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Complicity, responsibility and authorization: A praxis of critical questioning for White literacy educators	[ "Racism", "Literacy teaching", "Whiteness", "Critical literacy", "Literacy and identity", "Reflection" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: It is the middle of the quarter in a small, graduate-level seminar on adolescent literacies. As usual, the instructor invited students to respond to the day's reading, a study of the literacy practices of Black teenage girls. Alan, a White[1] man in his mid-20s, spoke first: \"I was really frustrated by this reading! I don't see myself in it, so frankly I don't have much to say about it. I don't understand why we are reading about the literacies of such a small portion of the population.\"\nEngaging language and literacy discourses: The saliency of race-based power dynamics is uniquely palpable in the context of our language and literacy courses. These courses are rooted in an understanding of language and literacy as power-laden and fundamentally linked to meaning-making, identity, discourse and power. These courses explicitly draw students' attention to language and literacy practices as powerful discourse tools that have significant consequences in classrooms - for individual students and for the classroom community. As sites of meaning-making and identity construction, language and literacy courses demand significant vulnerability from students, even as they draw students' attention to the potential racialized violence and harm that particular language and literacy practices have the potential to enact.\nWhiteness and complicity: Much literature explores the mechanisms that promote and protect racialized violence in classrooms lead by White teachers. In particular, work often characterized as \"first-wave White teacher identity studies\" examines White teachers' refusal or resistance to engage critical explorations of race and racism (Jupp and Lensmire 2016; Marx, 2004; McIntyre, 2002; Sleeter 1992, 2001). In response, \"second-wave White identity studies\" explores White teachers who \"by degrees recogniz[e] race, class, culture, language, and other differences in students and themselves and under[stand] differences as having potentials for teaching and learning\" (Jupp and Lensmire, 2016, p. 1164). This body of work focuses on not only White teachers' processes of conscientization (Freire, 1970) but also the nuances, complexities, contradictions, contexts and intersections of White teacher identities (Lensmire, 2010; Thandeka, 1999). Across both \"waves\" of White teacher identity studies, scholars explore how White teachers can educate themselves (or have been educated) into critical consciousness so as to disrupt the effects of their Whiteness (Jupp and Slatterly, 2010; Raible and Irizarry, 2007).\nA praxis of questioning: Like many White people, we often work to distance ourselves from racism and to reassure ourselves that we are \"not racist\" and are therefore good and morally sound (Thompson 2003; Applebaum, 2010). Our first thoughts in response to racist violence in our classrooms might be to distance ourselves from any responsibility or complicity (e.g. \"What Alan said was so unexpected! I certainly didn't do anything to make him think that such a statement was okay. That was so awful!\"). We argue, however, that considering our own complicity in such moments is both necessary and generative (Applebaum, 2010, 2013). Instead of distancing ourselves from Alan's outburst, we ask questions about our own complicity in such moments. Through these questions, we acknowledge both the power that we wield as educators and the ways that discourses of power move through our classroom.\nReflections on complicity: Heather's narrative reflection is illustrative of one way in which White educators might engage the above questions. As a second example, the first author, Julia, offers the following narrative to more deeply reflect on how moments of racialized violence are co-constructed in our classrooms - and how a praxis of questioning can draw our attention to our own complicity in that construction.\nConclusion: This essay focuses on the affordances of a praxis of questioning - and in particular, questioning our own complicity - as White language and literacy educators. Our goal has not been to make specific pedagogical recommendations for White instructors. We have not offered - nor do we believe it is possible to offer - a prescription for avoiding or remedying racialized violence in our language and literacy-based classrooms. Rather, we have offered a praxis of questioning that might help White teachers to more fully understand the weight of our pedagogical choices. We hope that these questions lead to pedagogical changes that take stock of and respond to racialized violence.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Discourses of racism have always circulated within US classrooms and, in the current sociopolitical climate, they move with a renewed sense of legitimacy, entitlement and violence. This paper aims to engage the consequences of these shifts for the ways that racism works in university-based classrooms and, more specifically, through the authors' own teaching as White language and literacy educators.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This teacher narrative reconceptualizes moments of racialized violence in the courses, as constructed via circulating discourses of racism. The authors draw attention to the ways that we, as White educators, authorize and are complicit in this violence.\nFindings: This paper explicates a praxis of questioning, developed through efforts to reflect on our complicity in and responsibility for racial violence in our classrooms. The authors offer this praxis of questioning to other White language and literacy teachers as a heuristic for sensemaking with regard to racism in classrooms.\nOriginality/value: The authors situate this paper within a broader struggle to engage themselves and other White educators in work for racial justice and invite others to take up this praxis of questioning as an initial step toward examining the authors' complicity in - and authorization of - discourses of racism.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
All precarious? Institutional change and turning points in labour market trajectories in Spain: Insights from narrative biographies	[ "Redundancy", "Unemployment", "Biographies", "Spain", "Trajectories" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper analyses the impact of changes to employment regulations made during \"austerity\" on the trajectories of Spanish workers. Taking its cue from Anxo et al. (2010), this paper considers that life courses are shaped by the labour market, the family and the state, in interaction with individuals as agents. Trends in labour market patterns and changes in employment regulation can, therefore, modify the way life courses are institutionalised. The so-called standard employment relationship developed in many countries after the Second World War has provided the conditions and securities in which individuals develop their careers. Life courses have been institutionalised and have become part of the social structure of society (Bartelheimer et al., 2009) through the regulation of employment. Inequalities and boundaries of exclusion have been set up (from social rights, employment protection, etc.) for those with intermittent participation in paid work, traditionally women. But, around this regulatory architecture a stable and socially protected relation has been defined in which elements such as working time, pay and social transfers are regulated by collective agreements or by labour and social security laws (Bosch, 2004), while job security regulations decrease the capacity of employers to hire and fire at will (Emmenegger, 2014). The introduction of certain rules has reinforced workers' securities by constraining corporate-decision making. As Bosch (2004) states, these elements have permitted employees to plan for the long term, both in terms of planning for everyday life and in relation to investment in their own capacity for work. Therefore, they have provided the support that allow for the capacity of individuals to plan and develop life courses - in opposition to day to day living - by making it possible for non-capital-owners to be not completely dependent on others (Castel, 2003). Hence, this paper aims to analyse these elements in the context of a deep change of employment relations in Spain and during the so-called austerity turn that has jeopardised employment protection.\nThe increase of insecurities in work and employment and its effect in working lives: The demise of the regulations associated with the standard employment relation have been discussed by several authors via the expansion of neoliberalism, directly linked to the aim of capital to restore profitability since the 1980s (Harvey, 2007), and with the reconfiguration of social relations around a restoration of class power and finance-led accumulation (Koch, 2013). In this regard, a trend towards the marketisation of employment has been identified, defined by the decline of internal labour markets and long-term careers and the expansion of atypical employment. Specifically, and as Thompson (2013) argues in the \"disconnected capitalism thesis\", there has been a trend towards systematic rationalisation and perpetual restructuring, tightening cost pressures, undermining job security and introducing different pay structures and rates. The key element here is that employer capacities regarding the use and deployment of work have been reinforced by enhancing their ability to reduce or increase employment or wage levels with ease, to increase mobility, to make more elastic use of skills, and to introduce non-conventional work arrangements (Baccaro and Hawell, 2011; Arnold and Bongiovi, 2013). Therefore, the milestone is that certain securities associated with the employment relation, such as a certain degree of security in job and working conditions are being jeopardised. These changes should be understood more as a process rather than an institutional convergence towards, namely, neoliberal regimes. This is acknowledged by Macartney (2011) who uses the concept of \"variegated neoliberalism\" to illustrate how neoliberal trends are embedded in existing institutional structures and conditioned by path dependencies of existing institutional arrangements and different balances of power in societies.\nInstitutional change during austerity: deepening neoliberalism in Spain: The varieties of capitalism literature has situated Spain in the so-called Southern European model. It is characterised by high employment protection, which is made possible by a relatively low-level of product-market competition and the absence of short-term profit constraints (Amable, 2003). However, we consider that Spain does not fit well (or completely) with this characterisation. Following Koch (2006) we better characterise it as an \"extensive labour path\" model characterised by strong wage inequalities and low salaries. This highlights the importance of sectors - such as construction and tourism - characterised by an extensive use of labour force and shows that financial institutions have been deeply implicated in short-term profit strategies (Lopez and Rodriguez, 2011). Moreover, since the 1980s, a stock of about 30 per cent of the workforce has been in temporary contracts and employment protection for open-ended contracts have decreased in practice through subsidies, deductions and lower dismissal costs for certain groups since the 1990s. These elements have not always been considered by comparative studies on labour market protection, which tend to consider the formal dismissal cost established in law, but not the implementation and application of these laws in real labour markets (Sola et al., 2013, p. 78). Therefore, it is better to characterise the Spanish model before the recession as a move towards \"Mediterranean neoliberalism\" (Banyuls et al., 2009).\nMethods: The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of the institutional changes discussed above on labour market trajectories in Spain. Hence, the purpose is, first, to discern how institutional changes have increased insecurities in working lives by breaking career paths and increasing redundancies and changes in working conditions. The second objective is to identify how individuals reacted to these changes. The analysis is based on narrative biographies. As has been remarked by Furlong (2009), biographies help us to understand peoples' lived experiences, but they also highlight the way in which reflective projects are underpinned by structural constraints. Equally, Denzin (1989) has pointed out that biographical methods help us to understand human experience as it occurs within social and cultural contexts, and Bertaux and Thompson (1997) have highlighted the strengths of the biographical method in capturing the complexity of individual lives and the impact of events on them. Thus, narrative biographies permit us to understand how an \"unexpected event\" has broken a certain trajectory, the new direction that this path has taken, and the role of the individual in managing the transition.\nResults: Table III provides information about the characteristics and main effects of institutional changes in the interviewees. Most of them have been affected by redundancy from a permanent contract, with tenures that vary from 3 to 30 years. Equally, drastic changes in salary, working time and shifts are also reported by the individuals in the sample. Furthermore, they have also been affected by career breaks in the public sector, in terms of the ending of temporary contracts and a downgrading of working conditions.\nDiscussion and conclusions: This paper shows that the erosion of employment security in Spain provoked by the recession has been reinforced by institutional level changes. The role of the State and the legitimacies provided by European level have been crucial in accelerating the transition to weaker employment protection. The findings reveal how the weaknesses of union capacity to regulate at the workplace level in Spain, a feature already identified before the crisis (Martinez Lucio, 1999), has been reinforced by the priorities given to company-level agreements. Employers' power at the workplace level has been reinforced and job securities have been eroded. The paper provides insights into how the erosion of security provoked by institutional changes has impacted on the capacities of workers to develop their working lives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of changes in employment regulation in Spain on individual labour market trajectories. It is well known that the Spanish labour market has been strongly hit by the 2007 recession. Furthermore, after 2010 and in the benchmark of \"austerity\", several reforms were implemented to further flexibilise employment regulation. At the same time, public sector budgets suffered severe cutbacks, that impacted working conditions and prospects of public sector workers. These reforms were implemented by different governments and substantially changed previous existing patterns of employment. This paper explains how these reforms have reinforced previous existing trends towards greater flexibility and weaker employment protection and how they lead to a shift in the position of work in society.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The emerging patterns that these changes provoked are illustrated thorough data from narrative biographies of workers affected by a job loss or a downgrading of working conditions. The workers of the sample had relatively stable positions and careers and were affected by changes that substantially modified their paths.\nFindings: The paper shows how reforms have expanded work and employment insecurities and have broken career paths. It demonstrates how the reforms have weakened the position of work and organised labour in society and how, when institutional supports are jeopardised, the capacity to plan and act is harassed by the traditional social inequalities.\nOriginality/value: The paper enhances the knowledge about the impact of institutional changes by analysing their effects in individual working lives by means of narrative biographies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of the board in voluntary disclosure	[ "Board of directors", "Corporate governance", "Voluntary disclosure" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Scandals revealed throughout financial crises highlight the importance of ethical and transparent actions and have motivated discussions on corporate governance, specifically on boards (Martins and Rodrigues, 2005; Vieira and Mendes, 2006). Voluntary disclosure is important because it reduces information asymmetry (Cormier et al., 2010). Alignment of the board with a business strategy focused on voluntary disclosure is an alternative to strengthen credibility and promotes transparency and dialogue between parties (Adams, 2002; Boulouta, 2013), in addition to providing stakeholders indirect management monitoring (Farooque and Ahulu, 2015; Michelon and Parbonetti, 2012).\nResults: Analysis of reports\nConclusions: The aim of this study was to describe the voluntary disclosure of companies listed in the B3 in Brazil and analyze which board characteristics influence this disclosure. Voluntary reports provide an opportunity for companies to show their initiatives and defend their actions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Since 2012, the Brazilian Stock Exchange has recommended that listed companies inform them if they have conducted voluntary disclosure. The purpose of this study is to describe the voluntary disclosure by companies listed in the B3 in Brazil and to analyze which characteristics of the board of directors influence this disclosure.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study involves quantitative research using a sample of 285 companies and 575 reports from 2011 to 2014. A fixed-effects regression model with panel data was used for the analysis.\nFindings: The results were statistically significant for gender and duality variables, which confirms the theory that the presence of women as members of the board positively influences voluntary disclosure and that chief executive officer and chairman of the board positions have a negative effect. The age and independence of the board variables did not present statistical significance.\nResearch limitations/implications: As a theoretical contribution, the authors aim to complement sustainability, finance and strategy research by using agency theory and measuring the variable of voluntary disclosure and the board, which is rarely studied in this context.\nPractical implications: As social and empirical contributions, a better understanding of this theme in the context of emerging countries, which is the peculiarities of Brazil with little information transparency and well-known corruption scandals, is likely to aid investors. Increased access to company information can help investors better select their investment portfolios and assist in the choice of their board representatives in companies in which they have participation and voting rights.\nOriginality/value: The fact that Brazil is an emerging country, where the lack of transparency of information and corruption in these environments stand out the importance of studying the subject of voluntary disclosure in this context. All data were collected manually specifically for this research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An assessment of national healthcare service delivery: a Ghanaian illustration	[ "Perceived value", "Ghana", "Service quality", "PLS-SEM", "Healthcare management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Healthcare organizations have recently made considerable leaps in their level of customer responsiveness and market orientation. Critical facets of healthcare organizations' survival include quality healthcare, value for money, and satisfaction. These organizations operate in a competitive and unforgiving environment with little or no room for errors or service failures (Ndubisi, 2012). Despite the significant improvement in the healthcare industry, inefficiency still exists to the extent that practitioners rely on scholars to augment their research activities to help them understand how to overcome inefficiencies and build innovative healthcare service (Thakur et al., 2012). The challenging environment has led to an increasing number of healthcare organizations recognizing the importance of quality healthcare and value as the basis to enhance customer satisfaction and associated behavioral intentions. These fundamentals remain true regardless of the environment within which the organization resides (Young et al., 2009; Thakur et al., 2012; Atinga, 2012; Ndubisi, 2012; Macha et al., 2012).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: Ghana is an emerging economy in the West African sub-region with a population of 27 million (Ghana Statistical Service, 2014). In the last few years, Ghana has increased attention to healthcare access for its citizens. Similar to many Sub-Saharan African countries, Ghana faces unique challenges in its healthcare system. However, the two major challenges confronting Ghana's healthcare system have been:\n3. Research methodology: All measures used in the current study were based on scales validated in prior research. However, following consultations with two academic experts, certain items were rephrased or adapted to suit the Ghanaian cultural environment. Perceived service quality was measured using four items developed by Brady and Cronin (2001) and Rust and Oliver (1994). Four measures for perceived value were adapted from Sweeney and Soutar (2001). While five scale items from Oliver (1997) were adapted to measure patient satisfaction, five scale items from Zeithaml et al. (1996) were used to measure behavioral intentions.\n4. Data analysis and results: 4.1 Outer model assessment\n5. Discussion and contributions - theoretical and managerial: Global health researchers pay considerable attention to the importance of both healthcare systems and healthcare insurance schemes and their impact on patient satisfaction (Mills, 2014). The literature is inundated with healthcare studies conducted in advance and developed countries with little attention dedicated towards developing countries. Thus, we propose and empirically test factors that determine patient behavioral intentions in the Ghanaian healthcare environment upon the introduction of a NHIS. This paper attempts to shed light on patients' perceptions about their satisfaction levels and behavior under the NHIS.\n6. Conclusions: Through empirical research, this study has proposed and tested a healthcare framework of service quality, value and satisfaction and has validated their impact on customer behavioral intentions. The study confirms the significance of customer perceived value and customer satisfaction on behavioral intentions in Ghana's healthcare industry. This enhances a deeper understanding about healthcare system and thus to a degree, contributes to the scant research activities in healthcare services, and specifically, in a developing economy, Ghana.\n7. Limitations and future research directions: Despite the diligence given to the theoretical development, the discussion of the hypotheses, data collection, and analysis, inevitably, like all social sciences, this study has limitations. First, a cross-sectional research design was employed. However, relationships among these variables are dynamic and can change over time. Therefore, future research should use longitudinal data to address such relationships. Second, it is important to acknowledge the limitation of the sample size. This limitation poses generalizability questions in the absence of further replications and validations. In addition, previous research indicates that patients' perceptions of healthcare quality and satisfaction may vary based on the socio-cultural dynamics and the type of facility such as private or public providers (Hutchinson et al., 2011; Atinga et al., 2010). To that end, a larger sample might provide a greater generalizability for the hypothesized relationships. Third, another limitation is that our model provides evidence of causality which has not been tested. Specifically, our study considered a soft modeling approach, which focuses on prediction rather than causality. Predictability however allows only a limited degree of control, while causation guarantees the ability to control events (Falk and Miller, 1992). Future researchers should endeavor to achieve causality. Fourth, this study considered quality as a one-dimensional construct thereby not evaluating the attributes that go into a patient's evaluation of excellent service quality. A holistic view or picture of factors that contribute to excellent service quality in a healthcare setting could be studied in the future. Fifth, although it is beyond the scope of this research to compare and then contrast the Ghanaian context with other economies, the challenge for future researchers is to ascertain the differences between various countries' healthcare systems and customers' perceptions of healthcare service quality.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a healthcare framework of service quality, perceived value, and satisfaction in Ghana. More specifically, this study investigates the role and effect of service quality on patient satisfaction and perceived value in Ghana's healthcare delivery.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were gathered through surveys administered to 113 healthcare patients in Ghana. partial least square-structural equation modeling analysis was used to empirically test the research model.\nFindings: Results show healthcare quality significantly influences satisfaction and perceived value of healthcare delivery. Additionally, perceived value's impact on satisfaction and behavioral intention shows that increasing perceived benefits while reducing perceived costs leads to repeat behavior and paves the way for retention strategy for healthcare management.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study yields a series of limitations in its results and conclusions. These limitations and future research are discussed in Section 7 of the study.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the literature by examining the effects of healthcare service quality on patient satisfaction and perceived value, determining the effect of healthcare service quality on patients' behavioral intention, and testing the proposed framework in Ghana, a fast growing and economically liberalized emerging country in Sub-Saharan Africa.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Construal of self and Chinese accountants' aggressive financial reporting judgments	[ "China", "Aggressive reporting judgement", "Consolidated financial reporting", "Construal of self" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This study contributes to the literature on the global convergence of financial reporting by examining the influence of an important personality variable, construal of self, on Chinese accountants' aggressive financial reporting judgments. Largely driven by the forces of globalization, more than 130 jurisdictions have adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)[1] (International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), 2015). Accountants are required to extensively exercise their professional judgment in interpreting and applying the principles-based IFRS, which contain a significant number of vague and indeterminate concepts and \"uncertainty expressions\" such as \"control,\" \"probable,\" \"substantial,\" \"reliably,\" \"reasonably certain,\" and \"absolute certainty\" (Wustemann and Wustemann, 2010; Doupnik and Richter, 2004; Doupnik and Riccio, 2006; Tsakumis, 2007; Doupnik and Perera, 2009; Nobes, 2009; Alali and Cao, 2010; Wehrfritz and Haller, 2014). Prior studies have shown that accountants may often use the flexibility allowed in the principles-based IFRS to make aggressive reporting, which refers to accountants' preference for reporting disclosure that portrays events favorably when accounting treatments are not clearly indicated by the facts, accounting standards, and relevant literature (Cuccia et al., 1995; Psaros and Trotman, 2004; Psaros, 2007; Fiske and Berdahl, 2007; Bhimani, 2008; Jamal and Tan, 2010; Pan and Patel, forthcoming). As a result, consistent accounting standards (known as formal or de jure accounting) may not necessarily ensure consistent application of standards (known as material or de facto accounting) (Doupnik and Salter, 1995; Schultz and Lopez, 2001; Pacter, 2005; Nobes, 2006; Chand and White, 2007; Doupnik and Perera, 2009; Alali and Cao, 2010; Navarro-Garcia and Bastida, 2010; Peng and Bewley, 2010; Wehrfritz and Haller, 2014; Tsunogaya, 2016). There are calls in the literature for more rigorous research to examine various factors influencing accountants' judgments in applying the principles-based IFRS, which may result in aggressive financial reporting especially in non-Anglo-American countries (Trotman et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2012; Heinz et al., 2013; Mertins et al., 2013; Abernathy et al., 2013; Tsunogaya, 2016).\n2. Background: 2.1 Reasons for selecting China\n3. Theory development and hypotheses formulation: Recall from our earlier discussion that the two dimensions of self-construal, independents and interdependents, capture complex cognitive processes in explaining individual judgments at both cultural and personality levels (Markus and Kitayama, 1991; Kim and Sharkey, 1995; Kacen and Lee, 2002; Kim and Yi, 2006; Lu and Gilmour, 2007; Zhang and Shrum, 2009; Uskul et al., 2009; Lin et al., 2012). Specifically, independents view the self as being separate from their social context and thus emphasize autonomy and independence (Markus and Kitayama, 1991; Kim and Sharkey, 1995; Patel and Psaros, 2000; Kacen and Lee, 2002; Lu and Gilmour, 2007; Zhang and Mittal, 2007; Uskul et al., 2009; Lin et al., 2012). They are motivated by taking actions to promote their own goals and express their unique needs, rights, and capacities (Markus and Kitayama, 1991; Kim and Sharkey, 1995; Kacen and Lee, 2002; Kim and Yi, 2006; Lu and Gilmour, 2007; Zhang and Shrum, 2009). Evidence also shows that independents foster a bias toward providing positive and favorable information in order to enhance optimism and potential gains (Herzog et al., 1998; Lee et al., 2000; Elliot et al., 2001; Hamilton and Biehal, 2005; Bond, 2010; Uskul et al., 2009; Lin et al., 2012). For example, Lee et al. (2000) show that compared to interdependents, independents place greater emphasis on the information which may lead to potential gains. Lin et al. (2012) further demonstrate that compared to interdependents, independents focus on distinguishing themselves from others by attaining greater gains; they are also willing to take more risks to achieve favorable outcomes.\n4. Research method: Data to test the hypotheses were collected using a between-subjects quasi-experimental design. We acknowledge the advantages of using survey questionnaires to investigate accountants' judgments in previous accounting research, such as that by Schultz and Lopez (2001), Doupnik and Richter (2004), Doupnik and Riccio (2006), and Tsakumis (2007). However, research on accountants' judgments has reached the stage of moving from survey-based research to experimental research designs, which \"are useful to see whether there is an effect and identify what causes the effect\" (Trotman et al., 2011, p. 339; see also Nelson, 2003; Pownall and Schipper, 1999; Kachelmeier, 2010; Charness et al., 2012; Mertins et al., 2013). Additionally, experimental designs allow researchers to create the experimental setting that subjects may encounter in the real world (Mertins et al., 2013).\n5. Results and analysis: The demographic details of the subjects are shown in Table I. Overall, 51.9 percent of the subjects were female and 48.1 percent of the subjects were male. The majority of subjects (77.2 percent) were aged between 25 and 39. All subjects had at least one year of accounting-related work experience, 69.1 percent of the subjects had more than three years' accounting-related working experience, 29.4 percent of the subjects had worked in one of the Big Four accounting firms in China, while 70.6 percent of the subjects had never worked for any of the Big Four accounting firms. Additionally, all subjects provided scores of 5 or above on the question of whether they were familiar with the accounting standards on consolidated financial reporting on a seven-point Likert scale (1=not familiar at all to 7=very familiar). This result indicates that all subjects in the experiment were familiar with the relevant accounting standards on consolidated financial reporting. The statistical results confirm that there are no significant differences in subjects' aggressive consolidated financial reporting recommendations based on gender, age, length of accounting-related experience, Big Four/non-Big Four experience, and familiarity with the accounting standards on consolidated financial reporting. Therefore, subjects' responses were aggregated for the purpose of further statistical testing.\n6. Conclusions and implications: Drawing on relevant psychology, sociology, and business literature, this study examines the influence of construal of self on Chinese accountants' aggressive judgments relating to consolidated financial reporting. Construal of self is considered an important and relevant personality variable to capture complex cognitive processes in explaining individual differences at both cultural and personal levels. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence that, compared to interdependent accountants, independent accountants used flexibility allowed in the principles-based standards to make aggressive consolidation reporting recommendations by recommending including (excluding) a profit-making (loss-making) investee entity in the group's reporting.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to respond to calls in the literature to examine personality variables which may provide sharper insights into accountants' judgments in applying principles-based International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This paper contributes to the literature on the global convergence of financial reporting by examining the influence of an important personality variable, construal of self, on Chinese accountants' aggressive financial reporting judgments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A between-subjects quasi-experiment was applied. In total, 122 Chinese professional accountants were categorized as either independents or interdependents, on the basis of their scores on construal of self scales. Subjects made their consolidation reporting judgments in the manipulated situations based on the financial performance of the investee entity, which refers to the situation where the investee entity makes a significant profit or a significant loss in the reporting period.\nFindings: Compared to interdependent accountants, independent accountants used the flexibility allowed in the principles-based standards to make more aggressive consolidation reporting judgments. Also, adoption of IFRS may not necessarily ensure consistent judgments even within China.\nOriginality/value: This paper provides empirical evidence of the importance of construal of self in examining accountants' aggressive judgments. The authors suggest that it may be premature to assume that adoption of IFRS will lead to comparable financial reporting. The findings are relevant to researchers who are interested in examining personality and cultural influences on accountants' judgments both within and across countries. Companies and organizations may incorporate appropriate strategies to recruit and train independent and interdependent accountants, particularly by addressing the influence of construal of self on aggressive financial reporting judgments.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Strategic talent development interventions: an analysis	[ "Talent development", "Executives", "Interventions", "Organizational success" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Talent seeking organizations recruit potential talent for their survival in this rapidly changing and competitive environment. The typical process is to attract the talent through a variety of recruitment methods and select the best for the organization. Nonetheless, talent, if not guided and nurtured well, may not be able to grow and reach its fullest potential. While companies can recruit potential talent with much difficulty, developing their skills and getting the best out of them is an arduous task. Talent development plays a very important role in making the foundation of the company even stronger by not only developing the employees, but also helping them in achieving their career goal. Normally, it is believed, that training and development - both classroom and outbound coupled with on-the-job training, mentoring and coaching could help develop talent. A workforce development plan based on the organizational needs will aid in fulfiling the requirements of the organization. This will not only help in retaining the employees, but will also avoid unnecessary external recruitments. The skills inventory can serve the purpose for the same. Focusing on a strategy which can recruit personnel from an external facet is not enough. In order to be successful in the long-term organizations should not only focus on acquiring talent from an external market, but should also concentrate on the internal development of the talent (Garavan et al., 2012). The talent acquired must be developed in line with the organizational and specific knowledge and skill requirement (Lepak and Snell, 1999). Evidence suggests that in order to be competitive organizations design their unique talent development processes which varies from one organization to another (Garavan et al., 2012).\nTheoretical background: The planned acquisition, development, retention, engagement and deployment of talent in an organization could be considered as the development of talent (Dijk, 2008; Garrow and Hirsh, 2008; Lawler, 2008). Proper development initiatives lead to better employee development in an organization. Therefore the organizations undertake various human resource development interventions for qualitative and accelerated development of individuals. In order to update employee's knowledge, skills and abilities and prepare the workforce for future challenges organizations initiate development interventions such as behavioural modification, technical training and coaching (Birdi, 2005; Brooks and Nafukho, 2006). In addition to this, the research also reveals that employees are themselves responsible for their own development (Garavan et al., 2012). This results in a variety of outcomes related to performance, rewards and careers (Benson, 2006; McCauley and Hezlett, 2001; Kang et al., 2007). In a strategic context, talent management helps in meeting the anticipated talent required by the organization when needed (Erasmus et al., 2012; Lawler, 2008). Talent development is an investment for the fulfilment of organizational needs and not an amateur investment on the part of the organization (Pruis, 2011).\nStatement of research objective: This model has been inferred on the basis of the literature review done. Talent development as a process comes out of HR strategy which helps an organization to produce committed professionals. It is only through proper coordination and efforts of the organization that it gets a pool of committed and developable professionals who not only increase business performance, but are also loyal towards the organization. Talent development interventions play an important role in manufacturing organizations. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is as follows:\nMethodology: A descriptive research design was used in this study. Primary data for the study was collected from two major manufacturing units, i.e., Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), Rourkela and Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T), Kansbahal. A self-designed questionnaire having 24 items with five-point Likert scale was used as a research instrument for collection of primary data. Samples were selected through stratified and random sampling methods. A genuine attempt is made towards reciprocal representation of respondents (i.e. executives). In order to minimize personal bias usually related to open ended questions, all the questions designed were closed ended. Data collected are analysed by different statistical tools like descriptive statistics, reliability, and multiple regression using statistical package (SPSS 20) to set the cause and effect relationship in order to draw the conclusion. In order to minimize the chances of getting wrong answers during the process of data analysis, attention is paid to both reliability and validity. Reliability shows how consistent the findings are while validity is concerned with whether the findings are really about what they appear to be.\nResults and discussions: In RSP and L&T together, there are around 2,500 numbers of executives working presently. In all, 200 questionnaires were distributed out of which only 160 valid responses were received through opinion survey. The response rate was 80 per cent. From the analysis done it has been found that the organizations taken under consideration conform to all the factors studied. The hypotheses have been tested by using statistical techniques of multiple regression analysis.\nImplications of the study: This study provides a practical and rational view of talent development interventions in the organizations which will provide support to the practitioners in the following ways:\nConclusion: Therefore, it is concluded that the results support the fact that proper emphasis on talent development has a significant relationship with organizational success which is also supported by the literature. However, managers are burdened up with more responsibilities as a result of this. They should focus on those factors which are influencing the development process and try to improve them in order to give an edge to the organization. It is well known that manufacturing organizations have a generally monotonous work environment along with a retiring workforce. Due to the dynamic nature of competition, organizations should accelerate their pace of talent development. It has become difficult for organizations to retain employees due to higher growth expectations. Thus, it becomes imperative to develop talent and provide them with lucrative career opportunities within the organization to achieve organizational success.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to attempt to test a model of talent development interventions and find out the various factors which actually impact the process in a manufacturing concern.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Multiple regression analysis is used to analyse the data and find the extent to which the variables considered are significant predictors of talent development. Primary data are collected from the respondents (executives) of two manufacturing units with the help of a structured questionnaire. A sample size of 200 is considered for extraction of data for the study.\nFindings: The results of the study highlight that six of the independent variables significantly predict the dependent variable. This paper identifies the most important factors which are found to be pivotal for the development of talent in the organizations considered for the study.\nPractical implications: Managing talent in the present competitive business scenario is one of the most vital issues in which HR professionals/practitioners are involved. It becomes imperative for top management to know about the various ways which can aid in proper development of talent. This paper empirically identifies the various strategic interventions which aid in the proper development of talent in manufacturing sector.\nOriginality/value: While there are many papers tracing the talent development process and the various strategic interventions, there is a dearth of empirical research being done in this field in the manufacturing sector. This paper attempts to explore the developmental interventions in the manufacturing sector and adds new insights on an empirical basis.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Explaining support for redistribution for different groups of the needy: A study of 28 post-communist countries	[ "Welfare state", "Poverty", "Comparative social policy", "Comparative social welfare", "Preference for redistribution" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: There is growing interest in studies about public perceptions of support for redistribution toward different groups of the needy since perceptions are the most important factors that shape the design, implementation, and outcomes of social welfare policies (van Oorschot, 2000, 2006). Social welfare programs targeted at groups of the needy that have a negative public image are less generous, have more stigma attached to them, and can easily be cut back (Bendix Jensen, 2004; Furaker and Blomsterberg, 2003). Conversely, programs targeted at groups with positive images such as the aged and families with children are more sustainable and less stigmatized (Applebaum, 2001; Huddy et al., 2001).\n2. Theoretical considerations: In this section, we review theories and empirical evidence that could explain variations in support for degrees of redistribution toward the needy. We commence with theoretical considerations that may shed light on the variation in degree of support for redistribution between deserving and undeserving groups of the needy in post-communist countries. We continue this section by distinguishing between individual-level explanations of support for redistribution that includes adherence to norms of equality, poverty attribution, and the dominant stratification hypothesis, and country-level explanations such as level of income inequality and the business cycle. Finally, we discuss covariates as a strategy through which to control for unobserved country characteristics.\n3. Data and method: 3.1 Data\n4. Results: 4.1 Descriptive results\n5. Robustness analysis: We have tested the robustness of our main Models 1 to 5 in Table III in several ways. First, it is conceivable that the willingness to redistribute to those with families can be explained by the willingness to redistribute to the elderly[2]. This begs the question of whether the effects of our explanatory variables in our help to families with children model will change if we control for willingness to help the elderly. To test this postulate empirically, we estimated our main Model 3 by including the willingness to help the elderly as an additional control.\n6. Limitations: Several limitations of this study are worth mentioning. First, we could not analyze separate countries due to the small country sample sizes that we had access to - only about 1,000 observations per country. For instance, we found that there were two countries, namely, Mongolia and Poland, where support for redistribution fell below 50 percent for the unemployed, the working poor, and at least one more category. It is difficult to say what these two countries have in common. Poland is a country that commenced transition earlier than most other communist countries, its reforms were relatively successful, and it was among the first post-communist countries to attain EU membership. In contrast, Mongolia, began reforms much later, its reforms were not particularly successful, and its economy is still deemed to be in the process of transition. There are also large differences between Poland and Mongolia in terms of geographical location, culture, religion, traditions, structure of economy and trading patterns. However, the small country sample sizes available prevent us from pursuing an in-depth analysis of the underlying reasons that these two countries have lower support for redistribution as compared with the rest of the post-communist countries under investigation.\n7. Conclusion: The two primary aims of this research project are to contribute toward a greater understanding of public support in post-communist countries for redistribution toward needy, and to identify potential factors that may affect preferences for redistribution. In response to the first research question regarding patterns of preferences with respect to which groups are considered deserving and undeserving, we found that public perceptions follow the same pattern as we outlined in the theoretical section. Specifically, we found that in post-communist countries, the disabled, followed by the elderly, and families with children are considered the deserving, and enjoy the highest levels of support. In contrast, the unemployed and the working poor enjoy relatively less support. These two groups are considered undeserving in post-communist countries. The patterns that we have identified in this study follow the same patterns that have been seen in previous studies that focused on more developed countries (van Oorschot, 2006). However, our study is the first to confirm the results of studies on Western welfare states with respect to the diverse sample of 28 post-communist countries including the less developed countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus, and most of the Balkans.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore factors which may explain support for redistribution for different groups of the needy in 28 post-communist countries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a cross-country survey (n=25,845), the authors evaluate preferences for redistribution to the elderly, the disabled, families with children, the working poor, and the unemployed.\nFindings: People in post-communist countries made the distinction between deserving groups of the needy - the aged, the disabled, and families with children, and undeserving groups - the unemployed and the working poor. Among the individual-level factors, adherence to equality and attributing poverty to structural problems increased the probability of supporting redistribution. Among country-level factors, the authors' results stress the positive influence of income inequality on support for redistribution for all groups of the needy under investigation. Notably, the authors did not find a negative influence of the business cycle on support for the working poor and unemployed.\nOriginality/value: This is the first paper that examines support for the needy in a diverse sample of 28 post-communist countries. The findings will help policy-makers and social administrators to better understand factors influencing support for redistribution toward different groups of the needy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consumer behaviour and preferences regarding children's clothing in Turkey	[ "Clothing", "Children (age group)", "Consumer behaviour", "Turkey" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Turkey is a leading supplier and exporter. It is the world's fourth biggest clothing supplier and tenth textile commodity supplier. In 2003, Turkey realised a total of $47 billion in exports, $15 billion of which was from the textile and clothing sector (ITKIB, 2004).The children's clothing sub-sector in the Turkish textiles sector has recently shown important developments, with improvements in both the materials used and design playing a significant role in the sector's success. When the ratio of children to total population in Turkey is considered, the significance of the children's clothing market clearly appears. According to the 2000 Census, about 29 percent of Turkey's population of 68 million is below the age of 14 (DIE, 2000). This is a major reason why there has been a recent surge in the number of foreign and Turkish companies entering this market.Although the children's clothing market is one of the growing market segments, it is interesting that the literature contains no studies investigating it in full. Therefore, our study first aims at building a theoretical framework; second, it investigates the subject by examining some research questions posed to Turkish consumers; this is followed by conclusions, limitations, and recommendations for further research. Thus, the study is endeavoring to make a valuable contribution to the recognition of this knowledge gap, experienced equally by developed and developing countries.\nBackground: Growth of the children's market\nThe influence of parents in the children's clothing market: Although children are an important segment of the consumers to be studied, the second consumer group in the children's market is the parents (and grandparents), especially mothers in the early years of childhood. Companies should offer their products and services by considering parents' needs and wants in order to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Brands such as Gap, Ralph Lauren and Benetton have become market leaders by acting on the fact that parents reflect their brand choices in the children's market. The identification of purchasing frequency, periods, and purchasing points in the children's market significantly affects the marketing policies and strategies of the companies.The price, quality and payment conditions (i.e. credit card, instalments) have great importance on the consumers' buying behaviour. Darian (1998) suggests that the price of the clothing is more likely to be mentioned by the parent than any other factor. Chen et al. (2004) found that among the main attributes of children's clothing, quality and style are more important than price for Chinese parents. In addition to these factors, fashion and advertising generally have a major impact on sales in the textile and clothing industry. Since there is a direct relationship between higher prices and the latest fashion of a product in the textile and clothing industry, the more a product reflects the latest fashion and style, along with the contribution of advertising, the higher its selling price. Branding is also another important attribute affecting children's apparel sales. Although brand recognition is high among children because it is used as a means to satisfy a status or an emotional need and a device to communicate messages to their peer group, Harper et al. (2003) reported that 60 percent of parents responded that labels and logos were not of importance to them.In their study of children's wear in China, Chen et al. (2004) found that customers buy from retailers such as department stores, speciality shops, garment markets, wholesale markets, small shops, as well as hawkers. One of the important factors in the selection of the retailer is the assortment of merchandise (Murray, 1994). The other important factor is the provision of physical conditions in the facility such as hygiene, comfort, layout, etc. The consumer's aim in the selection of purchasing points is beyond possessing the product (Thang and Tan, 2003). Consumers choose retailers offering different services to some extent, like toilets, restaurants, cafes, a games/play room for children. Store accessibility, easy parking, and pricing suitable to budget and payment conditions are other factors attracting the consumer in the selection of purchasing points (Chain Store Age, 1996).\nStudy design: Study purpose\nFindings: In Table II, the data on the customers' shopping frequency for children's clothes are shown. It is seen that the majority of the respondents buy clothes for their children at least once in any six-month period. When the purchasing periods of the respondents are analysed, it is understood that more than half of the respondents purchased clothes for their children according to need (59.1 percent). The table shows that more than half of the respondents (51 percent) make purchases from independent shops, around one third (29.8 percent) from shopping centres and 16 percent from open markets. However, it indicates that few of the parents buy the clothes from other retailers (supermarkets, street peddlers or through the internet or catalogues). When the respondents were asked if suggestions from people around them affect their decisions regarding the purchasing of clothes for their children, 19 percent of the parents indicated that they are influenced by reference groups.According to the weighted average scores (Table III), the third factor is the range of clothes they carry in their shops. The second factor is the pricing of clothes in line with consumers' budget. The third factor is more payment options available in the shops.Table IV shows the shopping decision maker in the family for children's clothing and the age distribution of children making their own shopping decisions. The decision was mostly mutual (40.3 percent) or made by the child itself (27.1 percent). The same table shows that the age of the children making the shopping decision becomes more pronounced between ages 6-10 (26 percent), although there is not much difference between the answers when the age of the children making the shopping decision itself is analysed. A significant part of the parents (36.5 percent) indicated that their children do not make shopping decisions. The reason for this may be that the children are too young for the shopping decision. On the other hand, there may be a simple practical reason such as parents buying clothes when the children aren't there to make the decision, especially when a working parent shops on the way home from work or during a lunch break.The associations between the respondents' demographic variables and their shopping characteristics, as shown in Table V, were investigated through the chi square statistical technique since the demographic characteristics of the respondents were measured with the categorical scale. It shows that shopping frequency is correlated with education (kh2=68.89, p=0.000), occupation (kh2=62.97, p=0.000), and number of children (kh2=48.84, p=0.000). The table reveals that shopping period is associated with education (kh2=61.58, p=0.000), occupation (kh2=40.66, p=0.000), income level (kh2=39.12, p=0.000), and number of children (kh2=18.09, p=0.005). It was found that there are associations between types of retailer and education (kh2=39.86, p=0.000), occupation (kh2=50.24, p=0.000), and income level (kh2=49.70, p=0.000).The table indicates that there are associations between the shopping decision maker and gender (kh2=56.11, p=0.000), age (kh2=77.40, p=0.000), occupation (kh2=28.75, p=0.05), income level (kh2=25.14, p=0.01), and number of children (kh2=32.60, p=0.000). No significant correlations were found between the effects of the reference groups and any demographic characteristics of the respondents.The factors that affect consumers' shopping decisions for children clothing are presented in Table VI. The most important factors in terms of means are clothing size, price, quality, ease of shopping, and payment options. However, fashion, branding, and shopping through catalogues and the internet are not important factors when shopping for children's clothing.The relationships between the demographic characteristics of the respondents and the factors that affect their shopping decisions regarding children's clothing were investigated through employing chi square analysis techniques. The table indicates that price is associated with education (kh2=30.28, p=0.005), income level (kh2=41.45, p=0.000), and number of children (kh2=30.23, p=0.000). There is a correlation between quality of clothing and education (kh2=27.91, p=0.000), and income level (kh2=32.45, p=0.005). Clothing advertisements are associated with respondents' occupation (kh2=40.03, p=0.005). The table shows that payment options correlate with education (kh2=19.53, p=0.000), occupation (kh2=26.37, p=0.01), income level (kh2=58.39, p=0.000), and number of children (kh2=15.52, p=0.01). Fashion is associated with occupation (kh2=21.51, p=0.01) and income level (kh2=16.23, p=0.01). Branding is only correlated with respondents' income level (kh2=23.63, p=0.005). Shopping for children's clothing through the internet and catalogues is associated with education (kh2=16.64, p=0.01), occupation (kh2=27.38, p=0.005), income level (kh2=12.92, p=0.01), and number of children (kh2=20.44, p=0.000). It was found that there is no association between size of the clothing and ease of buying in the shops and any demographic characteristics of the respondents.\nConclusion and recommendations: Whilst the study investigated the purchasing behaviour and preferences of parents in the children's clothing market it also explored some children's purchasing characteristics.Most of the consumers buy clothes for their children at least once in any six-month period. There is no set purchasing period. They generally purchase when the need arises.Approximately half of the consumers purchase clothes for their children from independent shops, and one in three buys from shopping centres. It shows that consumers prefer shopping from independent shops. Although supermarkets enter in this market and serve the customers' needs successfully and some chain and franchising companies sell their products through catalogues or the internet, it is interesting that consumers do not prefer shopping through these retailers in Turkey. Perhaps the reason for this is that there are some easy to access city centre concentrated shopping districts made up of numerous independent shops. In the selection of retailers, consumers consider the range of merchandise, pricing, and payment conditions as the most important factors. This indicates that the retailer should be meticulous about the range of products they carry in their shops, pricing strategies and also payment conditions.In the family the parents mostly mutually make the buying decisions for their children's clothes. However, the children also make their own decisions. The age of children making their own clothing decisions varies between six and ten. These results show that store managers must take the children into consideration as well as the parents when they make their stock, layout and display decisions.It was found that there are some important and strong relationships between most of the respondents' shopping behaviour for children's clothing and their demographic characteristics. It was found that shopping frequency is correlated with education, occupation, and number of children. Shopping period is associated with education, occupation, income level, and number of children. The study revealed that there are associations between types of retailer and the education, occupation, and income level of the respondents. The shopping decision maker for children's clothing is associated with the respondents' gender, age, occupation, income level, and number of children. No significant correlations were found between the effects of the reference groups and any demographic characteristics of the respondents in the study.The most important factors affecting consumers' decisions towards shopping for children's clothing are the size of the clothing, price, quality, ease of shopping, and payment options. However, fashion, branding, and shopping through catalogues and the internet are not seen as important factors for parents shopping for their children's clothing. This finding did not support the findings of Darian (1998), which found that for most parents, price is the most important factor followed by the quality of the garment. Our study also found that branding is not an important attribute for parents, which supports the finding of the study carried out by Harper et al. (2003) that 60 percent of parents did not find logos and labels to be important factors in the purchase of children's clothing.It was found in the study that that there are some relationships between the factors that affect respondents' decisions on children clothing. Price is associated with education, income level, and number of children. There is a correlation between quality of clothing and education, and income level. Clothing advertisements are associated with the occupation of the respondents. The study revealed that payment options correlates with education, occupation, income level, and number of children. Fashion is associated with occupation and income level. Branding of the children's clothing is only correlated with the respondents' income level. Shopping for children's clothing through the internet and catalogues is associated with education, occupation, income level, and number of children. It was found in the study that there is no association between size of the clothing and ease of buying in the shops and any demographic characteristics of the respondents.For the first time, our study has attempted to explore the growing children's market in Turkey although it has sampling limitations. It concentrated on the children's clothing market in a limited population of four million, Izmir. Further studies should investigate the issue with samples that better represent the population. They should also develop some hypotheses and test them by employing more advanced statistical techniques in order to reach more conclusive results. More research is required to understand a child's shopping behaviour fully, in general, and in different sectors. And, also, some cross-cultural studies could be beneficial to better understand cultural differences and similarities on the subject. These will give more insights to company decision makers to enable them to design better strategies and policies in order to gain competitive advantages in the growing children's product markets.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this study is to determine the factors affecting the consumer preferences and behaviour in the children's clothing market in Turkey, a country where the majority of the population is under 18 years old.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Whilst the study investigated the purchasing preferences and behaviour of parents, such as shopping frequency and period, type of retailer and the effect of reference groups in the children's clothing market, it also explored some children's purchasing characteristics, like shopping decision age.\nFindings: - This study offers some academic results on consumer behaviour and preferences in the children's clothing market: There is no set shopping period; consumers prefer shopping from independent shops; in the selection of retailers, consumers consider payment conditions, pricing, and range of merchandise; in the family the parents mostly make the buying decisions for their children's clothes; the age of children making their own clothing decisions varies between six and ten; the most important factors affecting consumers' decisions towards shopping for children's clothing are the price, quality, convenience, payment conditions, and size of the clothing.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study concentrated on consumer behaviour and preferences regarding children's clothing in a limited population - Izmir, a city of three million.\nOriginality/value: - There are few studies related to children in the literature. For the first time, this study has attempted to explore the growing children's clothing market in Turkey.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
