: By relating service design to research efforts within service marketing, dual value creation can be enhanced. As such, the conceptual framework portrays service design as an enhancer of customer experience and organizational performance.\nOriginality/value: To the authors knowledge, service design has not been discussed in the service marketing literature. Thus, this is the first attempt to see service design in light of well-established service marketing models such as SERVQUAL and an updated version of the Service-profit-chain.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
First Direct becomes a fresher: Birth of foundation degree course for contact centers	[ "Employees", "Employers", "Universities", "Workplace learning", "United Kingdom", "Financial services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nSuccessful staff can progress to study for a full honors degree: When UK internet and phone bank First Direct put the following up on its web site, the matter-of-fact simplicity of the message belied the ground-breaking and adventurous collaboration there had been between business and academia:First Direct is offering its staff the chance to study for a foundation degree in contact centres in its workplace. Huddersfield University Business School will deliver course work each week at the bank's headquarters in Leeds. The firm is subsidising the course and it will cost staff just PS100 a year. First Direct staff who successfully complete the foundation degree will be able to progress to study for a full honours degree in business studies. The company has built the course to focus on what it sees are the key skills needed to develop a career within the business, both in its call centre and the rest of the operation, with financial services, business administration and management, and global marketing seen as key areas.So how can universities deliver affordable undergraduate higher education (HE) in conjunction with employers that employers and employees want and that employees can access and complete? Especially when current models in higher education are often unworkable when dealing with employees and their employers who have difficulty in understanding the mindset of an \"academic year\" which starts in September or October and tends to go to sleep from June onwards?An important lesson drawn from this Yorkshire-based success story is that, after the hard work of engaging and sustaining the essential support of employers, then the really hard work starts - sustaining the interest of employees from enrolment, through delivery and to completion of an award.\nTwo distinct challenges for successful, sustainable HE at work: Employer perception and administrative issues aside, there are two distinct challenges for successful, sustainable HE at work; being responsive to employer needs and gaining the commitment of employees. Universities are quite often not geared up to match the instant demands from employers and things need to change if HE is to tap into the PS5 billion market for employer expenditure on training.Dealing with employers has not been the core business of universities who need to become more employer-responsive - through listening to those employers. Also, do the employees who are able and willing to access HE see a value in committing to study?Huddersfield University business school had experience of student recruitment to a foundation degree in business management. Patterns were forming about the type of student who was attracted to foundation courses: predominantly female; working a significant number of hours part-time; often working shifts; planning a career once family commitments were less restrictive - for example children going to nursery or school; seeking an educational horizon part-time of no more than four years. However, recruitment to the business management course was less than buoyant in a market well catered for by HNDs and confusion over the title of foundation degree.In gathering evidence to ascertain if a bespoke foundation degree could meet the needs of contact center employers, it was evident there was a desire and a capacity to professionalize the sector, a need to address staff retention problems, scope for internal promotion and an inability to recruit due to the lack of entry level skills demanded by larger employers. The sector needed to retain and attract employees and incentivise to reduce the nomad behavior of jumping from one employer to another to seek small pay increases.\nScope to recruit under-skilled people already employed in the sector: The sector was also populated by large employers with extensive learning and development experience. There seemed scope to attract individuals currently employed in the sector, and also scope to educate those not employed in the sector, who were under-skilled and seeking a structured career within one of the larger employers through entry level in the contact center/customer relations business across many industry sectors (financial services, retail, help-desks, logistics).Having identified the market, the development of the project was funded through a successful application to the Higher Education Innovation Fund. A project leader was funded to consult with stakeholders in the sector in the design of a foundation course to meet the sector needs, validate the course and deliver a pilot. Consultation was key and included e-skills UK (the sector skills council for business and information technology), Yorkshire Forward, West Yorkshire Employer Coalition and a number of employers from different industries within the contact center sector. Yorkshire and Humber was the second largest contact center region in the UK with around 100,000 workers.After discussion with national employers both within and outside the group, an outline foundation degree program was drafted. Various versions were sent out for comments and a pilot cohort was agreed. Notably, there were common modules various employers agreed were essential. It was recognized that the \"sector\" had different core business, for example, financial services, banking, insurance, customer services, in-bound, out-bound, technical help desks, to name but a few, and varying configurations of those.\nFoundation Degree in Contact Centers is born: The Foundation Degree in Contact Centers was born with a common foundation module level and intermediate level characterized by core and optional modules - for example Personal Financial Planning, Principles of Customer Management, Managing by Results, Elements of Financial Services.The consultations had clearly indicated that this business degree needed to flex to meet the different industries canopied by the contact center sector. The course and module specification documents were designed - in conjunction with employers and relevant bodies - to provide flexible delivery dependent on the delivery site (including the University of Huddersfield and further education colleges) and specific requirements of the delivery partner. Employer involvement did not stop at consultation and design, but continued at the validation stage.Future success of employer engagement is about understanding the student (the employee), recognizing what is good in employers' learning and development and adding value to all stakeholders through higher education. The culture of the employer organization is not to be changed, but embedding the culture of university and being a student into the employer will ensure that the employee commitment as a university student will follow to meet the target of sustainable university partnership with employers.\nComment: This review is based on \"Employer engagement: the critical role of employee commitment\" by Julie Drake, Joanne Blake and Wayne Swallow. They describe the involvement of Leeds-based bank First Direct, the University of Huddersfield and others in pioneering a foundation degree course for call center staff. The case study demonstrates some of the issues arising for students, employer and educational providers in delivering courses at the point of demand and the cultural challenges of delivering courses, particularly higher education, in the workplace where HE has not been previously embedded.\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: - When UK internet and phone bank First Direct announced the ground-breaking and adventurous collaboration between business and academia, with the chance for its staff to study for a foundation degree in business studies, an important lesson was drawn from this Yorkshire-based success story. After the hard work of engaging and sustaining the essential support of employers, then the really hard work starts - sustaining the interest of employees from enrolment, through delivery and to completion of an award.\nPractical implications: - Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nSocial implications: - Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that can have a broader social impact.\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" } ]
An integrated framework for outsourcing risk management	[ "Risk management", "Outsourcing", "Monte Carlo simulation", "Risk map", "Failure mode and effect analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: In the globally connected supply chain, any single point of failures will lead to disruptions in the supply network. Different types of risk can occur in supply chain. Hence, it is the responsibility of any supply chain entities involved in the network to adopt effective risk assessment methods to manage and mitigate all possible risks. Outsourcing is a popular option for the enterprises as it keeps cost down and leans the supply chain. High responsiveness together with cooperation efforts with other suppliers can help to formulate a good risk assessment strategy.Outsourcing, which is a US$6 trillion global industry (Corbett, 2004), attracts the attention of both industry and academic. Outsourcing is regarded as transferring previous activities conducted in-house to a third-party (Lonsdale and Cox, 2000). For the last decade, outsourcing spending in all business activities has increased by 10 percent regardless of good or bad economic situation (Corbett, 2005). Although outsourcing can bring the benefit of cost reduction, less investment on physical asset and flexible human resource allocation, enterprises should align the outsourcing activities with long term corporate strategy rather than short term benefits.Apart from recognizing the advantage of outsourcing, firms should also realize the risk of making wrong outsourcing decisions. A firm can outsource different functions and signifies different degree of commitment and integration between the company and the outsourcing service providers. As the degree of commitment in outsourcing differs, complexities of interaction will arise leading to different risk concerns. Any outsourcing decision should be made with the full consideration of the potential risks that go along with operations.The objectives of this research are to:1. Explore both established and emerging risk in supply chain.2. Propose a risk analysis methodology guided by strong risk management practices that integrates risk identification, analysis and mitigation actions and evaluates supply chain outsourcing risks.3. Design a mathematical model for analyzing risk of outsourcing activities in the supply chain network.4. Evaluate the risks of a specific outsourcing function in a supply chain network using qualitative and quantitative approaches.This rest of the paper is organized as follows. An introduction of outsourcing industry is presented in Section 1. Section 2 reviews the literatures related to outsourcing and risk management so as to identify the research gap. Section 3 proposes a risk assessment methodology to analyze risks both qualitatively and quantitatively. Section 4 shows how the case company with the milk-run system uses the proposed methodology in Section 3 to analyze the delivery risk. Finally, a detail discussion about the results, managerial implications and limitations are presented in Section 5.\n2 Literature review: Outsourcing is to perform a function or process such as manufacturing operation and other value-adding activities with reliance on external sources, a third-party or supplier, so as to attain business level benefits (Lei and Hitt, 1995). Strategic outsourcing includes \"make-or-buy\" (Hendrick and Moore, 1985; Zenz, 1987; Dobler and Burt, 1996) decision which produces the company's product internally or subcontract to other service providers. Some researchers focus on international sourcing of components, subsystems and completed products (Bettis et al., 1992; Feenstra and Hanson, 1996). Willcocks (2011) observed over 1,600 outsourcing arrangements from 1989 to 2010 and he found out that outsourcing is still on the learning curve. The shift of power-based orientation to governance structure to build up trust (Tian et al., 2007) and tight collaboration can enhance outsourcing management. Similarly, cooperative strategic logistics outsourcing is also advocated by researchers instead of tactical outsourcing which focuses on cost only (Wang et al., 2010; Nunez-Carballosa and Guitart-Tarres, 2011).In fact, outsourcing has become very widespread in the last decade and it changes from peripheral business functions in the past, to more vital business functions being outsourced today (Tafti, 2005; Yang et al., 2008). The assembly line of the firm which is indispensible to the production process that creates value to the enterprise is gradually outsourced. Firms start with the outsourcing of their peripheral activities and they gradually move on to outsource activities which is of closer core to the heart of the enterprise (Salma et al., 2007). In any supply chain network with the sharing of leading edge technology, members are exposed to the risk of their competitive advantages being lost to competitors. Lonsdale and Cox (2000) also reinstate that logically firm should draw its boundary around skills and capabilities that are responsible for its competitive pre-eminence.More research is increasingly focused on risk and benefit analysis of outsourcing (Frost, 2000; Gonzalez et al., 2010). Percin (2008) makes use of fuzzy hierarchical TOPSIS methodology as a quantitative method for evaluating business process outsourcing. McIvor (2009) combined transaction cost theory and resource-based view as risk