University knowledge, open innovation and technological capital in Spanish science parks : Research revealing or technology selling?	[ "Intellectual capital", "Knowledge spillovers", "Knowledge transfer", "Licensing income", "Patents", "Tacit knowledge" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge, creativity and innovation have become increasingly important for those firms that wish to remain competitive in the marketplace (Schiavone and Villasalero, 2013), thus pushing them to tap into knowledge networks, either within or outside organizational boundaries (Buchel and Raub, 2002; Inkpen and Tsang, 2005). Firms can rely on intra-organizational knowledge networks such as those arising in multi-business firms (Villasalero, 2014a), multinational corporations (Williams and Lee, 2009), multidivisional organizations (Nerkar and Paruchuri, 2005), team-based organizations (Hoegl et al., 2003) or combinations of the above (Hansen et al., 2005). On the inter-organizational level, firms may benefit from geographically dispersed knowledge networks as is the case of international alliances and partnerships (Hagedoorn ,2002) or geographically bounded knowledge networks consisting of countries (Villasalero et al., 2012), industrial districts (Boschma and ter Wal, 2007), business clusters (Giuliani, 2007), innovative milieus (Todtling and Trippl, 2007), regional innovation systems (Cooke, 2008), science parks (SCPs) (Kocak and Can, 2014) and business incubators (Soetanto and Jack, 2013).\n2. Theory and hypotheses: The underlying logic for SCPs is that \"[...] universities have many brilliant people making new discoveries but that they lack the means or the will to reach out to the market. SCPs constitute a channel by which academic science may be linked to commerce. Thus SCPs are there to promote, not 'science,' but its application to technology\" (Massey et al., 1992, p. 56). More specifically, SCP tenant firms are argued to be in a position to build up intellectual capital from three types of networks:\n3. Methods: An exploratory testing of the hypotheses was designed by using Spanish SCPs and the universities to which they are affiliated.\n4. Results: Multicollinearity is an issue, since some correlations are above 0.4, particularly those representing the university size effect and the polytechnic university effect on the research and knowledge transfer variables (Table II).\n5. Discussion: Consistent with the literature review, the revealing strategy was proxied by using the amount of funding raised for basic research, the number of scientific publications and the number of PhD graduates. Consistent with the first hypothesis and in conformity with expectations, the amount of funding raised for basic research is the best indicator of knowledge spillovers in this study sample. As indicated in the methods section, the system used to allocate funds to basic research in Spain produces near-efficient results and is thus a good indicator of the level to which a university can contribute toward expanding publicly available scientific knowledge to society. The number of scientific publications did not eventually enter the best-fitted regression model, probably because the measure used failed to adjust for the quality of the publications.\n6. Conclusion: These results support the view held in this study that research on SCPs should consider the innovation-related behavior of the university to which the SCP is affiliated. Given that SCPs are organizational solutions that are designed to promote knowledge spillovers rather than knowledge trade, it follows that a university strategy that stresses the untraded free revealing of academic research has beneficial effects on the SCP tenant firms' technological capital accumulation. On the contrary, a university emphasis on the knowledge trade by selling its research through well-developed TTOs hampers SCPs as regards meeting their objectives of spreading the university knowledge-based research amongst tenant firms in order for them to accelerate the process of technological capital accumulation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the connection between university research and technological capital developed by science park (SCP) firms in order to elucidate whether the causal linkage is owing to non-pecuniary research spillovers or pecuniary technology transfer activities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two publicly available surveys, one dealing with the research and transfer activities of 45 Spanish universities and another with the patenting activities of 44 Spanish SCPs, are matched in such a way that hypotheses can be tested using regression analysis.\nFindings: The patenting performance of SCP firms is positively related to the competitive R&D projects undertaken by the universities to which they are affiliated and negatively related to the technology transfer activities carried out by those universities. These findings suggest that the scientific knowledge produced by universities principally contributes to private technology-based firms' technological capital through non-pecuniary research spillovers, whereas the pecuniary technology transfer agreements remain uncertain or may even prove to be detrimental.\nPractical implications: Firms that are considering locating or remaining in a university-affiliated SCP should be aware that the university's pecuniary orientation when managing its intellectual capital may become a barrier as regards the firm filling its technological capital shortages. From a university administrator perspective, the complementary or substitute role of technology transfer offices vis-a-vis SCPs should be considered in the light of the selling or revealing approach adopted by the university in order to commercialize and diffuse potential inventions.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to existing literature by shedding light on the causal linkage between university research and firm innovation, obtaining evidence in favor of an upstream, non-pecuniary and revealing role of universities in support of the accumulation of technological capital amongst SCPs tenant firms.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge management approach in build-to-order supply chains	[ "Supply chain management", "Knowledge management", "Purchasing", "Transportation", "Information systems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Because of rapid changes in the competitive global market, the production model has already shifted from mass production to mass customization over a wide spectrum of products ranging from personal computers to automobiles (Krajewski et al., 2005). Various production strategies such as make-to-forecast, locate-to-order and amend-to-order and build-to-order have been adopted in numerous enterprises with the aim of catering to the needs of specific customers in specific regions. To be successful in the global market, these production strategies should be complemented by a new form of build-to-order supply chains (BOSC) strategy instead of a general stock-based SC strategy (Chandra and Kumar, 2001; Sen et al., 2004; Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2005; Lyon et al., 2006). Although there are different types of SCM such as Just-in-time (JIT) SC (Aigbedo, 2006), agile SC (Yusuf et al., 2004) and lean SC (Kainuma and Tawara, 2006), only the BOSC emphasizes the importance of responding to customer demand and order delivery. Other approaches have been focused on waste reduction and lean production processes (Holweg and Pil, 2004). BOSC is a newly evolved SCM model that attempts to fulfill customer orders with short lead times, copes with the challenge of responding to the needs of manufacturing through efficient supply and sourcing, as well as flexible logistic and transportation networks of the twenty-first century (Prasad et al., 2005). However, BOSC tends to be much more complicated to manage (Easton and Moodie, 1999) given the limited levels of stocks within the network, and shorter lead time. Besides, the multi-tiered characteristics of BOSC require an efficient sharing information mechanism between numerous suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and customers in order to respond to changes in the market. Hence, the use of information technology (IT) in the support of SC coordination continues to hold considerable promise (Helo and Szekely, 2005; Meixell, 2006). Nevertheless, Brabston and McNamara (1998) argue that the improvement of information sharing through IT can also result in the problem of information overload as decision makers are always inundated by the sheer volume of information. Hence, information sharing and visualization is no longer a competitive advantage for firms that outperform others within the BOSC.In the knowledge-based view, knowledge can contribute substantially to an intangible \"strategic resource\" in the SC (Grant, 1996; Hult et al., 2002, 2004). On the one hand, a firm is custodian of a large amount of knowledge that is present (either tacit or explicit) and stored in a variety of sources within the organization such as in the minds of experts, in databases, documentation and knowledge repository. On the other hand, the multi-directional flow of knowledge across the SC makes the interactions among the links highly decentralized. Because of this, the efficiency of the knowledge flow and manipulation between these interfaces is critical to the success of the SC (Descouva et al., 2003). However, the knowledge and experience gathered in different SC projects is not being systematically and successfully integrated into organizational knowledge bases (Schindler and Eppler, 2003). Hence, the issue of managing this strategic resource through adopting a suitable methodology and a suitable approach has been brought to the fore. In recent years, there have been a number of research reports and articles on KM initiatives for SCM. However, there are only a few research papers that consider both KM initiatives and the application of a knowledge management system (KMS) written by academics, or practitioners in BOSC. Therefore, this review of the literature has been undertaken with the aim of studying KM and KMS applications in the field of BOSC. Some points suitable for future research discussions about the development of KMS are also highlighted.This paper is not intended to be exhaustive in coverage; rather our aim is to concentrate on KMS initiatives in the specific area of BOSC. Our contribution is that we have tackled and examined KM and system applications within two critical operations functions in BOSC:1. purchasing and supply; and2. transportation and logistics.We also demonstrate the managerial implications of KM concepts for BOSC. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the concept of BOSC, its recent development and best KM practices. Section 3 studies the KMS technology, framework and applications in different functional domains of BOSC. The future research direction of KMS application in BOSC is also presented. Finally, conclusions are presented in Section 4.\n2 An overview of KM practices in BOSC: 2.1 The recent development of SCM - build-to-order supply chain management (BOSC)\n3 An overview of KMS in BOSC: 3.1 Knowledge management systems\n4 Conclusion: This is no doubt that SC has already been noted as a key competitive weapon for enterprises to outperform others in today's fast changing environment. In recent years, the BTO-based business operations have forced enterprises to create a new model of SCM-(BOSC). Nevertheless, general SCM skills are incapable of managing the unique characteristics of BOSC; new SCM skills need to be formulated through incorporating other philosophies, technologies and skills. Based on the literature review, case studies and theory development, it is concluded that KM practices are worth while and are really successful investments that enable enterprises to develop their SCM skills for use in BOSC. By using a keyword index search, many research studies about the application of KMS in the area of BOSC have been investigated. The literature in this area has been further sub-classified with the objective of defining the characteristics deployed and also the technology components of KMS.In this study, the application of KMS into BOSC domains of:* purchasing and supply; and* logistics and transportation functions have been investigated.A study of KMS has been made in four main areas: operations mechanism of KMS; knowledge types and presentation for SC participants; the technology components of KMS, and the benefits obtained from the KMS. The followings are key findings and future research directions for KMS applications in BOSC.* CBR is an A.I technique that is widely be adopted in the development of KMS within the BOSC, particularly in the purchasing and supply function.* Cases and rules provide useful formats for knowledge storage within the KMS and for representing both tacit and explicit organizational knowledge.* The selection of the most suitable supplier is the main application domain of KMS in the BOSC function of purchasing and supply.* RFID technology is an enabling technology which can support real time KM in the logistics and transportation function. Furthermore, integration of mathematical models and A.I technology is the main feature of KMS for supporting the operations decision-making within the logistics environment.In addition, through analyzing and summarizing the research literature in each area of BOSC, this paper offers the following suggestions for future directions in both practical and theoretical KMS research study:* Numerous models and frameworks of KMS are available for supporting the single knowledge domain within BOSC. The application of KMS to support the collaboration of the BOSC should be investigated in detail.* KMS use hybrid A.I technologies can outperform the KMS that uses only a single mode of technology.* There are few integrated models for developing KMS with a \"collaboration capability\" with a \"translatable\" knowledge base to express and represent the knowledge coming from different sources in SC network. Further, research is needed on this subject.* Suitable measures of performance and metrics to investigate KMS contributions in the BOSC should be developed.* Although this study highlights certain key characteristics and technological components of the application of KMS in BOSC through case studies, the study of critical factors and potential barriers for the KMS implementation has not yet been dealt with.Finally, this paper provides an overview of KM practices and KMS applications in the core BOSC functional areas of purchasing and logistics. It is hoped that the results and discussion of this paper may broaden the horizons of researchers and enterprises regarding the future application of KMS in BOSC.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to survey knowledge management (KM) practices and to examine the applications and technologies adopted when developing the knowledge management system (KMS) in build-to-order supply chains (BOSC).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper uses a literature review of research articles from 1996 to 2007 with keyword indexes to survey the KM practice, KMS technology and its application in BOSC. Such keyword indexes include: BOSC, SCM, KM, KMS, expert system, knowledge-based system and information system on the Elsevier online database, ScienceDirect, EBSCO, Proquest, Emerald, DOAJ, and Wiley Inter Science. A total of 1,500 articles were found but only 149 articles related to the keywords of KMS application and KM practices within SCM and BOSC.\nFindings: - The important findings indicate that the KMS application is solely focused on single knowledge problem for enabling individual SC members to attain operational excellence. There is a need for further research into the development of KMS with features of knowledge coordination that cross organizational borders in attaining the BOSC integration.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Perhaps, the limitation of this study was the narrowness of the scope of the paper based on the keywords used for searching.\nPractical implications: - Validation of the multi-disciplines of KM practices and KMS applications provides enterprises with useful guidelines for implementing KM- and KMS-related projects within their current BOSC practices.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides useful knowledge by highlighting the characteristics of KMS technology within BOSC and empirical insights into the relationship between KM and BOSC practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Bouncing back: response strategies to the dotcom bust in Israel	[ "Market orientation", "Israel", "Interviews" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Business strategy is the way managers decide to use the resources of their firms to respond to the threats and opportunities of their environment. Critical changes in these environments change the rules of the game and force managers to make dramatic changes in their basic strategies, to abandon well-established policies and to adopt new ones. Therefore, the ability to adapt to such critical and radical changes in the external environment is a key determinant of competitive advantage and organizational survival (D'Aveni, 1994; Kaya and Seyrek, 2005; Noble et al., 2002).In many industries, firms used to enjoy long periods of relative stability in their business environments that allowed them to establish and maintain their competitive advantage. In the twenty-first century, due to the increased global involvement of many firms, rapid technological changes and greater political and economic instability across global markets, business environments are increasingly characterized by periods of disruptions that hinder performance and survival capabilities (D'Aveni, 1994; Keister, 2002).A critical component of any strategy is the business orientation of its management. It represents the elements of the culture of organizations that guide interactions with the marketplace, both with customers and competitors. It encompasses basic value systems, goals of the managers of a particular firm, their beliefs on how to manage, which strategies to follow and how to implement them. Selection of the appropriate business orientation is therefore a crucial element in the process of planning and design of any strategy of an organization (Ilinitch et al., 1998; Noble et al., 2002).This article describes and analyzes the effects of a critical change, the so-called \"bursting of the high-tech bubble\" crisis in 2000-2003 on the business strategic orientations of managers in the high-tech industry in Israel.The article first discusses the notion of catastrophic change, presents the concept of the lifecycle of high-tech-firms and discusses the nature of the pertinent crisis. The article presents the managerial business orientations which have prevailed before the crisis in this industry and discusses the changes those orientations had undergone among high-tech-firms operating in Israel. The article ends with some conclusions with managerial and research implications.\nThe notion of a catastrophic change: While environmental uncertainty is a constant companion of managerial decisions, regular uncertainties can be integrated into some form of cyclical changes of the basic parameters of business decisions. Catastrophic change differs. Research defines the following components of a catastrophic event as follows (Rubin et al., 2003):* magnitude: a major-to-catastrophic size disaster event;* hazard or threat: an unusual hazard or threat agent in terms of novelty of type, rarity of occurrence, or unusual location of occurrence;* impacts: widespread, damaging impacts (physical, social, economic, political, and environmental), possibly in unlikely locations; and* surprise: an unlikely event or unexpected outcome.A catastrophic event is therefore considered to be one whose nature, magnitude, or impacts single it out for special assessment. Catastrophic changes threaten the very existence of a firm, are hard to predict, happen very fast and demand fast and immediate response.\nThe crisis in the high-tech industry: The high-tech industry is a new industry that rapidly grew in the 1980s and the 1990s (Cohen, 1998). Its exact definition is somewhat complex. The widest definition encompasses producers of products/services linked to biotechnology, computers, and materials (Viardot, 1998). A more limited definition incorporates firms in Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 45 and includes firms in high-tech manufacturing, communications services, and software and computer-related services (American Electronic Association, 2003).The \"bursting of the high-tech bubble\" in 2000-2003 had all the characteristics of a catastrophic environmental change. After the phenomenal growth in the 1990s, global demand for novel technologies and products suddenly declined, investors left the field and prices of stocks of high-tech firms plummeted by 60-80 percent overnight.\nConceptual background: The high-tech firm lifecycle\nThe research settings: To learn how firms in this industry reacted to such a crisis, this study reviewed response of high-tech firms in Israel. The Israeli high-tech industry has been and still is tightly linked to the one in the US and it behaves in a very similar fashion (Ernst & Young, 2003; Feldman and Abouganem, 2002).The methodology selected was interviewing a panel of key informants with wide knowledge about the industry. To identify such experts, a complex multilevel process was initiated. First, the researcher approached the Israeli Association of High-Tech firms and requested an initial list of managers who could be considered experts. Additional names were added by a snowballing technique whereby each respondent was prompted to propose additional names of \"knowledgeable\" managers. Due to their time and work constraints only one third of those managers approached consented to be interviewed. Altogether, 15 such interviews were completed.\nData: All respondents were interviewed in an in-depth interviewing format with open semi-structured questionnaires. The interviewer started by requesting the respondent to describe the strategies of his own firm in response to the crisis. Once behaviors that are linked to a specific conceptual strategic dimension were identified, such as change of markets or market segmentation, the respondent was prompted to detail the relevant strategies.Following that, the respondent was requested to comment on the businesses behavior of other firms with which he was acquainted and which have survived the crisis as well. The respondent then reviewed those specific patterns of business behaviors of these firms that were linked to the same strategic concept. The small number of the respondents suggested that this more in-depth qualitative way of interviewing provides richer data than any other more structured format.\nResults: The survey found that a major effect of the bursting of the bubble was a change in the MBO's of the managers of Israeli high-tech firms along all three stages of the high-tech firms lifecycle.\nThe managerial business orientations before the crisis: Before the crisis, start-up companies in the \"seed\" stage adopted the financial business orientation to focus on accessing investors and their capital rather than focusing on potential users. This reflected their need to secure capital without having any previous sales record or internally accumulated capital. Market orientation was not very prevalent. User populations were defined in very broad terms. Few bothered to differentiate among different segments or applications. The economic value of a new technology was often based on very crude assumptions about the market and upon extrapolations of basic population statistics with little input from actual potential users.In the \"mezzanine\" stage, managers adopted a technological orientation and the major effort of firms at this stage was devoted to the completion of the R&D process. Few adopted a market-based orientation.In the \"full potential\" stage the managerial focus of many high-tech firms changed again. Some managers adopted a financial orientation and were concerned with planning a financial \"exit\" - selling the firm and its new technology/products to large global firm. The buyer was expected to take care of marketing as well. Therefore, these firms delayed marketing efforts as much as possible. Other firms have adopted what one may call a marketing business orientation which views marketing within the narrow framework of the performance of marketing activities necessary to sell the technologies and products.\nManagement business orientations after the crisis: The change brought by the crisis is presented in Figure 2.The effect at the \"seed\" stage\nConclusions: This study reported how a catastrophic change in the business environment of firms impacted their managerial business orientations. The article analyzes the reaction of high-tech firms in Israel which have survived the so called the \"bursting of the high-tech bubble\" crisis in the years 2000-2003. The data were collected from a panel of experts in the industry in 2003.The study related to firms at all the three stages of the lifecycle of high-tech firms - the seed stage, the mezzanine stage, and the full operation stage. The study has found that to survive this crisis, managers have changed their business orientations. The main direction of the change was replacement of financial or technological orientations by a more market-based orientation.The study has revealed that firms at the seed stage replaced financial managerial orientation by basic marketing orientation: firms at the mezzanine level integrated technological and marketing orientations. The effect on firms at the third stage differed according to their previously held business strategies. Those firms that had previously financial orientation and planned a financial exit realized that they had to continue to operate as independent business entities and therefore had no choice but to adopt what this article defined as the basic market orientation. Other firms that, before the crisis, had already manufactured and sold products and technologies searched for more advanced marketing strategies.Future research should validate the analysis presented in this study with evidence of responses of US and European-based firms. An important issue is whether changes in the MBO's of firms which developed as response strategies to environmental crises are sustainable over time or do they change again as circumstances revert to normal. In the context of the high-tech industry, the issue is what has been and will be the effect of the reemergence of this industry as it emerges from the crisis upon the business orientations of managers in this industry. Specifically, studies should explore whether managers of start up firms at all the three stages of their lifecycle have retained their commitment to market orientations or reverted back to financial or technological orientations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to present and analyze the responses of high-tech firms to the crisis of 2000-2003 when demand declined rapidly.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A group of industry experts from the industry in Israel were interviewed about the practices adopted by firms as a result of the crisis. The responses were used to categorize several distinct strategic responses. The analysis was done for firms in all the three stages of high-tech firms' lifecycle - seed, mezzanine and full production.\nFindings: - The article identifies three major managerial business orientations (MBO's) - financial, technological and marketing. High-tech firms responded to the crisis by changing their MBO's from financial or technical to market oriented. Those firms in the full production stage that have embraced a market orientation before the crisis responded by adopting the more advanced strategic marketing orientation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study was carried out towards the end of the crisis cycle. It is important to find out the dynamics of the reported change - whether it has been retained also after the industry started to improve from 2004 onwards. The study should be also replicated in additional countries besides the one in which it was performed.\nPractical implications: - This study contributes to the general knowledge about behavior of firms facing a major crisis especially in a new and fast developing industry that has not experienced such crises before. It also shows the value of marketing managerial orientation vis-'-vis other managerial business orientations. Managers in other industries that may face rapid crisis like change in business conditions should learn how to get ready and set up relevant defense strategies.\nOriginality/value: - The data, approach and analysis are original to this paper. It introduces to managers, in technically-based industries, the notion of competing managerial business orientations and points out that the prevailing emphasis on financial and technological orientation may fail in times of crisis. It concludes that such firms should adopt the marketing orientation right from their initiation because this ensures survival in times of crises. The paper should be also of value to researchers interested in studying how firms react in times of crises and in analyzing survival strategies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Implementing organizational change in health and social services	[ "Organizational change", "Health services", "Home care", "Social services", "Canada" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Declining resources and organizational restructuring distract attention from efforts to develop more client-centred, empowering partnership approaches to health and social services delivery (Falk-Raphael, 1996; Montgomery, 1993; Stewart et al., 2003). Yet in the field of home care, heightened consumer expectations and evaluations of approaches affording clients greater autonomy and voice in their care at home (Alberta Ministry of Health, 1993; Manitoba Ministry of Health, 1994; Saskatchewan Health, 1996) support change in this direction. The limited research evidence suggests that clients demonstrate potential for involvement (Fast and Chapin, 1996), but changing care approaches to empower them as partners in care may be slow (England and Evans, 1992), stressful (Charles et al., 1996) and impeded by organizational barriers (Ferronato, 1999; McWilliam et al., 1994, 2001).Publicly funded home care programs in Canada currently confront this dilemma. Their services normally are delivered in a brokerage model by a diversity of service providers with varying degrees of client involvement in their care. Providers include case managers, often nurses or social workers by professional background, who assess client needs, and based on their assessments, decide, access, coordinate, monitor and control amounts and timeframes of resources and services. These case managers act as brokers, contracting direct in-home service from other provider groups, including professional nurses, occupational, physical and speech therapists, and social workers, and para-professional personal support workers or homemakers.In an effort to promote change toward optimizing the involvement of all participants in care, including clients, one Canadian home care program serving approximately 6,000 clients decided to change from its brokerage service delivery approach to \"flexible client-driven care\" (McWilliam et al., 2003). Premised on previous research indicating its potential for optimizing client health, independence and quality of life (McWilliam et al., 1999), the approach requires all providers, informal caregivers and clients to consciously and conscientiously work as partners. Everyone involved is expected to contribute his/her knowledge about the client's health and health care needs, ability, and right to participate in deciding and implementing a plan of care. The intent is to achieve empowerment (Clarke, 1989) for all involved. The service delivery strategy is flexibly adapted to accommodate the client's self-determined inclination, interest, and potential for involvement as a partner in care management at any one point in time. Thus, partnering efforts might reflect high levels of client autonomy, independence and initiative as partners in their own care management (consumer-managed care). Alternatively, partnering might reflect the client's inclination to work interdependently with all members of the service delivery team to achieve care management (integrated team management of care). A third option permits clients, because of preference or necessity, to have all care management attended to centrally by the case manager as professional expert (brokerage model of case management).To achieve this change, organizational leaders adopted several strategies elaborated by theorists: vision and goal setting exercises (Baker et al., 2000); recognition and rewards to promote commitment (Mazmanian et al., 1997; Wakefield et al., 2003); use of change champions (Greer, 1995); and reflective learning (Schon, 1983). Accordingly, an inaugural workshop included mutual values clarification, visioning exercises, and mission statement refinement. A critical mass (Rogers, 1983; Marshall, 2000) of employees (27 per cent) received a 12-hour educational program as part of a \"train-the-trainer\" strategy to prepare all providers to implement flexible client-driven care. A comprehensive communication plan, including information sessions, media releases and brochures for clients, informal caregivers and providers as well as the public in general, augmented provider preparation. Policies and procedures, including protocols for client assessments and records, staff evaluation, and staff recognition and reward were revised in keeping with the new approach. A leadership committee and task teams for continuous quality improvement ensured broad involvement across the organization (McWilliam et al., 2003).The purpose of this study was to explore in-depth the shared experience of making this change one year after its introduction. The ultimate aim was to further inform implementation of evidence-based organizational change in health and social services.\nLiterature review: Few studies have explored in-depth the process of introducing and implementing organizational change. A recent case study examined the effect of implementing the advanced nurse practitioner role in an acute care teaching hospital (Cummings et al., 2003). Despite the application of an organizational change model to guide the process, findings revealed that two years after the change was introduced, those involved were confused about this new role. As well, staff nurses and medical residents felt threatened and distrusted the approach. The change was still only partially implemented, with unit-level implementation delayed between two and eight months. Others (Van Eyk and Baum, 2003) investigating the overall impact of health care reform also have observed human struggle with change. Tensions between those at the centre of change and those on the periphery, frustrations with constant, unpredictable change and bureaucratic reform processes, and divisions amongst those with differing perspectives were prevalent.Amongst physicians, expressed commitment to change in accordance with new practice guidelines has been found to be significantly related to actual practice changes in a six-month follow-up period (Wakefield et al., 2003). However, wide variation in response was observed, with some physicians influenced in ways other than intended and others not influenced at all. Investigation in the manufacturing sector has revealed that individuals with high levels of self-esteem, emotional connectedness to work and social support from colleagues are more likely to make transformational changes. Perception of barriers did not impede change; rather, individual mindset prior to engagement in the change initiative moderated whether limited individualized behavioural change or transformative organizational change occurred. Researchers recommended further investigation in service-oriented and not-for-profit companies (Spreitzer and Quinn, 1996).\nMethodology: To achieve a holistic interpretation of the shared experience of implementing the changed approach to in-home service delivery, the researchers selected hermeneutic phenomenology (Hammond et al., 1991; Patton, 2002). The study was approved by and conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the University Ethics Review Board. Data were collected primarily through in-depth interviews with a purposeful sample of seven clients (McCracken, 1988), five informal caregivers and sixteen providers engaged in service delivery within the home care program. Secondarily, the researchers engaged in participant observation of group efforts to plan and implement the change. Maximum variation sampling was continued until theme saturation (Morse, 1991). Ultimately, the client sample varied in age (x-=59 years; range=39-73 years); gender (two males; five females), education level (four with secondary school, three with college or university education) and diagnosis (osteoarthritis, stroke, cardiovascular problems, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease). Caregiver participants represented both genders (one male; four females) and varied age (x-=67.4 years; range=48-82 years). Providers represented varied employment categories (two personal support workers; eight nurses; one therapist; one social worker; four case managers), educational levels (six with degrees, ten with diplomas), and years of experience in health care (x-=18.7 years; range=2.5-35 years) and in-home care (x-=11 years; range=2.5-29 years). A semi-structured interview guide facilitated data collection on the participants' thoughts, feelings, motives, expectations, beliefs, ideals, actions and interactions. Interviews, audio-taped and transcribed verbatim, averaged 58 minutes in length (range=40-120 minutes).Researchers used an immersion and crystallization analysis strategy (Patton, 2002; Lincoln and Guba, 1985), simultaneously listening to each audiotape while reading the corresponding transcription, immersing themselves in the data. Sensitizing concepts (i.e. needs, expectations, values, priorities, perceived barriers and facilitators of service delivery) were used to begin the analysis. Hermeneutic analysis and synthesis continued until themes and patterns emerged. Initially, the individual researchers analysed data after each interview, repeating the process as more data were collected. An interpretation of the experiences of clients, informal caregivers and providers was thereby inductively developed. At midpoint, and again, after all data were collected, the researchers engaged in team analysis, using a similar approach to obtain a synthesis of shared experience.Credibility was established through audio-taping and verbatim transcription of all interviews, by member checking (i.e. checking whether the interpretation had correctly captured the essence of individuals' experiences), and by peer review (i.e. having a group of in-home service personnel not involved in this study comment on the applicability of the interpretation to their experiences in this context (Kuzel and Like, 1991).\nFindings: At the one-year follow-up, study participants described varied enactment of the planned change, ranging from pre-contemplation to the early action phase (Prochaska et al., 1992). Many were making an effort to implement the partnering strategies; however, the long-standing service delivery norms, goals, expectations and behaviours predominated. In keeping with the theoretical understandings of organizational change (Heckscher et al., 1994), participants accustomed to functioning within their work context did not easily envision a new way of working before experiencing it. Rather, they constantly interpreted and reinterpreted proposed changes in terms with which they were familiar, slowly constructing and re-constructing their everyday life experience toward more flexible client-driven care. Implementing the flexible client-driven service delivery change was thus an emergent process with unpredictable outcomes (Ackerman-Anderson and Anderson, 2001).Indeed, the holistic experience (Figure 1) reflected two dynamic organizational change patterns (Ackerman-Anderson and Anderson, 2001):1. extrinsically introduced organizational development (Iles and Sutherland, 2001); and2. intrinsically developed transformative change.The following sections capture participants' enactment of these change patterns.Extrinsically introduced organizational development\nDiscussion: While the findings of interpretive phenomenology are not generalizable, the insights gained from this experience of implementing an empowering partnering approach to health and social services delivery may have applicability to others wanting to achieve similar organizational change. Comparison of the organizational development and transformative change experiences affords insights related to approaches to change management, the meaning that change holds for health and social service professionals, and the influence of contextual factors on organizational change processes. The following sections illuminate these insights.Facilitating organizational change in health and social services\nConclusions: The findings of this study illuminate the human struggle contained within making change toward the ideal of empowering caring in health and social services. Nevertheless, if anyone has the potential and the mandate for leading change initiatives aimed at improving human relationships and optimising human potential, surely those engaged in health and social services do.Any change that necessitates a shift of individuals' mindsets to invent, implement and sustain requires an enterprise-wide integrated change strategy that attends to all of the people involved and the daily process dynamics between and amongst them (Ackerman-Anderson and Anderson, 2001). Such change thus cannot be achieved through a critical mass (Rogers, 1983; Marshall, 2000; McGuire, 1990) of people. Large group scenario planning, visioning exercises, and engaging all involved in creating commitment, excitement and altered mindsets and language may help to transform the organizational culture (Ackerman-Anderson and Anderson, 2001; Axelrod, 2000; Chreim, 2002; Dannemiller et al., 2000; Jacobs, 1994; Weisbord and Janoff, 1995).However, the outcomes of transformational change initiatives are uncertain, to some degree uncontrollable, and have an indeterminable timeframe (Ackerman-Anderson and Anderson, 2001). Thus, initiators and managers of change of this nature need to confront and make allowances for concerns about the responsibilities and accountabilities for whatever outcomes may or may not be attained. Change managers need to trust and support all involved in creating the change, letting the change champions emerge.Professionals, who are educated and valued for their expertise in achieving specified outcomes, may not see, value, and experience their professional esteem as stemming from the affective component of practice. Opportunities to grieve the loss of their traditional image as experts (Barker and Young, 1994; Bridges and Mitchell, 2000) may be necessary. Open dialogue about fears and uncertainties and conscious effort to develop trust (Barker and Young, 1994; Strictland, 2000), understanding and respect for the affective dimensions of practice are undoubtedly essential. Potential personal outcomes of the proposed changes need to be understood and experienced positively through recognition and reward. Conscious attention to deeply held values and ideals, and to generating self-esteem and self-actualization (Spreitzer and Quinn, 1996) associated with mastery of the art of professional process skills may promote their refinement of more dynamic boundaries, roles, tasks and relationships.As relating and partnering are interactive, the consumer-oriented clients and informal caregivers of today also need opportunities to see, value and experience service through transformed valuing of the caring experience. Change strategies would ideally involve these individuals, however, possible.Using an on-going team meeting process to engage those who must create the change in critical reflection-on-action (Schon, 1983) may uncover the values, processes and factors at least implicitly considered to be relevant to the intended direction (Page and Meerbeau, 2000; Patzer et al., 2000; Williams and Walker, 2003). Such an approach may help to overcome resistance. Skilled facilitation of team meetings may enable members to identify concrete examples of how humanism and human potential are sometimes undermined in service delivery and the changes they might make to overcome this (Mezirow, 1991). Informal and formal networks of teams engaged in making change may promote construction of, socialization to, and integration of the new practice approach (Greer, 1995; Rogers, 1995).Overall, organizational change strategies better aligned to the affective relational nature of health and social services need to be developed and tested. As the findings of this study reveal, however, these strategies may only succeed if the context of health and social services is consciously and conscientiously confronted by leaders committed to seizing every opportunity to promote integration of the moral imperative of health and social service into policy, service delivery and practice refinements.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To explore the shared experience of organizational change from centralized allocation and control of services and resources to an empowering partnership approach to service delivery in one Canadian home care program.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Applying an interpretive phenomenological design, data from in-depth interviews with a purposeful sample (n=28) of providers, clients and informal caregivers were analysed using hermeneutic techniques, and validated by member checking and peer review.\nFindings: - The overall experience of change was comprised of two dynamic change patterns: extrinsically introduced organizational development, facilitated by contextual factors; and intrinsically developed transformational change, impeded by the same contextual factors. The patterns together comprised participants' enactment of an answer to the existential question, \"To have or to be?\"\nResearch limitations/implications: - While interpretive research does not elicit generalizable results, the findings of this study illuminate the importance of choosing change strategies appropriate for the intended change, addressing what the change may mean to all involved, and confronting the contextual factors that undermine the change.\nPractical implications: - New strategies are needed if engrained attitudes, values and beliefs about professional service delivery are to be changed.\nOriginality/value: - The interpretation exposes the nature of professional practice in health and social services, the impact of this work context on practice, and concrete strategies for managing organizational change.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"Ethnographic" thematic phenomenography: A methodological adaptation for the study of information literacy in an ontologically complex workplace	[ "Methodology", "Ethnography", "Ontology", "Epistemology", "Information literacy", "Workplace", "Information experience", "Thematic phenomenography" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nThe aim and scope of this paper: This paper is concerned with the value and validity of a proposed variation in research methods. It is not an in-depth discussion of methodology per se, although epistemological issues will be discussed where necessary. It is concerned in a general way with the epistemological value for workplace information literacy research of analysis of the variation in experience of information literacy as facilitated by the phenomenographic approach, but fundamentally about those additional and specific insights into that variation obtained through the \"thematic\" form of phenomenography. With that epistemological value in mind, it discusses whether recent research studies validate the idea that thematic phenomenographic methods might be applied to ontologically varied and epistemologically complex workplaces, and therefore justifiably employ, to increase the richness of perspective on information behaviour and experience, an ethnographic perspective. It must be added that the focus of the paper is not on ethnography, and hence will discuss ethnographic methods in only in sufficient depth to shed light on that perspective.\nInformation literacy in the workplace - a subjective yet collaborative, \"cultural\" phenomenon: Workplace professionals are information workers (Cheuk, 2017). This applies not only to librarians and information scientists, but to lawyers, medical and business professionals and the many others who sense and understand information need, and plan a search, locate and apply new information within a workplace context on a day to day basis. Such a description applies also to those professions where the information that is found, conveyed and used is not necessarily \"documentary\": it may be in the form of speech or physical \"performance\" (Lloyd, 2010, 2012; Forster, 2017a). It follows that to understand how each contemporary workplace operates requires a deep and detailed analysis of the information literacy experiences of all of those professions who in their various ways live, direct and transform it.\nMethodological options and possibilities: If we consider a model of workplace Information literacy which addressed such issues and concerns: its expression as many and varied contextual lived experiences within, and as part of, purposeful workplace-driven knowledge acquisition and learning; and simultaneously consider the ontologically diverse, inter- and intra-professional, mutually supportive and instructive nature of its complex and varied themes and contexts that generates the sense of a culture of information that allows each workplace to function; how can it be investigated in the most effective way? How might methodological approaches be adapted for the best outcomes, especially difficult in the busy, complex and ontologically varied modern workplace? This model would suggest a methodology that addresses the problem that information behaviour, and information literacy in particular, is often integrated so deeply into workplace experiences, and their social/collaborative, professional and personal contexts and meanings, and not always consciously that it is difficult to describe the former without careful descriptions of variations in the latter. It suggests a methodology that focusses on the workplace as a community and an \"information culture\", that is capable of dealing with the widely varied experiences of many different professions and job roles: professions and roles which have ways of using information, and understanding what constitutes valid and valuable knowledge, that may be quite distinct. Such a methodology would yield a complete understanding of the detail and interrelationships of those varying \"customer/patient focused\", \"team focused\" and \"professional objectives focused\" experiences within each workplace, while still being able to take a more observational perspective on how the experiences create and contribute to that culture - the \"information culture\" that analysis of experiences suggests exists but cannot by definition give an objective perspective on - and how that culture operates.\nPhenomenography: Phenomenography originated in Sweden in the early 1970s, developed by Ference Marton and colleagues. Marton defined Phenomenography as:The empirical study of the limited number of qualitatively different ways in which various phenomena in, and aspects of, the world around us are experienced(Marton, 1994, p. 4424).\nThematic phenomenographic outcomes in workplace information literacy studies: What do thematic phenomenographic analysis structures in the analysis of workplace information experiences look like, and what is their ontological and epistemological value? Thematic phenomenographic Information literacy studies have yielded themes (Forster, 2015b; Inskip and Donaldson, 2017) whose collected narratives of experience describe how participants interact with colleagues, other professionals, and members of the public and their families. Information is provided, received and shared, to inform, direct, educate and enlighten colleagues and team members to make the best possible decisions; to help teams and workplaces function effectively; and inform, empower, guide and comfort patients, clients and family members. Nurses, for instance (Forster, 2015b) worked in teams, both profession-based and multidisciplinary, where information was sought, analysed and applied to understand the latest developments in healthcare, and allow the ward and hospital to function effectively.\nAn ethnographic thematic phenomenographic study of information literacy of an ontologically diverse workplace: We have seen how thematic phenomenographic investigations into the experience of information literacy in the workplace might bring a deep, complex and emotion, ambition, compassion and relationship rich centre of gravity to a study of workplace information culture by focussing on Information literacy's role in relationships, contribution to the common purpose and team dynamics. Inskip and Donaldson (2017) showed how that detail may have within it the ability to extend phenomenographic analysis, with epistemological justification, to those (common) workplaces where professions work with common and interrelated purposes but within very different ontologies. They showed that it is possible to recognise in very different professions the same information literacy \"personas\" first identified by Forster (2015b). This suggested that a structure of variation of information literacy and corresponding knowledge development exists which is common, even between very different professions. And hence there exists a fundamental congruence between different professions' information literacy experience; one which this method can show and describe. This congruence, suggests that thematic phenomenographic methods could be successfully applied in multi-professional, ontologically varied, \"samples\" such as workplaces.\nThe final outcome: Each study will produce a range of Dimensions of Variation, Themes of Expanding Awareness and Categories of Description describing the narratives, contexts and personas that make up the descriptions of information literacy experiences of the workplace under investigation, derived from the interviews. Details which show the variation and congruence of experiences of all the professions within the workplace under investigation. Both interpretively contextualised by and contextualising it, are thick descriptions of observed activities, described relationships from focus groups, and analysed documentation which have yielded data analysed in light of the experiences described in the interviews. The final report is a representation of the ways in which information literacy is experienced within the workplace, concentrating on variation in context and complexity, role and collaboration, expressed as a range of mutually informing and coherent personas and narratives of action and relationship.\nConclusion: Can workplaces with ontologically unrelated professions be investigated for information literacy experiences, in a way that can be shown to be epistemologically valid? Phenomenographically derived descriptions of variations in information literacy experiences give, using the thematic method of analysis, a complex representation of contexts and complexities of those experiences. That two professions as different as nurse (Forster, 2015b) and insurance broker (Inskip and Donaldson, 2017) can be shown through this method to have complex, varied but fundamentally congruent information experiences suggests application of thematic phenomenography might effectively encapsulate the varied ontologies of even the most diverse workplace. If the information culture of a workplace is fundamentally coherent in this way, this also suggests that a \"qualitative mixed methods\" approach might be valid, and data from thematic phenomenographic interviews can be contextualised by ethnographic data: \"phenomenographically adjusted\" outputs from focus groups, observations, onsite-questioning and documentary analysis. Such additional perspectives are particularly valuable as mutual, relationship-based experiences are reported widely in both in ethnographic and phenomenographic studies of workplace information literacy, and phenomenography reports on such experiences only, no matter how richly, from a subjective point of view.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The workplace is a context of increasing interest in information literacy research, if not necessarily the most visible (Cheuk, 2017). Several studies have described contextual, relationship-based experiences of this subjective, knowledge-development focussed phenomenon (Forster, 2017b). What research contexts and methods are likely to be most effective, especially in workplaces which contain professions of widely differing ontologies and epistemological realities? The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An analysis and description of the value and validity of a \"qualitative mixed methods\" approach in which the thematic form of phenomenography is contextualised ethnographically.\nFindings: This paper describes a new research design for investigation into information literacy in the workplace, and discusses key issues around sampling, data collection and analysis, suggesting solutions to predictable problems. Such an approach would be centred on thematic phenomenographic data from semi-structured interviews, contextualised by additional ethnographic methods of data collection. The latter's findings are analysed in light of the interview data to contextualise that data and facilitate a workplace-wide analysis of information literacy and the information culture it creates.\nOriginality/value: Insights from recent research studies into information literacy in the workplace have suggested the possibility of an epistemologically justifiable, qualitative mixed methods design involving an ethnographic contextualisation of a thematic phenomenographic analysis of the information culture of an ontologically varied and complex workplace - with the potential for descriptive contextualisation, categorisation and generalisability.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evaluating app bundling strategy for selling mobile apps: an ambivalent perspective	[ "Behavioural theories", "Structural equation modelling", "Bundling", "Mobile systems", "E-marketing", "Cognitive theories" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Last few years have witnessed proliferation of mobile appstores on sponsored platforms such as Amazon Appstore, BlackBerry World, Google Play, Microsoft App Store and Apple's App Store. The adoption of smartphones is closely related to the number and diversity of apps present in these appstores as these appstores are subject to network effects. Having large number of apps in an appstore may, however, result in a phenomenon akin to information overload, which may increase the search effort for the customer. According to TechCrunch[1] report, 83 percent of apps in the appstore are effectively invisible to consumers and almost half of the developers earn less than $500 a month[2]. Furthermore, with the increase in number of appstores, competition among them has become intense. For example, in China itself there are many appstores sponsored by 360, Tencent, Baidu, Wandoujia, China Mobile, and so on. To remain competitive and improve revenues, these appstores are under a tacit obligation to help developers raise the exposure rate of their apps and become a prominent appstore.\n2. Literature review and conceptual background: 2.1 Research on bundling\n3. Research model and hypothesis: To examine the consumer evaluation of app-bundles, we integrate Ou and Sia's (2010) framework with purchase intention using cognition-affect-behavior framework (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1980). The consequent research model is presented in Figure 2. In conformation with ambivalence theories, this study argues that positive and negative attitudes are influenced by a number of distinct factors.\n4. Methodology: The data for this study were collected from consumers of China Mobile, one of the largest mobile network operators in China. China Mobile carries more than one million apps in its appstore. It sold more than five billion apps in 2014 and the gross merchandise of its appstore was 5.3 billion in 2014. In order to be more competitive, China Mobile is considering providing different app-bundles targeted at different consumer segments (such as business and entertainment) in its mobile appstore. Mobile app-bundles comprise China Mobile's data services or apps developed by third-party developers, such as Fetion (similar to WeChat), 139 mail, mobile payment, mobile game, and news. We selected China Mobile as it is one of the largest mobile network operators as well as the most famous appstore. Moreover, it was relatively easy to collect data from China Mobile.\n5. Discussion and implications: 5.1 Discussion\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Mobile appstores have fast sprung up during the last few years. The large number of apps in these appstores results in increased search effort for the customer as well as fierce competition leading to poorer revenues for both appstores as well as developers. Therefore, appstores allow developers to resort to bundling apps so as to increase the revenues and improve customer loyalty. Since an app-bundle is a mix of two or more apps, it may induce both positive and negative emotions simultaneously in the consumer. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of app-bundling strategy from consumers' perspective, and help developers design app-bundles.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on ambivalence theories, this research investigate different antecedents and influence of positive attitude and negative attitude on purchase behavior, and derives seven key app-bundles attributes through an exploratory study. The data were collected from 930 consumers of app-bundles in China and analyzed using SEM approach.\nFindings: The findings indicate that positive attitude and negative attitude are two separate concepts and the identified seven app-bundling attributes have distinct effect on shaping consumers' positive and negative attitude.\nOriginality/value: This study makes three key contributions to theory and practice. First, this study identifies the specific attributes of app-bundles using exploratory study. Second, this study addresses the challenges involved in examining bundles using ambivalence theory. In doing so, it characterizes attitude as positive and negative and treats them as separate constructs. Third, as called forth by previous studies, this study establishes the co-existence of positive attitude and negative attitude.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Conflict management style in Uganda: a gender perspective	[ "Sub‐Saharan Africa", "Uganda", "Gender", "Conflict management", "Management skills" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This study extends research on gender differences in conflict management styles by focusing on the East African country of Uganda. The ability to handle conflict has long been recognized as an essential management skill that is growing in importance as managers are required to mediate conflicts between organizational stakeholders (Mintzberg, 1973). While extensive research has helped us to understand the dynamics of conflict management, the impact of gender and cultural differences in this critical skill area remains much less clear (Rowley et al., 2010). The role of gender is important because of the obvious link to questions of sexual discrimination in the workplace. It was long assumed that feminine values made women less capable of handling conflict and was used as a justification for not allowing them access to higher level positions (Korabik and Ayman, 1989). The role of culture is important because different societies impose rewards and sanctions that influence how conflicts are resolved. Thus, what might appear to be a universally accepted finding about conflict management may unravel when tested in a culturally different context (Weiner, 2005). What this study seeks to explore is whether the interaction of culture and gender in a developing country like Uganda opens new questions that need to be answered in generating theories of conflict management behavior.Almost all of our understanding of conflict management comes from research in the industrialized West (Weiner, 2005). While conflict exists in all societies, those who manage conflict may utilize behaviors that are consistent with the unique qualities of their respective cultures (Ng and Burke, 2004). For example, Gabrielidis et al. (1997) found in Mexico that a highly complex relationship exists between culture and gender roles in styles of conflict resolution. Their results suggest the appropriateness of certain approaches to conflict resolution may depend on the cultural context as well as the gender of the individual within that context. Another example of differing conflict resolution styles in contrasting cultures is Doucet et al.'s (2009) study of Chinese and American managers. Their study found that Chinese managers embarrass colleagues to teach moral lessons while American managers are more likely to exhibit hostility and vengefulness in managing conflict. Americans and Chinese managers also have very different intentions when using confrontation versus avoidance as a conflict resolution strategy. A third study that addresses the interface between culture and conflict management is Metcalfe's (2008) study of women in Islamic nations. This study found that religion and recognition of the family are important determinants of female identity and the most appropriate way to improve leadership capabilities.Empirical studies of gender differences in conflict resolution strategies in the cultural context of African nations such as Uganda are nearly nonexistent. What we do know from qualitative research is that women have followed a much different path to finding their way in organizational life than their western counterparts. African women reportedly lost ground during British colonial rule because they were initially excluded from missionary and government sponsored schools. When they were admitted, instruction focused on sewing, cooking, and other domestic skills (Fallon, 2008). Colonialism also imposed European forms of patriarchy in Africa by giving men more authority and opportunity to participate in economic and political activity (Gordon, 1996). However, a major difference between African and Western cultures is that African women were not encouraged to remain in the home because their productivity was critical for maintaining local economies (Fallon, 2008). This point is reflected in Uganda where women outnumber men in the economically active workforce by 4.8 to 4.3 millions (Lucas, 2007).Patriarchy continues to be the primary problem confronting women in Uganda despite the general improvement in their social and economic status. Much of this improvement is attributed to the political openings accorded to women in the 1980s by President Museveni and the National Resistance Movement. Uganda today is widely viewed as a leader in advancing the rights of women (Tripp, 2001, 2006). Nevertheless, women face significant barriers in achieving equal status with men. As an example, Tripp reports that married women have difficulty finding a political constituency from which they can run for office. They are told to run in the constituency where they married, but the women are then told, \"You came here to marry, not to rule\" (Tripp, 2006, pp. 116-17). To enter a male network results in Ugandan women being labeled as \"unfeminine\" and they are required to answer endless questions about their feminine qualities.The purpose of this study is to determine if the strongly patriarchal culture of Uganda impacts the way women confront conflict in organizational life and whether female managers are capable of handling conflict as competently as men. The knowledge gained will extend the literature on gender in the relatively unstudied culture of Uganda. It will also help to address the validity of various stereotypes that persist in Uganda which essentially portray women as less capable leaders than men (Appelbaum et al., 2003). The study is somewhat unique methodologically in that subordinate, peer and supervisor perceptions are considered, while most studies consider the subordinate's view only. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. The next section sets out the hypotheses to be investigated and the methodology to be employed. The findings are then presented, while a conclusion sums up the paper and develops recommendations that can be used to assist future research in this area.\nConflict management research: Findings from many conflict management studies have produced conflicting results. Early psychological studies show that men and women tend to endorse conflict management strategies that complement gender role expectations (Wachter, 1999). They found that men prefer to be more confrontational (Rosenthal and Hautaluoma, 1988), aggressive (Thomas and Kilmann, 1977), and competitive (Rubin and Brown, 1975), while women favor accommodating strategies (Greeff and de Bruyne, 2000; Rubin and Brown, 1975). Research findings also suggest that men are more avoiding in their style of conflict management than are women (Greeff and de Bruyne, 2000). Where female avoidance behavior occurs, it may have more to do with power differentials than with gender (Korabik et al., 1993; Randel, 2002; Watson and Hoffman, 1996). Furthermore, many men experience anxiety in social settings, and this may explain why men are more likely than women to avoid conflict (Heavey et al., 1993). In general, fairly consistent agreement appears in the literature that gender differences in conflict style tend to show men exhibiting more competitive tendencies. However, findings are more varied as to whether compromising (Holt and DeVore, 2005), accommodating, or avoiding (Cardona, 1995) styles are preferred by women. Little direct evidence bears directly upon gender differences at higher management levels. The Chusmir and Mills (1989) study, which included men and women managers at three levels, found no significant gender effect after controlling for organization level. Their data did show some co-variation between gender and organization level, which could explain that finding.Conflict management style and gender in Uganda\nMethodology: Terminology\nResults: In all, 217 usable questionnaires were collected with 76 (35 percent) answering the subordinates' questionnaires, 74 (34 percent) answering the peers' questionnaire, and 67 (30.9 percent) answering the supervisors' questionnaire. The age of the respondents ranged from 20 (0.5 percent) to 56 (1.4 percent) with a mode of 30 (8.8 percent). Of the respondents, 58.1 percent were male and 41.9 percent were female. They held 45 different positions ranging from assistant to the dean to principal accountant and had stayed with their organizations from one year (12.4 percent) to 25 years (1.4 percent), with most of them having stayed in their respective organizations for four years (15.2 percent). Psychometric evaluation of the instrument was skipped since it has already been validated in earlier studies. A composite measure was formed from individual items in each dimension under peers, supervisors, and subordinates by computing z-scores of each item, summing them, and then getting an average score for each dimension. We then used the independent samples t-test to compare mean values of the dimensions across the two genders as presented in Tables I-III. The results show no difference between both genders in the use of conflict management styles towards peers (Table I), supervisors (Table II), and subordinates (Table III), since p>0.05 in all cases. Thus, H1-H4 are not supported, while H5 is supported.\nDiscussion and managerial implications: Consistent with earlier studies (Eagly and Johnson, 1990; Korabik et al., 1993; Powell and Graves, 2003, Watson and Hoffman, 1996), this study finds little difference in the way men and women manage conflict, contrary to studies like Brewer et al. (2002) and Rahim (2001). It is particularly noteworthy that findings of this study come from a collectivist society which differs from Holt and DeVore (2005) which found men to be more competing in style than women in individualistic cultures such as the USA. This finding may at first seem surprising given the strong patriarchal and patrilineal nature of Uganda society. However, as in western society, the internalization of business activity makes efficient conflict management essential to the operation of organizations at all management levels regardless of gender (Brahnam et al., 2005; Doucet et al., 2009).Much like Burke et al. (2006), we find the absence of gender differences on conflict management styles to be a positive sign of progress in the experiences of women in organizations. The findings confirm the fact that women are willing to abandon gender role expectations and mould themselves to the prescriptions of the managerial role (Jago and Vroom, 1982; Korabik, 1990, Korabik et al., 1993; Watson and Hoffman, 1996). As Korabik et al. (1993) commented, there are no actual differences in the leadership styles, motivation or effectiveness of male and female managers who occupy the same position. In the present study, all the respondents were mostly middle position managers. A possible explanation is the dual process of socialization and selection (Korabik and Ayman, 1989). Men and women who occupy similar positions behave the same.In Uganda, the labor force participation rate of women in Uganda is the highest in sub Saharan Africa. Women contribute 50 percent of gross domestic product, 39 percent of registered business, but they represent 80 percent of the unpaid workers (Ellis et al., 2006, UN, 2009). Research examining work within business settings in Uganda shows that women in the private sector in this country may be subject to the same pressures in the work place as women in the developed economies (Lucas, 2007) in the form of sexual harassment, occupational segregation, and stereotypical attitudes. The findings of this study should be able to neutralize some of these negative connotations about women in Uganda. Since women are better able to manage relationships than men, a combination of this attribute with the ability to manage conflict as effectively as men puts women in a more competitive position than men in a work setting.The practical implication of these findings is that women in Uganda should be given the same opportunities as men in the work setting. In short, a protracted campaign is needed to change the attitudes of Ugandan society towards women. Attitudes toward leadership is a stronger predictor of leader emergence than masculinity (Kolb, 1999), but women may be at a disadvantage because the more docile, un-leader-like impression they have been socialized to project sends a message of leadership incompetence. As such the roles that women have been taught to play and the attitudes they have been encouraged to assume seem to signal a certain \"second class\" status.The research findings suggest the specific component of attitudes toward leadership more than overall gender classification of masculinity might be what causes group members to view individuals as leaders, although masculinity is still relevant (Kolb, 1997). In Uganda, most occupations are the preserve of men, and some are the preserve of women simply because of the tendency of males to denigrate women. It is common to hear phrases like \"Are you a woman?\" when men are referring to any male who does not measure up to a task. This sort of attitude can only be broken by the dissemination of study findings that advance the view that men and women have the same conflict management abilities. Patriarchy can also be conquered once parents learn that their daughters can manage conflict (and the family treasure) just as well as their sons. This study makes a contribution in that direction.\nConclusion: This study set out to examine whether a significant difference exists between the way males and females manage conflict in organizations. This difference is one of the major reasons cited for denying women an opportunity to ascend to the top in Ugandan organizations. What this study has established is that no statistically significant differences exist between the genders in the use of the conflict management styles when they are relating to their subordinates, peers, or supervisors. It is hoped these findings will help to overcome certain gender stereotypes in Uganda that influence perceptions of women and men, where men are accorded positive attributes and women negative ones. Since women's leadership involves more participation, motivation by inclusion, and power by charisma, efforts should be made to increase the number of women in the top positions of organizations. Although this study was carried out in the Ugandan context, the findings can be generalized to many countries in the sub-Saharan context because of similarities in culture across the East African region. It is hoped this study will contribute to the social and economic development agenda of many of these states through a change in attitude toward women.\nLimitations of the study: The study utilized a small convenience sample of primarily middle managers. However, this is common in many similar studies (Thomas et al., 2007). In spite of this limitation, the study findings provide a platform from which a diagnosis of conflict management styles in Uganda can be discussed.\nFuture research: In order to further the cause of women in Uganda, a need exists to examine organizational determinants of women in management. A related need is to learn how organizational variables influence the opportunities women job candidates get compared to men in this country. This knowledge could help mitigate constraints to women advancement to the top of organizations in an emerging market context.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to investigate whether differences exist in the conflict management styles exhibited by male and female managers at different organizational levels in Uganda.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using samples from organizations within Uganda, the paper utilizes the Rahim Organization Conflict Inventory to collect data.\nFindings: - Independent sample t-tests of the hypotheses reveal that basically no statistically significant differences exist in the way men and women in Uganda handle conflict when dealing with subordinates, peers, or supervisors.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Research is restricted to a convenience sample of educated working men and women in the greater Kampala urban area. The findings serve to dispel the widely held myth that women in Uganda use significantly different management styles than men because of the patrilineal nature of the male dominated society.\nPractical implications: - The paper shows that Ugandan women exhibit little difference from their male counterparts in how they deal with conflict. They also have much in common with their female counterparts in the developed world in confronting gender based discrimination in the workplace.\nSocial implications: - The findings of this paper neutralize some of the negative connotations about women in Uganda and may help lead to a protracted campaign to change the attitudes toward women in this patriarchal society.\nOriginality/value: - Little is known in Africa about the conflict management styles of women because they are only now becoming a significant element in the economies of developing countries. This paper fills some of gaps.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Consumer tribes: membership, consumption and building loyalty	[ "Marketing strategy", "Customer loyalty", "Influence", "Leadership", "Consumer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A conventional perspective of marketing places individual consumers into market segments, to enable efficient and effective use of marketing resources. Common segmentation processes, however, have little appreciation of the presence of social connections and their potential influence upon consumption. Fortunately, post-modern research approaches offer a means to broaden our perspective of consumers (Gronroos, 2006) and examine their consumption within a social context. Tribal marketing is one such alternative perspective, whereby, consumers are found in some instances to initiate, build and maintain consumption-focussed groups (Cova and Salle, 2008; Kozinets, 1999).Consumer tribes, a group of people emotionally connected by similar consumption values and usage, use the social \"linking value\" (Cova, 1997, p. 297) of products and services to create a community and express identity. Theoretical developments in tribal marketing utilise Bagozzi's (2000) concept of intentional social action, to link social context with consumption to understand \"real\" consumers. This approach proposes that social associations are the most important influence on an individual's consumption decisions. Cova and Cova (2002) build upon this theoretical work to present tribes as an expression of both self and social identity. Earlier work by Maffesoli (1996) establishes, however, that consumer social identities and consumption choices shift according to situational and lifestyle factors. In this view, the consumer tribe can be understood and accessed through their shared beliefs, ideas and consumption. These findings would seem to indicate that an individual may belong to multiple tribes at the same time to express different aspects of their identity.A tribal approach to consumer behaviour answers marketers' calls to look beyond conventional marketing theory and avoid pigeonholing consumers (Addis and Podesta, 2005) through providing a means to segment groups of consumers based on meaningful shared characteristics. The affective attachment that tribal members possess for their tribe (Cova, 1997) provides an opportunity for marketers to foster meaningful and \"symbiotic\" relationships with groups of consumers. These relationships extend beyond a focus upon the level of repeat purchasing behaviour, to those based on affective bonds of loyalty, with the potential of \"collective action\" and advocacy from the tribe (Cova and Salle, 2008, p. 7).This study extends earlier research by exploring the link between consumer tribes and loyalty. Firms supporting consumer-consumer relationships, such as consumer tribes, are proposed to create long-term loyalty through establishing both an emotional connection as well as a rational reason for commitment (Cova and Cova, 2002). A priori research indicates that the key to understanding and reaching the tribe as a collective is through their consumption. Consumption is seen to act as a tool for individuals to create and communicate self-identity (Belk, 1988; Grubb and Grathwohl, 1967; McIntosh and Schmeichel, 2004; Sirgy, 1982; Solomon, 1983).This study examines the tribal phenomena among a group of vinyl record collectors. They were selected for their shared passion in collecting music in this format and their strong association with other vinyl collectors in an informal consumer tribe. The tribe was studied through a series of iterative in-depth interviews, providing insights into the group's dynamics, tribal roles, consumption practices, values and related consumption loyalty.From this investigation, a discussion of tribal membership, influence on consumption and a model for building bonded loyalty with the tribe is presented. These findings provide direction for firms seeking to leverage the consumer-led values and preferences of the tribe and build loyal relationships. This may empower firms to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, secure future revenue, while simultaneously performing the social function of meeting consumer needs. While there are managerial implications that can be drawn from this study, in how marketers engage with consumer groups, the limits of the methodological design mean that it is principally a conceptual paper. The intention is to stimulate thought and expand the body of knowledge in this emergent area of consumer theory.\nBackground: Developing customer loyalty\nResearch issues: The above critique of the literature indicates that further research is required into consumer tribes as an antecedent to creating bonded loyalty between a firm and specific group of consumers (Gomez et al., 2005; Oliver, 1999). While there have been several conceptualisations in the area, no empirical studies have examined why people participate in tribes and how this contributes to the development of loyal relationships between the firm and group. The first issue addressed in this research investigates:RQ1. Why people form consumer tribes and how their membership influences their consumption of goods and services?This question aims to investigate the role of antecedents found by Kozinets (1999) and determines any other factors influencing tribal participation. Second, this question examines the role of cultural capital and any visible purchasing or loyalty preferences derived from socialisation in a specific consumer tribe.The literature reviewed shows \"bonded loyalty\" (Oliver, 1999, p. 41) between the firm and a group of consumers is a highly effective marketing strategy. Therefore, the second issue addressed in this research examines:RQ2. How can a firm effectively support and communicate with consumer tribes to build this loyalty?Here the research agenda investigates how the dynamics and consumption of a consumer tribe can be leveraged for both marketing communication and building the affective component of bonded loyalty.The conceptual framework (Figure 1) summarises the extant literature and identifies areas the research questions seek to investigate. The antecedents on the left shaded in grey are drawn from Kozinets (1999). The overlapping circles replicate Cova and Cova's (2002) diagram of roles within a tribe. Meanwhile, shaded arrow between of firm support and tribal membership represent a conceptual relationship (Cova and Cova, 2002), which is examined in the current study. The model makes a link between Oliver's (1999) bonded loyalty concept and Cova and Cova's (2002) proposal that support of a tribe is an effective way to build customer loyalty; through cognitive and affective pathways. The following methodology section discusses how these questions were addressed in a case study.\nMethodology: Research design\nDiscussion: The tribe\nConclusion: This study advances understanding of tribal membership and its influence on consumption behaviour. The concept of consumer tribes is investigated as it presents an alternative approach to understanding and connecting with consumers (Cova and Cova, 2002). Unlike conventional segmentation, where consumers are arbitrarily grouped by segment characteristics, tribes are identified as consumer-driven groups that hold meaning for constructing an individuals' self-identity and creating new communities based on shared beliefs, passions and ideas. The link between tribal marketing and consumer loyalty theory is explored to generate an actionable model (Figure 3) for firms seeking to develop bonded loyalty with a tribe (Oliver, 1999). This model details four tools that can be utilised by marketers wishing to target and build loyal relationships with a tribe, or tribes, that have a connection to the firm.The results of this case study provide evidence supporting many elements of Cove and Cova's (2002) earlier conceptualisation of the roles inherent within consumer tribes, while simultaneously extending theory through introducing the additional role of \"Chief\". The \"Chief\" role provides direction for marketers seeking to understand and communicate with a tribe. The \"Chief's\" role as an influencer and open channel of communication has significant value for building relationships with the tribe at large. Despite an observed hierarchy among members, the tribe was also found to possess a sense of unity and a sharing ethos.A specific set of \"cultural capital\" (Bourdieu, 1989) and defined values were found to be associated with tribal membership. Sharing individuals' collections were discovered to be a key component of record consumption. Playing and discussing the music acted as a \"cultural language\" that connected members from all walks of life. The cultural capital held by members was also a source of establishing status. Therefore, consumption in this case context has the post-modern utility of building social relationships and constructing self-identity. This finding presents an opportunity for marketers to provide products and tailor their brand image to facilitate tribal membership as a pathway to developing functioning tribes that have a positive disposition towards the firm.Finally, tribal bonds were found to be primarily based on affective rather than on rational or commercial bases. This provided a foundation for investigating the proposed link between building loyalty with tribes. Cova and Cova (2002) suggested affective bonds could be created with a firm through maintenance and facilitation of the tribe. The result of this is ultimately a bonded loyal relationship with the tribe (Oliver, 1999) which has value for creating sustainable, long-term revenue focus (Kumar and Shah, 2004).Future research directions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to extend the emergent consumer tribe literature to facilitate a more complete understanding of the antecedents and roles implicit within consumer tribal membership. Principally a conceptual paper, this study focuses upon how a more complete understanding of consumer roles can be leveraged to create sustainable loyalty.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study comprised an examination of the tribe's social behaviour, membership roles and influence on individual consumption. The research was approached interpretively with a case study design investigating a tribe of vinyl record collectors in a New Zealand context.\nFindings: - Key findings include the confirmation of Kozinets' antecedents of tribal membership and the four roles of tribal members previously conceptualised by Cova and Cova. The tribe was found to have a core set of values that moderated any individual differences. A hierarchy, managed through the distribution of \"cultural capital\", was found to exist amongst the group. In an extension of Cova's modelling a fifth role of \"Chief\" was identified, whereby the Chief was found to act as an opinion leader and organiser amongst the group.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Owing to constraints of both time and research funding, only one tribe was examined in this case study, hence the results are very specific to the group studied. Future research should apply the managerial implications from this study to other case contexts to test and expand understanding of consumer tribe dynamics and the creation of consumer loyalty.\nOriginality/value: - This paper creates a link between extant consumer behaviour, loyalty and consumer culture theory. The presented results have implications for the marketing manager through advancement towards creation of a model of tools a firm can use to connect with and build sustainable loyalty with consumer tribes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Adaptive decision support for suggesting a machine tool maintenance strategy: From reactive to preventative	[ "Decision support", "Maintenance", "Machine tool calibration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Machine tools are powered mechanical devices used in both subtractive and additive manufacturing to convert raw materials into a desired component. Machine tools come in a variety of different configurations and sizes which is often determined by their intended use. The design and configuration of a machine tool is chosen for a particular role and is different depending, amongst other things, on the volume and complexity range of the work-pieces to be produced. A common factor throughout all configurations of machine tools is that they provide the mechanism to support and manoeuvre the functional position, and sometimes the orientation, between the cutting tool and work-piece. The physical manner by which the machine moves is determined by the machine's kinematic chain (Moriwaki, 2008). For example, accurate manufacturing of medical implants requires a small precise working volume, so could be served by a machine with a working volume of 300 mm3 where the small component is driven around the cutting tool. Conversely, the machining of aeroplane wing components requires a larger precise working volume. An example C-frame three-axis machine tool is presented in Plate 1.\n2. Related work: There is a wealth of literature describing and quantifying the detrimental financial impact of machine tool downtime in manufacturing (Farrell and Maness, 2005) and processing environments (Fox et al., 2008). Crumrine and Post (2006) state that manufacturers could lose from 5 to 20 per cent of their productivity capacity due to machine downtime. Whether planned or unplanned, such lost production is intuitively costly to manufacturing organisations. They also estimate that 80 per cent of industrial facilities are unable to estimate their downtime accurately, and suggested that many facilities underestimate their total downtime costs by as much as 200-300 per cent. The great majority of machine tool unavailability is the result of planned downtime that occurs due to required maintenance. \"Although unplanned downtime may account for 10 per cent of all downtime, its unexpected nature means that any single downtime incident may be more damaging to the industry, physically and financially, than many occurrences of planned downtime\" (VS, 2008). To put this into a financial context, typical hourly rates for machine tools are estimated between L65 and L125 per hour.\n3. Mathematical model: A mathematical model has previously been derived which breaks the maintenance cost estimation process down into logical sub-stages. The model's previous use is for calculating the cost model associated with different machine tool accuracy maintenance strategies. This paper aims to further utilise the model to produce a DSS that can enable the choice of optimal strategy for varying manufacturing conditions. An overview of the model follows. The full details can be found in Shagluf et al. (2015). This previous work presented the development of the mathematical model, whereas in this work the model is used for the cost calculation which feeds into the DSS.\n4. Decision support: In the previous section, a model is discussed that can be used to estimate the cost of maintaining machine tool accuracy through preventative or reactive strategies. The model presents the interesting possibility of being able to predict and inform a manufacturer of potential accuracy-related costs, based on the parts that they are manufacturing as well as their current maintenance strategy. In most cases, the manufacturer will have limited control over the cost of the part. This is because it is often determined by their client's requirements, and external factors such as raw material and energy have a significant influence. However, their maintenance strategy is something under their control that can optimised to improve profitability. Previous work by the authors has demonstrated the potential of using this model to calculate the financial cost associated with different calibration strategies (predictive and reactive) (Shagluf, Parkinson, Longstaff and Fletcher, 2014). The work presented in this section is to utilise this model in a DSS, which is capable of informing the user as to the implications of choosing between different maintenance strategy, as well as illustrating the sensitivity of the chosen strategy to any change in parameters (e.g. energy cost). Some of these parameters are fixed or slow-changing (e.g. cost of labour) while others are relatively volatile, such as energy price. The DSS must be sufficiently flexible to assist the end-user in choosing and reviewing their calibration strategy. This includes helping to determine the following:\n5. Developed solution: The decision support solution presented in this paper has been programmed in Java, and both the code and case study data are available from the authors upon request. The software allows the user to input their current calibration plan in the form of a sequence of preventative and reactive calibration actions. Each action requires the input of all contributing costs, as well as the date of occurrence. Both the calibration strategy selection and sensitive analysis algorithms have been coded into the programme. For all experiments used in this paper, a 3.60 GHz Intel core i7 CPU with 16GB of RAM.\n6. Conclusion: This paper first presents a model capable of estimating the accuracy-related costs for a manufacturer based upon historic data. The model allows an accurate cost estimation of a manufacturer's accuracy-related costs based upon the parts that they are manufacturing, the frequency of preventive and reactive calibration actions, and additional costs such as electricity. A DSS is then presented which optimises the number and schedule of preventive calibration actions based upon historical information. This system can suggest a pattern of preventative calibration action based on information provided on history calibration actions, both preventative and reactive. Sensitivity analysis is then performed on variables outside of the manufacturer's control (part value, energy cost, etc.) to inform them of the potential impact of changing costs. Finally, an example is provided to demonstrate the update of the calibration strategy based upon the measured machine error.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to produce a decision support aid for machine tool owners to utilise while deciding upon a maintenance strategy. Furthermore, the decision support tool is adaptive and capable of suggesting different strategies by monitoring for any change in machine tool manufacturing accuracy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A maintenance cost estimation model is utilised within the research and development of this decision support system (DSS). An empirical-based methodology is pursued and validated through case study analysis.\nFindings: A case study is provided where a schedule of preventative maintenance actions is produced to reduce the need for the future occurrences of reactive maintenance actions based on historical machine tool accuracy information. In the case study, a 28 per cent reduction in predicted accuracy-related expenditure is presented, equating to a saving of PS14k per machine over a five year period.\nResearch limitations/implications: The emphasis on improving machine tool accuracy and reducing production costs is increasing. The presented research is pioneering in the development of a software-based tool to help reduce the requirement on domain-specific expert knowledge.\nOriginality/value: The paper presents an adaptive DSS to assist with maintenance strategy selection. This is the first of its kind and is able to suggest a preventative strategy for those undertaking only reactive maintenance. This is of value for both manufacturers and researchers alike. Manufacturers will benefit from reducing maintenance costs, and researchers will benefit from the development and application of a novel decision support technique.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brexit associated sharp depreciation and implications for UK's inflation and balance of payments	[ "Inflation", "J-curve", "Exchange rate", "Brexit", "Balance of payment", "TV-SVAR model", "E31", "F31", "F32" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Brexit is one of the most significant events of recent political and economic history with implications for the European Union and the British economy in particular[1]. The outcome of the referendum was to leave the EU, which led to a wave of uncertainty in the economic and financial world and among other reactions; the British Pound incurred one of the sharpest deprecations in its history. Against the US $, the GBP PS depreciated to its lowest level in 31 years and moved to PS1=$1.21. Concomitantly, among others factors, this sharp depreciation could have profound implications for the British economy and the financial sector which by any measure are nontrivial in terms of their size and significance. The British economy is the fifth largest economy in the world and its financial sector is top of the list in the Global Financial Centre Index (GFCI, 2016).\n2. Depreciation, prices and balance of trade: Contingent on Marshall-Learner condition[4], exchange rate depreciation can lead to improvements in the balance of trade due to an increase in exports or decrease in imports. However, the improvement in the trade balance does not very often instantaneously follow depreciation. Seminal work by Bahmani-Oskooee and Ratha (2004), Bahmani-Oskooee and Hegerty (2010) and Bahmani-Oskooee et al. (2013) have shown that there is a J-curve that prevails. Depreciation initially harbours deterioration and thereafter an improvement in the trade balance. The depreciation and resulting improvement can also be through expenditure switching and expenditure changing policies (Yildirim and Ivrendi, 2016). On the other hand, analysing the impact of exchange rate depreciation on a number of developing countries, Rose (1990) argued that the depreciation of the real exchange rate is not strongly associated with a significant improvement in the trade balance. Similarly, Rose and Yellen (1989) failed to find the persistent evidence of the J-curve in the US data. Rose (1991) analysing the Post-Breton Woods period (1974-1986) data of five OECD (UK, Canada, USA, Germany and Japan) countries argued that there is not statistically significant evidence of exchange rate affecting the trade balance. However, an important point we would like to emphasise here is that these studies were mostly done in the context of the USA, furthermore, since then, there has been a boom of globalisation and international economic integration has been increased. Particularly, the economy in question is the British economy which is one of the most open economies in the world with trade equating 62 per cent of GDP[5]. Nevertheless, there is evidence of heterogeneity in the way each economy responds to the exchange rate shocks, for instance, a study of Boyd et al. (2001) while analysing the data of the eight OECD countries (including the UK)[6] reported a heterogeneous response of economies to exchange rate shocks. Furthermore, their analysis showed that over all the exchange rate, depreciation can lead to improvement in the balance payment as they observed the presence of J-curve which concomitantly led them to argue that the ML condition holds in the long-run. Similarly, in the seminal work on the LDCs, Bahmani-Oskooee (1991) found that the in the long-run devaluation improves the trade balance of most of countries, whereas, a study by Lane and Milesi-Ferretti (2002) found a negative impact of exchange rates (appreciation) on the trade balance in developed countries. Although, in specific to UK, Aristotelous' (2001) analysis spanning a century (1899-1999) showed that neither exchange rate volatility nor the different exchange rate regimes have significantly affected the UK export volume to the USA, their approach was limited to a UK-US trade relationship. This study differs in a way that it is not looking at just exports but the balance of trade and not only to the USA but with rest of the world. Perhaps, focusing on bilateral trade relationships may not provide the snapshot of a wider horizon. For instance, Chiu et al. (2010) found that exchange rate depreciation could deteriorate the US balance of trade with 13 trading partners but at the same time, it leads to a balance of trade improvement with 37 of its trading partners. Furthermore, a study by Bahmani-Oskooee and Kovyryalova (2008), focusing on US-UK trade, showed that the real exchange rate has a short-run effect on the trade balance in the majority of industries considered. Their analysis has provided support for the J-curve effect. Similar findings were reported by Pattichis (2012) while analysing the implications of exchange rate depreciation on trade in services between USA and UK. The results revealed that the real exchange rate has a statistically significant effect on trade in services. They also reported the evidence of the J-curve effect. A recent study by Bahmani-Oskooee et al. (2016) reported a significant impact of the UK exchange rate dynamic for British trade balance with eight of its trading partners (Germany, USA, Canada, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain and Norway). They reported asymmetries in the impact as well as duration. On the recent evidence from developing countries, Yildirim and Ivrendi (2016) showed that the exchange rate depreciation typically generates a deep recession and high inflation while improving the trade balance in the four emerging economies (Brazil, Turkey, Russia and South Africa). Further evidence on developing countries, Aftab et al. reported the significant impact of exchange rate volatility in the trade flows in Malaysia and Thailand.\n3. Methodology: In order to analyse the impact of REERs on the balance of payments and inflation in the UK, we are considering a time-varying structural vector autoregressive (TVSVAR) model which is based on the seminal work by Primiceri[8] (2005). The beauty of this framework is that both the coefficients and the entire variance-covariance matrix of the shocks are allowed to vary over time. This is crucial if the objective is distinguishing between changes in the typical size of the exogenous innovations and changes in the transmission mechanism of exchange rate shocks (Primiceri, 2005). It is suitable to capture changes in private sector behaviour, where aggregation among agents usually plays the role of smoothing most of the changes. Specifically, the existence of any type of learning dynamics in terms of association among under analysis entities (exchange rates, the balance of trade and inflation) seems to favour a model with smooth and continuous drifting coefficients and heteroscedasticity innovations.\n4. Analysis and findings: The REERs are ordered last, it is due to the exogenous nature of exchange rate shocks. Moreover, the identification assumption also employs exchange rate shocks affects with lags. The simultaneous interaction between REER, CPI and BoP is arbitrarily modelled in a lower triangular form with the BoP first. It is not an identification condition but for the sake of normalisation, although the arbitrary normalisation may have the potential to make a difference; however, in this setting the ordering of the REER block did not affect the results. We chose 10,000 iterations of Gibbs sampling with a burn rate of 20 per cent, i.e. (2,000 iterations). The 48 observations (three years) period was chosen for a training sample. To start with, it is important to have a look at the time-varying standard deviation of the REER shocks. Figure 2 presents the plot of the posterior mean and the 16th and 84th percentiles of the time-varying standard deviation of the REER shocks. The percentiles correspond to the bound of a one standard deviation confidence interval.\n5. Conclusion: On the basis of our empirical framework, we can hereby conclude that the exchange rate has significant implications for the UK's external balance and price stability. Depreciation has a silver lining as it could lead to an increase in international competitiveness and rebalancing of the balance of trade deficit as well as a steering inflation to its target. The study also has wider economic implication beyond Brexit, as it implied that the J-curve behaviour of the trade balance holds. Nonetheless, it is also implied that the strategy of inflation targeting which has been adopted by some of the central banks including the Bank of England has not diminished the effects of depreciation on inflation (pass-through). However, we would acknowledge that these findings and implications should be taken with a pinch of salt as the future holds a lot of uncertainty around Brexit and future trading arrangements. Perhaps, these findings also have very important policy implication in terms of future trading relations between the UK and the European Union. A Soft-Brexit where the trade channels and trading arrangements are to a large extent analogous to the ones that prevailed during the EU membership may occasion the fruits of depreciation discussed in this treatise with higher probabilities of occurrence.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the implications of exchange rate depreciation for inflation targeting and trade balance of UK in the context of the Brexit epoch.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study employed a time-varying structural vector auto-regression (TVSVAR) model framework in which the sources of time variation were both the coefficients and variance-covariance matrix of the innovations on the data from January 1989 to September 2016.\nFindings: The findings suggest that the depreciation of the Stirling has significant effects on inflation and trade balance in UK in context of Brexit epoch. It also showed that such a depreciation can be helpful in the improvement of external balance as well as steering the inflation to its statutory target. Despite, the inflation targeting, there is strong evidence of a pass-through.\nResearch limitations/implications: Research has profound implications in terms of the sharp depreciation of GBP associated with the Brexit outcome. The study is very topical and could be very interesting to the readership of JES as well as wider audience. The study has limitations in a context that the significance of the results and association of the under analysis entities is contingent on the future trade relationships and Channel between UK and EU. Therefore, although there is a lot of uncertainty about the future of Britain trade relationships, this study provides guidance on the importance of exchange rate channel if the similar trade arrangements prevails in the post-Brexit era.\nPractical implications: The research has profound practical implications, using a TVSVAR model in which the relationship among the entities varies over time; it has shown the importance of exchange rate in terms of external balance and inflation targeting. Hence, it has appeal for the practitioners as well as academics.\nSocial implications: The research has great social implications. The Brexit is the biggest political and economic event of this era for UK and EU. There are big questions about the relationship between UK and EU in the post-Brexit epoch as well as questions about the future of the European integration. In this context, this study has shown that how the exchange rate could play an important role for the UK economy when its contemporary trade channels prevail. Concomitantly, it has social implications particularly for the European society.\nOriginality/value: The research is an original piece of work. It has contributed to the debate on the exchange rate deprecation, external balance and inflation targeting in context of the Brexit associated sharp depreciation of Stirling. It has used a framework, i.e. TVSVAR, which also have unique features in terms of testing the associations among under analysis entities against time.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brand intrapreneurs and brand managers: in search of disruption	[ "Growth", "Corporate entrepreneurship", "Brand intrapreneurs", "Brand managers", "Brand portfolios", "Intrapreneurship", "Strategic brand venturing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBrand managers in the crucible: Building strong, disruptive brand portfolios is an important source of competitive advantage. The brand management system is the most typical organizational vehicle through which large corporations work to achieve this. However, there are some challenges with this construct in creating disruptive new brands. The competitive environment and the changing social media landscape necessitates that large firms revisit their traditional approaches to known yet dated structural models that may, in fact, be rigid when it comes to creativity and innovative flourishing taking place. Success starts with a mindset that considers new brand venture management (intrapreneurship) as a type of commerce distinct and unique from existing brand management in the firm. The latter is not superordinate to the former, yet the former cannot usurp the latter, as the ability to fund and explore new ventures stems from having a healthy core business.\nStrategic brand venturing: Historically, large firms have resorted to acquiring entrepreneurial brand firms to access growth and disruptive brand franchises. However, acquisition is not only costly but often the culture and ethos of these acquired mission-driven brands get \"synergized\" away, leaving the acquirer with short-term savings, but at the expense of huge strategic costs. An alternative to outright acquisition has been proposed, called strategic brand venturing (SBV). Strategic brand venturing has been defined as \"a strategy and capability of venturing with entrepreneurs to access brands and marketing know-how that possess disruptive value\" (Van Rensburg, 2012, p. 4). The term \"disruptive\" is used in the sense that the new brand creates a category or marketing idea new to the world or new to the industry that incumbents initially either do not notice or do not value. At least three growth vectors of strategic brand venturing are possible:\nCurating brand intrapreneurs: For the autonomous entrepreneurial brand firm, its complete team of people can be devoted to the start-up venture. However, for the large corporation, it must divide its time and its human and capital resources between established brand management businesses and new brand ventures. An ambidextrous organization design that separates, yet incorporates within the same operating unit, newstream activities (strategic brand venturing activities) from oldstream activities (existing brand management) is required and was evidenced in our case studies. Distance from the core is desired for focus reasons and given the different nature and rhythm of strategic brand venturing activity. Incorporation is also required so that transparency between streams is possible and so that the unit can access and leverage core system resources and capabilities. What follows is a selective distillation of key strategic and organizational imperatives derived from the case research.\nConclusion: Although the notion of a venturing team within corporate marketing departments is not a new idea per se, the business community has been relatively silent about brand venturing until quite recently (McWilliams, 2010; Rowe, 2011; Rifkin, 2012). This paper attempts to stimulate fresh debate and practice.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The paper aims to postulate as to whether the brand manager function and role is best placed for creating high growth, disruptive brand portfolios. As a potential solution toward resolving this, prescriptions for nurturing brand intrapreneurs are advanced to accelerate corporate entrepreneurial thinking and action based on the empirical case material.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper draws from seven case studies of six large global consumer packaged goods (CPG) firms involved in strategic brand venturing activity. Interview quotations are used to provide an invocative account of key ideas and arguments in the paper. Data gathering comprised extensive documentation and observation, and 21 semistructured interviews with senior-level executives and entrepreneurs. Interviews ranged in length with a mean interview time of 1 hour 23 minutes. All interviews were recorded with interviewee permission and, subsequently, transcribed and analyzed. Within-case and across-case analyses were performed using the spiral methodology espoused by Creswell (2007).\nFindings: Findings are clustered under three themes: galvanic and savvy leaders, entrepreneurial program design and nuanced operating models. In particular, the simultaneous practice of external and internal venturing inside a single venturing unit was noted to generate unique learning and promote corporate entrepreneurial action.\nResearch limitations/implications: While case studies offer a way of investigating complex real-life phenomena with multiple variables, their ideographic nature suffers from an inability to generalize findings to other populations. This research design is no different. Nevertheless, rigorous within-case and cross-case analyses were performed involving world-class CPG marketing corporations to arrive at the findings presented.\nPractical implications: Numerous prescriptions for implementing brand intrapreneurship are advanced in the paper.\nOriginality/value: Although technology venturing is a well-researched topic, ambidextrous brand venturing groups among CPG corporations renown for their marketing and branding prowess are only beginning to catch-on in practice - this is one of the first empirical paper to enumerate the practices of brand intrapreneurship within a strategic brand venturing framework.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Fostering corporate sustainability in the Mexican coffee industry	[ "Corporate sustainability", "Coffee roasting", "COP 21", "Energy flows", "Energy management system", "Material flows" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 21), also called the Paris Agreement, offers real hope for addressing climate change in a timelier, responsible, unified, equitable and sustainable way (Roberts, 2016). One hundred and ninety-five countries signed this agreement to limit global temperature increases to less than2degC as a minimum and to strive for 1.5degC. However, it is questionable whether achieving these goals is possible. There are doubts as to whether the wording of the agreement, although admirable, sufficiently operationalizes the path toward the stated goal (Mesik, 2015).\nMaterials and methods: Coffee-roasting process\nResults and discussion: The compilation of data on the energy and material flows in this case study revealed interesting opportunity areas for reducing costs and GHG emissions. Moreover, it generated information valuable to fostering corporate sustainability in this firm.\nConclusions: When Mexico signed the Paris Agreement, it indicated its commitment to develop a roadmap to limit global warming to less than 2degC by 2100, but this goal will only be achieved if most companies embrace corporate sustainability. The main contribution of this research to science and practice is to confirm that fostering corporate sustainability is easier and more feasible when information is available. In this case study, compiling data on the energy of material flows helps reveal opportunities not only to improve energy efficiency but also to reduce GHG emissions.\nCompliance with ethical standards: Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest: All authors declare that no potential conflict of interest exists.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: At the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) in Paris, 195 governments reached an agreement pivotal not only for countries but also for companies. The Paris Agreement makes it impossible to practice business as usual. The transition to a low-carbon coffee industry could be achieved by fostering corporate sustainability. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of how to adopt the principles of Paris Agreement by enhancing the corporate sustainability of a Mexican coffee-roaster company using the inventory phase of the life cycle assessment tool.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The data collection process followed the requirements of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System Handbook, developed by the Institute for Environment and Sustainability in the European Commission Joint Research Centre, and data on packaging materials and energy production were drawn from a commercially available database in the LCA software SimaPro.\nFindings: Compiling data on the energy of the firm's material flows in a firm revealed opportunities to improve energy efficiency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The results of the inventory analysis can be used to evaluate the specific environmental impacts of the coffee-roasting process at this Mexican coffee company. Data compilation activities for energy flows identified the need to install liquefied petroleum gas measuring devices and individual measuring devices for electricity consumption in different areas of the coffee plant. It is recommended that, while implementing this option, the company also develop an energy management program to achieve energy efficiency.\nPractical implications: The inventory data in this case study permit comparisons of the current state of the system studied and its possible future states and offer stakeholders relevant information on resource use. Similarly, the project results provide the basis for future research on environmental performance in the coffee industry in Mexico and for the development of policies regarding the production process in the coffee supply chain. Consequently, this research can help fulfil Mexico's commitment to the Paris Agreement.\nSocial implications: Reaching the goal of the Paris Agreement will require gathering key information for each single company. The current case study has provided key data to foster the principles of sustainability in the Mexican coffee industry to help this sector to transit toward sustainable development, which is a new demand of the Mexican society. Even though it may seem simple, this is the hardest step for enhancing stakeholder involvement in corporate sustainability.\nOriginality/value: The main contribution of this research to science and practice is to confirm that fostering corporate sustainability is easier and more feasible when energy flow information is available.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sustainable management models: innovating through Permaculture	[ "Innovation", "Sustainability", "Equity", "Management innovation", "Management models", "Permaculture" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Exploring the ways in which innovation can serve to create better and more integrated social, environmental, and economic enterprises (i.e. business organizations) is a big challenge which has directed the attention of management thinkers and practitioners (Mirvis and Bradley, 2006; Senge et al., 2008; Whiteman et al., 2013). Management innovations (Birkinshaw et al., 2008) capable of establishing a balance between nature and mankind are required to overcome deadends highlighted by social, ecological, and economic crises. Innovation is the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs. This is accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments, and societies (Moustaghfir and Schiuma, 2013). Innovations can radically change the ways individuals, organizations (business as well as non-business ones), and societies do things and relate with one another. Innovations are the fundamental issue for our societies as they face globalization, complex interdependencies, worldwide risks, natural resource depletions, biodiversity collapses, climate change, world population aging, or urban inhabitant evolutions (Barnosky et al., 2012; Dearing et al., 2014; Motesharrei et al., 2014; Pueyo, 2014).\nPermaculture concepts: Permaculture is the portmanteau of \"permanent agriculture\" and was first defined by its founding authors, Mollison and Holmgren (1978), as \"an integrated, evolving system of perennial or self-perpetuating plant and animal species useful to man\" (p. 1).\nTheoretical framework and methodology: Management models\nResults: The results of the literature highlight that about one half of the publications (24 out of our basket of 46) do propose sentences related to at least one set of activities characterizing the management models. The other half of the publications (22 out of the 46) do not make any statement about any of the four sets of activities defining the management models based on our adopted framework. This second half of publications is, in general, focused on agronomic aspects of Permaculture. Looking at the publications proposing sentences related to at least one set of activities characterizing the management models, the counting of their positioning clearly highlights the orientation of Permaculture toward one of the two polar principles for each set of activities (Table II).\nImplications for innovating for a better world: The evidence from the literature review highlights the extent to which the scope of Permaculture is largely beyond the agricultural practices. If one half of the publications were only focused in agronomic aspects, the other half covered the set of activities that characterizes the management models based on the adopted management model framework.\nEthical bases and design principles for management innovation: Permaculture, with its strong ethical bases and unique design system, could hence be a contributor to the social transformation (Mirvis and Bradley, 2006) to create better and more integrated social, environmental, and economic enterprises. It is important to recall that the Permaculture ethical bases are not related to the agronomic sphere and can be adopted by any organization to guide their strategic as well as operational activities. These ethical bases call for ecology, by caring for the earth and recognizing its bio-physical limits, and for humanism, by caring for people and for the redistribution of the surpluses. The economic surplus is evidently not an aim for itself, but a possibility for fairly sharing these surpluses. As a consequence, on the one hand, Permaculture can be seen as \"part of a long tradition of concepts that emphasize mutualistic and symbiotic relationships over competitive and predatory ones\" (Holmgren, 2002, p. 156). On the other hand, what makes it unique is its design principles.\nImplications for practice: Our findings have important managerial implications for practice. On the one hand, Permaculture could be a potential inspiration for organizations willing to privilege long-term objectives, intrinsic motivation, emergence of coordination, and collective wisdom over short-term objectives, extrinsic motivation, bureaucracy, and hierarchy. Beyond the Permaculture inspiration, organizations could find principles, methodologies, and illustrations of pioneering initiatives in Permaculture literature for the design of their strategies and their management models. Managers looking for more direct experience and practice could register with one of the many Permaculture design courses around the world. They are delivered by Permaculture certified teachers and would provide, at the same time, the basics on the Permaculture system design and a space for each participant to design his own change initiative or management model.\nConclusion: Exploring the ways in which innovation can serve to create better and more integrated social, environmental, and economic enterprises is a big challenge. This paper contributes to this challenge by exploring the possible innovative management models built on the Permaculture concepts. This contribution comes from a review of the literature on Permaculture, levering the Birkinshaw and Goddard's (2009a, b) management model framework for a pre-structured deductive analysis (Miles et al., 2013) of the selected publications.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Exploring the ways in which innovation can serve to create better and more integrated social, environmental, and economic enterprises is a key challenge. How firms innovate and change depends strongly on their management models. Permaculture concepts and principles could help the transition toward more sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to understand how management models could rely on Permaculture principles to facilitate innovations and changes toward sustainability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper helps meet this challenge by exploring possible innovative management models that could help in pursuing sustainability by aligning enterprises with socio-ecological realities. The possible innovative management models built on the Permaculture concepts will be the object of analysis for this study.\nFindings: The literature review shows that there could be innovative management models built on the Permaculture concepts, a potential alternative to western \"traditional\" management models. They would give preference to long-term objectives, intrinsic motivation, emergent coordination, and collective wisdom in decision making.