event and survey provides quantitative data analysis on subjective risk perception of outsourcer and in-house chain. Trappey et al. (2010) propose a two-stage clustering approach combined with Ward's minimum-variance method and K-means algorithm is used to prioritize services offered by logistics service providers. The concept of outsourcing can be explained further using an economics perspective. The Transaction Cost Analysis (Sanders et al., 2007) provides a set of principles to analyze outsourcing transactions and determine cost structure. As companies decide whether to outsource or produce goods and services in-house, market prices are not the sole factor. Deming (1986) suggested long term integrated strong relations with single vendor but Porter (1980) recommended having multiple vendors to increase the bargaining power of outsourcer. Ngwenyama and Bryson (1999) make use of transaction cost theory approach to analyze the profit of outsourcer and cost of vendors so as to decide among single or multiple vendors outsourcing strategy. Mapping supply chains on risk and customer sensitivity allows corporation to formulate the suitable supply chain strategy (Faisal et al., 2006).Adopting multiple vendors can reduce the risk of shirking of single vendor. Risk can be interpreted as outcome variation and loss potential which can be also divided into loss magnitude and loss probability. The loss potential of risk provides an indication to the level of risk of a particular situation. Based on extant literatures (Zsidisin et al., 2004; Keizera et al., 2002), there is a variety of risk scores, failure events and conditions influencing failure. Supply risks are associated with failures in delivery, cost, quality, flexibility and general confidence category (Kull and Talluri, 2008), which are traditionally the purchasing department's competitive priorities. To mitigate risk, information sharing, agility in supply chain structure, option contract are the major enabler to reduce the risks. Tang and Musa (2011) have conducted a comprehensive review about supply chain risk (SCR) management. Risk mitigation in general can be modeled with qualitative and quantitative approach. With regard to qualitative aspect, alternative sourcing in and out of home country (Fitzgerald, 2005) have been explored by Crone (2006) and Stalk (2006) concerned the outsourcing risk and realize the necessary of avoid outsourcing/off shoring in certain situation. Solesvik and Westhead (2010) suggested establishing outsourcing links with overseas partners so as to reduce cost and risk exposure. Risk ontology is also able to surface the information system exploitation risk (Peng and Nunes, 2009). For quantitative approach, researchers have proposed decision tree-based optimization (Berger et al., 2004) foreign suppliers supply risk ranking model (Levary, 2007), incentive conflict and coordinating model (Agrell et al., 2004) and supplier selection under uncertainty with spreadsheet (Wu, 2009).Based on the literature review, there is a lack of standardized method to quantify risk in the supply chain to determine the effectiveness of outsourcing. Hence, SCRs reported in literatures are predominantly reliant on the manager's estimates which are subjective rather than objective analysis. Without standardized method, it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of risk management implemented on outsourcing projects in the supply chain. As a result, although there are very useful risk mitigation methods being proposed on literatures, the feasibility and effectiveness of its usefulness in the industries are still difficult to be determined. Hence, more applications or simulations from the industries would be helpful to compare different cases and risk management methods. In this study, simulation will be used to realize how outsourcing risk affects the supply chain performance.\n3 Methodology: The proposed framework shown in Figure 1 consists of two main parts which are qualitative risk assessment (in Section 3.1) and quantitative risk assessment (in Section 3.2). For the qualitative risk assessment, the SCR-failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is used and a risk map is constructed. The risk map shows the associated risk score and risk priority number of each individual risk. This helps to identify the critical risks for outsourcing. According to the company's performance indicators such as cost and time, mathematical models are developed to represent the stochastic factors in logistics outsourcing. For quantitative risk assessment, Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) is adopted to study the variation of cost and time for the scenarios of \"before outsourcing\" and \"after outsourcing\".3.1 Design of qualitative risk assessment\n4 A case study of outsourcing risk using Milk-Run system: 4.1 Background of case company\n5 Conclusion: This paper contributes to provide an integrated system including both qualitative and quantitative methods. By adopting this outsourcing decision support framework, firms can improve their supply chain stability and reduce the operational cost at the same time. This integrated system has several implications for practitioners, especially for logistics management consultants, and professionals for strategic management of logistics activities outsourcing:* The qualitative method is suitable in capturing the impact of risk in the supply chain. The SCR-FMEA method can be regarded as a qualitative risk assessment technique. It can be used to identify the most critical risk. This qualitative method allows practitioners to plan ahead and mitigate vulnerabilities. The qualitative SCR-FMEA risk management technique should be done at the planning stage.* The quantitative risk assessment is conducted with the support of simulation software. The key performance indicators are used to evaluate the performance of outsourcing certain logistics functions. It is necessary to understand that different firms may have different performance indicators, so the measures of performance should be revised accordantly. For instance, two parameters LTotal and CTotal are used as the key indicator for delivery outsourcing risks in our case study. Lead time and cost simulations are done for two scenarios (i.e. before and after outsourcing). It will aid the company to make decision on logistics outsourcing. The input variables that involve risks are all described through probability distributions. Although it is difficult to estimate precisely the distribution of parameters in the model, simulation tool provides a rich palette of probability distribution and fitting test to reflect expected performances. The spreadsheet simulation makes it easier to include desired assumptions. Also, simulation provides the ability to measure different outcome variable such as cost saving which determines the profitability of outsourcing.* The integrated system can identify risks and evaluate performance for both before and after outsourcing scenarios. It will help logistics management consultants to figure out professional solutions to clients, or support decision markers to make the decision relate to logistics activities outsourcing.