\nOriginality/value: It is strategically important to find new concepts, models, methods, and practices that will lead society to be ecologically sustainable and socially responsible, besides being economically efficient. These socio-cultural and economic challenges are central to the design and construction of a society in which all individuals feel integrated and responsible.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants of China's structural change during the reform era	[ "Structural change", "Chinese economy", "Multi-sector model", "O41", "O53", "F43" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Structural change, that is, the reallocation of economic activities across different sectors, is a common feature among most countries that have embarked on the road to industrialization. Whether measured by output share or employment share, the structural change will reflect the Kuznets curve: with the development of the economy, the proportion of the agricultural sector economy declines, while at the same time, the proportion of the service sector economy increases, and the proportion of the industrial sector economy slowly declines after the initial rise. The economic development since China's reform and opening up was also in line with this trend. From 1978 to 2015, the agricultural sector's employment share fell from 70.5 to 28.3 percent, with the share of value added decreasing from 27.7 to 8.9 percent; the industry sector's employment share rose from 17.3 to 29.3 percent, with the share of added value decreasing from 47.7 to 40.9 percent; the service sector's employment share increased from 12.2 to 42.4 percent, with the share of added value increasing from 24.6 to 50.2 percent. What accounts for these changes? This paper examines the determinants on China's structural change in a unified analytical framework and analyze the direction and magnitude of each of these effects.\n2. The model: This section establishes a multi-sectoral neoclassical growth model for two countries. We use the subscript i, j {1, 2} to represent the countries where 1 and 2 represent the home country and foreign country, respectively. The agricultural (a), industrial (m) and service (s) sectors are distinguished by subscript k, n {a, m, s}. Each sector produces multi-category intermediate goods, and intermediate goods of different categories are combined into composite products that can be used for consumption or production. The production of intermediate goods for each category all uses capital, labor, and intermediate goods. The subscript kh indicates the production of the investment products. In production, the investment product production department uses intermediate goods produced by the three sectors. We adopt the Eaton and Kortum (2002) approach of trade, that is, productivity is a random variable; there are iceberg trade costs; productivity and trade costs vary across different sectors and will change over time. Assume that the agricultural land industrial sectors can trade their intermediate goods, but the service industry cannot. Preference is non-homothetic, and there are certain alternative relationships among different consumer products. Except for frictions existing in the labor market, all other markets are fully competitive[1].\n3. Six effects on the structural change: Define lik as the employment proportion of sector k, i.e., lik = Lik/Li. We can break lik into:(19)\n4. Parameter calibration and data processing: 4.1 Parameter calibration\n5. Decomposition approach: First, we set the values of y and Tk in 1978. To this end, we choose the proportion of nominal added value of the three sectors in 1978 and 2011, and the proportion of nominal output in 1992 and 2007 as the target, which will minimize the gap between models and data. After the initial conditions are selected, the ratio between the value of the total added value per year and the labor can be calculated through the value-added and labor data. Using the Tk calculated, the technical parameters of each year can be obtained, and also the product prices of the sector can be obtained. Afterward, we calculate the Baumol effect, Engel effect, investment effect, international trade effect and factor concentration effect according to the Equations (20)-(24), and then obtain switching costs effect with Equation (19). Figure 3 shows the calculated switching costs. Finally, decompose and calculate the structural change with Equation (26).\n6. Counterfactual exercises: This section discusses counterfactual exercises. In order to assess the impact of production technology, we successively keep the production technical parameters of the three sectors in line with the parameters of 1978. The simulation results are shown in Figure 4. It can be seen that the technological progress of the agricultural sector has a relatively large impact on the structural change. If there is no technological progress in the sector, the proportion of its employment will increase significantly, and the employment share in the industrial sector and service sector will decline. By 2011, the employment share in the agricultural sector will increase by 3.4 percent, and the share of employment in the industrial sector and service sector will decrease by 1 and 2.4 percent, respectively. Technological progress in the industrial and service sectors has little impact on the structural change, whose proportion is within 1 percent. This is consistent with the results of Figure 2. According to the left column of Figure 2, the growth rate of the technical parameters of the agricultural sector is significantly higher than that of other sectors; the growth rate of the technical parameters of the industrial and service sectors is relatively lower, and it does not appear to be too much difference between them.\n7. Conclusion: This paper uses a multi-sectoral neoclassical growth model of two countries to measure the impact of different factors on China's structural change. The conclusions are listed as below. First, the Engel effect, the investment effect, and the switching costs effect are the main factors affecting the change in the employment share in the primary, secondary, and service sectors, respectively. The impact of the Engel effect on the agricultural sector mainly occurred before 2000, and the effect of the investment effect and switching costs on the industrial and service sectors mainly occurred after 2000. The Baumol effect has a stronger effect that decreases the employment ratio in the agricultural and service sector, and the effect of international trade has a certain role in the increasing employment share in the industrial sector. Second, low-income elasticity of demand, high labor intensity, and the existence of the switching costs are the reasons for the high employment share in the agricultural sector. Technological progress, investment, and international trade have comparatively less influence on the proportion difference of employment in the three sectors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Economic theories on structural change focus on factors such as fluctuations in relative prices and income growth. In addition, China's reform and opening up has also been accompanied by increasing openness, significant fluctuations in investment rates, and frictions in the labor market. Existing literature lacks a unified theoretical framework to assess the relative importance of all these determinants. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To incorporate all of the potential determinants of China's structural change, the authors build a two-country four-sector neoclassical growth model that embeds the multi-sector Eaton and Kortum (2002) model of international trade, complete input-output structure, non-homothetic preference and labor market frictions. The authors decompose the sectoral employment shares into six effects: the Baumol, Engel, investment, international trade, factor intensity and labor market friction effects. Using the data of Chinese economy from 1978 to 2011, the authors perform a quantitative investigation of the six determinants' effects through the decomposition approach and counterfactual exercises.\nFindings: Low-income elasticity of demand, high labor intensity, and the existence of the switching costs are the reasons for the high employment share in the agricultural sector. Technological progress, investment and international trade have comparatively less influence on the proportion difference of employment in the three sectors.\nOriginality/value: Therefore, to examine the impact on China's structural change, in addition to Baumol effect and the Engel effect, it is also necessary to consider the impact of three more factors: international trade, investment and switching costs. Therefore, the authors decompose the factors that may influence China's structural change into the Baumol, Engel, investment, international trade, factor intensity effect and switching cost effects. The authors evaluate these six effects using the decomposition approach and counterfactual exercises.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What prompts users to click on news headlines? Evidence from unobtrusive data analysis	[ "Clicking behaviour", "Clickstream data analysis", "Crawled data", "News headline presentation", "News selection", "Unobtrusive methods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The shift of news consumption to online sources has been taking place globally. According to the Pew Research Center, 93 percent of American adults read news online at least occasionally, either via mobile or desktop devices (Katerina and Elisa, 2018). Readers turn most frequently to social media and news organizations' websites and applications for news (www.journalism.org/fact-sheet/digital-news/). In China, the size of online news consumers has reached 663m, and 95 percent of them are mobile users (www.cnnic.net.cn/hlwfzyj/hlwxzbg/hlwtjbg/201808/P020180820630889299840.pdf). An important fact found by the Chinese Online News Market Survey 2016 is that many people tended to read merely the news headlines or the news in the first screen and barely involved themselves in in-depth reading. This could be primarily attributed to the news explosion on the internet (www.cnnic.cn/hlwfzyj/hlwxzbg/mtbg/201701/P020170112309068736023.pdf).\nLiterature review: News selection\nMethodology: Data collection\nResults: General usage of the institutional news site\nDiscussion: News selection on the institutional news site\nImplications for presenting news headlines: Given the extremely short stay on the homepage of the institutional news site, the clicks on a headline were more likely to be driven by its external presentation than users' considered judgment. Among the seven characteristic dimensions of headline presentation examined in this study, except for the use of Arabic numbers and the use of guillemets, all others showed significant differences in clicking behavior, based on the joint analysis of the clickstream data and crawled data.\nConclusions: Online news consumers have increasingly depended on form-based news selection to cope with information overload. This study investigated the relationships between news headline presentation and users' news selection behavior based on unobtrusive data. It was found that the differences in headline position, format, length, use of punctuation marks (square brackets or round brackets), recency, and popularity, aroused significantly different numbers of clicks on the headlines, respectively.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The headlines of online news are created carefully to influence audience news selection today. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between news headline presentation and users' clicking behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two types of unobtrusive data were collected and analyzed jointly for this purpose. A two-month server log file containing 39,990,200 clickstream records was obtained from an institutional news site. A clickstream data analysis was conducted at the footprint and movement levels, which extracted 98,016 clicks received by 7,120 headlines ever displayed on the homepage. Meanwhile, the presentation of these headlines was characterized from seven dimensions, i.e. position, format, text length, use of numbers, use of punctuation marks, recency and popularity, based on the layout and content crawled from the homepage.\nFindings: This study identified a series of presentation characteristics that prompted users to click on the headlines, including placing them in the central T-shaped zones, using images, increasing text length properly for greater clarity, using visually distinctive punctuation marks, and providing recency and popularity indicators.\nOriginality/value: The findings have valuable implications for news providers in attracting clicks to their headlines. Also, the successful application of nonreactive methods has significant implications for future user studies in both information science and journalism.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Reflections on interdisciplinary critical intellectual capital accounting research: Multidisciplinary propositions for a new future	[ "Management", "Knowledge economy", "IC accounting", "Critical IC", "IC reporting and disclosure", "Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary IC" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The last 20 years have seen substantial developments in the academic literature on the interactions between the managing, measuring and reporting intellectual capital (IC). Alongside a sustained academic interest in IC, scholars are helping to inform future IC policies and practices for policymakers, regulators and organisations. In this paper, we use the 2001 Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal special issue \"Managing, measuring and reporting intellectual capital for the new millennium\" to: trace some of the early developments in interdisciplinary IC accounting research; link these developments to the current state of play; and set out an agenda for future research.\n2. The importance of IC: When AAAJ published these eight special issue IC research papers, IC was in its infancy but gaining momentum (Guthrie et al., 2001). IC drew the attention of managers and scholars when a US-based Forbes Magazine journalist, Thomas Stewart, published two articles (Stewart, 1991; Stewart and Losee, 1994) and later a book titled Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Nations (Stewart, 1997). These articles form a practice view[1] of how companies were, at the time, using IC to create economic value.\n3. Research approach: 3.1 Papers and themes in the special issue\n4. A journey into interdisciplinary IC accounting research: This section provides our critical reflections on significant themes from the eight papers to highlight their impact by showing how they are still relevant to current IC research and practice as it has continued to change since the special issue. The special issue concentrates on managing, measuring and reporting, and the Guthrie et al. (2001) introductory article highlights the dawn of IC as \"Sunrise in the knowledge economy: Managing, measuring and reporting intellectual capital\". Yet the paper also presents an argument that IC has a \"dark side\" and openly criticises IC \"from an ethical standpoint\". We concur with Gowthorpe (2009, p. 823) that not all IC is an asset, and that IC also generates or produces liabilities (Caddy, 2000; Giuliani, 2015). These critical reflections provide a balanced rather than just a favourable view of how IC research has and is developing. The critical reflections provide insights into IC and continue answering our first research question:\n5. Discussion: two steps back before moving forward: To move forward in research and practice, sometimes one must take two steps back and reflect on the foundations of one's field. As Parker and Roffey (1997, p. 212) aptly lament, we need to revisit \"the everyday accountant's and manager's reality\". We must return to IC's accounting and reporting origins to move forward. However, stepping back exposes several fundamental problems with IC that, we argue, confirms that while the papers in the AAAJ IC special issue addressed important issues of the day relating to IC, that to a large extent, IC research has resolved the accounting and reporting issues. This is not to say that scholars should not refer to and cite the special issue papers in the future, as we always need to be aware of IC's origins. But, to develop future research, we need to reflect on how IC can help solve the problems of today and tomorrow. Twenty years have passed; we cannot still be addressing the same issues without resolution. The two steps backwards are necessary so we can discuss of the current status of IC accounting and reporting before answering our second research question:\n6. Conclusions: moving forward with interdisciplinary critical IC accounting: [...] whether one classifies [the] world as modern or postmodern, or whether we see change as possible on a global level or only within some local sphere; issues of human rights, human dignity, and the human condition must be of central concern.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In 2001, the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ) published a special issue entitled \"Managing, measuring and reporting intellectual capital for the new millennium\". After 20 years, we revisit the eight articles in this special issue to trace early developments in interdisciplinary intellectual capital (IC) accounting research, link these developments to the current state of play, and set out an agenda for future research. The paper aims to discuss this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper, written reflectively, includes an impact assessment of the articles using citation analysis and a thematic framing of the prominent issues they discussed. We critically reflect on the status of these eight foundational papers after 20 years, before presenting propositions for a multidisciplinary IC research future.\nFindings: We find that IC research needs to extend beyond organisational boundaries to help improve human rights, human dignity and the human condition as part of the wider interdisciplinary accounting project. We argue that fifth stage IC research can assist because it explores beyond organisational boundaries and helps address the wicked problems of the world.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper only investigates the themes found in the AAAJ special issue. However, the implications for researchers are intended to be transformational because, to go forward and help resolve the material issues facing society and the planet, researchers need to move from being observers to participants.\nOriginality/value: We argue that IC researchers must embrace both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary IC research. This requires IC researchers to reflect on what they are trying to achieve and which issues facing the planet are material.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Becoming entrepreneurs: how immigrants developed entrepreneurial identities	[ "Process", "Qualitative study", "Immigrant entrepreneurship", "Identity construction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Originally, I was satisfied as a scientist, but the job was not stable. In the biotech industry, when companies ran out of money, they first laid off scientists. I was laid off several times. Although I quickly found same positions in other companies, I was pretty tired of this cycle. I kept asking myself: is this what I am pursuing after quitting a professorship in China and coming to Canada? I could not find the answer until one day, it suddenly occurred to me: Why do I always take for granted that I have to work for others? I could create my own destiny! I saw the lights of a bright future(Immigrant entrepreneur W).Immigrant entrepreneur W's narrative presented above demonstrates a full awareness of the structural constraints that immigrants confront. It also reflects the significance of individual ambitions in the lives of immigrant entrepreneurs. Above all, it was the desire to \"create one's own destiny\" that moved these immigrants, at a specific point in their lives, toward entrepreneurship[1].\nTheoretical foundation: We adopt Dutton et al.'s (2010, p. 266) definition of work-related identities in this study, referring to identities tied to \"participation in the activities of work (i.e. a job) or membership in work-related groups, organizations, occupations, or professions.\" In particular, we focus on the various activities, roles and memberships that immigrants use to construe themselves in the context of transiting from professionals to entrepreneurs. We identified three streams of literature as especially helpful in understanding the entrepreneurial identity construction process, which are broadly defined as follows: adaptation to work transitions, entrepreneurship and identity, and entrepreneurial transitions in the immigration context.\nMethods: The research question posed by this paper is meant to explore the processes involved in immigrants' creation of entrepreneurial identities. The research is thus exploratory, with a focus on theory building rather than theory testing. Therefore, we undertook a qualitative methodology to answer the research question. A qualitative approach enabled us to start with the research question in mind and to note existent theories and their limitations. Most importantly, it allowed us to detect new theoretical ideas and insights emerging from the field (Eisenhardt, 1989). A qualitative approach also helped us to capture thick descriptions of the experiences of immigrant entrepreneurs and to understand the true meanings attached to their experiences (Gephart, 2004). In this way, we were able to access the experiences and voices of immigrant entrepreneurs that may have been ignored in the past.\nFindings: The narrative at the beginning of this paper described how one respondent remarked on his career-change decisions. From an outsider's point of view, it seems natural and straightforward to leap directly from a desire for change to the implementation of identity change, but our analysis shows that the process is not as simple as it seems. The actual transition process is often long and fraught with fear, uncertainty, insecurity, and self-doubt. Our analysis, from the stages we identify in Figures 1-3, showed that immigrants went through three processes: exploring possible selves (see Figure 1); building entrepreneurial mindsets (see Figure 2); and developing narratives (see Figure 3). Figure 4 combines the findings of Figures 1-3 by summarizing the entrepreneurial identity creation process.\nDiscussion and conclusion: Immigrant entrepreneurship has emerged as an important research topic in recent years. We note that entrepreneurship reflects an alternate and deliberate choice that immigrants make to take control of their lives. Through in-depth interviews with 30 immigrant entrepreneurs who made career transitions from salaried professionals to entrepreneurs, our study revealed a process model of identity adaption that included exploring possible selves, building entrepreneurial mindsets, and developing narratives. An overview of three sets of literature introduced this paper; thus, we return to those three streams of literature here and discuss how our study contributes to these areas.\nConclusion: We regard the founding process as a cross-domain identity transition through which the immigrants leave old working identities and adopt new entrepreneurial ones, and ask the question of how immigrants explore and generate an entrepreneurial identity as part of starting a new business. We develop answers to these questions by bringing together three streams of literature: adaption to work transitions, entrepreneurial identity, and entrepreneurial transitions in the immigration context. We find that each literature stream provides valuable theoretical foundations; however, none is adequate to answer the research question posed. Therefore, we adopted a qualitative methodology which allowed us to capture thick descriptions of the experiences of 30 immigrant entrepreneurs. Our study identified three stages through which Chinese immigrants build their entrepreneurial identity: exploring possible selves, building entrepreneurial mindsets, and developing narratives. We believe our study contributes to the literature by revealing the process of identity construction in the non-institutional context characterized by high novelty and high uncertainty. In addition, our study deepens our understanding of the agency and active decision making of immigrant entrepreneurs.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the important process of how entrepreneurial identity is formed and constructed, with the perspective that entrepreneurial identity is social and dynamic, constantly shaped by various life episodes and human interactions, rather than static and unchanging.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This qualitative study comprises 30 in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrants in West Canada. These immigrants had been employed professionals under the \"Skilled Workers\" immigration category but later became entrepreneurs. None of the entrepreneurs in this study had prior business ownership experience, and many of them said that they had never thought about running businesses until they came to Canada.\nFindings: A process model of entrepreneurial identity construction is presented. This paper advances the literature on entrepreneurship through the identification of three stages in the development of entrepreneurial identity: identity exploration, entrepreneurial mindsets building, and narrative development.\nOriginality/value: This study has important implications for the understanding of the exploratory and discovery mode of entrepreneurial identity construction. This study also moves away from the contextual and structural hypotheses as the sole explanations for the high rate of self-employment among immigrant entrepreneurs, and provides a useful starting point for a deeper understanding of the agency of immigrant entrepreneurs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Experiential marketing, social judgements, and customer shopping experience in emerging markets	[ "Shopping behaviour", "Customer satisfaction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's highly dynamic and competitive hospitality and tourism industry, service providers develop strategies and deploy tactics in order to ensure customer satisfaction (CS) (Storey, 2017). Service providers have globally embraced the concept of customer experience management that is linked to many other marketing concepts including perceived service quality (PSQ), experiential marketing, CS and loyalty interaction of encounters and emotions. On the other hand, customer experience is closely related to the concept of consumption that entails \"purchase, use and disposal of goods and services\". Warde (2017, p. 60) advocates a broader definition that includes functional counterparts of market arrangements, renounces a consumption model based on consumer's shopping process or behaviour and focuses on social practices and experiences in process of acquiring, utilising, and disposing the goods and services.\nLiterature review: Experiential marketing\nMethod: In this study, a mono-quantitative non-probabilistic technique was used to collect primary data and conduct statistical analysis, as suggested by Bryman and Bell (2015). In our questionnaire, a five-point Likert scale was utilised to assess items that were carefully adapted from relevant literature. To avoid language barriers and increase participation, we employed volunteer students from Zaman University to help collecting the data. During the autumn of 2017, students administering the questionnaire visited multiple well-known local coffee stores in Phnom Penh and randomly approached university students.\nResults: Assessment of the measurement model\nDiscussion: This study examines structural relations between strategic experiential modules, social judgement, experiential values, PSQ, CS and post-purchase behaviour towards coffee stores' services/goods. The results revealed that experiential values and PSQ influence young customers' satisfaction related to post-purchase behaviour. However, according to the outcomes, the components of social judgement do not have a significant impact on experiential values. Moreover, the majority of strategic experiential modules (except the \"relate\") were observed to have significant positive effects on functional value, while emotional value was influenced positively only by the \"feel\", \"think\" and \"sense\". Furthermore, the \"act\" had a positive impact on functional value, and \"relate\" had statistically no significant impact on experiential values. The results on experiential modules match partially with those of Nadiri and Gunay (2013) and Su (2011), although they do not match those of Yuan and Wu (2008).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of experiential marketing modules, service quality and social judgement on experiential values of young customers. The paper also investigates the effects of experiential values on customer satisfaction (CS) and post-purchasing behaviour. In addition, the paper intends to strengthen the shift in marketing paradigm and to provide insightful enhancements to the literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An instrument was developed to measure how strategic experiential module (Schmitt, 1999), social judgement module (Rosenberg et al., 1968) and service quality perceptions of customers influence functional and emotional values. Primary data were gathered through surveying 402 respondents in order to diagnose young customers' experiences in popular coffee stores in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The constructs and their interrelationships were examined based on partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).\nFindings: The results of PLS-SEM were found to be adequate in terms of validity and reliability. The results revealed that some of experiential modules and service quality have positive stimuli on experiential values. These contributions postulate an impetus for potential exploration in numerous service settings.\nOriginality/value: The study assesses the effect of shopping experiences of young customers on experiential values, social judgement, CS and post-purchase shopping attitudes. It is anticipated that by filling this gap, this study will assist in strengthening marketing strategies, which requires an alteration in the existing business atmosphere. The suggestions and results for future research are discussed in detail accordingly.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding the Chinese information culture and its impact on IT perceptions	[ "Culture", "Perception", "Individual", "Cross-cultural issues", "IT/IS management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One important byproduct of an increasingly global business environment is the diffusion and use of IT across national boundaries (Srite and Karahanna, 2006). The positive impact of IT on individual productivity, firm performance and national GDP has been well documented (e.g. Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 2000; Dewan and Kraemer, 2000; Mithas et al., 2012; Chwelos et al., 2010; Dedrick et al., 2013). At the same time, cross-country research has found that the effect of IT is moderated by country factors such as human resources, infrastructure, economic policies and cultural dynamics (e.g. Dedrick et al., 2013; Leidner and Kayworth, 2006; Okoli et al., 2010). At the individual level, culture has been consistently cited as an influential factor that moderates the relationship between individuals and their IT-related intention and behaviors (e.g. Srite and Karahanna, 2006; Martinsons and Davison, 2007; Rai et al., 2009; Tams, 2013; Hoehle et al., 2015). Adoption and effective use of IT are likely achieved when the use of the technology is congruent with the user's cultural values.\n2. Literature review and theoretical development: In this section, we provide a comprehensive review of relevant literature and delineate the process of developing CIC. We start with a review of the key IS studies that incorporate national culture constructs. As these studies would demonstrate, while there is increasing calls for greater contextualization, cross-culture IS research is still in its infancy signified by its over-reliance on Hofstede's (1980) national cultural dimensions. We then propose the conceptualization of national information culture, which may be better suited to understand varying IS-related behaviors in different cultures. By synthesizing and reconciling theories in information culture and Chinese information management practices, we discuss the theoretical underpinnings of the CIC, which will be operationalized and empirically validated in this study.\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Measurement development\n4. Data analysis: 4.1 Study 1: Chinese information culture scale development and validation\n5. Discussion of findings: Drawing upon the theoretical work on information culture and Chinese information practices, this study develops an instrument for measuring the CIC, which has been found to influence the IT perceptions of Chinese managers. Factor analysis results reveal three underlying factors that characterize the CIC, information source and format preferences, information ownership and analysis style, and centralized decision making and information control, that collectively explain a substantial portion of the variance. Using the SEM techniques, this study validates a research model that hypothesizes the relationships between the CIC and perceived performance improvement as the result of IT use, attitude toward using current work IT and perceived value of IT in general. The data analysis findings suggest that the CIC influences an individual's IT-related perceptions. The research findings also help illuminate the importance of performance improvement perception in shaping an individual's attitude toward using work IT and the value of IT in general in the Chinese context.\n6. Implications and limitations: This research has several important theoretical contributions to global IS research. First, this study is the first to theorize national information culture in order to understand IT-related attitude and behaviors at the individual level. Prior research has largely drawn on the national cultural values developed by Hofstede (1980) to explain varying IT-related behaviors across cultures. This research demonstrates that NIC can be valuable in bridging the theoretical gap between national culture and IS behaviors and explaining individuals' IS behaviors directly. Second, the operationalization of the CIC scale provides the much needed methodological support for contextualizing cross-cultural studies. The CIC construct can be utilized as an independent or moderating variable in IS behavior models. It has been proven by this study to have a direct impact on IT perceptions and offer meaningful interpretation of the relationships. The underlying factors of the CIC would enhance our understanding of the reasons for the differences found in IS behavior models across cultures. Furthermore, this study contributes to the growing research interest in IS issues in China. Third, this study provides a model for studying information culture in other cultural contexts. When testing western-inspired IS behavior models in different cultural contexts, incorporating cultural values that are appropriate to the region is key to research validity and reliability. Global researchers are encouraged to develop measures for information culture relevant to various cultural contexts in order to better support cross-cultural research endeavors. Finally, this research, through its demonstration of the use of the CIC, confirms the argument that everyone in the same national setting identifies him - or herself with the national culture to varying extents. Therefore, research in culture should avoid the ecological fallacy and measure culture at the individual level.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Drawing upon the theory of information culture from information science and prior research on Chinese information practices. The purpose of this paper is to posit that instead of over-relying on Hofstede's national cultural values, the IS field should develop theories on national information culture to bridge the theoretical gaps found in explaining the differences in individuals' IT perceptions and behaviors across cultures.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To achieve the objectives of this study, two quantitative studies were conducted. The first study is exploratory in nature and focuses on the development and calibration of an instrument to measure the Chinese information culture (CIC). The second study takes a confirmatory approach to investigate the impact of the CIC on IT perceptions of manager.\nFindings: The study develops and validates an instrument for measuring the CIC that comprises information source and format preference, information ownership and analysis style, and centralized decision-making and information control. The CIC is found to influence IT perceptions of managers including perceived performance improvement resulted from IT use, attitude toward using work technologies and attitude on the value of IT in general.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of the first studies to theorize national information culture to understand IT perceptions at the individual level. The development of the CIC measure provides the much needed methodological support for contextualizing cross-cultural research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An analysis of factors affecting fashion opinion leadership and fashion opinion seeking	[ "Motivation (psychology)", "Consumer behaviour", "Consumer research", "Consumer psychology", "Fashion", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Consumers often use informal or social sources when they seek information. This well known aspect of consumer behaviour is called variously social communication, word-of-mouth, opinion leadership-opinion seeking, or buzz. Whatever term is used, the social phenomenon of consumers talking to other consumers about products, brands, goods, or services was acknowledged to be important early in the study of consumer behaviour (e.g. Engel et al., 1968; Zaltman, 1965). It has remained a mainstay of consumer and marketing research for decades (e.g., Bristor, 1990), and with the growing importance of the Internet, continues to be an important topic of study (e.g. Goldsmith, 2006). The influence of social communication in the spread of new fashions and in the purchase of clothing in general is widely recognised (Solomon and Rabolt, 2004, Ch. 12). Thus, studying motives for social communication, in this instance, opinion leadership (OL) and opinion seeking (OS) for fashionable clothing, not only contributes to the wider theoretical understanding of these phenomena, it also has practical implications for the clothing industry where managers would like to influence these behaviours.A recent study (Bertrandias and Goldsmith, 2006) used a moderate sized sample of students to describe the association of fashion OL and OS with two variables: attention to social comparison information and consumer need for uniqueness. They found that fashion opinion leaders and seekers both seem to pay attention to others more than non-leaders and non-seekers do. Fashion opinion leaders also seem to need uniqueness more than non-leaders, but fashion opinion seekers are less likely to need uniqueness. Although their study provided important insights into the psychology and motivations for fashion OL and OS, its findings need to be replicated in order to conform to good scientific practice (Easley et al., 2000). Moreover, the psychological motivations for fashion OL and OS are complex and little understood. Consequently, the objectives of the present study were to replicate Bertrandias and Goldsmith (2006) with a larger sample of consumers with greater age variation, and to examine the relationships of fashion OL and OS with two additional motivational variables: status consumption and role-relaxed consumption. We chose these for study because their theoretical linkages to OL and OS make further contributions to explaining the motivations for OL and OS and because they are potentially important to managerial efforts to influence these behaviours.\nLiterature review: Fashion opinion leadership\nMethod: Sample\nResults: Preliminary analyses\nDiscussion: Summary\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to test hypothesized relationships of consumer need for uniqueness, attention to social comparison information, status consumption, and role-relaxed consumption with opinion leadership and opinion seeking for new fashionable clothing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors surveyed 598 consumers between the ages of 18 and 83 years using a self-administered questionnaire. Correlation and linear regression analyses showed that all four independent variables were related to both dependent variables.\nFindings: - Consumer need for uniqueness was related positively to opinion leadership, but negatively with opinion seeking for younger consumers. Attention to social comparison information was positively related more highly to opinion seeking than to opinion leadership. Status consumption had the largest overall positive association, followed by role-relaxed consumption, which was negatively related.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Some findings confirm earlier studies and some break new ground. The findings are limited to US consumers and the convenience sample. Other limitations include the specific measures used and the cross-section survey method precludes making causal statements. The effects of other, unmeasured variables could be assessed.\nPractical implications: - Apparel marketers seeking to encourage opinion leaders to promote their lines of new clothing might devise appeals emphasizing the social significance and status of the new fashions and how they bestow uniqueness on their wearers.\nOriginality/value: - The study not only confirms previous findings regarding consumer need for uniqueness and attention to social comparison information, but expands the description of motivating factors with status and role-relaxed consumption.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Local knowledge based perceptions on climate change and its impacts in the Rakaposhi valley of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan	[ "Agriculture", "Biodiversity", "Climate change", "Human-health", "Karakoram mountains", "Vulnerability" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2013) indicated that the global mean surface temperature has increased by 0.84degC since 1880. This has led to a global threat, i.e. climate change, resulting in substantial socio-economic and ecological impacts, especially in the mountain region. The world's mountains are hotspots of biodiversity and provide climatically different life zones across short elevation distances (Korner, 2004; Fort, 2015). About 10 per cent of the world's population directly depends on mountain resources for their livelihood and well-being (Schild, 2008). The mountainous regions have considerably warmed during the past century, and the temperature rise is expected to continue, whereas precipitation projections show a differential pattern - where some regions are expected to get more rainfall and others less (Kohler et al., 2014). In the changing climate scenario, the future of mountain biodiversity, whether be wild or cultivated, may become site-specific to different ecosystems, and it is likely that there will be increased exposure to multiple hazards because of frequently occurring extreme events such as floods, avalanches and landslides, which will threaten both livelihoods and infrastructure (Kohler et al., 2014).\n2. Methodology: 2.1 Study area\n3. Results and discussion: 3.1 Temperature trend\n4. Conclusion: Climate change has been greatly affecting people's life and life-supporting systems in Rakhaposhi Valley, increasing vulnerability by manifolds. Uncertain weather patterns and extreme events with the increasing frequency and intensity have adversely affected human health, livelihoods, biodiversity and ecosystems in the Karakoram Mountains. It is very important to understand multidimensional nature of the drivers of change, responses and feedback mechanisms to be able to reduce the vulnerability, which is induced due to not only climate change impacts but also socio-political and economic changes in the region. Because the local communities hold immense traditional knowledge, and they are the ones directly affected by the impacts of the changes including climate change, their participation is very crucial in planning, designing and implementing adaptive measures as well as contributing to policy making. Furthermore, the climate change perception study provides researchers, practitioners and decision makers a clear insight into the local emerging issues, risks and vulnerabilities. To respond to such uncertain risks and vulnerabilities, it is recommended to strengthen the capacity of local communities and encourage them to use customised technologies that use combined science and traditional knowledge so that they can enhance their adaptive capacity and build resilience against existing as well as emerging climate risks. Additionally, it is highly recommended to develop area-specific climate change adaptation strategies for tackling emerging environmental concerns and building local capacities so that communities could manage risks and diversify livelihood options through preparedness and recovery, for example, by adopting climate smart agriculture, soil conservation, irrigation water management, livestock and pasture management, high-value horticulture, product diversification and promoting renewable energy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand local perceptions on climate change and its impacts on biodiversity, rangeland, agriculture and human health.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A household survey with 300 interviewees and focus group discussions with key stakeholders were conducted and validated at two steps, using the climate data from the nearest weather stations and reviewing literatures, to correlate the local perceptions on climate change and its impacts.\nFindings: Majority of the respondents reported an increase in temperature and change in the precipitation pattern with increased hazardous incidences such as floods, avalanches and landslides. Climate change directly impacted plant distribution, species composition, disease and pest infestation, forage availability, agricultural productivity and human health risks related to infectious vector-borne diseases.\nResearch limitations/implications: Because of the remoteness and difficult terrain, there are insufficient local weather stations in the mountains providing inadequate scientific data, thus requiring extrapolation from nearest stations for long-term climate data monitoring.\nPractical implications: The research findings recommend taking immediate actions to develop local climate change adaptation strategies through a participatory approach that would enable local communities to strengthen their adaptive capacity and resilience.\nSocial implications: Local knowledge-based perceptions on climate change and its impacts on social, ecological and economic sectors could help scientists, practitioners and policymakers to understand the ground reality and respond accordingly through effective planning and implementing adaptive measures including policy formulation.\nOriginality/value: This research focuses on combining local knowledge-based perceptions and climate science to elaborate the impacts of climate change in a localised context in Rakaposhi Valley in Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The development and implementation of a diversity management curriculum: Organizational change through exploration and exploitation	[ "Equal opportunities", "Organizational change", "Curriculum development", "Business schools", "Gender", "Universities", "Europe" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The curriculum is extremely important to business schools. It is a locus and transmitter of values (Rudolph, 1977), a contract with students, and a statement of intentions about what knowledge is to be offered to prepare graduates for the labor market and society (Miel, 1996). As a consequence of its importance and embedded nature within organizations that are shaped by external political and economic structures and processes (Hanappi-Egger and Hofmann, 2006), the vast majority of curricular change adjusts a university's stance in a small and nuanced manner (Arnold, 2004). Yet, it is precisely incremental change such as incorporating diversity management that is the kind of educational and curricular adaptation that moves universities forward to respond to changing external environments (Taylor, 2003).\nLiterature review on exploration and exploitation: Businesses and universities approach organizational change somewhat differently, principally because direct measures like profit or return on investment are more problematic and instead surrogate measures such as demonstrating their contribution to organizational objectives are used (Sporn, 1999). This is especially the case when attempting to measure generation and dissemination of knowledge (Gioia and Thomas, 1996) through curriculum development and delivery. Consequently, subjective factors such as perceptions, prestige, organizational knowledge, and the possession, creation, or sharing of knowledge (Nag et al., 2007) become relevant to understand curriculum change processes. Moreover, exploration and exploitation emerged as key concepts to make sense of how these subjective factors played out in the change strategy and the balance between established knowledge and new knowledge in the curriculum.March's (1991) path-breaking work on organizational learning has profoundly influenced the direction of studies on organizational innovation, adaptation, and competitive advantage (Gupta et al., 2006). In using the companion characteristics of exploitation and exploration, a central concern has been the appropriate balance between the two. March (1991, p. 71) points out:Organizations make explicit and implicit choices between the two. The explicit choices are found in calculated decisions about alternative investments and competitive strategies. The implicit choices are buried in many features of organizational forms and customs, for example, in organizational procedures for accumulating and reducing slack, in search rules and practices, in the ways in which targets are set and changed, and in incentive systems. Understanding the choices and improving the balance between exploration and exploitation are complicated by the fact that returns from the two options vary not only with respect to their expected values, but also with respect to their variability, their timing, and their distribution within and beyond the organization.Deciding upon the balance between exploitation and exploration can be one of the biggest challenges in developing and implementing a diversity curriculum. Decisions about the composition of the planning group, team or alliance and the members' status and the organizational structures or units from which individuals come represent decisions about balance. In turn, those decisions influence the balance between exploitation and exploration in the final product (Perretti and Negro, 2006), in its control, form, functioning, and location.There have been various definitions and uses of organizational exploitation[1] and exploration. Those central for understanding curricular innovation in our case study are: One, exploitation and experimentation differ by the kind of learning or adaptation and its presence or absence. We consider all organizational activity as having some learning, even if it reducing variation when attempting to replicate past practices. Two, March's (1991, p. 85) position, \"The essence of exploitation is the refinement and extension of existing competencies, technologies, and paradigms [...] The essence of exploration is experimentation with new alternatives\" is especially germane. Baum et al.'s (2000, p. 768) derivations apply directly to curricular change, exploitation is associated with reuse and refinement of existing practices and exploitation takes place \"through planned experimentation and concerted variation\". Three, by treating exploration and exploitation as orthogonal or complementary (Gupta et al., 2006) both forms of change are concomitantly compatible in curriculum innovation strategies and balance. Four, in knowledge producing organizations, such as universities, individuals hold much of the crucial knowledge and skills for innovation. In those kinds of settings, innovation depends heavily upon social capital to develop collaboration by means of communication, networking and sharing information (Subramaniam and Youndt, 2005, p. 459). Jansen et al. (2006, p. 1670) provided further support of the importance of dense social relationships in order to engage in and coordinate both exploratory and exploitative innovation.\nContext: Diversity is a defining feature of the European Community (EU) work force. Since the 1990s, more women have entered the labour force, workers have become more mobile, older, and more multi-ethnic and multi-racial. The projections for the future indicate that these trends towards greater diversity are set to continue (Commission of the European Communities, 2007). In 2000, the EU put forward major directives concerning gender, age, ability, nationality/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religion/beliefs discrimination[2] which Austria implemented into law two years later (Federal Republic of Austria, 1998). The European strategy of gender mainstreaming and initiatives to advance women which were already in place (Federal Republic of Austria, 2004) provisions being incorporated into University Act, 2002 (UG, 2002), the legislation that granted all public universities full autonomy, established performance contracts for funding and the expectation those universities would acquire more funds from other sources. Thus, powerful and rapidly changing legal, socio-political and economic forces called for new responses from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Wirtschaftsuniversitat Wien (WU). One crucial WU action in 2002, triggered by University Act, 2002, was to establish a guest professorship and an Institute for Gender and Diversity in Organizations within Business Administration.WU was established in 1898 as the Imperial Export Academy and in 1919 it became a World Trade University, Hochschule fur Welthandel, and was renamed in 1975. In 2002, the beginning of the university's diversity management initiative, WU enrolled about 20,000 students of whom 23 percent were international students. It is the largest university of economics and business administration in Europe and the second largest university in Austria. It educates approximately 50 percent of the Austrian business managers and experts (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, 2006).The university had recently made sweeping internal changes in creating new governance structures. The university's management consists of the rector and vice-rectors (the Rectors Council), the University Board Universitatsrat, and the Senate. The group of full professors is a highly influential group constituting 51 percent of the Senate[3]. Reforms in organizational structures have established an organizational matrix structure consisting of 12 academic departments (the core units)[4] and 12 interdisciplinary research institutes. Six departments form the business administration area. Major curricular changes have included the development of three-year bachelor's and two-year master's programs (in accordance with the Bologna process) and the creation of new degree programs.Bachelor's degree students choose from two programs, Business, Economics and Social Sciences or Business Law. The largest group of students (40 percent) are enrolled in business administration (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, 2006). Students majoring in Business, Economics, and Social Sciences can choose one of its 21 specializations. Each specialization consists of 20 ECTS credits representing 11 percent of the total required for a bachelor's degree.\nResearch approach and methods: Exploratory case study\nDiversity management change process: External forces and senior management support\nDiscussion: Although exploitation and exploration are fundamental concepts for understanding organizational change, their application and relationship have been noticeably absent from explanations of university or curricular adaptation and innovation. The events of this case, however, indicate that exploitation and exploration can provide a lens for describing how new knowledge about diversity management is incorporated into the curriculum. Stated differently, strategizing curriculum reform initiatives as a balance between exploitation and exploration has the potential to assist change agents to anticipate the extent and nature of reform acceptable to a higher education institution, possible sources of resistance and support, and ways in which the innovation can be graphed into current structures and practices.The curricular innovation at WU grew out of a balance between exploitation and experimentation. Locating the lead change agent in the core academic unit contributed to exploitation and exploration being compatible by placing an expert of new knowledge within an existing knowledge domain without challenging existing knowledge or threatening to replace it. Moreover, the diversity management curriculum achieved an acceptable balance between exploitative and exploratory knowledge in content. Five courses for the specialization were exploitative innovations, a refinement or reuse of existing courses and six courses were exploitative innovations, new experimental courses. Structural equilibrium was also achieved with five established units offering courses and the new unit offering six courses.A balance of interests occurred through informal social relations. These assisted to establish legitimacy and enable adoption of the curricular innovation (Subramaniam and Youndt, 2005). In particular, the development of a social/professional network through informal conversations and collegial interaction helped organizational members learn about the new knowledge (Jansen et al., 2006), to establish trust, to consider ways the exploratory knowledge could be graphed with the exploitative knowledge, and ultimately for them to buy into the process.External conditions, organizational structures and norms also significantly influenced the introduction of the idea of the curricular innovation and the actual decision making involved in the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration's diversity management change effort. The national and European contexts influenced senior management's decision to establish a professorship. There was, however, no evidence of their involvement in influencing the curricular change process. The internal processes evolved through a strategy of balancing interests between existing structures and curriculum and with a new organizational subunit and curricular specialization.The grant to launch the diversity management innovation eliminated early competition for scarce resources. As March (1991, p. 85) noted, the distribution of costs and returns across time and groups is a significant factor in innovation. External funding off-set most early costs, enabled quality management to be incorporated into the innovation, and reinforced the need for the university to shorten its lag time to respond to external changes.As Arnold (2004, p. 591) has observed in studying general education reform, the trail of events and the receptivity and opposition to curricular change followed elements embedded in the organization, especially the prestige hierarchy and power associated with fields of study and organizational structures. The group of full professors and norms and structures of business administration defined the parameters of change. Yet, the successful adoption and implementation of the specialization required encouraging individuals to enact new behaviors so that desired changes could be achieved. This included a social network and negotiation process in which the social reality was reconstructed (Berger and Luckmann, 1967) as a result of locating diversity management in the most powerful and prestigious area, business administration and the arrival of a female full professor in computer science to lead the gender and diversity initiative for the university. Both phenomena symbolized institutional legitimacy (Gioia et al., 1994) and became a precondition for the subsequent change. In short, in many ways the innovation reasserted the legitimacy of organizational processes but demonstrated how by balancing exploitation and exploration in two spheres, strategy and content, a controversial change could occur within a traditional university.We recognize the limitations of principally drawing upon the perspectives of key agents in a curricular change process to describe a sensitive innovation process. At the same time, we believe that our description of the exploitative and exploratory nature of diversity management curricular reform can serve as a basis for further research to focus attention on organizational norms, politics and structures which must be dealt with in order to successfully enact a curricular reform, especially with value-laden areas such as diversity. We also hope that it will assist and encourage others seeking to make their curriculum more inclusive. To that end, we offer the following points.Advocates for incorporating diversity into academic programs should be mindful that the intersection of organizational identity and exploitative knowledge and practice can foster and hinder the development of new knowledge and changes (Nag et al., 2007). For instance, the collective traditional view of what constitutes knowledge in business administration was in opposition to the new knowledge of diversity management. While new knowledge often suffers from structural barriers (Nag et al., 2007, p. 822) new knowledge came to be accepted, in part, because it was able to fit within existing structures both to exploit them and explore new content.Curriculum development is embedded in power structures where cooperation, competition, specific rules, norms and value systems play a critical role. The situation for topics such as gender and diversity is further exacerbated and is likely to generate resistance or backlash because it directly touches personal values and questions power structures and privileges of dominant groups. Thus, it follows that exploring the potential for change to incorporate diversity by exploiting structural spaces needs explicit and implicit strategies. Strategy building with its necessary steps (such environmental analysis, coalition and trust building, and financial calculations) is a potentially important part of curriculum change. As others (Subramaniam and Youndt, 2005; Jansen et al., 2006) have observed. The strategy also depends upon the relationships and social capital of the innovator. In our case, it was critical for the lead agent to have a voice and be present in key decision-making groups and processes. Moreover, incorporating innovative knowledge into the curriculum raises questions of how a community defines and decides what constitutes \"relevant\" knowledge. With respect to business administration, relevance is often associated with employable skills and external demand. There are times, however, when universities must be ambidextrous exploiting traditional knowledge and exploring new knowledge in order to be forward thinking and to proactively engage with the larger organizational environment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to provide concepts and strategies to successfully introduce and implement curricular change; especially, related to incorporating diversity management into academic programs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Utilizing documents and accounts from two agents involved in the change process and an outside observer, an inductive-deductive approach is applied employing concepts of exploration and exploitation from the organizational innovation literature in order to describe a 12-month process and the resultant curriculum at a major European university.\nFindings: - The paper demonstrates the importance of external conditions, organizational structures and their relationship to strategies that balance exploration and exploitation to graft a new academic concentration to existing academic programs.\nPractical implications: - The paper offers concepts, strategies, and lessons to assist colleges and universities to assess the internal and external organizational environment and the availability of resources and to plan approaches to successfully introduce and develop curricular change around sensitive topics such as diversity, gender, equality.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is the first to apply George March's work on organizational exploration and exploitation to curricular change. It offers valuable information for those seeking to create a more inclusive curriculum.