* The proposed outsourcing decision support framework is practical and easy-to-use. The simulation report generated by risk solver presents a variety of basic descriptive statistics measures such as mean, standard deviation and future work can be done by using advanced statistical measures such as skewness, kurtosis, etc. These statistics measures may also be used to conduct more deeply analysis if required. In addition, sensitivity analysis can be done to show which logistics process affects the performance indicators the most. This kind of information should be shared with service providers; so that they can further improve the service quality and this is important for the set up of strategic outsourcing partnership.This system also allows practitioners to have a better understanding of all the possible risks related to logistics. Therefore, it is recommended to adopt different qualitative techniques such as focus group and Delphi to find out more about hidden risk of outsourcing. To conclude, both qualitative and quantitative risk assessment techniques must be balanced so as to support each other.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present a generic framework to assess and simulate outsourcing risks in the supply chain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This combination approach involves a qualitative risk analysis methodology termed as the supply chain risk-failure mode and effect analysis (SCR-FMEA) which integrates risk identification, analysis and mitigation actions together to evaluate supply chain outsourcing risk. The qualitative risk assessment will allow risk manager to provide a visual presentation of imminent risks using the risk map. Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) on the imminent risks of delivery outsourcing using the Milk-Run system is adopted.\nFindings: - With basic statistical concepts, key performance variables and the risk of delivery outsourcing are analyzed. It is found that a newly implemented delivery outsourcing arrangement on the Milk-Run system reduces the average customer lead-time and total cost. However, a certain extent of risk or uncertainty can still be detected due to the presence of variation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This paper reveals that company can manage the risk by adopting a systematic method for identifying the potential risks before outsourcing and MCS can be applied for examining the quantifiable risks such as lead time and cost.\nPractical implications: - The paper provides a generic guideline for practitioners to assess logistics outsourcing, especially for logistics management consultants and professionals for evaluating the risk and impact of outsourcing. It is believed that the proposed risk assessment framework can help to analyze the operational cost uncertainty and ensure the stability of the supply chain. However, the limitation of this research is that the full spectrum of outsourcing risk, especially the non-quantifiable risk may not be analyzed by MCS.\nOriginality/value: - This paper proposed an integrated framework which combines qualitative and quantitative method together for managing outsourcing risk. This research provides a standardized metric to quantify risk in the supply chain so as to determine the effectiveness of outsourcing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Can NLP help or harm your business?	[ "Neurolinguistic programming", "Leadership", "Sales", "Workplace", "Management techniques" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: NLP could be the most important synthesis of knowledge about human communication to emerge since the sixties (Science Digest).\nApplications in the workplace: There is no limit to where NLP, or parts of it, can be applied. From writing advertising copy to customer service, people handling phone calls, managers motivating their people or sales people developing their skills to win over more customers, the limits are within the mind of the users.Although NLP has many \"direct\" business applications, I believe that its most powerful use is for individuals to improve their self-awareness and to develop greater skills in their self-management, communication and interpersonal dealings. It can help improve their emotional intelligence. The five pillars of NLP (expanded from four!) give a good indication of what it is:1. Outcome thinking. Being clear about what you want to achieve, the aims or goals that you want. This can cover long, medium and short-term outcomes. Fundamentally, it is about doing things for a reason.2. Sensory acuity. Paying attention to what is happening and the signals you are receiving. The better you can become at this, noticing changes in voice tone, small shifts in body language, the actual words people are using or even eye movements, the more you can understand the other person and tune into them.3. Flexibility. \"If you continue to do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got\". If something is not working - do anything else! We can become creatures of habit, yet good communicators and influencers are those who have developed more habits so are not stuck in particular ways of operating.4. Rapport. The ability to develop a sense of mutual understanding, to tune into the other person and they feel as though you are on their wavelength. This does not have to equate to liking each other.5. State management. Taking control of your own emotions, responses and attitudes. The start point for this is to accept responsibility for these and then to recognize what you can do to generate the \"state\" you want for the context.By using a number of the tools within each of these, we can find ways to enhance our own skills in working with others or shift our attitudes within ourselves. For me, this is the start point for using NLP and not just acquiring some tools and techniques to use on others!\nManagement and leadership: Many organizations use SMART as their approach to setting goals and objectives. How effectively does this work? There is a technique within NLP which is referred to as \"chunking\" or \"stepping up and down\" which can be very useful - and does not have to be mutually exclusive to SMART. For many people the SMART goal is not compelling or motivating in itself for various reasons. It may seem too big or far away and all they can see are potential problems. It could be that it is not giving enough of a challenge or payoff. By \"moving\" the goal it is possible to both make it compelling and to create an action plan for getting started and working towards it. The fundamental process is shown in Figure 2 and might look very simple. It is, and it is also very powerful, especially when the manager resists the temptation to make suggestions.There are many aspects of NLP that are very useful for dealing with others. For managers and leaders, these can be beneficial when coaching their team members, getting teams to work together, creating and communicating the way forward and enabling them to be more motivated. Going beyond those for a change, there are some really useful tools for handling problem-solving challenges or managing change. The good thing with these, is that they can be used alongside more conventional management tools and add strength to a manager's skills-set. Combining these with attention to the specific words and language can lead to insights for moving forward or overcoming problems. An example would be to use an approach called \"SCORE\". It is worth adding here, that many NLP approaches work more effectively when \"experiential\" rather than conceptual. In this case, putting bits of paper on the floor and moving around them encourages different thinking, despite moving some managers outside their comfort zones!SCORE is not highly complex - and goes through:Symptoms. What is happening right now which we want/need to change?Causes. What are the reasons for this? Which are the key ones?Outcomes. What do we want to have instead of the present situation?Resources. What do we have available (people, skills, or whatever)?