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brand management - standing out from the crowd: A review and research agenda for hospitality management	[ "Brand management", "Hospitality industry", "Critical review", "Brand management theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Within the tourism and hospitality industry, the term brand is increasingly prevalent in boardrooms and agencies that are responsible for attracting and retaining customers. Once seen simply as a tool for distinguishing one tourism or hospitality offering from another, the brand is riding a wave of industry realization that it can be the driving force behind not only marketing decisions but also the operation of the organization (Dev, 2012). While this awareness is not confined to this industry, the hospitality industry seems fragmented in its response to brand management's evolution.\nApproaches to brand management research: The evolution of brand management can be mapped against the growing appreciation that concepts such as brand awareness, brand associations, brand differentiation and brand loyalty drive significant benefits and meaning for organizations, consumers and society at large. In its transition from a form of identification (name, term, symbol, design or a combination of these), the brand has become more than its visual realities (McDonald et al., 2001). A review of diverse marketing literature reveals that most commonly conceived as a \"cognitive construal in the mind of the consumer\" (Heding et al., 2016, p. 24), the term brand is an organizational chameleon. From one perspective, the brand is an organizational asset that the organization manipulates to facilitate transactions (Borden, 1964), whereas from another perspective, it is a cultural artifact embedded in the fabric of society (Holt, 2002). Research on brand management has gained considerable momentum, particularly since the 1980s, resulting in a deep and broad evolution of the concept.\nBrand management research in the mainstream literature: The most-cited articles examine a specific brand management approach. For example, Keller's (1993) customer-based brand equity article, with 9,485 cites at the time of the review, spearheaded the consumer-based approach, Aaker's (1997) brand personality article, with 4,854 cites, pioneered the personality approach, and Muniz and O'Guinn's (2001) brand community article, with 3,370 cites, introduced the concept of the brand as a social conduit. However, as the \"birth of one approach does not imply the end of the 'previous' one(s), rather they complement each other\" (Heding et al., 2016, p. 9), a blend of approaches is evident when reviewing the majority of brand management research over the past 20 years. The common understanding is that the branding process starts with managers devising brand plans, yet ends with consumers choosing brands on the basis of their perceptions of fit between their functional and emotional needs and the brand's functional and symbolic benefits (de Chernatony and Riley, 1997). Thus, the mainstream marketing literature's emphasis on the overlap between the identity and consumer-based approaches is not surprising.\nBrand management research in the hospitality literature: In contrast to the more established research agenda in the mainstream literature, brand management research within the tourism and hospitality literature really only began to gain momentum in 2004. Research that predated this time drew heavily on insight from the mainstream brand management literature. For example, Tepeci (1999) emphasized the importance of creating brand loyalty for hospitality companies through a relational approach; Oh (2000) examined brand class, price and awareness as antecedents to customer value, adopting a predominantly economic approach, and Back and Parks (2003) established a link between satisfaction and brand loyalty, a customer-based approach. However, a review of the hospitality brand management research since these times reveals that the majority of the research does not appear to have broken away from the mere replication of mainstream studies.\nConsiderations for future hospitality brand management research - a research agenda: The number of publications in the tourism and hospitality literature relative to the more established mainstream field reveals a strong interest in brand management research. The brand management research pioneers in the mainstream literature provided a solid platform for studies in the hospitality field. However, notably, most seminal brand management research was undertaken from a goods-based perspective. In consideration of this, Grace and O'Cass (2005) suggest that while some of the earlier brand models may be applicable to both goods and services, marketing principles suggest inherent differences. For example, within a service context, the traditional 4 Ps are extended to 7 Ps, reflecting the importance of people, processes and physical facilities augmenting price, product, place and promotion when seeking to influence consumer behavior.\nAn integrative framework of brand management research: Based on an extensive review of the literature, an integrative research framework is presented (Figure 1). This framework reflects the research that has been undertaken, depicted in black, with the dominant topics reflected in bold, whereas the arrows reflect the direction upon which the relationships are examined. For example, there has been a lot of research that examines how the organizationally created brand identity influences customers' response in the form of customer brand equity, brand loyalty, brand image, etc. To a lesser extent, reflecting the more contemporary brand research, there is a growing body of service-related research (black dotted lines) that examine how organizations influence employee relationships with the brand as reflected in employee brand equity, brand internalization and brand fit and how in turn, this influences the service brand. From a predominantly goods-based perspective, emerging or underrepresented areas of research, also highlighted with black dotted lines, include how consumer's perception of brand fit as well as their participation in brand communities influences the brand, as well as how the brand influences the organization as reflected in brand orientation.\nConcluding remarks: Great research not only comprises sophisticated analysis or multi-level, multi-source data collection but also examines a phenomenon from a compelling platform, not simply because no one has looked at it before. Great, innovative research, comes from understanding the phenomenon of interest, observing what is happening in the live laboratory setting (i.e. the industry), and applying academic theory to explain what is observed. Within hospitality research, given that the underlying phenomenon is an active industry, great research should contribute new knowledge to the academic community not only through theory building and testing but also through informing industry practices.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how brand management research has evolved to inform future hospitality research agendas that are both theoretically and practically innovative and relevant.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A review of leading tourism and hospitality journals, augmented by a review of leading mainstream marketing and services journals, over the past 20 years was undertaken. Focusing on papers with an emphasis on the brand, as reflected in the title, over 263 articles were reviewed.\nFindings: In contrast to the more established mainstream literature, brand management research in the hospitality literature is limited in both its depth and breadth. In seeking to go beyond mere replication, and in consideration of industry needs, the review informs the articulation of an integrative research framework that reflects the extant literature and illuminates new research pathways that, in anticipation of making a significant contribution to brand management theory, will enhance hospitality academic and practitioner understanding of brand management.\nResearch limitations/implications: The comprehensive critical review affords insight into areas of brand management research innovation, both from a topic and methods perspective. The proposed research agenda not only reflects industry priorities but also responds to gaps within academia's current understanding of brand management theory, particularly within a service context. Grounded in classical theories and industry insight, the pursuit of topics advanced in the research agenda are expected to make a significant contribution to the theoretical understanding of the brand management concept in an applied setting, in addition to providing timely and relevant insight to practitioners seeking to stand out from the crowd.\nOriginality/value: With brands dominating the hospitality landscape, insight derived from thought leading and innovative research is needed. With no comprehensive review of brand management research within the tourism and hospitality literature, clarity with respect to what is known and, more importantly, what is not known is not apparent. This paper addresses this paucity and, in doing so, gives hospitality academics a clear pathway to conducting meaningful and relevant brand management research from both theoretical and practical perspectives.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of participation in the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge on adolescent resiliency and health behaviours	[ "Research", "Arts", "Youth", "Substance misuse", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: School educational programs based on the provision of factual information on health risks have long been found to be ineffective in reducing cigarette, alcohol and drug abuse in adolescents (Schinke et al., 1991). Over the past 20 years more promising programmes have been developed. Based on psychosocial theories, these school-based interventions are most likely to reduce or delay drug use and related harms by influencing drug-related expectancies (e.g. knowledge, attitudes and norms), drug-related resistance skills and general competence (e.g. personal self-management skills and social skills) (Bauman and Phongsavan, 1999; Golub and Johnson, 2001). Despite these promising outcomes, subsequent research has shown that without booster sessions the effects decay over time (Botvin, 1999).Interventions directed at young people focussing on the reduction or elimination of a problem (e.g. substance misuse) rarely achieve sustained effects, unless they also incorporate elements of positive youth development and enable young people to develop new skills (Blum, 1997). These findings have roots in research into resiliency that emerged from examination of the reasons why adolescents in high-risk situations for drug use were able to overcome these risk factors and lead highly successful lives. Garmezy (1991) defined resilience as \"the capacity to recover and maintain adaptive behaviour after insult\". Resilient individuals are able to utilise problem-solving strategies, manage their anger and express their emotions without recourse to substance misuse, and are able to use appropriate social skills and set achievable life goals (Resnick et al., 1997).This work has indicated that young people have personality characteristics and abilities, which define them as resilient. These include social competence, problem-solving skills, autonomy, a sense of purpose and future, and a sense of belonging. It is hypothesised that strengthening these characteristics will improve resiliency and an individual's capacity to maintain health enhancing behaviours in a social environment that is less than supportive. By developing health promotion programs that involve the school, community and family, key personal and social skills that are characterised by resiliency, such as flexibility, empathy and caring, good communication skills, sense of humour, problem-solving skills and self-esteem can be enhanced (Henderson and Milstein, 1996).Further, it has been argued that participation in the visual arts, dance, music, and theatre has the potential to nurture the development of cognitive, social and personal competencies related to the characteristics of resiliency described above (Fiske, 2000; Clift, 2005). Young people who are involved in arts programs are more likely to work with other young people, to attend institutions of higher learning, and to be more active in their community (Fiske, 2000; Macnaughton et al., 2005). However, to date, there is relatively little evidence to support this hypothesis.The Rock Eisteddfod Challenge (REC) originated in Australia in 1980 in the form of a performing arts competition for secondary schools. The Challenge has since grown to involve over 400 schools and 40,000 students annually throughout Australia, and has since been adopted in other countries, including the UK. The REC consists of a dance/drama competition where each school forms a team of up to 130 students comprising 11-18 year olds to create an eight-minute production on a theme of their choice set to contemporary, commercially available music. Following extensive rehearsals schools meet at a professional venue to perform before their peers, families and a panel of experienced judges. Most schools involved in the REC have engaged parents and local communities in fund raising, the creation of sets, and costumes.The REC has been adapted over time to provide a vehicle for communication of the risks associated with tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. A report on the REC for the Australian Government suggested that both students and teachers participating in the REC were strongly positive towards it and appreciated the range of benefits resulting from it (Carroll et al., 1996). Some of these benefits identified by participants and their teachers were breaking down barriers within the school, developing new skills, time management, team work, and increase in self-esteem. A UK study of its version of the REC, the Rock Challenge, indicated that young people felt very positive about their involvement, and valued the skills and experiences associated with organising a performance (Salmon et al., 2005).Based on such results, we hypothesised that participation in the REC may offer the opportunity for increasing personal skills and competences associated with resiliency, and that this may result in reduced risks for future substance misuse. This paper describes the results from a study to examine the association between participation in the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge and modifiable characteristics of resiliency, and on behavioural intentions among high school students in Sydney, Australia.\nMethods: Survey instrument\nResults: There was a highly significant difference between the gender of students from REC schools and non REC schools (p<0.001). Schools participating in the 2000 REC had a mean age of 14.7 and schools not participating in the 2000 REC had a mean age of 15.1 (p<0.001). Hence, in order to minimise effects of gender and age, the subgroup of girls from Year 9 and above was used to compare groups as well as the whole sample. This stratified sub-group was considered the key group for assessing effects of this intervention and the focus of this paper.The data describe the internal consistency of results from the scales used to assess resiliency, differences in composite measures of resiliency between groups of schools at baseline, and the relationship between individual factors for resiliency and various reported health behaviours for the whole sample at baseline. The final table summarises the changes over time in health behaviours between the three groups.Table I describes the scales used to assess resiliency for the whole sample at baseline. These results indicate that the factors used to create the summary scores used in subsequent analyses are internally consistent showing good to excellent degrees of internal consistency of the scales developed here (Cronbach's a levels 0.44-0.88). The mean values for these scales (and their standard errors) are also shown. The median a value was 0.61.Table II uses the composite measure of resiliency described above. It shows that, overall at baseline (commencement of rehearsals), students participating in the REC had higher mean values for resiliency compared to non-participating students in the same schools. In turn, non-participating students from REC schools demonstrated higher mean values for resiliency compared to students in non-participating schools. None of these results were statistically significant.Table III shows the correlation between the individual factors for resiliency and different health behaviours, indicating small to moderate but significant correlations between high scores for \"peers\", \"family\" and \"attitude\" for all behaviours. Belonging 2 (sense of school connectedness), Purpose factor 1 (educational aspirations) and Purpose factor 2 (sense of future purpose) were also negatively associated with most behaviours. Hence, for example, a lower sense of future purpose was associated with increased drinking. The overall composite score shows strong negative associations for all substance misuse behaviours.Table IV shows that at baseline (pre-intervention), there was a greater degree of marijuana use in the control schools compared with the REC schools - 30.2 per cent compared with 24.9 per cent (REC participant students) and 18.9 per cent (non participant students) in REC schools (p=0.04 comparing all students from REC schools with control). With respect to alcohol and drug use, there was no clear pattern of differences between the groups.At follow-up, the percentage of students from the control schools reporting \"ever been drunk\" increased by 9.6 per cent. In contrast, there was no significant increase in the REC schools. At post-test there was a smaller increase in binge drinking in REC schools than in control schools (p=0.02). In general, the increase in substance using habits observed over the time period from baseline to follow-up was less in the REC group than the control group. Within REC schools the only significant changes occurred in the non-participants, where a greater number of students reported recent binge drinking (p<0.05) and ever being drunk (p<0.05) at post-test. REC participants performed better over time than non-participants. The change in use before and after the REC in ever having used marijuana amongst non-participants within REC schools was a 3.1 per cent increase as opposed to no increase amongst participants.Table IV shows that Group 1 (REC participants) reported a decrease in use in most substances, or a negligible increase except for \"drunk alcohol in the last four weeks\". Group 2, non-participants from REC schools, has more varied changes with some factors increasing by 4 per cent, such as smoking and drinking alcohol in the last four weeks. Others decreased by over 4 per cent, such as \"recent binge drinking\", and yet others remained fairly stable over time. There are clearly more errors in this group, as 6 per cent fewer reported ever having been drunk at post-test than at pre-test. In Group 3, control school students, except for \"ever smoked\" all other habits increased. This could be due to a variety of reasons such as measurement error, seasonal changes or specific circumstantial change.\nDiscussion: Assessing the impact of the REC on the personal characteristics and behaviours of participants has been challenging. Several methodological problems were encountered in this study. These include the difficulty in identifying adequate measures of personal skills and characteristics that, theoretically, could be influenced by participation in such an event:* the difficulty in obtaining a true pre-intervention point to commence the study;* difficulty in identifying a large, balanced sample of students that would allow for meaningful analysis of results; and* the normal difficulties of identifying and maintaining contact with a large cohort of students in many different sites.For these reasons, the results need to be treated cautiously, and \"causal\" conclusions about the intervention could only be preliminary.The results in Table I indicate good internal consistency among the factors used to develop a composite measure of resiliency, and increase confidence in the usefulness of this measure. Many of the basic findings concerning the relationship between the characteristics of resiliency and substance use in Table II confirm those found in other studies. Positive scores for Identity, Belonging, Purpose and Attitude were all negatively associated with substance use. Similarly problem solving skills, resistance skills, positive self-esteem and self-efficacy, resourcefulness, a sense of connectednesss, empathy, and good communication skills were also negatively associated with substance use, as were high scores for peer and family relations. In addition, sense of school connectedness, educational aspirations and sense of future purpose were also negatively associated with most behaviours. Peer influence emerged as strongly associated with all behaviours across all groups. These results were all consistent with previously published studies (Nutbeam et al., 1993; Catalano and Hawkins, 1996; Blum, 1997, 1998).The results in Table III indicate differences between the groups at the commencement of the study. Overall, students from participating schools scored higher levels on the composite scale compared to non-participating schools, and REC participants scored better than non-participants in those schools. Because of the difficulty of undertaking a true pre-test, it is not possible to say whether or not these differences that are observed during the early rehearsal phase are an early product of participation in the REC, or a product of self-selection (by schools or individual students), or other factors, or a combination of these factors.Given the association between individual factors shown in Table III, it is not surprising that the baseline cross-sectional analysis indicated that high scores on resiliency factors were related to lower prevalence of tobacco, alcohol and drug use in Table IV. In the post-test analysis for girls from Year 9 and above, REC participation status within REC schools appears to be closely associated with smoking in the week prior to the survey (23.2 per cent of non-participants had smoked compared with 18.9 per cent of participants). After adjusting for age, gender and social economic status, and school participation in the REC, individual participation did not appear to be a predictor of behaviour in all cases. Students from schools participating in the REC were less likely to report smoking and binge drinking.Within REC schools participants scored higher for overall resiliency than non-participants. There were lower rates of \"ever using illicit drugs\", \"recent binge drinking\" and \"ever being drunk\" amongst students from REC schools. Future intention to smoke was reduced amongst REC participants from pre-test to post-test but increased in the other two groups.It is difficult to propose that these results are a direct result of participation in the REC because of the methodological difficulties referred to earlier. However, the findings are consistent with the view that programs such as the REC that engage young people in working towards shared goals, and involve the school, community and family can enhance modifiable characteristics of resiliency. In this study it was shown that some of the essential factors of resiliency could be enhanced, such as flexibility, empathy and caring, good communication skills, sense of belonging and sense of purpose.The REC provides an example of a performing arts program that has been adapted to support a wider set of purposes, specifically as a vehicle for communication of messages concerning the harms associated with tobacco, alcohol and drug use. This study attempted to test the effects of the program on substance misuse and related issues by using the concept of resiliency as an explanatory model. The findings seem consistent with the general hypothesis that the REC supports the development of characteristics associated with resiliency, and through this will have a positive and long-term impact on substance misuse behaviours. This fits with previous studies showing that successful, school-based substance misuse prevention programs generally involve active participation of students, and the development of personal and social skills in a supportive school environment.To better assess and understand the impact of the REC on student skills and behaviours further studies using improved quasi-experimental or experimental evaluation designs will be necessary.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to examine characteristics of resilience among Australian adolescents, the extent to which resilience might be strengthened through participation in a dance/drama competition, the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge (REC), and the impact participation may have on health related behaviour.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Students completed questionnaires at the commencement of the REC planning and rehearsals in schools. The survey was repeated immediately after completion of the competition. Three groups of students were compared comprised students engaged in the REC (participants), students from Rock Eisteddfod schools who did not participate in the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge (REC school non-participants) and students from schools that did not participate in the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge (control school students). The questionnaire was designed to measure changes to key modifiable elements of resiliency and selected health behaviours.\nFindings: - The majority of participants in the REC were girls, and the analysis of results was restricted to a matched group of girls from Year 9 (age 13-14) and above. Girls in this group from REC schools scored significantly higher in measures of overall resiliency during the rehearsal period than students from control schools. Within REC schools, participants scored higher for a combined measure of resiliency than non-participants. High scores for resiliency were consistently associated with lower prevalence of reported substance misuse across the whole sample. In general, increases in substance use observed over the time period from baseline to follow up was less in the REC group than the control group.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Several methodological problems were encountered in this study, including identification of adequate measures of personal skills and characteristics, difficulty in obtaining a true pre-intervention point to commence the study; and in identifying a large balanced sample of students that would allow for meaningful analysis of results; as well as the normal difficulties of identifying and maintaining contact with a large cohort of students in many different sites. For these reasons, the results need to be treated cautiously, and \"causal\" conclusions about the intervention could only be preliminary.\nPractical implications: - The study indicates the potential benefits of participation in programmes like the REC, and the results are consistent with other studies indicating positive associations between participation in the REC and a range of positive personal, social and behavioural outcomes.\nOriginality/value: - The paper highlights some of the methodological challenges in conducting a prospective assessment of the effects of participation in a health oriented dance/drama event. It indicates the potential of this type of activity as a vehicle for the communication of health messages, and the possibility of a more direct influence on personal skills and health related behaviour.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How intra-organizational social capital influences employee performance	[ "Israel", "Self-efficacy", "Motivation (psychology)", "Social capital", "Job performance", "Performance evaluation", "Vigour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Intra-organizational social capital (IOSC) (Adler and Kwon, 2002) is an intangible asset that is based on interactions between people (Bourdieu, 1983). It is comprised of mutual objectives and cooperation (Fukuyama, 1995), trust, norms, and organizational networks (Putnam, 1993). Given IOSC was found to improve the daily work life of employees (Mahajan and Benson, 2013), it is important to explore its impact on tangible outcomes and to encourage the organizations to promote it. The main goal of the present work is thus to shed light on the link between IOSC and employee performance.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: IOSC\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Means, standard deviations, and simple correlations between the research variables are presented in Table II. Consistent with Fryxell and Wang (1994), none of the correlation coefficients exceeded 0.60, suggesting that the multicollinearity among the research variables was not severe (Nunnaly, 1978).\nDiscussion: The main findings of the present study indicate that the connection between IOSC and performance is mediated by vigor and the connection between employee vigor and performance is moderated by self-efficacy. This model might answer an important question: how will we generate better employee performance? The moderation of the connection is such that employees with high vigor level and high self-efficacy perform better than employees with high vigor and low-self-efficacy. This finding emphasizes the importance of the interaction between environment and personality and the influence this interaction has on employee performance. Not only should the employee have a supportive social surrounding that endorses vigor, the employee's belief in the quality of his (or her) work is vital for improving performance. As others have shown (Dess and Sauerwald, 2014), the combination of supportive environment (IOSC) and personality can lead to a better actual outcome.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a growing research field on the subject of intra-organizational social capital (IOSC) and its effects on employee job performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from a sample of 209 employees in community centers. The variables that were specified are IOSC, vigor, self-efficacy, and a supervisor report regarding employee performance.\nFindings: The results indicate a mediation-moderation model in which the connection between IOSC and employee performance is mediated by vigor and moderated by self-efficacy.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although the sample includes employees from a single organization, collecting data from different sources within the organization permitted to overcome this limitation. Mainly, the current findings emphasize the importance of the interaction between environment and personality.\nPractical implications: Creation and preservation of IOSC in organizations increases the employee vigor and can serve to upgrade performance.\nOriginality/value: The important role of IOSC in organizations has been confirmed. Furthermore, the combination between supportive environment and personality traits can foster employee performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Soul mates or odd couples? Alignment theory and HRD	[ "Strategy", "Values", "Alignment", "Effectiveness", "HRD" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Effective human resource development (HRD) can be defined as HRD that is associated with comprehensive, excellent provisions for all (Malloch et al., 2011) and is in high alignment with an organisation's strategic priorities (Semler, 1997). Conditions for promoting the comprehensiveness, excellence and provision for all of HRD have been studied extensively in themes and topics about managing and evaluating learning as well as delivering training (Bates and Chen, 2005; Holton and Naquin, 2005; Mafi, 2000; Russ-Eft and Preskill, 2005; Sherlock and Perry, 2008). These themes and topics include engagement with the management of knowledge and learning, both formal and informal, in work environments of dynamic change, high performance cultures, where more flexible employment practices and careers are the norm (Poell et al., 2004). HRD done effectively, focusing on the right mix of activity to develop knowledge, skill and capabilities from all the possible options available, can provide competent workforces and more. It can provide wider benefits such as high incomes, health and enhanced employment prospects (Keep and Mayhew, 2010; Keely, 2007; Kuchinke, 2010).\nOperationalising alignment at the contingent level: To operationalise and measure alignment at this level, and so examine what kind of alignment can be seen to exist between organisational strategic priorities and HRD practices in an organisation, there are several frameworks that could be adopted. The competing values framework (CVF) was adopted for this study. This is an established framework with which strategic priorities and any functional could be described and measured (Cameron et al., 2006; Scott et al., 2003). The CVF has been widely used in general organisation and management studies (DeGraff and Quinn, 2007; Hartnell et al., 2011) to scope alignment among various organisational processes and functions (Newman, 2001; Talbot, 2008). The definition and meanings of \"value\" can vary widely in management studies (Lepak et al., 2007). In this framework, the meaning in use is the economic sense of value, not the psychological and cultural sense. The CVF is a model with four forms of value possible, resulting in strategic priorities any organisation will be concerned with to varying degrees. These are defined as the value sources and strategic priorities of \"compete\", \"control\", \"create\" and \"collaborate\". These can be ranked according to which are dominant, auxiliary, tertiary and inferior. The dominant priority is the one which people in the organisation will perceive and agree is the most significant influence on leadership, reputation and operations. It can be expected to be the primary point for alignment. The auxiliary form is the next most important, and so on, with diminishing implications for alignment. These same value constructs, of compete, control, create and collaborate, can also be used to operationalise HRD practices. The model of HRD practices adopted here is one that identifies priority goals, programme content, supporting systems and evaluation criteria for HRD. If data are collected, it is then possible to compare and check whether the same values are being seen and ranked in the same order for both the strategic priorities of an organisation and its actual HRD practices. Figure 1 gives an overview of these core constructs and their relationships in this study.\nConstructs and hypothesis: Alignment theory and literature in general suggest that there will be a positive relationship between the degree of alignment of a function such as HRD and its fit with organisational strategic priorities, although some question this. The CVF framework provides a set of constructs with which organisational strategic priorities and HRD practices can be operationalised and compared, and relationships tested.\nMethod and results: A survey was designed to collect data on the study constructs. A sample of organisations was selected as a convenience sample, from participants on HRD programmes. These respondents had roles as HRM or HRD staff, managers or employees in a range of organisations. Most organisations and respondents were from workforces based in the UK, although there are some responses from Europe (France, Spain, Denmark, The Netherlands and Ireland) and China, Thailand and the Middle East. They were invited to complete an on-line survey. These initial survey respondents were also asked to distribute the survey on to other organisation members, using a snowballing collection strategy. Seventy-six people did this. Data from all respondents from the on-line survey platform were exported to the analysis software SPSS. In SPSS, the data were first checked, and only cases where all or nearly all items and variables had been completed were retained; that gave 270 cases from 76 organisations. The convenience and snowball sample included some organisations with only two respondents through to some organisations with 18 respondents. These respondents represent employees and managers in medium-sized and large organisations, predominantly in the private sector (Table III).\nAnalysis and discussion: The HRD practices seen to be of greatest concern to respondents in the organisations in this survey are keeping talent together for long periods; that positive results of HRD be associated with productivity improvement; that cultures which most value and reward meeting financial targets are strong; and while keeping abreast of emerging trends, it is the satisfaction and capabilities of key talent that attracts greatest measurement effort. These findings are not in themselves surprising or remarkable. They do give confidence that the method is capturing well-grounded perceptions of real concerns. Consequently, conclusions about alignment based on these have good face validity. The study shows there is no positive or negative relationship between alignment and HRD effectiveness. There is rather some indication that the highest HRD effectiveness is associated with forms of partial alignment and then with low or incongruent alignment. High alignment is associated with least HRD effectiveness. Increasing alignment, it can be concluded, is not an effective way to attain, conserve and progress effective HRD.\nConclusions: This study was undertaken to provide empirical support for alignment theory at the contingent level to describe and explain variations in HRD effectiveness. Confirming alignment theory at the contingent level would provide a focus for improving and enhancing comprehensive and excellent HRD for all. The results do not confirm alignment theory at the contingent level, although alignment as a construct can be retrained to help examine the complex issues encountered in understanding how HRD resources and priorities are managed, and in many circumstances to be refocused. This is relevant to both the HRD research and teaching communities, and managers and professionals concerned with the strategic and operational effectiveness of organisations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to test and explore alignment theory as a guiding principle for human resource development (HRD) by performing an empirical study. HRD scholars, professionals and others have adopted or assumed alignment theory to help explain HRD effectiveness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Constructs to measure an organisation's strategic priorities and its HRD practices. A measure of HRD effectiveness was developed. A survey gathered data from 270 employees, managers and HRD staff in a sample of 76 organisations.\nFindings: The results show that HRD effectiveness does not vary with alignment as predicted. Forms of partial alignment, or the relations of an \"odd couple\", are more strongly associated with HRD effectiveness than high alignment.\nResearch limitations/implications: The use and integration of both normative measures (Likert scale) and ipsative measures (ranking) is necessary to capture alignment, but this limits the inferential statistics available to test validity and reliability. Qualitative data on case studies would be useful to explore alignment issues in context and depth.\nPractical implications: Stakeholders in organisations can use the \"odd couple\" interpretation of alignment as a fresh way to review and explore the opportunities and challenges of managing HRD effectiveness in an era where a narrowing and retrenchment of provisions is occurring and increasing.\nOriginality/value: This study provides evidence which raises questions about alignment theory and policies intended to increase alignment. It suggests in the case of HRD, an alternative perspective that validates partial alignment can support effective HRD provisions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The walls still speak: the stories occupants tell	[ "Facilities", "Quality", "Schools", "Students", "School buildings", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Taking the Polaroid(r) camera, seventh grader Amy systematically moved around the school taking ten photos that she felt characterized the way the school building itself impacted her career as a student at Grant Middle School[1]. Later, she returned to the research area and organized her photos into categories. Three photographs of doors she labeled, \"First Day.\" During the interview, she explained how an imposing and historical structure, much larger than her elementary school, evoked some fear and worry about how she would get along with new teachers and many students whom she had never met before. She represented this early trepidation in her first photograph of the main doors and steps into the building and her next, a line of doorways down a long corridor. Her final photograph in that series was of one door leading into her first teacher's classroom; the door was decorated with posters, garlands, and flowers, inviting her in and reassuring her that this school, this place, was one where she would belong.\nBackground: This study provides a follow-up to an earlier study of 82 middle schools in one mid-Altantic state that examined the relationship of school climate, the quality and cleanliness of the school facilities, and the impact of both on student achievement (Uline and Tschannen-Moran, 2008). The results of that study confirmed a link between the quality of school facilities and student achievement in both English and Mathematics. Correlation analyses indicated that quality facilities were significantly and positively related to three school climate variables: academic press, teacher professionalism, and community engagement. The quality of facilities was uncorrelated to the proportion of students receiving free and reduced priced meals. The quality of facilities was strongly related, however, to teacher's ratings of the availability of necessary resources for instruction. Finally, results confirmed that school climate mediates the effect that school building quality has on student achievement and suggests that some building improvements and design features leverage stronger results than others. To facilitate learning, occupants must feel comfortable enough to take the individual and collective risks necessary for meaningful interaction and learning.Effects of physical learning environments on educational experiences and outcomes\nStudy design and methods: Structured according to a collective, instrumental case design (Stake, 1995), two schools during an earlier study were purposefully selected in order to maximize learning from cases rich in information (Stake, 1995; Patton, 1990). As a sampling strategy, we identified schools from among the population of middle schools that participated in the original study in which the faculty ratings of the facilities were in the top quartile of those surveyed and where more than 50 per cent of the student population received free and reduced price meals. We narrowed the sample further by identifying one urban and one rural school that met these criteria, employing balance and variety, further extending the opportunities to learn. The primary research question that directed this phase of inquiry was to explore the manner specific indicators of building quality were associated with a positive school climate, fostering occupants' relationship to the school as place, thus bolstering their capacity to teach and learn. Secondary questions included:* How, and to what degree, are specific indicators of building quality associated with a clear focus on academics, a sense of enthusiasm on the part of teachers, and a constructive relationship between school occupants and the community?* In what ways do occupants leverage the design qualities of new and renovated facilities on behalf of teaching and learning?* In what ways do occupants compensate for the limitations of existing facilities in order to develop and nurture a positive school climate?* To what extent are specific indicators of building quality connected to the occupants' individual and collective identities as learners?School profiles\nData analysis: All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. Observations were hand written as field notes. Data were organized, classified, and coded using manual techniques as well as HyperResearch, a computer software program designed to handle unstructured qualitative data (ResearchWare, 2007). Data analysis occurred continuously throughout data collection as the researcher attempted to identify emerging themes, as well as tease out anomalies and contradictions (Holsti, 1969; Merriam, 1988). Some preliminary categories were generated from the literature and altered as additional themes and patterns emerged (Fook, 2002). The research team electronically managed this list of emerging themes when coding and analyzing data. See the Appendix for some descriptors and examples from the coding process. Thematic analysis occurred both manually and via the computer software program. The use of member checks, as well as the maintenance of an organized documentation system, helped confirm the research findings. The privacy and confidentiality of all participants was maintained through the use of pseudonyms. Informed consent involved full review by two University Behavioral and Science Review Boards, as well as local school district review processes.\nFindings: Two very different middle schools within two significantly different contexts formed the basis for this collective case study. What they had in common was a positive learning climate, positive building qualities, greater than 50 per cent of the student population qualifying for subsidized meals, and high-achievement rates. Of note is the recognition that occupants of both buildings found a sense of place and sense of community that contributed to both overall climate and achievement. Similar observations regarding how the facility functioned in service of learning were found in the rural and urban buildings.The personality of space and the identity of occupants\nDiscussion and implications: Our findings suggest that inhabitants did indeed influence the school place they occupied; at the same time, the school place influenced and shaped the identities of the human occupants, individually and collectively (Cooper as cited in Proshansky et al., 1995). Further, the schools in this case study characterized the interaction between leadership and design; that is, how school leaders envisioned and used the school spaces was a critical attribute. Conversely, the spaces were flexible enough to permit leaders to make good use of the space in such a way that occupants could construct a positive identity for the places individually and as a community. Because these themes are complex and interlocking, we employ a metaphor to describe the themes and demonstrate how school leadership and building design interact to improve school climate. Metaphors highlight relevant attributes and add coherence to complex systems (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). We use the arch as a metaphor of the interplay between the themes we found (Figure 1). The arch, as a design feature, provides a solid structure around entry points that either facilitate or block movement. An arch can surround either a locked gate or a familiar and known point of entry.In the arch metaphor, community and a sense of local history are the keystone on which all else rests. A semi-circular stone arch also consists of pillars and wedge-shaped stones that use compressive force, keeping the structure intact. The leadership-school design arch is built on pillars of school design and the influence of the occupants on the one hand, and the interaction of the occupant's identity and the personality of space on the other. Over this, six themes provide the interlocking characteristics of facility quality: movement, aesthetics, flexible and responsive learning spaces, the play of light, elbow room, and a sense of safety and security. Entering the span, or opening, the school's climate (academic press, teacher professionalism, and community engagement) interacts with all these characteristics of facility quality, mediating their combined influence on student learning and achievement.In both cases we studied, research participants described the ways in which the built environment facilitated daily activities and interactions. They also recalled circumstances that moved them to confront existing problems and/or acknowledge missed opportunities. Teachers, leaders, parents, and custodians actively challenged existing spatial routines through re-conceptions of classroom arrangements, enhancements to entryways, changes in paths of movement through the building, and modifications in cafeteria seating and lighting, to name a few. Although various aspects of the built environment might have introduced constraints on learning, the occupants and important stakeholders made significant choices about the spaces within the building, the results of which contributed to improved learning. In both case study schools, educational leaders worked flexibly with other occupants, discovering how the design features of the building could be leveraged to improve both climate and achievement.While building design can be inflexible at some levels; in other ways, occupants are more comfortable when they control elements of the environment. We postulate that the degree of control occupants of the facility might exert over the built environment contribute to the school climate. Brand (1994) suggested that changes to the built environment can be characterized as layers that are increasingly difficult to control. The topmost layer, the site, is the geographical setting and is almost impermeable to change. The structure itself and external features (known as the skin) are potentially malleable. The services layer includes heating and air conditioning, wiring and so on. The services layer is not typically within the control of occupants, but control over such elements as temperature settings and window openings contribute to perceptions of school climate. The space plan layer, which includes walls, ceilings, wiring, furnishings and accessories, is potentially the most changeable and accessible layer occupants might control. Notably, the artifacts most often featured by students, such as artwork on the walls, represent the lowest of Brand's shearing layers (stuff, space plan, and, to some extent, services), those things that potentially could be changed and were within the control of the building occupants. Design features that allowed occupants flexibility in the use of space were highly prized in the schools we examined. As school designers balance considerations of durability with flexibility, the voices of these occupants may serve to argue for the inclusion of design features that allow occupants some measure of control over comfort and use factors. Just as usability logic has found its way into software design, school architects increasingly create adaptable systems with regard to light, temperature, and physical arrangements. School leaders may not just allow, but encourage, occupants to exercise control in personalizing their spaces through classroom layouts, furnishings, and decoration to generate a greater sense of identification and ownership, cultivating pride of place. Furnishings are among the elements that can be most readily moved about and made to accommodate or impede human activity that occupants directly control (Brand, 1994). Students, too, desire a sense of control in their school buildings, the ability to move about without feeling fenced in, and to have places to gather socially.School designs that facilitate students' independent navigation within the building foster feelings of safety and confidence. When students can \"read\" a school building, they feel independent and self-assured. Further, acquired skills in environmental understanding, competence and control serve the larger goals of academic learning. Designs that incorporate familiar landmarks in the form of color codes, symbols, and familiar images, serve to assist children in acquiring these skills. Likewise, adults can encourage more experienced building users to assist new occupants in learning these spatial cues and patterns of movement. Such peer teaching benefits both the novice and experienced occupants.The buildings we studied were places of pride within the communities they served. Each stood as a repository of the history of people who had worked and learned there. The colors, shapes, textures, and unique features of each school added to its aesthetic, engaging occupants and engendering in them a sense of affinity to the school as a place of learning. This pride of place served the educational mission of these schools, strengthening bonds of connection between the participants and facilitating and celebrating the important work contained within their walls.\nConclusion: The results of this study reinforce findings from earlier research on the interaction between the built environment and the occupants of that environment, as well as on the relationship between building quality and student behavior and learning. The broad themes related to building quality that emerged from the data, including movement, aesthetics, play of light, flexible and responsive classrooms, elbow room, and safety and security echo findings from across this growing literature. Through the stories told by occupants of these two schools, we gain further understanding of the mechanisms of these interactions and relationships, learning more about how certain building conditions and design features helped to foster a sense of belonging within a place, a sense of control and competence within a place, and a sense of collective commitment to the place and its purposes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Accompanying the recent concern for the quality of our nation's educational infrastructure, a growing body of research connects the quality of school facilities to both student outcomes including achievement, behavior, and attitude as well as to teacher attitude and behavior. Less is known about the mechanisms of these relationships. This paper aims to examine the link between school building quality and student outcomes through the mediating influence of school climate. Results build upon those of a recent study that confirmed a link between the quality of school facilities and student achievement in both English and Mathematics, as well as the mediating role of school climate. This qualitative follow-up study explores the complicated intricacies of how a school building's physical properties influence teaching and learning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study is structured according to a collective, instrumental case study design. Individual, focus group, walk-through and photo-interviews, as well as observations inform the inquiry. Two high-poverty schools are identified from the earlier quantitative study because the ratings of the quality school facilities by their faculties fall within the upper quartile. These two schools, one urban and one rural, are selected purposefully for this study, maximizing learning from cases rich in information.\nFindings: - Results of the research indicate that ongoing interactions between the original design, the day-to-day reality of the built environment, and the occupants of that environment help to define the learning climate of these schools. Reciprocally, the climate helps to shape the interactions that take place, fostering environmental understanding, competence and control and supporting academic learning. From the data, several broad themes related to building quality emerge as central to this interaction between the built environment and building occupants, including movement, aesthetics, play of light, flexible and responsive classrooms, elbow room, and security.\nOriginality/value: - Through the stories told by occupants of these two schools, we gain further understanding of the interactions between certain building conditions and design features and how these reinforce and enhance the social environment of school, helping to foster a sense of belonging within a place, a sense of control and competence, and a sense of collective commitment to the place and its purposes. As school designers balance considerations of durability with flexibility, the voices of these occupants may serve to argue for the inclusion of design features that allow occupants some measure of control over comfort and use factors. The broad themes related to building quality that emerge from the data include movement, aesthetics, the play of light, flexible and responsive classrooms, elbow room, as well as safety and security.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Determinants of the food safety knowledge and practice among Iranian consumers: A population-based study from northwest of Iran	[ "Knowledge", "Education", "Practice", "Food safety", "Iranian consumer" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The food-related disease is an important health problem worldwide. According to WHO (2007) report, food-borne disease was found to affect more than 30 percent of the population in developed countries and the problem is more severe in developing countries. In Iran, Masoumi Asl et al. (2015) showed that from 2006 to 2011, a total of 2,250 outbreaks were reported and the analyzed data showed that the outbreak rate increased from 0.07/100,000 in 2006 to 1.38/100,000 population in 2011. Studies have estimated that between 50 and 87 percent of the reported food-borne disease outbreaks have been associated with the home (Redmond and Griffith, 2003). Although the public is progressively more concerned about the food-related risks, the rise in food-related disease cases suggests that people still make decisions of food consumption, food storage and food preparation that are less ideal from a health and safety perspective (McCarthy et al., 2007). Poor hygiene education, contaminated waters, inappropriate food storage conditions, lack of cleaning and inadequate reheating of cooked food are the main causes of food-related illness (Medeiros et al., 2004).\nMethod and materials: The data for this study were collected in 2015 as a part of the major lifestyle promotion project conducted in the districts of East Azerbaijan (urban and regional parts), one of the large provinces of Iran. The sampling method of this study is the probability proportional to size multistage stratified cluster sampling. In total, 150 clusters were selected. The updated postal code was used as a sampling frame of this study. In urban areas, clusters include one to numerous blocks or parts of blocks. Generally, blocks were attached buildings. In each cluster, ten participants (five females and five males) were enrolled (1,500 participants). The start point of sampling was determined and sampling began from that point and continued toward the right-hand side of each building. Exclusion of incomplete questionnaires yielded a final sample of 2,135 residents, subjected to statistical analysis. The final sample consisted of 916 the capital city (Tabriz) residents and 1,219 regional areas residents (including Marand, Mianeh, Varzegan, Khodafarin, Bonab, Osku and Ilkhichi).\nInstrumentation: The research data were collected by two questionnaires through face-to-face interviews. The first questionnaire included questions regarding the socio-demographic characteristics including age, gender, educational level, marriage status and residential area. The second questionnaire consisted of two parts: the first part included 18 questions regarding food safety knowledge of participants and the second part included 14 questions regarding the self-reported practices of participants. The food safety knowledge and practice questionnaire was modified from other researchers (Unusan, 2007; Sharif and Al-Malki, 2010; Hajimohammadi et al., 2014).\nStatistical analysis: SPSS v18 statistical computer software was used for all statistical analyses. The normal distribution was assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The demographic characteristics represented the independent variables. Each multiple-choice question had one correct answer that was assigned the score of one point, whereas zero point was assigned to all wrong answers. The Student t-test and analysis of variance were conducted to compare the mean sum of correct responses of every section by gender, age, residential area and educational level. For the correlates analyses, linear regression was used for investigating the association between independent variables and food safety knowledge and practices. The significance level of 0.05 was used.\nResults: Table I outlines the demographic characteristics of 1,373 Iranian youth and adult consumers. The mean age of the participants was 35.77+-15.86 years. Approximately 19.7 percent of subjects had a college degree and 69 percent were undergraduate. About 86.74 percent of subjects were married and 47.77 percent of them lived in the capital city (Tabriz).\nDiscussion: It is of great importance for consumers to develop food safety knowledge and self-reported practices and the role of educational programs in this regard. However, there are only a few studies conducted on food safety knowledge and the self-reported practices of Iranian consumers. As for the development of effective food safety education programs, learning about the basic knowledge and self-reported practices of consumers is essential; this study was conducted to determine the food safety knowledge and self-reported practices of the Iranian consumers and also investigating its correlates in this population.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the food safety knowledge and practices of the Iranian consumers and also its association with socio-demographic characteristics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In the present cross-sectional and population-based study, the validated food safety questionnaires applied to 1,500 participants who were selected through multistage stratified cluster sampling from the capital city and regional area of East-Azerbaijan - Iran. The Student t-test and analysis of variance and linear regression were used for statistical analysis.\nFindings: Although the overall percentages of mean score for knowledge (77.66 percent) and self-reported practice (70.77 percent) were good, there was a low level of awareness and self-reported practice in some subsections such as optimal heating/cooling temperature, proper thawing techniques and eating raw egg. Female and married respondents had significantly higher mean knowledge score than males (p<0.001) and singles (p=0.04). Residents of regional areas acted more safely than capital city residents (p=0.01).\nResearch limitations/implications: Despite the good knowledge of some respondents regarding food safety, their food safety practices were poor. It can thus be suggested that the future studies have better focus on investigating the perceived barriers of consumers about food safety practices.\nPractical implications: Although the mean knowledge and practice regarding food safety of Iranian consumers was good, yet there is the lack of knowledge and practice on some important factors related to food poisonings such as eating raw or lightly cooked egg or improper heating/thawing practices. So, it is important to develop proper food safety education programs emphasizing on these issues. According to lower food safety knowledge and practice of low-educated, single and male respondents, the educational programs should mainly focus on these groups.\nOriginality/value: For the development of effective food safety education programs in Iran, learning about the basic knowledge and practice of consumers is essential; however, there is limited data that directly tackles this issue in Iran.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The afterlife clause; towards a strategy for improved adaptation in retail property	[ "Evaluation", "Retail", "Development", "Adaptability", "Interventionn", "Performance specification" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Many architects and engineers, at a certain point in their career, will face the prospect of a building they have designed being demolished. The reasons may be varied, but ultimately this is caused by the building no longer meeting required performance specification and has reached a finite ability to be adapted to new requirements cost effectively. This destruction may seem premature in terms of the integrity of the structure and fabric, however, in the retail sector, may come as early as ten years after a building was completed. The cost and complications of interventions to update a development at a later stage have hampered its effectiveness and the preferred route is to clear the site and start all over again. This may seem very wasteful in terms of materials and energy and be disruptive to communities but could result in a better urban environment and building stock. It also provides employment throughout the construction sector.\n2. The retail context in the UK: This extended literature review section discusses issues associated with the retail property sector to set the context and frame the specific problems which limits providing buildings with a longer life expectancy.\n3. Projection of future requirements: Set within a context of general understanding of the problem, designers and other consultants working within the UK on retail property have the difficulty of meeting current and complex project requirements. They are able to advise and support their clients and this primary research has attempted to capture how they may approach asserting future requirements through projection.