*Ecology. Will the outcomes, and using the resources, fit our culture?\nSales and negotiation: This is probably an area where many organizations feel that NLP can make a difference and indeed it can. Certainly the range of communication and interpersonal tools can be very beneficial when added to a seller's armoury. Mind you, many top sellers are probably using these without even knowing that they are NLP! Do remember, the majority of NLP tools are not novel. They have been developed by breaking down what excellent people do and presenting it back as standalone tools or techniques.The obvious start with sales development is to widen people's ability to get into rapport quickly, especially with the more \"difficult\" prospects. This can be achieved in a number of ways. The fundamental idea of matching and pacing (i.e. being like the other) is an area that does encourage the \"manipulative\" label. It is something we all do naturally when we feel in rapport with another - just look around you at work or outside. How many people do you notice that appear to be mirroring each other or moving as though choreographed? However, it is useful to be aware of how you can use this, especially when you sense that you are \"out of synch\" with someone. Care is needed though, as clumsy matching and mirroring will come across as insincere.Another thing that can be very useful for sellers is to use the \"alignment\" model (Figure 1). I have found that helping people to make sure their \"identity\" fits with the job empowers them. From here, a significant aspect is to address people's beliefs and to bring out any limiting beliefs they may have. It is difficult to sell with integrity if you have limiting beliefs about your product or service, or the organization - or if you are being asked to do anything which conflicts with your values. When using this with a group of potential sellers in a bank in Saudi Arabia we were able to help some change their beliefs and become very successful whilst one or two who did not want to and felt their values were being challenged were better suited to being moved to other roles.When these areas are aligned, the sellers can also be helped by learning to manage their state. They have to be able to handle themselves in a variety of situations and often operate in a relatively isolated way. Knowing how to reconnect to a positive or confident state (or whatever they need) is a great asset.Most sellers are familiar with the idea of finding buying motives and hot buttons and suchlike. Well, NLP has another approach that can give you an even more powerful way of doing this. You can even find out things about the way prospects make buying decisions that they do not even know! From this, you can present your sales case using the appropriate language to increase your chances of success. There is a whole area around \"meta-programmes\" which can benefit you here. A commonly used way of working with these is from language and behaviour profiling. For example, in conversation you can establish whether someone prefers to make buying decisions for themselves or do they seek reassurance from others. Think about how that can help with your sales pitch.For sellers and negotiators, learning to \"reframe\" can be important in many situations. Handling objections or blocks can be made easier with this. Another time it is useful can be dealing with internal functions and their own bosses!\nCustomer service: Whether people are handling customers on the phone or face-to-face, they often have to deal with varying degrees of irritation or anger. Learning to manage their own state can be really important! Also, developing the ability to not only look at things from the customers' situation but also from a more objective, dispassionate view can help to smooth things over and to focus on solutions.Getting rapport quickly is key for this role. If training people on the phone, getting them to learn to match voice tone, volume and speed can be a great asset. They can diffuse anger and complaints quickly. Developing their listening skills to calibrate the changes in tone or pitch, or to pick up specific words can not only help them resolve issues more quickly, it can also improve their enjoyment of the job.Using good questioning to change the state of the customer can help. Shifting them from a complaint frame to focusing on the outcome they want can benefit everyone and take the heat out of things. There are various options to achieve this and good customer service people are practicing many of them anyway!\nSummary: This has only scratched the surface of where NLP can help in the business world. There are so many examples of where it has helped. Encouraging top teams to work together more efficiently and creating a clear vision for the organization. Doctors have been known to use certain language patterns to help their patients recover more quickly and with less need for medication. As a personal effectiveness tool, learning to change or adapt limiting beliefs can help you manage your time more effectively. Recognizing what your own values and their priorities are can help you to handle pressure better and be more resistant to stress. Understanding your own language preferences can help you to become more flexible in presenting your messages, formally or informally, to appeal to a wider audience more of the time.I can go on and on. There are ways NLP can harm your business too. The saying, \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\" springs to mind! Just being familiar with one or two concepts can do more harm than good. On the other hand you do not have to have everyone becoming practitioners or beyond. What does make NLP useful is when it becomes part of everyday life and work - and not just a toolkit to delve into. As with anything in life, whatever aspects or tools are implemented will be most useful when used with \"unconscious competence\" - and this means learning the fundamentals, practicing them and sticking in there until they just happen.Yes, there are charlatans out there. Some will promise to train your organization, your sales team, your trainers or whoever in a couple of days. Hmmm, beware! They can give a flavor only. In my opinion, NLP is a great thing when used with integrity and becomes a part of the way you operate. It is not an answer for every circumstance, nor can it be forced upon anyone. It can be fun to learn more. It can help your business or organization in more ways than you can imagine. It can help to change your own life - and improve it, if that is what you want.