\n4. Recommendations: This research has attempted to capture the knowledge and experience of those responsible for advising the stakeholders of retail development. It has shown clear consensus that predicting adaptability at a range of 15-25 years in the future is quite difficult for many reasons. However, three courses of action which could improve the longevity of retail developments have been identified through the research and should be considered by those involved in developing retail property.\n5. Conclusion: This review of current practice in UK retail development has demonstrated that although design teams consider the future of retail developments, they are primarily driven to meet current requirement because the immediate future is more important than the extended future for generating retail turnover by other stakeholders. They are not expected to document any evidence of adaptability considerations by their clients. Retailers are equally unable to speculate far enough into the future and depend on immediate annual sales results to remain economically sustainable. This impasse will ultimately prevent any change in the status quo, and legislative intervention by regulators may be necessary if society prefers to see buildings within the urban fabric last longer than the terms of a 15-year lease. Only a building owner with a long-term interest in generating rental income can influence long-term decisions. The choice between bespoke design which extends the design life and flexible design which maximises the interchangeability of end user. Buildings or parts of buildings may function better for longer if they are purpose built for key operators, anchor retail tenant or leisure use such as a cinema. However, these spaces are more likely to be changed most radically during an intervention to meet alternative functions in the future (at greater cost and with greater impact on the environment).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The retail sector is one of the largest property concerns in the UK at 154million m2 and worth almost PS300billion in capital value (IPF, 2015). Whilst it continues to be a growth sector, many retail developments and supermarkets which have been constructed in the UK since a major boom in the 1980s have seen interventions to replace envelope fabric, update their appearance and be re-configured to suit changing tenant requirements. Others will be demolished to make way for new developments. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: If the cost of adaptations to meet the required outcome is too great, or other drivers are stronger, adaptation becomes conversion or renewal. This process may be more damaging to the environment in terms of energy use, emissions and material wastage but may enable better quality and performing buildings to replace older stock. These decisions will be managed by cost benefit analysis and return on investment (feasibility, viability, risk and market appetite). This paper seeks to understand if it is possible to extend retail building life by anticipating future needs in the retail sector by forecasting what happens after the building is no longer required by the initial user.\nFindings: This research has attempted to capture the knowledge and experience of those responsible for advising the stakeholders that make the significant decisions in retail development. Whist the methods may have been less satisfactory in extracting data, it has shown that predicting adaptability is quite difficult for many reasons. A direction towards increasing long-term adaptability the development is summarised in a list of key deliverables.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study has demonstrated a clear need to increase the consideration of defining design life as part of the performance information of a building or development, particularly in terms of whole life cost and asset value beyond the viable term of the end user and the value of the asset in terms of materials and resources (such as embodied CO2 emissions or sequestrated timber). Assessment of the design and evaluation process adopted when existing buildings are in the process of refurbishment is necessary to demonstrate this benefit.\nPractical implications: There remains a major contradiction in the design approach for retail development; the choice between bespoke design which extends the design life and flexible design which maximises the interchangeability of end user. Buildings or parts of buildings may function better for longer if they are purpose built for key operators, anchor retail tenant or leisure use such as a cinema. However, these spaces are more likely to be changed most radically during an intervention to meet alternative functions in the future.\nSocial implications: For adaptability to be possible and demonstrable it needs to be clearly communicated at all project stages by definition of design life phases in the brief, specification, construction contract and facilities management documentation. Adaptability can be monitored in the longer term by land registration mapping, planning and building control functions in the local authority as these extend above and beyond the scope of each owner or user, however it would be advisable for facilities managers to adopt clear documentation regarding the performance parameters expected at first occupation and how modifications and interventions can be applied for flexibility and adaptability to changing requirements.\nOriginality/value: This review of current practice in UK retail development has demonstrated that although design teams are thinking about the future of developments, they are also driven to meet current requirement because the immediate future is more important than the extended future for generating retail turnover. They are not expected to document any evidence of adaptability considerations. Retailers are equally unable to speculate far enough into the future and depend on immediate annual sales results to remain economically sustainable. This impasse will ultimately prevent any change in the status quo, and legislative intervention may be necessary if society prefers to see buildings within the urban fabric last longer than the terms of a 15-year lease.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Guidance for research-practice partnerships (R-PPs) and collaborative research	[ "Knowledge sharing", "Action research", "Evidence-based practice", "Research methods", "Implementation", "Research methodology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It often takes many years for treatments and management interventions that have been found to be more effective to be widely implemented. Interest about, and research into \"closing the gap between research and practice\" has grown over the last fifteen years. There are a number of explanations for the gap. Research and researchers are sometimes criticized as being \"too distant\" from real practice in health services (Kessler and Glasgow, 2011; van de Ven and Johnson, 2006). Some practitioners say that the findings of research do not give useful guides to action (Campbell et al., 2009). For their part, researchers point to the apparent disinterest of some practitioners in the findings of research, and to the work pressures that make it difficult for practitioners to give time to changing their practice. Sometimes, researchers also note an unwillingness or inability of practitioners to think through what a particular piece of research might mean for practice in their setting.\nFindings from the overview of the literature about research-practice partnerships: Our review of the literature identified many different \"approaches\" to partnership research, which overlap both in concept and application. Broad categories of R-PPs described in the literature include:\nImplications for research-practice partnership programs: As regards VA research or UK CLAHRCs, our overview of the literature did not reveal a partnership typology that adequately characterized or categorized the research we had reviewed or which was useful for the future. In the VA, several partnership approaches have been, or are being, used, including PBRNs (Frayne et al., 2013), practice-based quality improvement research (Rubenstein et al., 2010), and action research. Similarly, there are a range of collaborative research approaches used in UK CLAHRCs and elsewhere.\nConclusion: Our review of published reports about research-practice partnerships revealed a wide range of understandings and conceptualizations of R-PPs in healthcare. The details about the partnership arrangements were often not described, unlike the intermediate outcomes of partnerships such as scientific publications. It was possible, however, to define a distinct set of approaches with substantive collaboration, which we classify here as R-PPs and for which we define criteria so as to distinguish them from many that are only partnerships in name but not in substance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence based guidance to researchers and practice personnel about forming and carrying out effective research partnerships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A review of the literature, interviews and discussions with colleagues in both research and practice roles, and a review of the authors' personal experiences as researchers in partnership research.\nFindings: Partnership research is, in some respects, a distinct \"approach\" to research, but there are many different versions. An analysis of research publications and of their research experience led the authors to develop a framework for planning and assessing the partnership research process, which includes defining expected outcomes for the partners, their roles, and steps in the research process.\nPractical implications: This review and analysis provides guidance that may reduce commonly-reported misunderstandings and help to plan more successful partnerships and projects. It also identifies future research which is needed to define more precisely the questions and purposes for which partnership research is most appropriate, and methods and designs for specific types of partnership research.\nOriginality/value: As more research moves towards increased participation of practitioners and patients in the research process, more precise and differentiated understanding of the different partnership approaches is required, and when each is most suitable. This article describes research approaches that have the potential to reduce \"the research-practice gap\". It gives evidence- and experience-based guidance for choosing and establishing a partnership research process, so as to improve partnership relationship-building and more actionable research.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Impact of PMS on organizational performance and moderating effects of context	[ "Organizational performance", "Performance measurement systems", "Moderating effects", "Government agencies", "Organizational context" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Performance measurement arises as a way to make managers accountable and improve organizational performance (Brignall and Modell, 2000; Modell, 2001; Ellingson and Wambsganss, 2001; Johnsen, 2005; Kaplan, 2001; Niven, 2003; Budding, 2004; Walker et al., 2011). Townley et al. (2003) argue that performance measurement is an increasingly pervasive aspect of organizational life, especially in the public sector. The development of performance measurement systems (PMS) has been studied under a multi-theoretical approach, with a central focus on the contingency theory and the neo-institutional approach (see e.g. Geiger and Ittner, 1996; Bogt, 2003, 2004, 2008; Dooren, 2005; Laegreid et al., 2006, 2007; Verbeeten, 2008; Ferreira and Otley, 2009; Johansson and Siverbo, 2009). Contingency-based studies call for empirical research that includes organizational performance as a dependent variable (Otley, 1980) and management control systems (MCS) and organizational context as independent variables (Chenhall, 2003; Gerdin and Greve, 2008). Moreover, neo-institutionalists are doubtful about the effective changes introduced by management and accounting innovations (DiMaggio and Powell, 1991; Gupta et al., 1994; Carruthers, 1995; Geiger and Ittner, 1996). Many scholars have found that if the implementation of new management and accounting practices is intended to satisfy government mandates, they will be used to obtain legitimacy and external support rather than contribute to the decision-making process (Carruthers, 1995; Geiger and Ittner, 1996; Modell, 2001). Indeed, when the influence of isomorphism (coercive, mimetic, and normative) is significant, considerable decoupling is expected (Carruthers, 1995). Several scholars call for research that complements these two theoretical trends (Drazin and Van de Ven, 1985; Scott, 1987; Gresov, 1989; Gupta et al., 1994; Geiger and Ittner, 1996)[1].\n2. Background and hypotheses: 2.1 Performance and PMS\n3. Research design: 3.1 Research setting in a Portuguese context\n4. Measurement of variables and descriptive statistics: 4.1 Dependent variables\n5. Results: 5.1 Direct effects on performance\n6. Discussion and conclusions: Based on assumptions of the contingency theory, we investigate whether PMS and the organizational context are associated with organizational performance (holistic approach) with evidence gathered from Portuguese Government agencies. The multiple regression analysis estimates direct and moderating effects on the organizational performance. Overall, the results provide strong empirical evidence to support the hypothesis regarding the positive (direct) effects of PMS and the agencies context on the organizational performance. Little evidence was found for the moderating effects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of performance measurement systems (PMS) on organizational performance in public sector. In addition, it investigates the moderating effects of the organizational context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a multivariate analysis, the authors investigate the extent of PMS used among Portuguese Government agencies and their effects on organizational performance. Data were gathered from the only survey (based on their Comparative Public Organization Data Base for Research and Analysis survey) applied to the Portuguese Government agencies.\nFindings: The authors find that the extent to which agencies use PMS is positively associated with the organizational performance (in a multidimensional perspective). Moreover, the organizational performance is contingent upon the fit between PMS and the agency's context in light of the contingency theory (especially the orientation to citizens and the level of competition).\nOriginality/value: Although prior research has studied the use of PMS in public sector organizations, one question that has not been effectively answered is whether performance information is effectively used to improve public sector performance. In this way, this paper contributes to the understanding of the impact of PMS on the organizational performance, providing empirical evidence in a country that is in a period of \"transition\" in the introduction of NPM reforms.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Technological entrepreneurship and policy environment: a case of China	[ "Techology‐led strategy", "Entrepreneurialism", "China", "Innovation", "Economic policy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Technological entrepreneurship is an important way to commercialize technological innovations. We have seen countries across the world use policy instruments to support technological entrepreneurship. With no exception, the Chinese government has launched many initiatives, e.g. the high-tech park, and state university science park, to inject dynamism into China's entrepreneurship activity. However, there is lack of empirical evidence to show the extent to which entrepreneurial policy influences technological entrepreneurship (TE).There are two main streams of research in the literature about technological entrepreneurship: one is the study of high-technology entrepreneurship (Smilor et al., 1989; Bahrami and Evans, 1995; Kenney and Burg, 1999), the other explores public research commercialization and spin-off of universities (Smilor et al., 1999; Gregorio and Shane, 2003; Hindle and Yencken, 2004). In terms of measures of technological entrepreneurship activity, there exist two strands including demographic method and firm statistics method. For example, while indicators like self-employment rates and total entrepreneurial activity were employed by some scholars (Audretsch and Evans, 1994; Reynolds, 2000; Lundstrom and Stevenson, 2001a, b), indicators such as entrant rates, firm ownership rate or organization per capita were employed by others (Audretsch and Thurik, 2001; Gartner and Shane, 1995). All of these indicators measured entrepreneurship from the end-result criterion, and only measured independent/individual entrepreneurship (IE) without taking into account corporate entrepreneurship.Research into entrepreneurship policy originates from, but is distinct from, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) policy. Early research on SME policy included almost all economic policies such as macro-policy, deregulation, financial support, provision of consultant and advisory services, information services, sales opportunity, intellectual property protection, entrant barrier, bankruptcy policy, registration procedures etc. (Verheul et al., 2001; Gnynawali and Fogel, 1994; Audretsch and Thurik, 2001). It is now agreed, however, that not all public policies can be put under the umbrella of entrepreneurship policies. Yet, the broad definition of entrepreneurship has made it difficult to determine which policy influences entrepreneurship activity of a region or nation directly (Hart, 2001). Empirical research into the impact of entrepreneurship policy on technological entrepreneurship therefore remains limited, except studies on the Silicon Valley entrepreneurship ecosystem (Bahrami and Evans, 1995), relationships between entrepreneurship activity and its contextual factors (Reynolds et al., 2001), and policies and the level of entrepreneurship activity (Lundstrom and Stevenson, 2001a; Hung and Chu, 2006).Gaps in extant research exist. First, studies in the literature focused mainly on high-technology entrepreneurship, which covers only part of the domain of technological entrepreneurship. To know more about technological entrepreneurship and its determinants, it is necessary to extend research to a broader domain with the traditional technology sector included. Second, most studies focused on independent entrepreneurship, few concerned the combination of individual and corporate entrepreneurship. Third, most studies adopted the case study approach, with few using comparative study and statistical method to explore it.Our study proposed an integrated framework for investigation into relationships between entrepreneurship policies and technological entrepreneurship development. We introduced a set of indicators to measure technological entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship policy. Factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to analyse the cross-section data of 30 provinces in China.\n2. Technological entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship policy: an analytical framework: 2.1. Technological entrepreneurship\n3. Methods and measures: 3.1. Sample and data\n4. Results: 4.1. Factor analysis\n5. Conclusions and discussions: This study explores the differences of regional technological entrepreneurship and tests the impact of entrepreneurship policy on technological entrepreneurship. Based on the above analysis, the following conclusions and discussions are offered.First, there exists a considerable regional difference in Chinese technological entrepreneurship activity. This finding is consistent with the prior research (Li et al., 2004; Sui et al., 2005). Technological entrepreneurship activity reflects the extent of commercialization and corporate innovation of the region. Generally speaking, the leading status of technological entrepreneurship activity in Beijing and Shanghai will remain in the near future. Technological entrepreneurship in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong is developed largely due to their ability to adapt to the market. In order to enhance their advantage in technological entrepreneurship, local authorities must strengthen their support for innovation in private businesses. Different from prior research (Li et al., 2004; Sui et al., 2005), Shanghai is clustered into a single category. This reflects Shanghai's re-emergence as a vital economic center and the largest city in China. Beijing, as a political and cultural center of China, is clustered in a single category, which is consistent with prior research (Li et al., 2004; Sui et al., 2005). The main difference between our study and Li et al.'s (2004) lies in the different selected data. While Li et al. (2004) uses the high-technology entrepreneurship data, we extend entrepreneurship to general technology and cover all technological entrepreneurship.Second, regional entrepreneurship policy has positive impact on technological entrepreneurship. This is consistent with prior research (e.g. Reynolds et al., 2001; OECD, 2001). Different from Li et al. (2004) and Sui et al. (2005), we find evidence to suggest that government policy plays a vital role to enable Chinese technological entrepreneurship and that the regional government is an active actor in promoting entrepreneurship as it is consistent with the regional government's economic agenda (Zhang, 2006). Additionally, the integrated factor of technological entrepreneurship is significantly correlated with the integrated factor of entrepreneurship policy, suggesting that regional governments should explore a more integrated, a holistic, policy-oriented approach rather than a fragmented, programme-oriented approach (Hindle and Rushworth, 2002; Lundstrom and Stevenson, 2001a). A good entrepreneurship policy environment results from the cooperation of all entrepreneurship policies which leads to a positive entrepreneurship ecosystem (Bahrami and Evans, 1995).Third, the cluster analysis shows that technological entrepreneurial activity in different regions has its strengths and weaknesses in terms of technology, funds, intelligence, and market. Because differences in infrastructure and stock of sources exist in regions, local governments must determine their priority of development in accordance with regional conditions and take an evolutionary view in the development of technological entrepreneurship policies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This study aims to better understand the level of China's regional technological entrepreneurship (TE) and the impact of entrepreneurship policy on TE through an integrated research framework.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper uses factor analysis and regression analysis to analyse regional TE and entrepreneurship policy with the data of 30 provinces in China in 2003 and 2004.\nFindings: - The research finds that there are regional variations in the level of technological entrepreneurship in China and that regional entrepreneurship policy has considerable impact on technological entrepreneurship activity. Furthermore, a holistic rather than a fragmented policy is needed to improve the level of regional technological entrepreneurship activity.\nPractical implications: - The research findings are valuable for policy makers who are responsible for promoting technological entrepreneurship activity and for entrepreneurs who need to be aware of opportunities as a result of entrepreneurship policy.\nOriginality/value: - A new integrated framework is developed for empirical analysis of technological entrepreneurship in China.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A framework for selection of material handling equipment in manufacturing and logistics facilities	[ "Materials handling equipment", "Industrial design" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Physical resources in facilities should be dealt with properly in order that they efficiently support operations (Childe, 2003). An important aspect of dealing with physical resources is their design. One of the physical resources in manufacturing and logistics facilities that shoulds be well designed is their material handling (MH) systems. Without a well-designed MH system, manufacturing operations could encounter delays, production times could increase, products could get damaged or contaminated, and cost of movement within a facility could increase thereby increasing operating cost. A well-designed MH system would on the other hand help manufacturing and logistics facilities improve their productivity, enhance quality of products, and reduce operating costs. An MH system is also a significant component of supply chains that affect their operations (Hassan, 2006).Designing an MH system is a step among several steps required in the design of manufacturing and logistics facilities (see Chapter 2 in Tompkins et al., 2003). The complexity of designing such facilities forces designers to consider design steps one by one with every step receiving information from preceding steps. Even related design steps involving facility layout, MH system, and flow paths are also considered one by one due to the complexity of considering them jointly (Chittratanawat and Noble, 1999; Ioannou, 2007). Thus, designing an MH system is usually treated as a problem in its own right. For example, it is considered one of the steps in procedures for designing warehouses (Hassan, 2002; Baker and Canessa, 2009). Of paramount importance in the design of MH systems is selection of MH equipment. That decision requires determining the type and number of equipment and their specifications.Selection of MH equipment has usually been made using analytical models (Hassan et al., 1985; Le-Anh and de Koster, 2006; Vis, 2006; Roodbergen and Vis, 2009) and expert systems (ES) (see recent examples in Cho and Egbelu, 2005; Kulak, 2005; Mirhosseyni and Webb, 2009). However, these approaches have limitations as follows:1. They have limited the number of equipment classes they consider and focused on transfer equipment (Table I). Thus, indispensable equipment in today's facilities needed for storage, identification, communication, information processing, and control, as well as support equipment is ignored. This limitation is a consequence of:* ignoring MH functions performed in a facility in the selection process; and* attempting to reduce computations and the size of data bases needed for storing equipment attributes, which increase as the number of equipment types considered increases.2. They consider one objective such as cost minimization whereas users of an MH system usually have other important objectives that have to be accounted for in the design such as safety, high throughput, and high-equipment utilization.3. They do not consider unique user requirements or issues important to managers such as effect of the MH system on the environment and its life-cycle.Besides, analytical models and ES, designers rely on experience, judgment, and familiarity with particular equipment to select from but that approach carries within it some bias toward certain equipment types (Matson et al., 1992). Designers may also depend on rules of thumb and simple tools involving matrices, spread sheets, and decision trees (Baker and Canessa, 2009). Further, the few frameworks available in the literature for selection of MH equipment (Apple, 1977; Schultz, 1997; Tompkins et al., 2003) lack details on identification and selection of equipment, and consideration of requirements.In retrospect, there is a need for an approach that assists facility design practitioners, industrial managers, and developers of ES avoid the aforementioned limitations of existing approaches for MH equipment selection, and design more complete MH systems. Other researchers (Apple and McGinnis, 1987; Matson et al., 1992; Chan et al., 2001) also pointed to the need for such an approach. This paper presents a framework for the selection of indoors MH equipment needed for handling discrete loads in manufacturing and logistics settings. It identifies important issues to consider and actions to take in the selection of MH equipment, and emphasizes the role of user requirements, objectives, and functions in facilities in equipment selection. A new way of prioritizing requirements in the selection of equipment is also presented. The framework considers various classes of handling equipment without the need for using large data bases to store equipment attributes. It is applied to a real life facility and several examples from the literature.The paper assumes some familiarity on the reader's part with MH and proceeds as follows. Factors that facility design practitioners, industrial managers, and developers of ES have to account for in the selection of MH equipment and their implications are discussed in the next section. Ordered steps of the suggested framework are then presented and validated by a real life example of a pharmaceutical facility and examples from the literature. Benefits of the framework to industrial managers, facility design practitioners, and ES developers, and areas of research needed on some of the steps of the framework are summarized in the conclusion of the paper.\n2 Factors and issues in selection of MH equipment: Significant factors and issues in the selection of MH equipment and their implications on the design are discussed below. Industrial managers and facility design practitioners have to participate in formulating some of these issues and factors, and provide information about them in order to design a complete and adequate MH system.Complexity of designing an MH system\n3 Framework for selection of MH equipment: The suggested framework draws on concepts from systems engineering (SE) where it focuses on the role of functions, requirements, and objectives in equipment selection, accounts for the environment of the MH system and its life-cycle, and requires joint actions from facility managers and designers. It considers equipment selection in three ordered phases as one of the frameworks for application of SE (Blanchard and Fabrycky, 1998) does. Each phase provides input to the succeeding phase and a succeeding phase adds more details to the output of the preceding phase. The three phases are:1. Conceptual design where requirements, objectives, and functions of the MH system are specified, and categories (e.g. transfer and storage) and classes of equipment (e.g. conveyor, trucks, and racks) would be identified based on functions and some of the requirements.2. Preliminary design where an equipment type within a class of equipment (e.g. belt, roller conveyor) identified in conceptual design would be selected based on requirements and objectives.3. Detailed design where attributes of equipment (e.g. dimensions of conveyor and its shape) are prepared and the equipment would be ready to be acquired commercially off-the shelf.Steps of the suggested framework for the selection of indoors MH equipment used in manufacturing and logistics facilities for handling individual products and unit loads are summarized in Table II and discussed below in detail along with justification for each step. Each step involves several actions. It is assumed herein that the layout of the facility where the MH system will operate has already been designed, and is considered part of its environment.Step 1: specify and prioritize requirements\n4 An application of the framework: This section presents an example on application of the suggested framework to the selection of MH equipment in a new pharmaceutical facility described in Maloney (2002). MH equipment in the facility has already been selected as described in Maloney (2002). However, information therein about operations of the facility, and requirements and objectives of its managers are used herein to validate selection of MH equipment using functional decomposition, requirements, and objectives as the suggested framework emphasizes. The steps of the suggested framework as they apply to the pharmaceutical facility are as follows.Establishing requirements (Step 1)\n5 Conclusion: This paper presents a framework for selection of MH equipment in manufacturing and logistics facilities. The framework specifies issues to consider and actions to follow in the selection of MH equipment, presents a new way of prioritizing requirements, and strives to design complete systems. It identifies categories of equipment based on MH functions performed in a facility, and determines equipment classes and types based on requirements and objectives.The framework supports cooperation between designers and manufacturing, logistics, and facility managers in the selection of MH equipment. The latter group should not be isolated from the design task but participate in it as follows. First, they have to provide information about issues and factors affecting MH, functions performed in their facilities, and objectives, requirements, and characteristics unique to their working environments. Second, they have to ensure that the selection process does not focus on specific equipment but covers all types of MH equipment needed in a facility. That is, maintenance, support, communication, and identification equipment have to be considered in addition to other traditional MH equipment. Third, they have at the end of the design process to evaluate the design and ensure that equipment selected is capable of meeting their true needs and requirements. Further, they have to approve the design or request revisions if they are dissatisfied with any aspect of it.The framework also suggests ways that ES developers can benefit from in developing ES for the selection of MH equipment. These include decomposing equipment selection into sub-problems, depending on functions in identifying categories of equipment, and prioritizing requirements as the suggested framework does. In this manner, ES can reduce the size of the data base needed and consider various equipment categories, classes, and types.Several steps of the suggested framework do, however, require further investigation. First, the suggested manner of prioritizing requirements for some functions and equipment, should be extended to other MH functions and equipment not addressed herein. Second, procedures for preparing final specifications of equipment and matching them with those of commercial equipment are needed. Third, a simulation of the complete MH system should be part of any MH equipment selection procedure since it is needed for estimating performance measures of the system, studying compatibility of equipment and their capabilities, and evaluating the design.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to assist facility design practitioners, industrial managers, and expert systems (ES) developers identify important issues to consider and actions to follow in the selection of material handling (MH) equipment, overcome limitations of existing equipment selection approaches, and design complete MH systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A framework that specifies the steps that have to be taken in the selection of MH equipment is suggested. It identifies categories of equipment based on all handling-related functions performed in a facility, which allows consideration of various categories of equipment, and selects equipment classes and types from among candidates based on user requirements and objectives.\nFindings: - The suggested framework is capable of producing a wide range of equipment that performs various functions in a facility, and satisfies requirements and objectives without the need for using large data bases. Applying it requires cooperation of facility managers and designers.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Some of the steps of the suggested framework require further investigation and research.\nPractical implications: - Facility design practitioners, industrial managers, and developers of ES can make better selection among a large number of MH equipment and design complete systems by relying on functions performed in a facility, requirements, and objectives.\nOriginality/value: - A framework for selection of MH equipment is lacking in the literature. This paper fills a gap by presenting design issues and organized steps that practitioners, managers, and expert system developers working on selection of MH equipment have to address and follow in order to design complete MH systems.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Looking for stars among the workforce: Effective profiles to boost firm's success chances	[ "HPE", "Employee profiles", "High performance employees" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: To create a high-performance organization, it is essential that all employees discharge their duties well. But what exactly constitutes excellence on the work floor? Everyone is different, with some people able to work effectively with little or no supervision and others requiring considerable guidance. There are many contrasting views, including differences of opinion between managers and employees, based on differences in perspective and background. Employees' input into an organization includes their skills, knowledge, experiences and creativity. Organizations depend for their success - sometimes more so than they would like to admit - to a large extent of having good people working for them. But what is meant by \"good\"?\nBehavioral characteristics both managers and employees considered worthy: Second, evaluators work at different organizational levels, which causes differences in orientation and perspective, as a result of which they observe the behavior of subordinates and managers from different standpoints. Third, self-raters (the employees) have many more possibilities to observe themselves than supervisor raters (the managers) have to observe employees, which may mean that employees are in a better position than managers to know what is actually needed to be successful on the work floor.\nProfile for recruitment and another for development and coaching: The two profiles presented in the study take away some of the ambiguity around HPE. The distance between the two sets of views may be reduced in practice if managers and employees shared and discussed each other's HPE profiles. Organizations should be able to use these profiles to evaluate employees in terms of the required qualities for their functions as well as desired behaviors and work orientation, to subsequently bring the organization's development, evaluation and coaching programs in line with these. This would mean that organizations can offer their employees customized HRD programs that are tailored to the needs of both employees and managers.\nComment: This review is based on \"Two profiles of the dutch high performing employee\" by de Waal and Oudshoorn (2015). Their study seeks to explain the characteristics of an ideal employee and does so by asking the opinions of managers and of employees, resulting in two separate profiles, and comparing the two.\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: Two profiles for the ideal employee were found. First, a high-performing employee (HPE) profile was compiled based on the perspectives of managers, which can be used for evaluating employees and recruiting new employees. Second, an HPE profile was compiled based on the perspectives of employees themselves, which can be used for setting up development and coaching programs for employees.\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" } ]
Retail brand experience: scale development and validation	[ "Retailing", "Brand experience", "Scale development", "Retail brand", "Retail brand experience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past few decades, the retail sector has witnessed significant change (increased fashion consciousness among customers, more emphasis on experiential shopping, more demanding and assertive consumers, growing multiple channel retail strategies, retailer consolidation, globalization and technological advancements, etc.) and increased competition (Krafft and Mantrala, 2006). These changes have led to further change in not only the way business operations are conducted but also in emphasis on what to capitalize upon from a business point of view. For example, changes in the retail environment have necessitated well-designed multi-channel operations to provide better retail experiences to customers (Mathwick et al., 2001). Pine and Gilmore (1999) stressed that retailers were \"experience stagers\" and sources of relevant memories rather than merely providers of goods and services. According to Brocato et al. (2012), experience is a necessary component in the \"brick-and-mortar\" retail setting because of the inseparability of service-oriented deliveries. Studies have also termed brick-and-mortar retailers as the \"retail interactive theater\" because they create and provide pleasurable experiences to customers through activities such as organizing events, encouraging staff to offer suggestions to customers as and when required, educating consumers, etc. (Pine and Gilmore, 1999; Sands et al., 2008). Krafft and Mantrala (2006), in their book, \"Retailing in the 21st century\", named such customer experience management the \"third wave of marketing intelligence\". In recent years, retail organizations and academics have also acknowledged the importance of managing experiences evoked through retail brands (Mathews-Lefebvre and Dubois, 2013; Verhoef et al., 2009).\n2. Research on retail brand experience: a theoretical background: Studies suggest that customers visit a retail brand not to merely acquire goods; they also notice the ambience, merchandise display and services, etc., offered by the retailers (Jones et al., 2010). Studies also assert that offering products or services alone is not enough, and that extra efforts must be made to provide superior experiences to customers by managing all \"clues\" that an individual could notice in the buying process (Berry et al., 2006; Meyer and Schwager, 2007). Retailing and related literature views brand experience as inclusive of consumption experience (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982), shopping experience (Kerin et al., 1992), product experience (Hoch, 2002) and services experience (Otto and Ritchie, 1996). Such experiences constitute the overall brand experience (Brakus et al., 2009). From a consumer's perspective, brand experience enables a more holistic evaluation of a brand where brand experience is based on life cycle and context specific experiences. Consumer life cycle experiences refer to shopping experiences while context specific experiences represent experiences related to services and products (Nysveen et al., 2013).\n3. Scale development and validation procedure: The present study followed a structured scale development procedure (as suggested by Churchill, 1979; DeVellis, 2012; Gerbing and Anderson, 1988) which has been used in many scale development studies (Brocato et al., 2012). Existing literature on the retail and brand experience was reviewed to identify items for the scale. However, literature on retail brand experience domain is limited due to which an exploratory study (open-ended survey) was also conducted for identifying the items (following Brakus et al., 2009) intended to measure retail brand experience. Brainstorming sessions with academics and retail industry experts were also conducted. The steps followed for scale development are detailed in Table I.\n4. Discussion: Despite growing interest of practitioners and academics in the brand experience domain, understanding of the brand experience phenomenon in retailing remains limited. Also, there has been an absence of a reliable and valid measurement tool to measure retail brand experiences. This research is a dedicated effort to extend current knowledge of brand experience in retailing by developing a multi-dimensional scale of the retail brand experience across six related studies. The developed scale consists of 22 items classified under seven dimensions, which was found consistent both internally and across requisite samples in all six studies. The scale also passed several reliability and validity tests. Results revealed that retail brand experience predicts intentions to positive word-of-mouth and pay more. The present study also confirmed the test-retest reliability of the scale which means that retail brand experiences are relatively stable over time. Thus, both researchers and retail practitioners can confidently use the developed measures to effectively evaluate retail brand experience.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a multi-dimensional scale to measure retail brand experience.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Literature review and open-ended survey have been carried out to generate an initial pool of items. Item reduction has been done using exploratory factor analysis and validation of measures performed through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. A total of six separate studies have been conducted to develop and validate the retail brand experience scale.\nFindings: A 22-item seven-dimensional retail brand experience scale is developed. The proposed scale has exhibited sound psychometric properties based on the findings from different reliability and validity tests, as well as from robust scale replications across several different samples. Findings support that retail brand experience has a significant impact on consumer intentions (word-of-mouth and pay more).\nPractical implications: This research develops a set of retail brand experience measures that can provide retailers a way to examine the experiences evoked through retail brand-related stimuli.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first of its kind of its kind that develops and validates the measures of the retail brand experience.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Academics' experience of copyright: A case study of teaching at the University of Greenwich	[ "Academic libraries", "Copyright", "University of Greenwich", "University staff", "University teaching" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Copyright is a legal right that ensures an individual's or an organisation's intellectual property (IP) is protected from unlawful duplication or adaptation of their work. In the UK, this right is enshrined in the 1998 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. With the proliferation of various online sources and resources potentially available for teaching and study, and with the UK's recent significant reforms of copyright legislation (Intellectual Property Office, 2014), awareness and understanding of copyright has never been more relevant and important. This is especially true for higher education institutions (HEIs), all of which adhere to UK copyright law through the purchase of licences that allow material they have paid for to be used legally in teaching and learning. Examples of such licences are those of the Copyright Licencing Agency (2019), of the Educational Recording Agency (2017) and of the publishers of the many electronic journals and bibliographic databases to which the universities subscribe (JISC, 2014).\nLiterature review: As noted above, most of the literature on copyright in HEIs has focussed on students or ALs. Nonetheless, there does exist some work, mostly conducted outside of the UK, that is relevant to the copyright knowledge of academic staff.\nMethodology: The initial impetus for the study reported here was the establishment at the UoG in Autumn 2015, of the new post of Copyright Librarian (CL). This role is dedicated to the provision of copyright instruction at the UoG. Part of the CL's initial remit was to create a new training course and accompanying webpages aimed at academic staff about what is permissible under copyright when teaching. This study hence had the following objectives: to investigate current understandings of copyright principles at the UoG; to investigate where or how these perceptions and understandings had been gained; to investigate the extent of copyright compliance of academics when teaching; to discover the impact of the new copyright training programme at the UoG; and to examine the experience of UK ALs dealing with copyright transactions with academics.\nResults: The survey for academics at the UoG comprised 22 questions, 19 being mandatory and 3 optional. Ten questions used the Likert-scale approach to determine participant views and actions relating to copyright at the UoG. Five questions were dichotomous, and four were multiple-choice. Two questions requested demographic information, while one other required respondents to provide time-specific information. Following distribution via the ALs responsible for each of the UoG's departments, a total of 55 responses to the questionnaire were received from academics in 16 different departments. This total corresponds to less than 7 per cent of the 817 teaching staff across all of the UoG's faculties when the survey was conducted; a figure that could, in itself, be viewed as noteworthy as to the extent of academic involvement with copyright issues.\nDiscussion and conclusions: The great majority (82 per cent of the UoG academics believed that they possessed a fair knowledge (46 per cent) or better (36 per cent) of copyright. However, it must be remembered that not only was the sample small but also that it was self-selected, and it hence seems reasonable to assume that the respondents are more likely to have an interest in the subject than the UoG academics in general. Moreover, this self-perception was not translated into confidence in their abilities to answer copyright-related queries. Also, the heartening finding that copyright compliance for the overwhelming majority was something to be adhered to is at variance with the 80 per cent of academics who believed they might have infringed copyright while teaching. Finally, from the experience of running copyright workshops for the UoG academics, the CL at the institution stated that \"because of the questions they bring to the workshop [...] I think there is a lack of basic basic [sic] understanding\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to obtain a snapshot of attitudes and comprehension of the University of Greenwich (UoG) academics towards copyright and the impact of same on their teaching, complementing this with a survey of the experience of academic librarians (ALs) throughout the UK when dealing with faculty and copyright.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two questionnaires were created and circulated to capture information from two sampled groups: the UoG academic staff and UK-wide ALs. A total of 55 responses were received to the questionnaire distributed to the former, and 83 responses were received to the questionnaire distributed to the latter.\nFindings: The majority of the UoG academics believed they possessed a fair, or better than fair, understanding of copyright, with numerous respondents self-taught on the subject. Nevertheless, a significant number thought they might have broken copyright when teaching, while also revealing the belief that copyright was a limitation on their teaching. The AL survey suggested an average comprehension of copyright among academics, while noting that some of the latter felt a degree of antipathy towards copyright.\nOriginality/value: Although focused on a single institution, this study implies that copyright instruction for academic staff needs to be substantially improved, and it suggests the need for greater visibility of training programmes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How to become an inspirational leader, and what to avoid	[ "Emotion", "Leadership", "Authenticity", "Charismatic", "Inspirational" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: If great leadership were a paint-by-numbers exercise, great leaders would be more common(Daniel Goleman).\nIntroduction to inspirational leadership: What is leadership? A question that has been highly debated in the twenty-first century, yet no widely accepted definition or common consensus on how great leadership is defined has been found. In a contested discussion over the past two decades, a number of models have transpired which attempt to describe what makes a good leadership. In the following, the model of an inspirational leader is placed in context and contrasted with other leadership styles.\nIt requires more to lead than to manage: A great individual performance does not necessarily mean that the individual is a good leader. In his famous paper \"What Leaders Really Do\", Kotter (2001) gives his views on how the behaviour of true leaders differs from that of managers. The main differences he sees can be grouped in relation to how these three areas are dealt with: resources, people, and control. This work of Kotter is groundbreaking as it challenges the notion that leadership would be an innate quality, a concept which until then had dominated among scholars. Instead, Kotter assumes that leadership qualities can be acquired. Furthermore, leadership differs from management as the latter's primary concern would be to cope with complexity, whereas leadership would mainly focus on coping with fast change (Higgs and Dulewicz, 2016).\nHaving a focus for leadership: Now that leadership has been contrasted with management, the next question will be what it is that true leaders do which sets them apart? Goleman (2013) states that the primary task of a leader would be to direct the attention of others. To be able to accomplish this, leaders would have to focus their own attention on three main areas: yourself, others, and the wider world.\nWhy inspire?: It has been illustrated why it is important that leaders are inspiring by directing the attention of their followers (Shenhar, 2015; Howell and Shamir, 2005). Zenger and Folkman (2014) looked at what it is that inspiring leaders do to achieve this, and analysed 360deg-feedback of almost 50,000 leaders. Their findings show that employee commitment and engagement is the highest with leaders that show the ability to inspire. It would be the one single quality that subordinates would most value and like in their leader. Among the conclusions of their research was the notion that actions of inspiring leaders are tangible and specific. This would be visible to the subordinates as leaders spend time developing them, and set challenging goals (Zenger and Folkman, 2014). The behaviour of inspiring leaders would also be highly collaborative and encouraging of innovative ideas (Shenhar, 2015).\nEmotions and leadership: As has been established, inspirational leaders have an impact on the performance of their followers by motivating them on an emotional level (Murnieks et al., 2016). Emotional intelligence as ability to recognise nonverbal expressions and emotions in others has been found to be positively linked to transformational leadership (Rubin et al., 2005). Empirical research supports the notion that what Goleman (2013) considers empathy behind the focus on others - emotion recognition and interpersonal sensitivity - represents an important aspect in achieving positive organisational and personal outcomes (Rubin et al., 2005). The definition of transformational leadership which Rubin et al. (2005) have used for their study, namely, that transformational leaders articulate a vision of the future, act as a role model, foster group goals, set high performance expectations, provide support to followers' individual needs, and challenge followers through intellectual stimulation (Podsakoff et al., 1990) is in line with the main aspects of the concept of inspirational leadership (Joshi et al., 2009). Given the overlap with characteristics of what makes inspirational leadership, their findings on the role of leaders' emotional intelligence and personality traits could be understood to be applicable to inspirational leaders accordingly.\nThe inspiration continuum: Following the theoretical aspects of inspirational leadership, it would be useful for practitioners to have a tool at hand which helps them measure and assess how successful they are in implementing these theories. Love (2009) considers the most valuable attribute of inspiring leaders to distribute roles to employees in line with their strengths, skills and interests. Along those qualities, she developed the \"Inspiration Continuum\" with ten characteristics of inspirational leadership: authenticity, defined as inspirational leaders being consistent in their actions; reliability understood as not confusing others with erratic behaviour but can be counted on; anchored, seen as being well positioned in current issues and trends; optimistic defined as focussing on abundance and possibility despite difficulties and challenges. She also considers self-awareness a quality of inspirational leaders as they are aware of their strengths and weaknesses and work on them.\nBeing authentic: Considering the characteristics of inspirational leaders, authenticity has emerged to be a reoccurring theme among the different views on this particular concept of leadership theory (Higgs and Dulewicz, 2016; Love, 2009). Avolio and Wernsing (2008) concluded the importance of authentic leadership is that more authentic leaders could help humanity to a more positive development, as inauthentic leadership would be at the root of many current dilemmas. Seidman (2013) calls for a shift in behaviour to acknowledge the need for trust and authenticity, as how we work together would be more important than what it is we do. While Banks et al. (2016) conclude that authentic leaders are not necessarily inspirational, on the flipside, leaders would not be able to genuinely inspire followers without being true to their values and goals.\nWhat to avoid: the risk of dependence: An inspirational leader motivates their followers by creating and presenting an appealing vision, using emotional arguments, and demonstrating enthusiasm and optimism, which leads to personal identification with the leader (Kark et al., 2003). While transformational leadership aims at transforming followers to be self-motivated and selfless, it can also nurture autocratic behaviour of leaders and a blind trust from followers. This is illustrated drastically by the \"great man theory\", or the \"Hitler problem\" - the challenge of how to identify and deal with unethical leaders acting under the pretext of transformational leadership, so-called pseudo-transformational leaders (Northouse, 2013). Followers can become weakened and dependent on their leader and his guidance. As they sense the leader as exceptional and extraordinary, their self-esteem and motivation hinges on the leader's approval and recognition (Yukl, 2010).\nPutting the theory into practice: Inspirational leaders can transform their people to overcome significant challenges and achieve outstanding results. As leaders in today's fast-pace, constant flux environment, it is challenging to not get caught up in daily operations and, under the pressure of producing results, neglect the needs of the people we work with. Striving to be an inspirational leader requires dedication and commitment, adapting a leadership style is a learning process rather than a task that is accomplished within a finite timeframe.\nConclusion: Numerous studies have found the benefits for productivity and effectiveness of transformational leadership (see Lee, 2014). To further refine this leadership style, it seems advisable for practitioners to adopt inspirational leadership. At the centre of the inspirational leadership theory stands a vision that empowers followers to act. Kotter's (2001) outline has illustrated that leadership differs from management primarily through its focus on maintaining the capability to cope with fast change, particularly in the way resources, people and control are dealt with. While this fundamental differentiation between managers and leaders generally holds true for any type of leadership, it becomes particularly obvious in a time where product-life-cycles are becoming increasingly shorter, and corporations are required to be more agile. A leader who enables their organisation to respond to change quickly in all aspects of its operations will consequently strive best and enable others to deliver exceptional results. An inspiring vision supports this by creating an empowered followership.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The leadership style of inspirational leadership has not gained substantial research attention. Studies have found inspirational leadership to be particularly relevant for practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the theoretical aspects of inspirational leadership and present practical steps for applying the theory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, inspirational leadership is defined in the context of other leadership theories, with particular emphasis on the vision that is central to inspirational leadership. Consequently, effective leadership behaviour is contrasted against management actions, to then define main areas leaders should focus on. Moreover, this paper outlines specific actions to be implemented in these focus areas.\nFindings: Comparing the different perspectives on inspirational leadership theory, it becomes evident that self-awareness and authenticity are the main foundations for inspiring followers and implementing a shared vision.\nPractical implications: A tool is presented for practical implementation that allows leaders to measure different characteristics of inspirational leadership and to assess their progress in these areas. In this context, this paper discusses the critical role of authentic behaviour and the challenge of showing the right level of authenticity as a leader. Special attention is given to authentic leadership development, and how organisations must work to avoid over-dependency on inspirational leaders.\nOriginality/value: The ideas outlined in this paper serve as a guide for leaders to practise inspirational leadership.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The significance of residential REITs in Japan as an institutionalised property sector	[ "Japan", "Institutional investors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Residential Real Estate Investment Trusts in Japan (residential J-REITs) have become an increasingly significant listed property sector globally and in Japan. Figure 1 shows the significance of residential J-REITs globally. Japan has the highest ratio of residential REITs to the composite REITs by market capitalisation (18 per cent) and the number of funds (15 per cent) globally. It exceeds the other global leading REIT markets, including the USA (14 per cent; 12 per cent), Australia (2 per cent; 4 per cent) and the UK (9 per cent; 13 per cent). Thus, residential J-REITs are observed to have a greater role compared globally and to the USA. Figure 2 depicts that residential J-REITs have grown from US$302.3m in July 2006 to US$21,087.8m in August 2018, an increase by 69.8 times since July 2006. With nine REITs and the total assets of US$21.1bn, residential J-REITs are the third largest sector in J-REITs, followed by industrial (No. 4; US$13.2bn), retail (No. 5; US$9.8bn) and specialty J-REITs (No. 6; US$6.1bn), and only exceeded by office (No. 1; US$36.9bn) and diversified J-REITs (No. 2; US$30.7bn) (see Table I), owing to the significance and stature of residential J-REITs globally and in Japan.\nSignificance of J-REITs: With 60 REITs and a market capitalisation of US$117.6bn, J-REITs rank No. 1 in Asia and No. 2 globally, representing 49.8 per cent of the Asian REIT markets and 6.6 per cent of the global REIT market, exceeded only by US-REITs (US$1,019.2bn) (EPRA, 2018). Given the significance of J-REITs globally and in Asia, it has been a popular capital destination for both local and international institutional investors in recent years. The J-REIT market comprises a wide range of property investors, including financial institutions (55.6 per cent of J-REIT holding), securities companies (9.2 per cent), business corporations (25.0 per cent) and foreigners (8.5 per cent) (ARES, 2016a). Specifically, 66 per cent of Japan institutional investors invest in J-REITs and 14 per cent of Japan pension funds include J-REITs in their portfolios (ARES, 2016b). Thus, J-REITs are mainly being observed as a listed property investment focus for major financial institutions, including insurers (e.g., AXA), pension funds (e.g. GPIF, Local Government Officials) and sovereign wealth funds (e.g., CIC, HKMA).\nSignificance of Residential J-REITs: Table II illustrates that Japan has the higher ratio of residential REITs to the composite REITs by market capitalisation (18 per cent) and the number of REITs (15 per cent) compared to the USA (14 per cent; 12 per cent), Australia (2 per cent; 4 per cent) and the UK (9 per cent; 13 per cent), signifying a strong stature of residential J-REITs in the international listed residential property investment space.\nMethodologies: Data sources\nResidential J-REIT performance analysis: Risk-adjusted returns\nProperty investment implications for residential J-REITs: Residential J-REITs are an important REIT sector available to both local and international investors seeking Japan's property investment exposure with liquid benefits. Given the solid residential property market fundamentals in Japan and liquid residential property investment exposure offered by residential J-REITs, there is an opportunity for residential J-REITs to become an institutionalised property sector going forward.