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to identify what neurolinguistic programming (NLP) is, how it might be useful for individuals and organizations, and to explore the question whether NLP can help or harm a business. The paper also aims to give a balanced view of NLP, outlining how it can benefit organizations but also how it is most useful when it becomes part of everyday life and work and not just a set of tools to use when deemed necessary.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The author draws on his own opinions and experiences from working as a Master Practitioner of NLP for many years and his involvement with setting up and running \"The Business Group\", which promotes uses of NLP in organizations. Four key aspects are covered: why knowing more about NLP and its uses might be useful for you and others in your organization; what NLP is and some of the key principles; how it has been used in some organizations; and what you might be able to do with it in the future. Focuses on the main areas where NLP can help an organization: Management and leadership, sales and negotiation, and customer service.\nFindings: - NLP can both help and harm a business. This article only scratches the surface of where NLP can help in the business world. However, there are also ways NLP can harm businesses too, as just being familiar with one or two concepts can do more harm than good.\nOriginality/value: - The article aims to help business people become better informed about NLP, its applications both individually and in the workplace and also to dispel some myths about NLP and connotations people may already have with the term.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Attachment relationship study of trust and trust transfer	[ "Relational embeddedness", "Attachment theory", "Trust transfer" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Shopping centers that house numerous tenants and entertainment units are a common business channel for accelerating market penetration and expansion. Researchers have investigated many aspects of shopping centers. Eckert et al. (2015) analyzed the effect of store location in shopping centers. For example, Borgers and Vosters (2011) focussed on consumer preferences and examined the major attributes of mega shopping centers. Lowry (1997) applied the concept of life cycle to the development patterns of shopping centers and indicated the strategic importance of adapting to the changing conditions of shopping centers.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Shopping centers\n3. Research model and hypotheses: The discussion indicates the importance of trust in facilitating B2B interactions and argues that such trust can be transferred to new shopping centers. The antecedents of trust used in this study are based on attachment theory, trust theory, and trust transfer theory. They are used to investigate the effect of relational embeddedness, anxiety attachment, and avoidance attachment on trust in shopping centers (Lien et al., 2014; Mende et al., 2013; Yaakobi and Goldenberg, 2014). In addition, the subsequent effects of trust on trust transfer and relationship performance are examined. Figure 1 illustrates the research model and hypotheses.\n4. Research method: 4.1 Research design and data collection\n5. Results: Figure 2 illustrates the results of the structural analysis. The path coefficient of relational embeddedness-trust (0.062**, p<0.01) indicates that the results support\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Research implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply trust perspective and attachment theory and determined that relational embeddedness, anxiety attachment, and avoidance attachment are major factors influencing the trust of tenants in owners/developers of shopping centers. The authors also examined whether tenants transfer this trust to new shopping center developers and the consequent effect on relational performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research was empirically based on primary data collected from new shopping center developers and the consequent effect on relational performance. Structure equation modeling was employed to verify and validate the research model.\nFindings: Data collected from 250 shopping center tenants were analyzed, and the findings indicate that relational embeddedness, anxiety attachment, and avoidance attachment positively affect the trust of store tenants in the owners or developers of shopping centers. Furthermore, the authors determined that trust in existing shopping center developers was transferred to new shopping center developers, which consequently enhanced relational performance.\nOriginality/value: The findings contribute to trust transfer research and provide actionable guidelines to organizations intending to provide intermediary business services.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Breakthrough innovation: the roles of dynamic innovation capabilities and open innovation activities	[ "Breakthrough innovation", "Dynamic innovation capabilities", "Open innovation", "Innovation", "Taiwan", "Managers", "Business performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: To enhance breakthrough innovation, proponents of the resource-based view and the dynamic capability view suggest that firms should invest heavily in developing dynamic innovation capabilities (Davenport et al., 2006; Song et al., 2005; Teece, 2007). Meanwhile, Chesbrough (2006, 2010) and Gassmann et al. (2010) suggest that firms can use open innovation to produce radically new products.However, the innovation literature is divided over whether dynamic innovation capabilities lead to breakthrough innovation (e.g. Antikainen and Vaataja, 2010; Rosenkopf and Nerkar, 2001). For example, studies rooted in the absorptive capacity perspective suggest that dynamic innovation capabilities may foster greater breakthrough innovation (Rosenkopf and Nerkar, 2001). When a firm builds its dynamic innovation capabilities, its absorptive capacity increases, and as a result it is encouraged to explore new information and eventually develop breakthrough innovation (Lavie and Rosenkopf, 2006). However, studies rooted in organizational inertia theory (Hannan and Freeman, 1984) suggest that dynamic innovation capabilities may discourage breakthrough innovation (e.g. Benner and Tushman, 2003; Levinthal and March, 1993). When firms accumulate more experience and become more efficient at using their existing knowledge, the self-reinforcing nature of learning produces more incremental innovation rather than breakthrough innovation (Benner and Tushman, 2003). Thus, the relationship between dynamic innovation capabilities and breakthrough innovation remains unclear.There are equally conflicting views regarding open innovation (e.g. Lichtenthaler, 2011). Not all firms adopt open innovation activities because some firms prefer to have more control over the source breakthrough innovation and their