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Residential Real Estate Investment Trusts in Japan (residential J-REITs) have become an increasingly significant listed property sector recently. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of residential J-REITs in a mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan by assessing the significance, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of residential J-REITs over July 2006-August 2018. The ongoing property investment implications for residential J-REITs are also identified.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using monthly total returns, the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits for residential J-REITs over July 2006-August 2018 are assessed. An asset allocation diagram is employed to assess the role of residential J-REITs in a mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan.\nFindings: Residential J-REITs generally delivered superior risk-adjusted returns compared with the other sub-sector J-REITs, stocks and bonds in Japan over July 2006-August 2018, with desirable portfolio diversification benefits in the full mixed-asset portfolio context. Importantly,residential J-REITs are observed as strongly contributing to the mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan across the portfolio risk spectrum, particularly in a post-GFC context. This also reflects that residential J-REITs provide high portfolio returns and strong portfolio diversification benefits in a mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan.\nPractical implications: Residential J-REITs are effective and liquid residential property investment exposure in Japan. The results highlight the strong risk-adjusted performance of residential J-REITs in Japan's mixed-asset portfolio context. This suggests institutional investors, particularly Japan institutional investors, should consider including residential J-REITs in their mixed-asset portfolios, as residential J-REITs are seen as a compelling investment product co-existing alongside the other sub-sector REITs and major asset classes in institutional investor portfolios in the context of Japan. This also confirms the effectiveness of institutionalised residential J-REITs. Given the solid residential property market fundamentals in Japan, an increased level of the institutionalisation of residential J-REITs can be expected.\nOriginality/value: The study is the first study to assess the effectiveness of residential J-REITs, via assessing the significance, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of residential J-REITs and their role in a mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan. This research enables more informed and practical property investment decision making regarding the value-added and strategic role of residential J-REITs as effective and liquid residential property investment exposure in Japan, as well as an increasingly institutionalised property sector going forward.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Education and experience impact leadership development psychological empowerment	[ "Leadership development", "Psychological empowerment", "Leadership education", "Leadership experience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Psychological empowerment has been discussed by several scholars in management and other fields with respect to its impact on the empowered individual and the relationships the individual has with others (Conger and Kanungo, 1988; Thomas and Velthouse, 1990; Spreitzer, 1995, 1996; Zhu et al., 2004). One significant area of organizational studies that psychological empowerment has been connected to is leadership. For example, there are studies on the role of psychological empowerment in change-oriented leadership (Spreitzer et al., 1999), ethical leadership (Zhu et al., 2004), servant leadership (Schneider and George, 2011), and studies about the motivation to lead (Hong et al., 2011) which is related to empowerment. While these studies are important to our understanding of psychological empowerment and leadership, the examination of psychological empowerment in a leadership development context has not been thoroughly investigated. Research studies on the conditions that promote leadership development vs those that undermine it are both theoretically and practically significant (Ryan and Deci, 2000). However, the research literature on leadership development is minimal compared to the emphasis put on it in practice (Campbell, 1971; Goldstein, 1980; Burke and Day, 1986; Ostroff, 1991; Day, 2000; Collins and Holton, 2004; Hannum and Craig, 2010).\nPsychological empowerment and leadership development: Psychological empowerment is a critical concept for both practitioners and researchers and merits continuous examination (Spreitzer, 1995). Empowerment is defined as a management practice in which decision-making authority is \"pushed\" from higher levels of an organization to lower levels by increasing the availability of resources and information to lower levels (Mainiero, 1986; Neilsen, 1986). Beyond the power sharing condition of empowerment, Conger and Kanungo (1988) insisted that there is also a psychological experience of empowerment for individuals. The psychological experience is one of motivational self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is defined as an individual's belief to perform activities with skill (Gist, 1987). Thomas and Velthouse (1990) added to the work of Conger and Kanungo (1988) and suggested that empowerment is an increased intrinsic task motivation. This motivation is based on four cognitions reflecting an individual's work role including competence, impact, meaning, and self-determination. Competence refers to an individual's belief in the ability to perform with skill (Gist, 1987). Impact refers to the degree an individual can influence outcomes (Ashforth, 1989). Meaning refers to the value a person puts on a goal (Thomas and Velthouse, 1990). Self-determination refers to the degree a person has the choice to initiate actions (Deci et al., 1989).\nMethods: Sample\nMeasures: Leadership education value\nResults: Table I presents the correlations and descriptive information, showing a significant correlation between leadership education value and psychological empowerment. Leadership experience was not significantly correlated to psychological empowerment. However, leadership experience and education value was positively related to psychological empowerment when gender, general work experience and view of leadership teachability were controlled for in the regression analysis shown in Table II. A normal probability plot was examined and through outlier, normality, and linearity diagnostics the data proved to be consistent with these assumptions. Based on these results, hypotheses one and two are supported.\nDiscussion: Summary\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to shed light on psychological empowerment in a leadership development context by addressing two questions. First, what is the role of leadership experience and education value in the psychological empowerment of leadership development? Second, are there significant differences in leadership development implications depending on the extent of psychological empowerment?\nDesign/methodology/approach: These research questions are addressed in an empirical study of n=256 individuals taking part in a leadership development course. The first question was analyzed with regression analysis and the second question was analyzed with analysis of variance and covariance after the individuals were categorized based on their psychological empowerment of leadership development.\nFindings: As hypothesized, leadership experience and leadership education value are significantly, positively related to the psychological empowerment of leadership development. Additionally, a higher psychological empowerment score did result in better leadership development implications. Conclusions for psychological empowerment and leadership development research are discussed.\nOriginality/value: There is limited research on psychological empowerment and leadership development. This study contributes to the literature by immersing psychological empowerment in a leadership development context and empirically testing theory driven hypotheses based on transformational learning theory and expectancy value theory.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Team entrepreneurial competence: multilevel effects on individual cognitive strategies	[ "Entrepreneurial teams", "Multilevel research", "Effectuation and causation", "Team entrepreneurial competence", "Team entrepreneurial experience" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Starting a new business as a team is different from doing it alone. While working alone is essentially dependent on individual capacity and one's personal ability to deal with contingencies, working as a team is dependent on team member capacities, coordinated direction and synchronization of effort (Kamm et al., 1990; Harper, 2008; Klotz et al., 2014). Team members coordinate work, congregate efforts, share knowledge and information, and develop mutual competencies, effectively constituting a superordinate entity that transcends the individual members (Marks et al., 2001).\nWhat is team entrepreneurial competence?: An entrepreneurial team is defined as a \"the group of individuals that is chiefly responsible for the strategic decision making and ongoing operations of a new venture\" (Klotz et al., 2014, p. 227). As many contemporary ventures are developed by a group of individuals rather than independent entrepreneurs by themselves (Harper, 2008; Schjoedt et al., 2013), it is important to understand the influence of teams on the new venture creation process. Two or more people, as a team, constitute a unit characterized by a combination of resources and knowledge that is more than the summation of resources and knowledge held by individual members, and thus represents additional value to the firm (Timmons, 1994; Cooper and Daily, 1997). The interdependence of individuals and their dynamic interaction in a team create superordinate and shared phenomena that transcend individual-level inputs or performance (Morgeson and Hofmann, 1999).\nTeam entrepreneurial competence and individual cognitive strategies: To the extent that entrepreneurial competence emerges as a valid construct at the team level, assessing its influence on individual team members becomes relevant. As a shared subjective sense of a team's entrepreneurial competence, this team-level variable could be expected to directly affect the behaviors and decision-making processes of individuals. Particularly important for entrepreneurs at the individual level are two unique cognitive reasoning strategies: effectuation and causation (Sarasvathy, 2001), which have been heavily emphasized in the literature (Karri and Goel, 2008; Chandler et al., 2011; Fisher, 2012; Reymen et al., 2015; Arend et al., 2016). The issue becomes one of determining how team entrepreneurial competence influences the tendency of individual team members to engage in more causal or effectual reasoning mechanisms.\nThe role of team entrepreneurial experience: Entrepreneurship is a \"lived experience\" impacting the emergence of both the entrepreneur and the venture. The individual experience is a critical contextual factor that affects learning, emotions and decision making as a venture unfolds (Morris et al., 2012). As such, having prior start-up experience can serve as an especially critical source of knowledge and learning during the entrepreneurial journey. Prior entrepreneurial experience is arguably a proxy for entrepreneurial expertise, as it provides the tacit and experiential knowledge that is useful for decision making (Gabrielsson and Politis, 2011).\nMethod: Sample and data collection context\nMulticollinearity and common method variance: Multiple analyses were conducted to investigate the threat of multicollinearity and common method variance in the data. Concerning multicollinearity, the highest correlation between any pair of independent variables, was 0.55 (see Table III). No variance inflation factor scores were greater than 1.9, indicating multicollinearity was not a concern, as each of these results falls within acceptable ranges. Common method variance threats were analyzed following the procedures described by Williams et al. (1989) and recommended by Podsakoff et al. (2012). All variables were loaded on one (common) factor to examine the fit of the confirmatory factor analysis model. The model fit for the single factor measure was poor (kh2=763.086; kh2/df=4.037; p<0.001; CFI=0.478; RMSEA=0.124). These results rule out the possibility of common method variance and, consequently, it is unlikely to bias the results.\nResults: Aggregation at the team level\nDiscussion: This study explores cross-level effects of a team's entrepreneurial competence and its collective entrepreneurial experience on the tendency for individual team members to rely on causal and effectual reasoning strategies. As hypothesized, team entrepreneurial competence has a significant positive impact on the cognitive reasoning strategies adopted by individual members of founding teams. These findings contribute to effectuation theory (Sarasvathy, 2001), suggesting that both effectuation and causation are positively influenced by team-level characteristics, particularly by the level of shared competencies for entrepreneurial activities among those constituting a founding team. As such, team-level characteristics and processes are relevant predictors that should be integrated into effectuation theory, further reinforcing the critical role of a multilevel perspective in advancing theory in entrepreneurship (Shepherd et al., 2010; Shepherd, 2011).\nConclusion: This study represents an effort to empirically develop knowledge about entrepreneurial teams and contributes to two literatures. First, it advances the literature on teams by introducing team entrepreneurial competence, suggesting that entrepreneurial teams are not merely the sum of their member's capabilities, or the cumulative combination of individuals with different knowledge and expertise, but they exist as a collective unit with a shared ability regarding their entrepreneurial capabilities. Thus, entrepreneurial phenomena that have proven to be important at the individual level can also play critical roles at the team level. As teams are especially prevalent in the founding of ventures in the contemporary environment, team-level phenomena offer much promise in explaining the dynamics of entrepreneurship, including both top-down influences and bottom-up processes. Further, with the current research, we provide clear evidence of top-down effects between team-level characteristics and the cognitive processes of individuals involved in founding a venture. Second, the study contributes to effectuation theory by showing that individuals engage both in effectuation and causation, highlighting the relevance of both reasoning strategies for the entrepreneurship process. Moreover, these results can be a step forward for effectuation theory as it demonstrates how team-level variables can meaningfully contribute to our understanding of the antecedents of causal and effectual reasoning. Beyond individual-level predictors, team processes, particular ones that produce higher levels of perceived team competence, can play a meaningful role in encouraging individuals to employ effectual reasoning.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of team entrepreneurial competence, a team-level construct representing the level of shared abilities toward entrepreneurial activities within a new venture team. A multilevel model of the influence of team entrepreneurial competence and team entrepreneurial experience on the cognitive strategies of team members is developed and tested.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 47 early stage entrepreneurial teams (144 individuals), a set of hypotheses regarding the effect of team entrepreneurial competence on team member reliance on effectual and causal reasoning, together with the moderating effect of team entrepreneurial experience, are tested.\nFindings: The results provide support for a positive multilevel association between team entrepreneurial competence and the reliance by team members on both causal and effectual reasoning strategies; members of teams with higher entrepreneurial competence and more entrepreneurial experience are more likely to engage in effectuation.\nResearch limitations/implications: Understanding how team-level predictors and moderators have a role in determining individual effectuation and causation strategies offers promise in advancing effectuation theory.\nPractical implications: Teams develop entrepreneurial competencies that transcend those of individual team members; where teams have more collective entrepreneurial experience, the effect on the tendency of individuals to engage in effectual reasoning is enhanced, which can be beneficial in highly uncertain contexts.\nOriginality/value: The results of this study are a step forward for effectuation theory, as it demonstrates the role of team-level variables in explaining individual causal and effectual reasoning.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Retail service quality in context of CIS countries	[ "Retailing", "Customer services quality", "Factor analysis", "Kazakhstan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Service quality is one of the most discussed and debated concepts in the service quality and service marketing literature because there is no consensus on its definition and measurement (Wisniewski, 2001; Schneider and White, 2004). The most commonly used definition of service quality is the extent to which a service meets customer needs; it also involves a comparison of customer expectations with their perceptions of actual service performance (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988; Lewis and Mitchell, 1990). The ability of service providers to understand and respond to customer needs has been identified as a key contributor to quality successes (Blanchard and Galloway, 1994). Companies attempting to deliver high-quality services often meet or exceed customer expectations. Service quality is considered as a vehicle for increasing value for customers and ensuring customer satisfaction (Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt, 2000). Because customers who are satisfied with service quality are most likely to remain loyal (Wong and Sohal, 2003), service quality helps in the retention and patronage of existing customers (Yavas et al., 1997). While service quality has been emphasized in developed countries, it was largely neglected during the Soviet era in countries that now make up the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Starting from this very low base, the service sector in these countries is currently observing a phenomenal growth. Kazakhstan, a CIS country, has experienced high economic growth since its independence in 1991, and many international service providers have made their way into this untapped market (Low and Freeman, 2007). The number of foreign entries into retail services in Kazakhstan has intensified the competitive environment of the industry. Retailers have realized the importance of service quality for improving their customer base and have attempted to measure it so they can identify appropriate areas for improvement.Service quality scales in the literature, such as SERVQUAL and SERVPERF, essentially measure non-retail services in terms of customer perception. The scales are not suitable for retail services because of their composite nature with quality of goods. Retail service activities - such as negotiating, locating merchandise, and interacting with different store personnel for returning merchandise - are all associated with quality of service as well as quality of goods. A new performance-based measurement scale - the Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS) - was developed by Dabholkar et al. (1996) to measure the quality of retail services. The scale has been widely tested in many developed and developing countries, and it has produced mixed results in application. Boshoff and Terblanche (1997) found the scale to be very useful in the context of department stores, specialty stores, and hypermarkets in South Africa. Mehta et al. (2000) found RSQS appropriate among supermarket consumers in Singapore. Kim and Jin (2002) reported that four of the five RSQS dimensions were useful for the USA and Korea. However, this scale has not been tested in the context of economies in transition, such as CIS countries, and the impact of the dimensions and sub-dimensions have not been identified for increasing the customer base. This research evaluates the applicability of the RSQS scale in the context of department stores, discount stores, and supermarkets in Kazakhstan; it also identifies the contribution of each dimension and sub-dimension of RSQS for increasing customer base.\nThe retail industry in Kazakhstan and other CIS countries: Kazakhstan is a member of the CIS, a grouping of independent states formerly part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the Republic of Georgia, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, located in Central Asia, is the world's ninth largest country with an area approximately 28 percent of the size of the USA, but it has only slightly more than 5 percent of the population of the USA. The population of Kazakhstan was estimated in July 2007 at 15,284,929 (CIA Factbook, 2008). Kazakhstan's economy is larger than those of all the other Central Asian states combined; this is largely due to the country's vast natural resources and a recent history of political stability. Because of its booming energy sector, economic reform, good harvests, substantial shifting of assets into the private sector, and foreign investment, Kazakhstan enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-2001 and 8 percent or more per year in 2002-2007. Aided by a strong growth and foreign exchange earnings, Kazakhstan aspires to become a regional financial centre, and it has created a banking system comparable to those in Central Europe (CIA Factbook, 2008). The increasing average income of more than $US11,000 per year - the highest in CIS countries after Russia - and the increased disposable income of citizens has attracted foreign companies to sell their goods and services in Kazakhstan. A number of department stores, discount stores, and supermarkets have been opened as joint ventures/subsidiaries between local investors and foreign retail chains. The list includes Turkey's Migros, France's Intergros, and Germany's Metro Cash & Carry. Other retail chains - such as Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Tesco - are considering the opportunity of expanding their business in Kazakhstan and other CIS countries. Retail outlets in Kazakhstan and other CIS countries can be broadly structured as outlined below (Robinson, 1998).Department stores/discount stores/supermarkets\nLiterature review: Measures of service quality\nMethodology: Sample selection, procedure, and size\nEmpirical assessment of the constructs of RSQS: A statistically reliable and valid scale of a construct can be applied by different researchers/practitioners in different studies. Without assessing the reliability and validity of scale, any analysis can possibly lead to incorrect inferences and misleading conclusions.Reliability analysis\nCross-validation of the RSQS model of service quality: To assess the factor structure of the RSQS scale, the four component models were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using AMOS 7.0. AMOS is a structural equation modelling (SEM), also called 'path analysis' software solution that extends standard multivariate analysis methods (Byrne, 2001). Many researchers have used AMOS to get additional insight into causal models and the strength of variable relationships (Dabholkar et al., 1996; Iwaarden et al., 2003; Jung and Hong, 2008). The items were combined (see note at end of each figure) using the key/procedure as detailed by Dabholkar et al. (1996) so that results would be comparable (Boshoff and Terblanche, 1997).Model 1 (five basic dimensions of retail service quality as first-order factors)\nRelationships among dimensions/sub-dimensions of RSQS and outcome variables: In this research, two outcome variables have been used as a measure of increasing the customer base of the retailers. The outcome variables are intention to shop and intention to recommend. To identify relationships among these two outcome variables and the dimensions and sub-dimensions of RSQS, the following four stepwise multiple regression models were executed using intention to shop and intention to recommend as dependent variables and the dimensions and sub-dimensions as independent variables.Stepwise multiple regression model I\nDiscussion and conclusion: This research finds that the RSQS model fits for measuring retail service quality in the context of Kazakhstan. Data has been collected from the department stores, discount stores, and supermarkets. So the research could be generalized to all related retail services. Using this model, retailers can identify the areas that are weak and need attention. If retailers are concerned with parsimony, they may use only the model with five basic dimensions (Model I). As no additional items are necessary to run the model with sub-dimensions (Model III), retailers may test this model to get additional information on sub-dimensions obtained by further partitioning the variance. Retailers can capture the extent of common variance or the extent to which the basic dimensions represent overall service quality by using this second-order factor model. This scale may also be used without using the structural models. Service quality analysis can be performed at the overall level (using the full scale in an additive fashion) and at the factor level (using items within a given sub-dimension in an additive fashion). By analyzing data at these different levels, managers of retail services can evaluate the overall quality and dimension quality for identifying problem areas within their stores to concentrate resources on particular aspects of service quality.This research also finds that the dimensions and sub-dimensions of RSQS can be used to increase the customer base of retailers. Among all the dimensions of RSQS, the personal interaction and physical aspects dimensions have higher contributions to increasing customer base. While the personal interaction dimension is the strongest contributor for increasing customer base by returning customers, the physical aspects dimension is the strongest contributor of increasing customer base through word of mouth. The sub-dimension level analysis finds that the retailers can increase customer base by inspiring the confidence of customers. For inspiring the confidence of customers, the retailers should employ employees who are knowledgeable in answering customer questions, are well-behaved, and who provide assurance of safe transactions.As Kazakhstan shares the same economic, social, and political background as other CIS countries, the retail sectors in those countries should have similar characteristics, and retailers in those countries may also use the RSQS for evaluating their retail service quality and identifying problem areas for improvement. As customers in CIS countries now have more choice, they are becoming more quality conscious, and they are more demanding in terms of service quality. Retailers need to assess their position in meeting customer expectations on a regular basis.Retailers and researchers in other transition economies in Asia may test the applicability of this scale and compare results with the results of CIS countries. This study could also be replicated in other retail settings.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This research aims to examine the applicability of the Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS) in retail stores in Kazakhstan, a country of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) that is in the transition stage from a controlled economy to a market economy. This research also attempts to identify the dimensions and sub-dimensions that contribute to increasing the customer base.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A sample of 220 shoppers from department stores, discount stores, and supermarkets in Almaty city, Kazakhstan, was surveyed to examine the validity and reliability of the five dimensions (physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving, and policy) and six sub-dimensions (appearance, convenience, promises, doing-it-right, inspiring confidence and courteousness/helpfulness) of RSQS. The findings are cross-validated hierarchically using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Step-wise regression methods are used to identify the dimensions and sub-dimensions contributing to increasing the customer base.\nFindings: - The research finds that the RSQS structure is a good fit in the Kazakhstan retail setting. The five dimensions and six sub-dimensions together provide significant usefulness in measuring the quality of retail services. The research also finds that while all the dimensions and sub-dimensions have a positive relationship, two dimensions (personal interaction, physical aspects) and one sub-dimension (inspiring confidence) are strongly related to increasing the customer base through return customers and word of mouth from satisfied customers.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The present study does not distinguish applicability of the RSQS in the different formats of the retail store. Future research should examine the impact of the different retail formats in using the scale for measuring retail service quality.\nPractical implications: - Prospective and existing retail service providers who place a high priority on quality can use this instrument to track the high growth potential of the retail sector in CIS countries. It will help to measure their services and increase their customer base by targeting the appropriate dimensions and sub-dimensions.\nOriginality/value: - The authors believe that this research reveals new insights about the retail sector in the context of CIS countries. This research also has managerial and research implications for designing and formulating operations strategy in providing retail services for new markets.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Encouraging knowledge contribution in IT support: social context and the differential effects of motivation type	[ "Supervisor support", "Knowledge contribution", "Intrinsic motivation", "External motivation", "Information technology support", "System administrator" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge management systems (KMSs) are defined as:\n2. Knowledge contribution tasks: Knowledge contribution is essential to KMS success, yet previous KM literature often treats knowledge contribution as a unitary concept (Kankanhalli et al., 2005; Phang et al., 2009; Wasko and Faraj, 2005). One notable exception is from Boh and Wong (2013), who differentiate knowledge-sharing mechanisms. Some other studies differentiate intention to share knowledge. For example, Bock et al. (2005) examine two types of intention to share knowledge:\n3. Theoretical foundation and hypotheses development: The main theoretical foundation of this study is SDT (Ryan and Deci, 2000). SDT explains individuals' \"inherent growth tendencies and innate psychological needs that are the basis for their self-motivation as well as for the conditions that foster those positive processes\" (Ryan and Deci, 2000, p. 68), providing a framework through which the authors can investigate not only the outcomes of motivation, but also the supporting conditions of motivation.\n4. Method: In this section, the authors discuss the setting, participants, data collection, measurement and data analysis.\n5. Discussion: While previous literature has examined various factors influencing knowledge contribution, few studies have tried to differentiate various kinds of knowledge contribution tasks. Based on previous literature on KM and psychology (SDT), this study tries to gain a deeper understanding of knowledge contribution by examining how different knowledge contribution tasks are promoted by different types of motivation, and how intrinsic motivation is affected by social factors. The results show that different kinds of motivation lead to different knowledge contribution tasks: while intrinsic motivation is significantly associated with challenging knowledge contribution, external motivation is significantly related to mundane knowledge contribution and negatively related to challenging knowledge contribution. Additionally, supervisor support helps support intrinsic motivation, but coworker support does not. These findings have important theoretical and practical contributions.\n6. Conclusion: Motivating employees to contribute knowledge to KMS remains challenging for organizations. This study develops a theoretical model to examine how various types of motivation results in different types of knowledge contribution tasks. Based on the data collected from a Fortune 500 company, the authors find that while intrinsic motivation is significantly associated with challenging knowledge contribution, external motivation is significantly related to mundane knowledge contribution. These results show that the concept of motivation and knowledge contribution should not be treated as a single construct by researchers. Additionally, practitioners may support employees' different types of motivation, depending on specific knowledge contribution tasks desired. This study is limited by the context and the sample examined, and future studies can extend this study in additional contexts, and further examine additional types of extrinsic motivation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate how to promote two types of knowledge contribution tasks. The authors focus on the role of supervisor and coworker support on motivation, and their effects on two different contribution tasks. Motivating employees to contribute knowledge is quite challenging. While previous studies have tried to understand how to promote knowledge contribution, few have differentiated between knowledge contribution tasks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Information technology support was chosen as the context of this study, and data were collected from system administrators within a Fortune 500 company via a web-based survey.\nFindings: Results show the differential effects of two forms of motivation on different contribution tasks, and supervisor support is positively associated with intrinsic motivation. Specifically, while intrinsic motivation is positively associated with challenging knowledge contribution, external motivation is positively related to mundane knowledge contribution and negatively related to challenging knowledge contribution.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the current literature by providing a deeper theoretical understanding of knowledge contribution tasks, and contributes to practice by offering suggestions on how to better motivate employees within organizations and promote different knowledge contribution tasks.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Logistics outsourcing: a structured literature review	[ "Outsourcing", "Logistics", "Literature review", "3PL", "Supply chain management", "Third-party" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the last 25 years, outsourcing has emerged as one of the key globally focussed supply chain strategies (Akbari and Hopkins, 2016; Miah et al., 2014; Pettersson and Segerstedt, 2013; Willcocks, 2011). After the mid-1990s, the importance of supply chain management (SCM) increased noticeably among practitioners (Konig and Spinler, 2016). As a result, the study of supply chain and outsourcing has increased exponentially. The definition of supply chain refers to the series of end-to-end processes to produce products or provide services to the final consumer (Christopher, 2016; Winter and Knemeyer, 2013). SCM is the planning and control of management operations and activities (Melo et al., 2009; Varsei et al., 2014). In developing markets, with increasing customer demands, outsourcing non-core business functions has become a commonplace supply chain strategy for many companies and organisations (Pettersson and Segerstedt, 2013; Schniederjans et al., 2007).\n2. Overview of logistics outsourcing: 2.1 Logistics outsourcing\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Prelude to literature review\n4. Review and discussion: This section includes the review summary as per our structure and review approach for this paper. The results of the review are shown in the following figures and tables to verify and validate the sources for the subsequent analyses.\n5. Conclusion: This paper meaningfully contributes to the current logistics and supply chain literature, as it presents and examines an overview of the research into logistics outsourcing over the past 25 years by analysing variables, such as research designs and methods, data analysis techniques, geographic locations, industry engagements, year of publication, publishers, university and author affiliations. Further, this review enables us to highlight the trends, opportunities and future directions in the area of logistics outsourcing and answers all three research questions raised earlier. In response to RQ1, the research provides a comprehensive review of 263 articles, published from 1991 to 2016, covering 77 different peer-reviewed journals, identifying various research designs and methods and data analysis techniques. To answer RQ2, the paper examined different perspectives including; authors, publishers and universities that are most active in publishing logistics outsourcing research, practicing countries and industries, research design, methods and techniques. Based on the answers to the previous two questions, RQ3 was answered by revealing the gap and motivating the direction for future research in the field of outsourcing logistics.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a structured literature review (SLR) and systematic insight into logistics outsourcing research, in order to identify gaps in knowledge, and provide future research direction in the logistics outsourcing discipline.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper identifies and synthesises information from academic journals and examines research designs and methods, data analysis techniques, geographic locations, industry engagements, year of publication, publishers, university and author affiliations. A collection of online databases from 1991 to 2016 were explored, using the keywords \"third-party\", \"logistics\" and \"outsourcing\" in their title and/or abstract, to deliver an inclusive listing of journal articles in this discipline area. Based on this approach, a total of 263 articles were found and data were derived from a succession of variables.\nFindings: There has been a significant increase and concentration by researchers over the past 25 years focussing on logistics outsourcing. A need to implement best practice has been universally identified, owing to increasing global supply chain complexity. This analysis shows that only seven literature reviews were published in the logistics outsourcing discipline. Additionally, this study revealed that 42 per cent of the work in this field was found to be survey based and this trend in research indicates the development of the structural equation modelling and multi-criterion decision-making methods. Investigations between 2010-2012 and 2015-2016 accounted for 151 of the total 263 articles published. Finally, reverse logistics is an area that requires special attention.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper is limited to a review of academic articles obtainable from online databases, containing the words \"logistics\" and \"outsourcing\" in the title and/or abstract. Additionally, only papers from high quality, peer-reviewed journals were evaluated. Other academic sources such as books and conference papers were not included in this study.\nOriginality/value: This review will provide an increased understanding of the existing state of current research, trends and future research directions in the logistics outsourcing discipline.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An empirical framework of financial characteristics and outperformance in troubled economic times: Evidence from the restaurant industry	[ "United States of America", "National economy", "Financial performance", "Restaurants", "Financial outperformance", "Economic downturns" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The credit crisis and following recession plagued the US economy during 2008 and 2009 (Allen, 2008; Mealey, 2008). As the biggest private employer in the US that hired almost 12.7 million employees in 2010 (NRA, 2010a, NRA, 2010b), the restaurant industry comprised approximately 4 percent of the GNP, and felt the effects of the economic recession early (NRA, 2009). Previous studies provided evidence that the US restaurant and club industries have borne the brunt of the economic downturn (Allen, 2008; Ferreira et al., 2012).In addition, the industry overall experienced soft sales, with unclear future growth (Allen, 2008). Rising gas prices, food costs, foreclosure, inflation, and recession were often cited by industry reports to have caused the observed decline in average consumer visits (e.g. Ferre, 2008). Consequently, poor financial performance has become more commonplace for restaurant firms. It was suggested that the restaurant industry en masse has not yet sufficiently institutionalized and communicated systematic formulas for success to safeguard against and lower threats of failure (Camillo et al., 2008). Therefore, this study seeks to answer the following question: What financial characteristics contribute to restaurant outperformance during a recessionary time?Focusing on challenging economic times, this study proposes an empirical framework designed to investigate the economic and financial characteristics associated with outperformance, defined as a restaurant firm that manages to generate a return on asset (ROA) greater than that of the industry median, for US public restaurant firms. Results of this study suggest specific variables that are instrumental in firm success during troubled economic times and offer timely financial information for current restaurant practitioners as well as those wishing to enter the industry.\nLiterature review: Background\nTheoretical underpinnings and the empirical framework: Competition and strategic management\nMethodology: Modeling outperformance\nResults and discussion: Summary statistics are reported in Table I. From the sampled years this study collected 386 firm-year observations from public restaurant companies. Consistent with prior studies such as Enz et al. (2001), this study finds extreme values exerted significant influence over the arithmetic means of variables of interest; while have limited impact on the relevant medians. All variables of interest computed in deviation form appear to span a wide range. Two subsamples drawn from the full sample - Outperformance Subsample and Underperformance Subsample - exhibit, in general, significant differences, providing preliminary evidence that the empirical dimensions identified based on prior research are relevant and useful to predict the probabilistic impact of outperformance.Pearson correlation results are reported in Table II. Overall, reasonable correlations are observed between independent variables and multicollinearity does not appear to pose significant problems based on VIF test results.Findings for model (1) are reported under Column (1) in Table III. It appears that the proposed empirical framework offers an excellent explanatory power with a Pseudo R-square value of almost 83 percent; indicating a reasonably complete system and sufficient power to identify outperformance with high level of accuracy. Further, to account for impact of potential hteroscedesticity, this study computed White's (1980) error. Comparing individual firm characteristics with the relevant industry medians provides an opportunity to explore the impact of any such differences on firm outperformance in challenging economic times. Specifically, liquidity did not appear to offer a significantly edge to firm in difficult times as the impact factor associated with Dev.CR (x1) was insignificant. Dev.MktSh (x2) exhibited a coefficient estimate that was positive and significant, implying its criticality in outperforming a median player in difficult times. The coefficient estimate of Dev.Lev (x3) was negative and significant at all traditional levels, suggesting a strong adverse impact of the deviation of leverage on outperformance. This result is consistent with the conventional knowledge that risk taking demands sufficient returns (e.g. Hua et al., 2012) and therefore is followed by higher interest expenses, cost of capital, and likely poorer financial performance. The coefficient estimate of Dev.BM (x4) turned out to be significantly negative; therefore, would suggest an inverse relationship between Dev.BM and outperformance. Dev.AT (x5) also exhibited a positive significance on outperformance, indicating the importance to focus on asset utilization efficiency to improve performance. However, Dev.AdIntensity (x6) was not found to significantly differentiate outperformance from the rest, implying the tendency of failure to outperform by increasing advertising intensity beyond the industry median. Dev.Growth (x7), Dev.FCF (x8), and Dev.CapEx (x9) were not significant at all reasonable levels, indicating their impacts on outperformance may have been absorbed by other independent variables considered. The effects of Dev.EarningsVAR (x10) was found to be significant and negative, confirming our argument that firms with more idiosyncratic business risks tend to suffer in difficult economic times. Dev.A (x11) turned out to be negative and significant; echoing our argument that excessive size in difficult times can burden a firm's performance due to inflexibility to absorb the loss from sales. Dev.PM (x12) showed a significantly positive impact on identifying outperformance, implying the criticality of efficiently turning revenue into profit while in pursuit of outperformance in difficult times. As expected, franchise utilization (x13) did help to identify outperformance in a positive way, likely due to centralized programs of marketing, mature models of operation, lower barriers to financing, and risk/award sharing (Keeling, 2001; Roh, 2002). Finally, being a limited service restaurant alone did not appear to significantly provide systematic advantage to outperformance, as suggested by the insignificant coefficient estimate of Limit (x14). Our results are robust to sensitivity tests that include a dummy measure of internationalization (not reported due to space constraints).Test results of Model (2) are reported in Table IV. A significant coefficient of outperformance is observed, indicating our empirical measure of outperformance does offer incremental explanatory power beyond the conventional financial variables of book value per share and earning per share and is relevant in a valuation context. It is useful for investor and researchers as a benchmarking device.\nConclusions and implications: This study offers a systematic analysis and evidence on an empirical framework linking financial characteristics and outperformance of restaurant firms in difficult economic times. Previous studies have suggested that sales growth determines profitability by cost control and demand capture; however, empirical studies have not specifically linked financial characteristics and outperformance of restaurant firms given the recessionary time (Jang, 2011). Findings of this study have timely and important implications for restaurant managers, scholars, and other parties of interest. Practically speaking, restaurateurs are highly recommended to use the relevant industry medians as benchmarks for financial performance, emphasizing on variables such as market share, asset turnover, profit margin, leverage, BM, earnings variance, and size, in addition to franchise utilization, to ensure the opportunity to retain outperformance among competitors. In other words, comparing to the industry medians, bigger market share, asset turnover, and profit margin, combined with lower leverage, BM, earnings variance, and size, in addition to franchise utilization, appear to produce a fine balance for success in difficult economic times. A profit-focused strategy using these metrics could provide opportunities for sustainable growth and success during poor economic conditions (Jang, 2011).As to financial leverage, this study sheds light on the benefits of debt reduction, particularly within a recessionary economy. Further, echoing previous research (Keeling, 2001; Roh, 2002), franchising helps to differentiate a leader from the rest in a positive way, likely resultant from centralized programs of marketing, mature models of operation, lower barriers to financing, and risk/award sharing (Keeling, 2001; Roh, 2002). However, a significantly higher advertising intensity relative to the industry median has no impact on outperformance, implying how effective a firm is using its marketing dollars may be the key to outperformance.Several practical strategies to survive and outperform in recessionary times can be attained from findings of this study. For example, restaurateurs may use franchise expand by taking advantage of shared risk/reward characteristics and easier access to financing (Keeling, 2001; Roh, 2002). Moreover, reducing debt capital financing by equity infusion may also be a viable option; however, equity infusion can be very well a double edged sword because of the negative consequence of ownership dilution. A general guideline to follow under this circumstance is based on value creation - the dilution is acceptable only if it is fully compensated by the firm value increase caused by the equity infusion. Furthermore, more efficiently using assets and finding ways to reduce business risks can also be beneficial when the economy draws back - choosing to join a franchise or switching to more stable revenue sources can be two options. On the other hand, strategies that may fail to produce outperformance in tough times can also be identified based on findings of this study. For example, liquidity and advertising intensity increases beyond the corresponding industry medians do not appear to produce outperformance. In short, findings from and the methodology of this study can be used as benchmarking devices for managers to promptly react and adapt to the dynamic market environment and to increase their chances of outperformance.Difficult economic times can put investors interested in the restaurant industry in dire straits, due to complex contemporaneous relationships between firm performance and financial characteristics. In this study, an empirical framework has been proposed to explore a relatively complete set of variables that determine restaurant firm financial outperformance in difficult times; thus shedding lights on portfolio constructions. For example, when the economy recesses, investors interested in the restaurant industry may consider form outperformance and underperformance portfolios to explore the possibilities of excess returns. As shown in the paper, the study measure for outperformance is significantly and positively related to stock price. Taking a long position in the outperformance portfolio and a short position in the underperformance portfolio identified based on findings of this study may produce desirable excess returns.The balance between immediate financial performance and long-term sustainability, however, is subtle. For example, a trade-off may have to be made for acquisitions during tough economic times between immediate financial loss due to the costs of synergizing two individual entities and long-term growth; from this perspective, this study is silent. In addition, it is critical to understand that outperformance is a result of the complete empirical framework and needs to be understood within the context of all the studied dimensions.Further, a contemporaneous modeling framework is employed to assess the relationships between financial characteristics and outperformance as restaurateurs often raise practical questions in a contemporaneous context. For example, \"If I raise my leverage by 20 percent next year, will my profitability drop?\" or \"If I increase my spending on advertising next year, will my ROA increase at the same time?\" The drawback of this contemporaneous perspective, however, is that the relevant causality may be tarnished to some extent. Consequently, for future studies, a lagging framework can be considered and used. For example, independent variables can be lagged by one or more time periods behind the dependent variables; thus creating a relative clean causality test model from a time perspective. Yet this lagging framework tends to lack power when used to predict future profitability, often due to the large amount of noises in the market place.And lastly, profit margin is a good proxy for managerial efficiency and cost/profit; however, since restaurant owners are responsible for rent negotiation or providing place for business, a need exists to examine the share of their managed or franchised operation in profit or revenue. The data constraint related to the share issue raised above results in a relative lack of depth of understanding of how the underlying mechanism of the decision making process of leasing would work. Future studies are encouraged to address such issues when data become available. For example, examining the potential of more novel process measurement approaches such as process mapping may be an interesting direction to pursue.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the financial characteristics associated with outperformance of US public restaurant firms in challenging economic times and the empirical measure of outperformance proposed herein.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study utilizes a Logit model and considers the relevant financial variables in annual deviation forms to explore an empirical model that explains financial outperformance in troubled economic times for the restaurant industry.\nFindings: - The results of the study indicate that larger market share, asset turnover, and profit margin, combined with lower leverage, BM, earnings variance, and size, in addition to franchise utilization, appear to produce collectively a fine balance for success in difficult economic times.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This paper does not address the fine balance between short-term financial performance and long-term sustainability. Further, the employed contemporaneous modeling framework may limit generality of findings of this paper.\nOriginality/value: - This study provides systematic evidence on an empirical framework linking financial characteristics and outperformance of restaurant firms in difficult economic times. Its results have timely and significant implications for practitioners, researchers and other parties of interest.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Strategy workshops deliver for TNT: Blue-sky thinking on Malham Moor	[ "Strategic objectives", "Organizational change", "Management development", "Delivery services" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Strategy workshops held amid the remote beauty of Malham Moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, UK, made such an impact on employees at delivery company TNT that staff have coined the phrase \"doing a Malham\" to refer to strategizing at work.\nManaging uncertainty and leading change with confidence: The CMC coaching and facilitation business was established in 1989 and is a development of an experiential-learning center created in 1976. Its title, of Centre for Management Creativity, refers to the capacity of both individuals and teams to manage uncertainty and to lead change with confidence. A principal aim is to help organizations to clarify their vision and values and to build strategies for achieving their goals.CMC's founder and chief executive is John Varney, who works with senior managers to develop strategic dynamism and manage cultural change. He is a mountaineer and psychological group leader whose first career was in architecture.\"TNT is an ambitious firm which has gone from strength to strength over the times it has worked with us. It has come to us on occasions for creative thinking. When a group wants to do some creative thinking it is better being off-site and in a free space. The isolation of our venue, High Trenhouse, on Malham Moor, provides a retreat for companies,\" said John Varney.TNT's Alistair Cochrane commented: \"We have participated in four separate workshops at Malham - three 'internal' TNT events and one joint workshop held with one of our clients, the Royal Bank of Scotland, to look at ways of developing our partnership with them as a customer. Each workshop was for around 12 delegates.\"The three TNT workshops consisted of senior management from within the Express and Value-Added Services business, while the RBS workshop was made up of senior management and directorate level from both organizations.\"Prior to this type of consultancy, most of our training and strategy-based workshops had been conducted via a more traditional route, such as in a hotel or conference-type environment. With regard to the RBS workshop, this was the first time we had worked so closely with a customer off site and having the added advantage of it being a 'captive audience'.\"We opted to go for the different sort of experience with CMC because we wanted to revisit and reinvigorate our strategy. The CMC concept provided an innovative approach, which we felt reflected our challenge.\"The location was both an attraction and a concern - Malham is very remote and the initial thought of the whole management team being out of contact for two days was daunting. However, this was to be a great benefit as there were no distractions and, once on-site and acclimatized, everyone was totally immersed in the surroundings and the task in hand,\" Alistair Cochrane explained.\"The main focus of our workshops was to look at our visions for the future, to collectively challenge and plan our strategy. We wanted to visualize what success would be like in the coming years. In order to do this we did a number of group sessions using both flipchart and Logovisual Thinking to crystallize our thought processes and show what success looks like in our future. Most importantly, it helped us to create a roadmap of how to reach that future success.\"\nThe workshop process: Each TNT workshop followed broadly similar lines:* Evening one. Introductions, aspirations, hopes and goals shared to give each person attending the chance to contribute to the intended outcome. John Varney worked on \"acclimatizing\" the delegates and detaching them from the busy outside business world.* Day two. Individual readings and interpretations of passages of text took place, allowing each person to interpret and translate the meaning and relevance in their chosen text. This was followed by a series of workshops to draft out what success looks like and what the end-game potential was.* Day three. Early-morning walks to provide time for reflection and a good team-bonding exercise. The main focus for the rest of the day was on \"drilling down\" to a more distilled action plan.\"The format of the training covered various approaches, including seated discussions, small work groups, and outside literally 'blue sky' thinking. We also undertook some outdoor team-building exercises such as a treasure hunt and other physical team tasks,\" Alistair Cochrane added.\nThe benefits delivered: TNT felt the workshops:* strengthened the company's already-strong teamwork ethos;* enabled the firm to strategize but also ensured that participants grounded their vision;* delivered a tangible outcome and a road map that has been adapted into TNT Value-Added Services' strategy today;* allowed each individual to contribute and share knowledge and skills with the group;* provided the basis from which the company could deliver the vision to the wider business at TNT Value-Added Services; and* enabled the team members to move outside their comfort zones and challenge themselves in new ways.Workshop participants gave the following feedback:The most remarkable setting, allowing us to escape from the usual distractions and deliver true blue-sky thinking.I now have a clear understanding of our identity and vision.Excellent output, giving us a clear appetite for, and commitment towards, delivering the audacious vision.I feel more confident of our future direction and that I have had an input to what that may be.\nNote: Amanda Kirby, a freelance journalist specializing in HR management and training, wrote this article. More details of the Centre for Management Creativity can be found at: www.centreformanagementcreativity.com; Tel: +44 (0)1729 830322; E-mail: john@centreformanagementcreativity.com. Further information about TNT Express Services can be found at: www.tnt.com\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe strategy workshops organized for delivery company TNT Express Services by the Centre for Management Creativity at High Trenhouse Management Centre, Malham Moor, UK.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Details the reasons for the workshops, the form they took and the benefits they brought for both the company and individual employees.\nFindings: - Reveals that output from the workshops has contributed to shaping the future strategy of the organization.\nPractical implications: - Highlights the benefits, for groups of people who wish to engage in strategic thinking, of getting well away from the distractions of day-to-day working life.\nOriginality/value: - Reveals how organizations can clarify their vision and values and build strategies for achieving their goals.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A tale of four practices: A comparative analysis of high and low performing patient-centered medical homes	[ "Case study", "Primary care", "Diabetes", "Patient-centered care", "Health care transformation", "Patient-centered medical home" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a model for health care delivery aiming to provide marked improvements in the quality of healthcare while reducing overall national costs associated with medical spending (Rittenhouse et al., 2009). Traditional medical practices in the USA are challenged in attempting to accommodate more patients resulting from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and with positioning of patients at the center of the process as fully engaged and participatory partners. The PCMH model restructures, yet enhances, the existing primary care delivery system to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care while reducing overall costs. Gaining significant momentum as a model for health service reform, members of PCMHs seek to improve the health and healing of the people in their communities, working to optimize the fundamental attributes of primary care toward a progression of innovative steps for organizing medical practices in terms of care delivery and more equal roles and responsibilities (Stange et al., 2010). Described as an enhanced primary-care model that provides comprehensive and timely care with appropriate reimbursement, the PCMH emphasizes on the central roles of teamwork amongst providers and engagement by patients receiving care (Adams et al., 2009). A common misconception regarding the PCMH is its inclusion of the word \"home,\" which insinuates a physical location where patients can receive care. On the contrary, the \"home\" in the PCMH refers to a conceptual \"home base\" for patients and practitioners that functions as a central hub for patient information, primary care, and care coordination (American College of Physicians, 2007). This hub also features an approach toward collaborative care, with an emphasis on team effort by the staff, implementation of electronic medical records (EMR) and greater patient involvement in their treatment plans (Zarbock, 2011). Although still evolving in best practices for implementation and redesigned in 2017, at the time of this study, six standards existed for medical practices seeking PCMH certification as set by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Those standards included: a patient-centered orientation that provides patient access to team-based care for both routine and urgent needs of patients/families/caregivers at all times, including appointment and clinical advice access (access of care), provides continuity of care using culturally and linguistically appropriate, team-based approaches (team-based care), employs comprehensive population health management (population health management), systematically identifies individual patients and plans, manages and coordinates care, based on need (plan and manage individual patient care), tracking and coordinating care patients receive from labs, specialty care, hospitals, and other community organizations (track and coordinate care), and uses performance measures to assess care quality and identify opportunities for improvement (measure and improve performance). (National Committee for Quality Assurance, 2011, 2014).