relationships with innovation partners (Cheng and Huizingh, 2010; Di Benedetto, 2010; Lichtenthaler, 2011). In addition, despite research on the effects of open innovation on innovation performance (e.g. Gassmann et al., 2010; Gassmann and Zeschky, 2008), not all firms are successful adopting open innovation activities. For example, the direct cost of acquiring technology from third parties is often greater than the indirect value generated by having this technology. As a result, the net effect on firm performance is negative (Faems et al., 2009).Our purpose therefore is to investigate the effect of dynamic innovation capabilities on breakthrough innovation in light of the moderating role of open innovation. This study contributes to the innovation literature in the following ways. First, it increases understanding of the effects of dynamic innovation capabilities on breakthrough innovation. Second, it enriches the extant literature by empirically testing whether open innovation activities help firms strengthen their breakthrough innovation. Evidence for positive effects of breakthrough performance will further demonstrate the legitimacy of open innovation as an important research field. Finally, an analysis of the performance effects of breakthrough innovation is critical to firms that attempt to profit from using dynamic innovation capabilities and open innovation activities.The rest of this paper is organized as follows. We begin by describing the theoretical background and hypotheses. We then present the research method and the results of a series of statistical assessments. Finally, we discuss our conclusions and the implications of the findings.\nTheoretical background: Breakthrough innovation\nResearch method: Questionnaire development\nAnalyses and results: Validation of measures\nDiscussion: Drawing from the absorptive capacity perspective and organizational inertia theory, we tested the impact of dynamic innovation capabilities on breakthrough innovation in light of the moderating role of open innovation activities. We find that dynamic innovation capabilities have an inverted U-shaped relationship with breakthrough innovation. We also find that open innovation activities enhance the positive relationship between dynamic innovation capabilities and breakthrough innovation.Our results contribute to the existing literature in the following ways. Our findings provide a better understanding of the curvilinear effects of dynamic innovation capabilities on breakthrough innovation. The previous literature highlights the role of dynamic capabilities in new product success because a firm's dynamic capabilities to deal with rapid changes in the environment are critical for product innovation (e.g. Morgan et al., 2009; Verona and Ravasi, 2003; Danneels, 2004). Extending this logic, we find that dynamic innovation capabilities have an inverted U-shape relationship with breakthrough innovation. That is, at the beginning stage, dynamic innovation capabilities relate to the highest degree of breakthrough innovation, whereas in later stages, dynamic innovation capabilities prevent breakthrough innovation (see Figure 1). More specifically, the longer firms have dynamic innovation capabilities, the more rooted firms may become in existing environments such that they might overlook emerging changes in the environment; moreover, the longer firms have dynamic innovation capabilities, the more they are unable to manage changes in the environment. Organizational inertia further discourages breakthrough innovation. As a result, the longer firms have dynamic innovation capabilities, the less firms intend to develop breakthrough innovation.These findings enrich the existing literature by demonstrating the possible problems associated with dynamic innovation capabilities: When firms hold onto dynamic innovation capabilities longer, they may be less able to sense changes in the environment. These findings not only resolve the conflicting views about the relationship between dynamic capabilities and innovation (e.g. Rosenkopf and Nerkar, 2001) but also add to the existing literature that indicates the failure of leading firms in the face of rapid environmental change (Christensen, 2006).Moreover, we enrich the existing literature by proposing and confirming empirically that open innovation activities help firms with effective coordination of dynamic innovation capabilities. As noted by Eisenhardt and Martin (2000), researchers need to identify dynamic capabilities that firms can use to adapt, integrate, and reconfigure their resources and competencies in response to changing environments. Lavie (2006) further points out that there is a lack of empirical evidence for dynamic capabilities. In particular, Chesbrough (2010) suggests that open innovation activities promote the open coordination of resources to support various developments in innovation. Thus, we argue that open innovation activities as an organizing principle may not directly affect breakthrough innovation. In accordance with our arguments, the present findings indicate that open innovation activities enhance the positive effect of dynamic innovation capabilities on breakthrough innovation. More specifically, open innovation activities strengthen the positive influence of dynamic innovation capabilities. Therefore, open innovation activities are one type of enhancement to dynamic innovation capabilities that enables firms to achieve breakthrough innovation.Our findings have some implications for managers. Firms must be aware of the limitations of their existing dynamic innovation capabilities in terms of developing breakthrough innovation. For example, firms with strong dynamic innovation capabilities should understand that although their dynamic innovation capabilities increasingly enhance their breakthrough innovation, they may trap them in incremental innovation, causing them to focus on existing customers and preventing them from exploring breakthrough innovation. To overcome such obstacles, firms with strong dynamic innovation capabilities could use open innovation activities to coordinate their resources with third parties. Such open innovation activities stimulate greater breakthrough innovation, which may help firms avoid this disadvantage.Our results should be interpreted in light of some of the limitations of the study. First, our analysis of breakthrough innovation is limited to the new product domain. Further research should examine breakthrough innovation in other domains (e.g. new services) and investigate the role of dynamic innovation capabilities in those contexts. Second, all of our measures relied on senior managers' subjective judgments. Objective data would be useful for validating our hypotheses. Third, the results based on the perspectives of senior managers. A potential limitation of this is possible bias from collecting data from a single key informant. Although measures were taken to reduce such bias, the use of multiple respondents would have been preferable. Future research could examine similar characteristics using data provided by lower level managers. Fourth, the results of this study represent a cross-section of senior manager perceptions. However, the cross-sectional nature of this research into breakthrough innovation allows us to analyze firms' conduct at only one specific point in time, not over a period of time. Thus, further longitudinal evaluation may be needed. Finally, while the response rate is less than we had hoped, we believe this is thanks partly to the very sensitive nature of the questions. Future research could attempt to obtain data on the dependent and independent variables from multiple sources.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study aims to examine the roles of dynamic innovation capabilities and open innovation activities in breakthrough innovation. Drawing from the absorptive capacity perspective, organizational inertia theory, and open innovation, the authors seek to argue that dynamic innovation capabilities have a curvilinear effect on breakthrough innovation that is moderated by open innovation activities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A mail survey was sent to the top 1,000 firms in Taiwan, the target respondents being senior managers with experience in developing at least three successful breakthrough innovations in the past five years. A total of 218 usable questionnaires were collected, resulting in a respondent rate of 22.9 percent.\nFindings: - The findings support the argument that dynamic innovation capabilities have an inverted U-shape relationship with breakthrough innovation. Meanwhile, open innovation activities strengthen the positive effects of dynamic innovation capabilities on breakthrough innovation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The findings enrich the existing literature by proposing and confirming empirically that open innovation activities help firms with effective coordination of dynamic innovation capabilities.\nPractical implications: - Managers must be aware of the limitations of their existing dynamic innovation capabilities in terms of developing breakthrough innovation.\nOriginality/value: - This study not only resolves the conflicting views about the relationship between dynamic capabilities and innovation but also adds to the existing literature that indicates the failure of leading firms in the face of rapid environmental change.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of transitions into wage-employment for satisfied and unsatisfied entrepreneurs: A Bayesian analysis	[ "Entrepreneurial satisfaction", "Entrepreneurship exit", "Returns to entrepreneurship" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The end of an entrepreneurial spell is the natural complement to its beginning. When startups are backed by venture capitalists, an exit strategy is frequently part of the initial business plan and many entrepreneurs believe to have succeeded when they leave their company (cf. Headd, 2003; Wennberg et al., 2010). Yet, previous research frequently classifies these exiting entrepreneurs as unsuccessful (e.g. Wennberg and DeTienne, 2014). Research that relies on the entrepreneur's own success evaluation is scarce. The same is true for research on the aftermath of successful or satisfactory exits. Wennberg (2011) notes: \"there are still no investigations of the firm founders [...] post-sell off\" (p. 9). Cardon et al. (2012) state: \"We have no known work on the emotional process that occurs when entrepreneurs positively exit a venture\" (p. 3).\nLiterature review: Entrepreneurship entry and failure\nTheoretical predictions: Life satisfaction\nMethod: Models\nResults - Model 1: Model 1 explores year-by-year differences between satisfied and unsatisfied entrepreneurs. Its purpose is to validate the suitability of job satisfaction as classification measure. The analysis yields two results. Table II shows the correlations among dependent variables. Table III states the influence of covariates on the dependent variables. Bayesian regressions yield three values per effect. These describe the location of the 2.5, 50 and 97.5 percent quantiles of confidence intervals. The 50 percent estimate describes the effect size; the remaining two values assess its credibility. If zero falls outside the respective interval, the effect is said to be \"credibly different from zero.\" Table III highlights such values in italic face.\nResults - Model 2: Model 2 tests the hypotheses. It makes before-and-after comparisons. The correlations among dependent variables are almost identical with the results of Model 1. The largest difference is below 0.01. A repeated discussion is omitted. Table IV shows how control and independent variables affect the dependent variables. The control variables show no noteworthy difference from the results of Model 1. The effects describing the situation before the transition, use the cohort of satisfied entrepreneurs that continue as reference. For illustration, the median effect of -1.24 for \"unsatisfied\nConclusion: When should entrepreneurs transition into wage-employment? The paper addresses the question by comparing the life satisfaction, income, health and social support of entrepreneurs that transition into wage-employment with those that remain self-employed. It differentiated between satisfied and unsatisfied entrepreneurs, relying on the entrepreneur's job satisfaction. Satisfied entrepreneurs: have higher income, are healthier, have more social support and are overall more satisfied with their lives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Should unsatisfied/satisfied entrepreneurs transition into wage-employment? The purpose of this paper is to investigate the financial, physical, social and emotional consequences of the decision.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses an Australian, nationally representative panel for two Bayesian multivariate regressions.\nFindings: Unsatisfied entrepreneurs that transition from self- to wage-employment improve their income, life and job satisfaction. For satisfied entrepreneurs, continuing or transitioning makes little difference: job and life satisfaction develop similarly. The health of continuing entrepreneurs suffers regardless of whether they are satisfied or unsatisfied.\nResearch limitations/implications: Unobserved heterogeneity is only addressed within cohorts, not across cohorts. It is possible, that transitioning entrepreneurs are inherently different from continuing entrepreneurs. Further research could include a more fine-grained study of entrepreneurship's negative health implications or include work-family balance as return to self-employment.\nPractical implications: The findings offer clear advice to entrepreneurs that are unsatisfied with their venture: they will likely benefit from transitioning to wage-employment. In addition, it offers a warning to individuals with existing health issues who are considering self-employment.\nOriginality/value: Academic interest in entrepreneurship exit is growing. This paper is the first to study the financial, physical, social and emotional life consequences of both satisfied and unsatisfied entrepreneurs. It contributes to the discussion of what motivates entrepreneurs to become and remain self-employed.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

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