\nPCMH and chronic conditions: In order to obtain and maintain PCMH certification, a practice must change its organizational culture, ultimately transforming the way the medical practice is run. While some organizations may already be delivering care in ways commensurate with PCMH principles, others may require more steps toward proper conversion (Wagner et al., 2012). In traditional patient-provider relationships there has existed a disparate sharing of power and communication (Joseph-Williams et al., 2014). Care under the PCMH model is transformative in nature with a goal of reaching a level of patient-centeredness that ensures equal decision-making ability in healthcare. However, little research has focused on successful implementation of the PCMH alongside specific patient populations (those categorized as having particular health ailments). Research should look at vulnerable patient populations in accordance with this transformation, as the patient is meant to be at the \"center\" of this medical home model. Previous research on PCMH transformation has focused on message strategies for successful implementation, however, to date, little research has qualitatively examined PCMH adoption in the context of a specific vulnerable patient populations.\nFramework and rationale: Our overarching goals in this qualitative comparative analysis were to provide an analysis and description of the attributes of four primary care medical practices in the process of PCMH transformation and to compare and contrast two practices identified as experiencing more successful transformation with two practices identified as experiencing less successful transformation. This study may assist groups embarking on PCMH transformation or groups interested in modeling certain strategies of the more successful practices. The objectives of our analyses were to describe the ways in which these practices may or may not reflect PCMH attributes; identify key facilitators and barriers to becoming a PCMH for these practices; and compare and contrast the facilitators and barriers across medical practices experiencing more and less successful transformations.\nMethods: Sample\nData collection: To fully describe the experience of PCMH transformation in these practices, a qualitative multiple case study and comparative analysis approach was used conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews and narrative reports from researcher observations. A multiple case study approach is useful for the present research because it provides a detailed, in-depth understanding of a process collected via various sources of information (Yin, 2009). This aids in a holistic perspective of a contemporary phenomenon that may otherwise be difficult to understand, providing empirical inquiry within a real life context (Pegram, 1999/2000). A comparative analysis, then, compares data from these different groups at the same point in time to identify similarities and differences (Etzioni, 1975).\nData analysis: Employing an inductive analytical approach, all study data were analyzed specifically utilizing a template style (Crabtree and Miller, 1999). This involves an iterative process of immersing the researcher in the textual data so that she/he can identify and code meaningful segments of the text and assemble these segments in one place for retrieval and analysis. The process involves data reduction, data organization, and connecting/linking the data to provide a description that can be limited to a single case or offer a comparison across cases.\nFindings: case descriptions, PCMH barriers and facilitators: Low improvement: medical P1\nFindings: comparative analysis: Comparing and contrasting practice attributes\nConclusions: Top practices had consistent characterizations of the PCMH model as well as several facilitators. It is probable that these facilitators aided in the success of these practices. Such facilitators unique to the more successful performers include engaged leadership, a team-based approach, team pride, sense of ownership and responsibility, along with employee buy-in. These facilitators all involved the actual staff, while other facilitators were centered on the practices themselves and implementation of the PCMH model. These facilitators included successful outreach programs training, empanelment, coordinated care and the use of health information system/EMR.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) has become a dominant model of primary care re-design. This transformation presents a challenge to many care delivery organizations. The purpose of this paper is to describe attributes shaping successful and unsuccessful practice transformation within four medical practice groups.\nDesign/methodology/approach: As part of a larger study of 25 practices transitioning into a PCMH, the current study focused on diabetes care and identified high- and low-improvement medical practices in terms of quantitative patient measures of glycosylated hemoglobin and qualitative assessments of practice performance. A subset of the top two high-improvement and bottom two low-improvement practices were identified as comparison groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with diverse personnel at these practices to investigate their experiences with practice transformation and data were analyzed using analytic induction.\nFindings: Results show a variety of key attributes facilitating more successful PCMH transformation, such as empanelment, shared goals and regular meetings, and a clear understanding of PCMH transformation purposes, goals, and benefits, providing care/case management services, and facilitating patient reminders. Several barriers also exist to successful transformation, such as low levels of resources to handle financial expense, lack of understanding PCMH transformation purposes, goals, and benefits, inadequate training and management of technology, and low team cohesion.\nOriginality/value: Few studies qualitatively compare and contrast high and low performing practices to illuminate the experience of practice transformation. These findings highlight the experience of organizational members and their challenges in practice transformation while providing quality diabetes care.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Perceptions and emotional experiences in differential supervisor-subordinate relationships	[ "Emotions", "Leader‐member exchange", "Qualitative", "Perception", "Leaders", "Employees communications" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Research regarding the important role of emotion in leadership is extensive. Leadership areas in which emotion has been examined include political leadership (Sheard et al., 2011), authentic leadership (Avolio and Gardner, 2005), leadership and organizational change (Bovey and Hede, 2001) and leadership and emotional intelligence (Bratton et al., 2011; Jordan and Troth, 2011; Stein et al., 2009). In explaining the important relationship between leadership and emotion, Humphrey (2002) argues that emotions provide the connection or \"glue\" between the leader and follower.A growing cohort of leader-member exchange (LMX) scholars are similarly beginning to examine how the quality of a subordinate's relationship with their supervisor is likely to elicit emotional experiences for the subordinate that have important workplace attitudinal and performance consequences (e.g. Adams, 2005; Ashkanasy, 2003; Dasborough, 2006; Hughes and Avey, 2009; Lee, 2005; Tse and Ashkanasy, 2008). LMX focusses on the quality of the dyadic relationship between a leader and follower (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). In this paper, we present the findings of a qualitative study that examines subordinate perceptions of their supervisors during workplace interactions, and how they respond emotionally to these interactions. Drawing on LMX research and affective events theory (AET; Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996), our study has three specific aims. First, we aim to qualitatively verify the perceptual differences of subordinates in LMX relationships of differential quality (most of the LMX research utilizes quantitative methods; Dasborough, 2006 is an exception). Second, building on arguments put forward by Ashkanasy (2003) and Tse and Dasborough (2008), we investigate whether LMX are seen as affective events by subordinates that evoke positive or negative emotions. Finally, we aim to establish whether subordinates' emotional experiences vary according to the differential quality of their relationship with their supervisors. Our use of a qualitative approach, that takes a follower perspective, is also relatively rare in the area of LMX.\n2. LMX: LMX is a dyadic leadership theory that proposes leaders use diverse leadership styles to develop differential interpersonal relationships with individual subordinates within a workgroup. This conceptualization derives from vertical dyad linkage theory, which assumes that leaders treat each subordinate differently because each subordinate is unique with different needs, personalities, attitudes and behaviors (Dansereau et al., 1973). Given their legitimate position, leaders have the power to decide how work-related benefits, organizational resources and psychological support to subordinates are distributed via the quality of LMX relationships (Dienesch and Liden, 1986; Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). The nature of LMX relationships are thought to be shaped by two continuous processes - reciprocal exchange and role making - that are further influenced by the expectations of both the leader and follower (Dansereau et al., 1973, 1975; Graen, 1976). Subsequently, the quality of LMX relationships within teams range from low (out-group) to high (in-group) (Dansereau et al., 1975; Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995).The differential quality of LMX relationships within workgroups are thought to create unequal status perceptions and psychological boundaries that lead to different interests and expectations when subordinates evaluate their relative position in the workgroup (Tse and Dasborough, 2008). In addition, leaders are thought to have difficulty forming high-quality relationships with every member of a workgroup because of their own limited resources, time and abilities (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995; Maksom and Winter, 2009). Thus, high-quality relationships with a few employees are developed, and these employees in turn act as \"trusted assistants.\" High LMX relationships are characterized by mutual trust, respect and influence that go beyond the formal employment contact (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). Both parties in this type of relationship report higher job satisfaction and better work performance (Gerstner and Day, 1997; Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). Leaders are more likely to focus on developing, challenging, supporting and satisfying employees in high-quality relationships by delegating more interesting tasks, providing access to important resources and giving them increased autonomy and responsibilities.By contrast, the remaining subordinates (who tend to experience lower quality relationships with their leader) act as \"hired hands\" in the group. A low-quality relationship tends to develop based on the terms and conditions derived from the formal employment contact. Subordinates in this form of relationship often receive less supervisory attention and have poorer access to organizational resources, and fewer empowerment opportunities. This potentially leads to job dissatisfaction and lower organizational commitment (Gerstner and Day, 1997). Thus, the differential quality of LMX relationships results in different employee work attitudes and behaviors, which in turn helps to maintain existing relationships with the leader (Gerstner and Day, 1997; Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995).As mentioned earlier, leader and member expectations about each other's roles shape the quality of the relationship. For instance, Maslyn and Uhl-Bien (2001) proposed that whether individuals develop high-quality relationships with their supervisor is dependent on whether the level and nature of exchange characteristics meet the expectations of both parties. This suggests that ongoing LMX relationships are based on how individuals perceive and experience the exchanges they share with their supervisor. Consequently, understanding how individuals themselves perceive the quality of their LMX relationships is theoretically and practically important. LMX research to date has largely relied on the use of quantitative methods using pre-designed numerical scales to assess individuals' perceptions of the quality of relationship with their supervisor (e.g. Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995; Gerstner and Day, 1997). The quantitative method, however, may lead to abstract and oversimplified descriptions that do not fully reflect the dynamism of a dyadic LMX relationship in work teams (House and Aditya, 1997). We argue that qualitative methods can provide a deeper understanding, supported by much richer descriptions, about how individuals actually perceive and experience high-quality and low-quality relationships that they form with supervisors. Thus, we ask the following research question:RQ1. How do employees perceive and experience differential (high-quality vs low-quality) LMX relationships in the workplace?\n3. AET and LMX relationships: Given the accumulating evidence showing the importance of LMX relationships for subordinate work attitudes and behaviors, we believe it is important to understand subordinate emotional experiences of their relationships with their supervisors. To achieve this, we employ Weiss and Cropanzano's (1996) AET as a framework. AET proposes that a range of daily events at work influence employee emotional responses that lead to important organizational and individual outcomes. More specifically, AET describes how the workplace environment and daily events such as environmental conditions, roles and job design determine affective states that lead to attitudinal and behavioral states, such as job satisfaction (Glaso and Einarsen, 2006). The terms \"uplifts\" and \"hassles\" developed by Kanner et al. (1981) have since been adopted by AET researchers to represent positive and negative events. That is, uplifts lead to positive emotions such as joy, interest, excitement and enthusiasm while hassles are more likely to generate negative emotional reactions like anger, frustration, distress, resentment or sadness (Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996).The differing quality of LMX relationships can also be regarded as affective events that induce a wide range of emotional responses among subordinates due to frequent social interactions with their leader. These emotions in turn determine subordinates' work attitudes and their behavior toward the development of future exchanges with their leader (Tse and Ashkanasy, 2008). That is, employees see their leaders as sources of uplifts (e.g. positive feedback, praise or inspiration) and hassles (e.g. unfounded criticism; being overlooked for a development opportunity in favor of a colleague) (Ashkanasy et al., 2002; Tse and Ashkanasy, 2008; Dasborough and Ashkanasy, 2002). These uplifts and hassles are thought to be cumulative and their frequency, as opposed to their intensity, is what leads to employee emotional reactions (positive or negative) at work (Fisher, 2000).To illustrate this idea further, consider the example of employee A, who believes her supervisor appreciates her talent and provides opportunities for her future development by exposing her to networking opportunities and offering stretch assignments. Employee A is also given support by her supervisor when facing challenging aspects of her work. As a consequence, it is likely that employee A experiences positive emotional reactions (e.g. pleasure, pride and joy) from her LMX relationship with her supervisor. By contrast, employee B believes her supervisor frequently overlooks her potential and high task performance in favor of other subordinates who are better at \"impression management.\" As a result, employee B experiences more negative emotional reactions (e.g. resentment, upset and anger) about her LMX relationship with her supervisor. In essence, it appears that employee A is experiencing a higher quality leader-subordinate relationship than employee B, which will lead to more positive emotional experiences that are likely to impact favorably on her work attitudes and behaviors.In line with Fisher (2000), we also argue that the LMX relationship is characterized by a series of uplifts and hassles during the course of the developing leader-subordinate relationship that accrue and begin to shape subordinates' emotional reactions to their leader that are either predominantly positive or negative emotional responses. This has important practical implications for subordinates' commitment, job satisfaction, task and extra-role performance. However, although the idea of LMX as a series of emotional events has been considered in the literature, little empirical investigation has explored how individuals' emotions relate to different quality LMX relationships using qualitative methods (Dasborough and Ashkanasy, 2002; Tse et al., 2005; Tse and Ashkanasy, 2008). Employing AET (Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996), we qualitatively examine whether LMX relationships are perceived by subordinates as sources of affective events which create positive (i.e. uplifts) or negative (i.e. hassles) emotional reactions among subordinates in workgroups. Thus:RQ2. Do employees experience their LMX relationships as positive and negative affective events at work?We expect that subordinates will experience more positive emotional reactions such as pleasure, joy or excitement if they report that their supervisor recognizes their potential, spends time listening to their needs and trusts their ability for performing tasks (i.e. high-quality LMX relationships). Conversely, it is expected that subordinates will report experiencing more negative emotional responses such as anger, frustration or resentment if they perceive their supervisor as not recognizing or appreciating their value and ability, or disregarding their interests and showing favoritism toward other subordinates (i.e. low-quality LMX relationships). Thus, we examine if:RQ3. Are variations in the quality of LMX relationships associated with different subordinate emotional responses?\n4. Method: 4.1 Sample\n5. Results: 5.1 Individual perceptions of different quality LMX relationships\n6. Discussion: The aim of our study was to identify the perceptions, experiences and emotional reactions of employees describing supervisory relationships of varying LMX quality. Employing a qualitative methodology, which is relatively rare in the LMX field, we were interested in what subordinates themselves recognize as important characteristics of high- and low-quality LMX relationships (Schwandt, 1994). In terms of the first research question, clear thematic differences emerged when employees described a relationship with their immediate supervisor that was of higher quality as opposed to a relationship of lower quality. In line with the LMX literature (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995), and indeed the general leadership effectiveness literature (e.g. Avolio and Gardner, 2005; Yukl, 1998), employees viewed their relationship more positively if their supervisor engaged in behaviors that were supportive, open and trustworthy. By contrast, and not surprisingly, poor leadership experiences were described as being non-supportive, having poor communication and some distrust. The high LMX experiences described by employees also highlights the importance of the reciprocal nature of the relationship. This underscores the role of social exchange in a high-quality relationship, unlike the low-quality LMX themes that emerged in our data that are conspicuous by the absence or inappropriate use of reciprocation (Blau, 1964; Erdogan and Liden, 2002).Our interview data also showed employees experience relationships with their supervisor through an emotional lens. Using AET (Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996), it appears that subordinates experience their LMX relationships as a series of affective events that offer uplifting and hassling experiences at work that lead to a range of positive and negative emotional responses. Furthermore, the differential quality of the LMX relationship elicits different emotional experiences for employees (Dasborough and Ashkanasy, 2002; Tse and Ashkanasy, 2008). As expected, higher quality relationships characterized by greater communication, trust and support are experienced more positively while less trust and support in the LMX relationship appears interlinked with negative emotional experiences. This especially makes sense if the employee and supervisor are at the role-routinization stage (Graen and Scandura, 1987) in which supervisors and subordinates are interdependent and interlocked. Indeed, we believe a possible research focus in the future is to examine the nature and emotional experiences of LMX relationships at various stages of role development, and whether the themes that emerge at earlier stages (e.g. role making) can predict the emotional \"health\" of the relationship further along (e.g. role routinization).6.1 Implications for practice\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to examine how employees perceive the differential quality of relationships with their supervisors, and their emotional experiences within the leader-member exchange (LMX) process for these differential relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This qualitative study presents the interview findings of 25 full-time employees working within five teams in two organizations.\nFindings: - The qualitative results revealed a consistent pattern of descriptors used by employees to differentially describe their high-quality and low-quality LMX relationships. A range of positive and negative emotions were experienced within the context of the LMX relationship and individuals reported different levels of positive and negative emotions for high-quality versus low-quality LMX relationships.\nResearch limitations/implications: - A limitation is the reliance on self-reports of the subordinate (not leader) in terms of the role of emotions in the LMX process.\nPractical implications: - The authors contend that these findings increase understanding of the role of emotion in supervisor-subordinate relationships and how this is reflected in relationships of differential quality. The findings also suggest ways to enhance the quality of leader member exchanges and ultimately improve employee experiences.\nOriginality/value: - Although the role of emotions in LMX has been theorized, this study is one of the first to use a workplace sample to empirically and qualitatively examine the role of emotions in supervisor-subordinate relationships of differential quality.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Toward a conceptualization of perceived complaint handling quality in social media and traditional service channels	[ "Service", "Loyalty", "Satisfaction", "Social media", "Channels", "Consumer satisfaction", "Complaints", "Word-of-mouth" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: How firms manage customer complaints is an important indicator of their customer centricity and overall service quality (Homburg and Furst, 2005). While poor complaint handling can amplify the negative evaluation of the overall service (Bitner et al., 1990), excellent handling can convert complainants into fans (Maxham and Netemeyer, 2003; Smith and Bolton, 1998). To provide superior service experiences, firms operate multiple service channels, including traditional service channels (e.g. brick-and-mortar stores), telephone hotlines and digital channels (e.g. social media, chat rooms and online communities) (Avery et al., 2012; Pozza, 2014). For example, Cisco supports consumer complaint handling predominantly through telephone calls, Ford offers support to aggrieved consumers through its online portal \"harassed\" and Microsoft employs both hotlines and virtual support agents.\nResearch process and studies: To answer our research questions, we conducted two empirical studies. In Study 1, we reviewed the literature on complaint handling and service recovery research to identify the important dimensions and facets of PCHQ. This was followed by a large survey of customers and marketing executives across traditional and social media channels to confirm the relevant dimensions and facets of PCHQ. Study 1 answered our first research question. In Study 2, we initiated the development of a theory around the relationship of each of the five dimensions of the PCHQ construct with key marketing outcomes to determine how these relationships differ, depending on the two types of channels. This was followed by another independent empirical examination to test the theoretical model. Study 2 answers the two remaining research questions. Table I provides an overview of both studies.\nStudy 1: conceptualization and empirical examination of perceived complaint handling quality: Prior studies on complaint behavior (Blodgett et al., 1997; Goodwin and Ross, 1989; Hoffman and Kelley, 2000) show that customers' perceptions of complaint handling include three distinct dimensions of justice: procedural, interactional and distributive justice (Orsingher et al., 2009). Procedural justice refers to how the complainant perceives the procedure behind the decision making and conflict resolution undertaken by the firm (Choi and Choi, 2014; Lind and Tyler, 1988). A procedurally fair complaint handling process is easy to access, enables the customer to have control in its disposition, is flexible and concludes in an appropriate and timely manner (Tax et al., 1998). Interactional justice refers to the behavior of employees during the complaint handling process, such as their empathy, politeness and treatment when dealing with complaints (Patterson et al., 2006; Tax et al., 1998; Vaerenbergh et al., 2012). Distributive justice refers to the customer's perception of the firm's efforts to correct the observed problem (Mayser and Wangenheim, 2013; Smith et al., 1999). \"In [the] context of services and complaint handling, an implicit promise of fairness is salient\" (Maxham and Netemeyer, 2002, p. 240), and justice is critical to the consumers' perceptions of the service quality because unjust service experiences have strong and adverse implications on their service evaluations (Schneider and Bowen, 1999). However, we observe two possible improvements in the extant view of the quality of complaint handling. First, extant research is divided on the dimension of justice. While Maxham and Netemeyer (2002), Homburg and Furst (2005) and Smith et al. (1999) agree with a three-dimensional structure, Gelbrich and Roschk (2011) question the distinctive features of these dimensions. Indeed, several studies have integrated the dimensions into a single construct (Davidow, 2003; Homburg and Giering, 2001; Liao, 2007). That is, studies indicate that consumers generally perceive all three dimensions as a singular justice (Blodgett et al., 1993). Therefore, Liao (2007) models the dimensions as a unified perceived justice construct in a CFA. Second, to the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive study has examined the other possible dimensions, beyond the elements of justice. Thus, there is a need to examine these dimensions, particularly in a social media context, as the contemporary marketing environment is witnessing a high degree of customer participation in which customers are using their operant resources to create products and services. Such increased participation has led marketing to alternative paradigms such as the service-dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004) and co-creation of value (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004). In addition, the new-age channels offer added features, such as interactivity, that can alter how consumers view failure of a product or service and the management of ensuing complaint and recovery. Moreover, the role of other consumers or communities has increased, while consumers seek help and complaint redress. For all these reasons, issues such as sharing of value, need for recovery, extent of participation and effort have gained importance.\nStudy 2: theory and empirical test of effect of perceived complaint handling quality across the two channels: Conceptual background\nDiscussion: This research provides evidence that social media can complement traditional channels in a firm's multi-channel strategy (Pozza, 2014). Modern firms have actively jumped on the e-commerce bandwagon to increase their opportunities by establishing multiple touchpoints with their consumers. The use of multiple channels extends beyond the sale of products and services and is also relevant in the context of customer complaint handling processes. This study contributes to the understanding of the quality perception of complaint handling and its consequences, comparing these relationships across social media and traditional channels.\nConclusion: Firms are increasingly using social media channels for complaint handling. However, with the lack of research on relevant differences between traditional channels and social media channels, the implications of the increasing use of social media for complaint handling remain unclear. We empirically conceptualized and tested the construct of perceived complaint handling quality to offer easy comparison of channel efficacy across multiple channels. The emerging dimensions of PCHQ included procedural justice, interactional justice, distributive justice, customer effort and overall quality of service solutions. As our result showed, these dimensions affect traditional channels and social media channels differently. Channels are also different in terms of their effect on customer loyalty and WOM intentions. While the body of knowledge on the effects of online channels such as social media is continuing to evolve, our study suggests several avenues for future research on the fringes of fields such as co-creation, social media and customer effort. We advise managers to assess the implications of the specified dimensions and their effects when adopting social media channels.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to conceptualize and test the effect of consumers' perceptions of complaint handling quality (PCHQ) in both traditional and social media channels.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Study 1 systematically reviews the relevant literature and then carries out a consumer and manager survey. This approach aims to conceptualize the dimensionality of PCHQ. Study 2 tests the effect of PCHQ on key marketing outcomes. Using survey data from a German telecommunications company, the study provides an explanation for the differences in outcomes across traditional (hotline) and social media channels.\nFindings: Study 1 reveals that PCHQ is best conceptualized as a five-dimensional construct with 15 facets. There are significant differences between customers and managers in terms of the importance attached to the various dimensions. The construct shows strong psychometric properties with high reliability and validity, thereby opening up opportunities to treat these facets as measurement indicators for the construct. Study 2 indicates that the effect of PCHQ on consumer loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM) communication is stronger in social media than in traditional channels. Procedural justice and the overall quality of service solutions emerge as general dimensions of PCHQ because they are equally important in both channels. In contrast, interactional justice, distributive justice and customer effort have varying effects across the two channels.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study contributes to the understanding of a firm's channel selection for complaint handling in two ways. First, it evaluates and conceptualizes the PCHQ construct. Second, it compares the effects of different dimensions of PCHQ on key marketing outcomes across traditional and social media channels.\nPractical implications: This study enables managers to understand the difference in efficacy attached to different dimensions of PCHQ. It further highlights such differences across traditional and social media service channels. For example, the effect of complaint handling on social media is of particular importance when generating WOM communication.\nOriginality/value: This study offers a comprehensive conceptualization of the PCHQ construct and reveals the general and channel contingent effects of its different dimensions on key marketing outcomes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Correlates of customer loyalty to financial institutions: a case study	[ "Customer loyalty", "Gender", "Banking", "Intrinsic cues", "Extrinsic cues" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: At a time of increasing deregulation, intensifying competition from other financial institutions and continuously evolving customer demands (Yavas and Yasin, 2001) banks, whose offerings are high-involvement services for most consumers (Babakus et al., 2004) and where service provider-customer relationships encompass ongoing interactions (Fischer et al., 1997; Yavas, 2007), realize that maintaining a loyal base of customers is a must for their success and survival. Emergence of customer loyalty as a focus for managerial action in service industries is not surprising, as loyal customers are strong advocates of the service provider's virtues, show high resistance to switch a service provider (Butcher et al., 2001) and can have a substantial impact on profits (Anderson et al., 1994; Veloutsou et al., 2004).\nPurpose: Thus, one of the purposes of the current study is to address this gap and to determine the relative efficacies of intrinsic and extrinsic cues of image in explaining customer loyalty to a bank. A related objective of the study is to determine whether the relationships between image and customer loyalty vary by gender.\nRelevant literature: Image as a driver of customer loyalty\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Measurement results\nDiscussion: In today's fast-moving banking sector, a very important real asset with measurable long-term value is loyal customers. Today's winning banks, those that will be around in the coming decades, are realizing that only satisfied customers return. The longer a bank retains its customers, the more money it stands to make. This, above all, necessitates an understanding of what drives customer loyalty. Against this background, the current study sought to determine the relative efficacies of intrinsic and extrinsic cues in explaining customer loyalty to a bank. A related objective of the study was to determine if the relationships between image and customer loyalty vary by gender. The results showed that extrinsic and intrinsic cues independently play key roles in the development of customer loyalty. However, extrinsic cues are more effective correlates of customer loyalty. Also, the study showed that gender does not moderate the relationships between image cues and customer loyalty. In establishing the latter finding, we not only looked at male versus female differences on the basis of average construct scores but also examined the structural relationships among the constructs and in each case found no differences.\nFuture research directions: Although this study expands our knowledge base and offers fresh insights, the results reported here can hardly be considered conclusive. Several directions for programmatic research can be mapped to broaden the database for further generalizations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relative efficacies of intrinsic and extrinsic cues as drivers of customer loyalty to financial institutions between male and female bank customers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A large-scale survey of 872 customers of a national bank serves as the study setting.\nFindings: Results showed that extrinsic cues were the more effective correlates of customer loyalty and that gender does not moderate the relationships between image cues and customer loyalty.\nResearch limitations/implications: The cross-sectional nature of the current study does not allow causal inferences. Therefore, future studies should adopt longitudinal designs.\nPractical implications: Results suggest that, although transmitting a favorable image through extrinsic cues is critical, nevertheless, intrinsic cues (interactions among customers and bank personnel) should not be ignored. To reinforce this not only among current customers but also among potential customers, banks should use advertisements featuring favorable testimonials.\nOriginality/value: Empirical research in the banking services literature pertaining to the efficacies of intrinsic and extrinsic cues in forming customer loyalty is scarce. This study fills in the void. Also, in determining if the relationships between image and customer loyalty vary by gender, the authors not only looked at male versus female differences on the basis of average construct scores but also examined the structural relationships among the constructs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Management accounting practices, governing boards and competitive advantage of Ugandan secondary schools	[ "Uganda", "Management accounting practices", "Competitive advantage", "Secondary schools", "Governing boards" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The focus on education and managing of educational process is an important element of the public sector management reforms that have been implemented in a significant number of countries. For example, the Government of Uganda liberalised the education sector through the Education Act of 2008 to allow private individuals to provide education services. Often, the official rhetoric of public sector reforms emphasises efficiency, choice, competition and accountability, among others (Tooley and Guthrie, 2003). Indeed, Wikstrom and Wikstrom (2005) have noted studies of competition in the educational system that reveal evidence for the supposition that competition from private schools increase student achievement in public schools. The reasoning behind such a hypothesis is that parental school choices increase the demand for high achieving schools, while the demand for low-achieving schools fall - so to improve school achievement the low achieving schools must take measures to increase their achievement (Wikstrom and Wikstrom, 2005). Given this understanding and the liberalised education sector that now (see Education (pre-primary, primary and post-primary) Act, 2008) allows private investment in education services' provision, it is possible to suggest that government-aided schools have to compete with private schools for students in Uganda consistent with what is considered a sign of the times of the heightened competition among the educational institutions (von Alberti-Alhtaybata et al., 2012).\n2. Literature review: The concept of competitive advantage\n3. Methodology: Design and sample\n4. Empirical findings: Descriptive statistics\n5. Discussion: All the substantiated hypotheses are consistent with literature other than H3, which was not supported as per the correlation analysis results. The first finding of this study (H1) suggest that perceived usage of MAPR in secondary schools predict their competitive advantage; indicated by cost efficiency, effective delivery and flexibility which in turn means that competitive strategies are informed by sound MAPR (benchmarking, budgeting and planning) of secondary schools. Therefore secondary schools should leverage the use of MAPR to translate cost efficiency; effective service delivery and flexibility into consistent patterns of decisions that help develop the school's capability into a competitive advantage. For example, we find in this paper that benchmarking is a critical observed variable for MAPR of secondary schools; which is consistent with previous findings and arguments that suggest that MAPR accentuate competitive advantage, for example cost advantage or defending key policies against competitors, via sound MAPR. As an example, Green and Davis (2010) argue that benchmarking can be essential to identifying new strategies and structure, new services, better teaching techniques, better marketing of results-oriented education themes and ultimately the adoption of more results-oriented education school programmes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of a study carried out to determine the use of Management Accounting Practices (MAPR) in Ugandan secondary schools. The study also sought to determine whether MAPR and governing boards (board size, gender diversity and frequency of board meetings) influence the perceived competitive advantage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 200 secondary schools. The data were analysed through ordinary least squares regression using Statistical Package for Social Scientists.\nFindings: There are wide variations in MAP in terms of the extent to which the schools employ management accounting techniques. Also, MAP and governing boards have a predictive force on the schools' competitive advantage. However, governing board's size has no effect on competitive advantage. In terms of the control variables, the results suggest that while government school ownership has a positive effect on competitive advantage, the school's size has no effect. There are intertwining relationships of frequency of board meetings, board size and school size.\nResearch limitations/implications: The present study was limited to the secondary schools in Uganda which limits generalisability. Still, the results offer important implications for secondary schools' governing boards, owners and for similar African governments who are a major stakeholder in the secondary school education system. The exact mechanism by which intertwining relationships of frequency of board meetings, board size and school size impact competitive advantage is not been explored in this paper. Future researchers may direct research effort in this endeavour.\nOriginality/value: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to investigate use of MAPR in secondary schools and to provide evidence of their efficacy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gender inequalities in job quality during the recession	[ "Gender", "Employee relations", "Workplace", "Women workers", "Job satisfaction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Recent studies acknowledge that job quality alludes to the level of objective and subjective well-being that workers express, feel and have in their jobs (Davoine et al., 2008; Drobnic and Guillen, 2011; Gallie et al., 2012; Guillen and Dahl, 2009; Kalleberg et al., 2007; Kalleberg, 2009). It is understood as an umbrella concept that links some core working life dimensions with worker well-being (Hauff and Kirchner, 2014). Such well-being is not limited to job characteristics; it has also effects on firms, on issues outside work (e.g. work-life balance) and on the workers' future prospects. This standpoint that interprets job quality from the worker's well-being perspective suggests a clearly multidimensional delimitation (European Commission, 2008), provided that it involves very broad working life explanatory foundations and consequences that go beyond what happens in the workplace. In this regard, literature has interpreted job quality as \"an overall state of satisfaction that includes objective aspects of material well-being, satisfactory relationships with the physical and social environment, and objectively perceived health; and subjective aspects of physical, psychological and social wellbeing\" (Diaz-Chao et al., 2016, p. 618). This definition integrates both a multidimensional (including jobs, workers and firms) and an interdisciplinary (micro and macroeconomic, psychological and sociological) approach (Brown et al., 2012; Findlay et al., 2013). Thus, job quality provides and promotes sustainable work and economic growth in a reinforced competitive environment (Gallie, 2007; Green, 2006).\nLiterature review and hypotheses: The fact that men obtain better jobs than women from formal employment is well documented in the literature: men's employment is more stable, their salaries are higher and they have more opportunities for advancement and access to lucrative jobs (Blau et al., 2006; Petit and Hook, 2009; Stier, 2012). Going beyond wages, recent research has added a wide variety of job-related characteristics (e.g. job discretion, autonomy, flexibility, skills, physical and emotional conditions, working conditions, job security, industrial relations or work-life balance) in explaining job quality (Munoz de Bustillo et al., 2011; Findlay et al., 2013). Using this conceptual framework, new research has focussed on the existence of a broad range of gender disparities in job quality before and during the economic crisis (Erhel et al., 2012; Leschke et al., 2012; Eurofound, 2013).\nData and methods: Understanding the factors determining gender-related job quality raises two particular difficulties. First, the approach to the concept requires a multidimensional perspective, given that it is not usually captured in a single variable. In fact, performing partial analyses of various dimensions of the variable is the most common approach observed in the revised literature. However, this type of partial analysis has the disadvantage of not taking a full snapshot of the explanatory determinants (Leschke and Watt, 2014), which leads to the second difficulty: the use of an econometric modelling. In other words, job quality can be interpreted as a latent, non-observable construct that requires the application of econometric techniques enabling the use of this type of not directly measurable variables. In the empirical literature, structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses with latent variables have been frequently used in the literature to overcome this challenge (Diaz-Chao et al., 2016).\nResults: First stage SEM estimation\nConclusion and discussion: The main contribution of this study is that it is based on disaggregated microdata obtained from large samples of Spanish working men and women. The multidimensional nature of gender gap in job quality goes beyond the analysis of psychological variables and incorporates social and economic variables (Martel and Dupuis, 2006; Munoz de Bustillo et al., 2011; Gallie, 2013a). Similarly, while most of the data obtained refer to subjective indicators of Spanish workers' opinions of the quality of their jobs, several objective indicators (such as wages, weekly working hours or physical working conditions) are also incorporated. This analytical strategy is consistent with the literature reviewed in this study (Anton et al., 2015; Hauff and Kirchner, 2014; Munoz de Bustillo et al., 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyse gender differences in job quality during the first years of the economic crisis in Spain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses microdata from the Quality of Working Life Survey. A representative sample of 5,381 and 4,925 Spanish employees (men and women) in 2008 and 2010, and a two-stage structural equation modelling (SEM) are empirically tested.\nFindings: The study revealed three main results. First, the improvement in job quality was more favourable to men than it was to women. Second, the gender differences in the explanation of job quality increased considerably in favour of men. Third, this increase in gender-related job inequality in favour of men is explained by a worsening of 4 of the 5 explanatory dimensions thereof: intrinsic job quality; work organisation and workplace relationships; working conditions, work intensity and health and safety at work; and extrinsic rewards. Only inequality in the work-life balance dimension remained stable.\nResearch limitations/implications: The availability of more detailed microdata for other countries and new statistical methods for analysing causal relationships, particularly SEM-PLS, would allow new approaches to be taken.\nSocial implications: Public policy measures required to fight against gender inequalities are discussed.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to enrich the understanding of the multidimensional and gender-related determinants of job quality and, in particular, of studying the effects of the first years of the economic crisis.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Evaluating customer-perceived service quality in business management education in India: A study in topsis modeling	[ "TOPSIS", "Evaluation", "Education", "Modeling", "Service quality", "Dimensions" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Indian higher education industry in business management is facing turbulent times with the advent of globalization and functioning increasingly under competitive pressures. Post-globalization, since the early 1990s, business management schools and programmes have mushroomed in India, requiring students to pay very high fees and the promise of easy lucrative jobs once they complete their studies. In the present scenario, stiff competition exists among the numerous business schools. The advent of online and distance education is adding to this competitive pressure. International educational institutes are also starting to have tie-ups with local institutions. Students in the latter are getting exposed to faculty from abroad and participating in student exchange programs with foreign universities. Delegates from many foreign universities are coming to India, hosting education fairs and luring students with promises of high-quality management programmes in their universities and consequent work opportunities abroad. Many foreign universities are ready to enter the country as well. These competitive forces along with the escalating difficulty in placing students and the need to reduce dependence on government funding are all pointing to the pressing need to focus on quality and customer service in order to attract and retain students. This paper endeavors to address this area in the service quality literature by reporting insights obtained in an extensive exploratory investigation of quality, its dimensionality and assessment in the higher education sector in business management in India. It involves the use of factors concerning educational service quality that are queried using the SERVQUAL methodology. Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) has been used to compare the performance of the higher educational institutes (HEIs) in business management across the service quality dimensions. As HEIs grapple for competitive advantage and high service quality, the evaluation of educational service quality is essential to provide motivation for and to give feedback on the effectiveness of educational plans and implementation. A set of service quality parameters, drawn from students' (defined as customers) perceptions about service quality as well as the service quality literature has been drawn up. These parameters have been used in the context of six large higher educational institutes in India in the business management area to identify the underlying dimensions of service quality. This has been followed by an application of TOPSIS which has been hitherto largely applied only for engineering solutions, to compare the performances of HEIs across service quality parameters. Finally, the paper draws upon the findings of the service quality dimensions to contend the initiatives and measures that educational institutes can take to improve the delivery of customer- perceived quality and increase customer satisfaction. The research suggests that customers distinguish four major dimensions of service quality, namely, competence, tangibles, responsiveness and convenience. Identifying the underlying dimensions of service quality is the first step in the definition and provision of quality service and instilling of a customer-service culture. The paper also draws upon the findings of the service quality dimensions to contend the initiatives that HEIs managers can take to enhance employees' skills and attitudes and instill a customer-service culture.\nDiscussion: As higher educational institutions in business management struggle for competitive advantage and differentiation based on service quality, the assessment and evaluation of educational service quality is essential to provide feedback on the effectiveness of educational strategies and implementation. Excellence in customer service has recently begun to be identified as a critical success factor in the higher education sector with HEIs being increasingly integrated in a competitive market. HEIs have generally been outside the concepts and theories of management, and marketing has been consequently ignored for many years. In competitive environments however, student perceptions of quality and their satisfaction level have become very important in order to attract and retain them and assessment and evaluation of the results of the services of education and training that HEIs offer are being considered as imperatives and gaining in importance. According to Oldfield and Baron (2000), in the UK, higher education institutions, previously not regarded as profit-making, and for whom the concept of competitive advantage was alien are realizing that they are operating in a competitive marketplace and attempting to gain a competitive advantage. Paswan and Ganesh (2009) in a study of the US higher education scenario argue that in light of the current economic environment, funding cuts and potential future decreases in student numbers, educational institutes must understand that they are business entities, competing for resources and students in the local and international markets. The authors go on to say that indeed many higher education institutions are beginning to realize this and are competing for students, locally and internationally. DeShields et al. (2005) noted that application of market-orientated principles and strategies that are used in profit-making institutions is imperative for higher education management as well. Higher education should be viewed as a business-like service industry, which emphasizes the meeting and exceeding of the needs of students (Gruber et al., 2010). Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka (2006) depicted the paradigm shift in the governance of the higher education system throughout the world and the fact that marketization policies and market-type mechanisms have been introduced in countries previously characterized by a high degree of government control, as throughout the world there was a call for freedom from the shackles of government regulation. Talking about the marketization and deregulation of universities in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand Japan, Russia, the Eastern Bloc, Holland, Spain, Israel China, and Africa, the authors went onto say that in response to these changes, marketing concepts, which have been effective in the business world, are gradually now being applied in the education sector in order to gain a competitive edge and a larger share of the international market. The authors recognized however that there was considerable debate surrounding the marketization of higher education internationally, and that the political arguments and ethical concerns surrounding this major paradigm shift are ongoing.\nConclusion: The current research shows that service quality is a complex and multidimensional construct and that dimensions of service quality are contextual and depend on the service setting. The analysis of the 30 items comprising the various aspects of service quality in this study suggests that customers distinguish four dimensions of service quality in the case of the higher education industry in business management in India. These four dimensions of customer-perceived service quality are: competence, tangibles, responsiveness, and convenience. Competence and Tangibles were found to be the two most important service quality factors, in the context of the Indian higher education sector in business management. Hill (1995) asserted that students play a key role in the production and delivery process of higher education service and that students should be regarded as primary customers of higher education services, a view supported by Gruber et al. (2010). Voss et al. (2007) indicated that students want lecturers to be knowledgeable, enthusiastic, approachable and friendly and that students predominately want to encounter valuable teaching experiences to be able to pass tests and to be prepared for their profession. Their study also underscored the importance to students of vocational aspects of their studies. Clayson (2009) pointed out that though a small average relationship exists between learning and student evaluation of teaching, the association is situational and not applicable to all teachers, academic disciplines, or levels of instruction. In this study, the factor Competence comprised the kind of instructing that enthuses and inculcates interest in the subjects, along with the knowledge, research productivity and qualifications of the teachers. It also included the relevance and variety of courses offered and the provision for guest faculties to lend their expertise in specific academic subjects so as to include multiple perspectives and increase competencies of students who work in an increasingly interdependent world. Placements turned out to be a very important component as well, which is not surprising given the fact that many business management schools in India are facing a drop in the number of students seeking admission due to the fact that they are not being able to place all their students satisfactorily. The factor Tangibles comprised the visual appeal of the physical facilities and materials, availability of up-to-date computing facilities, presence of well-equipped libraries, provision of hygienic canteens, a variety of recreational facilities and comfortable hostels. The third factor was Responsiveness, which dealt with the provision of competent and caring service, the ability of the HEIs and their employees to inspire trust and confidence and which was primarily associated with employee attitude, helpfulness, sincerity and dependability. The fourth factor was Convenience, which included items related to operating hours, availability of right information and availability of the employees to respond to students' needs. This research indicates that from the perspective of HEIs, the focus should be turning to the whole student experience, because students' perception of service quality is influenced by a broad range of services provided by the HEIs. The organizational culture of institutes with a seller's market mentality may not be attuned to looking at things from the customer's perspective. This situation may be disheartening, but from another perspective offers promise for those institutes willing to change. Agreeing on educational goals is only one step toward formulating an academic mission, however. In the modern HEIs, teaching is just one of several necessary functions, the others being research, administrative service in the organization, service to business (e.g. through faculty consulting activities), and service to the community and society at large. Many of these goals are unrelated, competing for limited resources. Hence, prioritizing them to arrive at a realistic quality improvement program is a challenge.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the question of service quality in the higher education sector in the business management area, with the research objective to explore the dimensions of service quality and assess performance of higher educational institutes (HEIs) in business management across customer-perceived service quality dimensions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A modified SERVQUAL instrument was used to capture customers' perceptions of service quality with a sample size of 1,152 customers. Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used to holistically evaluate the performance of the HEIs.\nFindings: The current research develops a scale for measuring service quality in the area of business management education and reinforces the fact that service quality is a multidimensional construct. It suggests that customers distinguish four dimensions of service quality in the case of the higher education industry in business management. TOPSIS analysis provides an effective framework for ranking competing HEIs holistically in terms of their overall performance with respect to multiple service quality factors.\nResearch limitations/implications: Continued refinement of the scale for measuring service quality in higher education, proposed in this study, is certainly possible based on further research and trends in higher education.\nPractical implications: HEIs are finding themselves in an increasingly integrated competitive market. Consequently they are facing challenges due to the evaluation of the results of the services of education and training that they offer. In competitive environments, student perceptions of quality and their satisfaction level have become very important in order to attract and retain them. Identifying the underlying dimensions of service quality is the first step in the definition and provision of quality service and instilling of a customer-service culture. Having access to how consumers evaluate service quality in the higher educational sector in business management and evaluating the positions of the players in the market on service quality parameters, can help the organization to carry out its mission with more efficiency, aid in strategic planning and contend the initiatives that HEIs managers can take to enhance employees' skills and attitudes and instill a culture of service excellence.\nOriginality/value: The contribution of this research has been in terms of its scale development and modeling methodology. A methodological innovation in this research has been in the use of TOPSIS in the field of customer-perceived service quality in higher education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Collection management of electronic resources in engineering college libraries of Aligarh, India: a study	[ "Collection management", "Electronic resources", "Aligarh", "Collection development", "Engineering colleges", "Engineering colleges libraries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In this era of information and communication technology (ICT) and internet, the sources of information are moving rapidly from print to electronic format. Today, the influence of ICT is evident in almost every discipline, including education. It is affecting, in fact, improving every aspect of education, and libraries are no exception. It has resulted in the emergence of electronic books (e-books) and electronic journals (e-journals), and readers are now getting more acquainted with reading on ICT-based platforms. Consequently, to provide better services to their patrons, libraries cannot only depend on traditional print collection (Santos, 2017). Electronic resources (e-resources) give flexibility to users, as only electronic gadget is needed to download and access information. Owing to this ease of information access, library users today want desktop access to information resources which have forced libraries to change the way information is served from physical to virtual world. Over the years, the way information is generated, stored and accessed has changed considerably because of the extensive application of ICTs. Therefore, to meet the changing needs and demands of the users, libraries are upgrading themselves by developing e-resource collection (Babu, 2015). This increased dependency and usage of the internet, and Web-based technologies have resulted in shifting of the focus of academic libraries from print source to electronic materials. The major change that can be seen in an academic library today is the widespread availability and usage of e-resources such as e-journals, online databases, e-books, e-reference collection, OPACs, CD-ROM. This change of focus is apparent from the significant increase that can be noticed in the amount of library budget spent on acquiring e-resources through the report of National Center for Education Statistics carried on over 4,000 college and university libraries across the USA. It was found that, during the fiscal year 2012, academic libraries in the USA had spent approximately $2.8bn on acquisition of information resources. Out of which, $1.4bn were spent on subscribing electronic current serials, and another $123.6m were spent on bibliographic utilities, networks and consortia. The figures clearly show that over 54.4 per cent of the library budget was spent on acquisition of e-resources (Phan et al., 2014). It is predicted that by 2020 over 80 per cent of academic library expenditures will be on e-resources.\n2. Review of related literature: A number of studies have been undertaken related to the e-resources and their management in libraries, but fewer were exploring the policies and guidelines of collection management of e-resources. Different types of libraries are using different strategies of procuring and arranging the e-collection. Kovacs and Elkordy (2000) in their paper have discussed the development and implementation of a proper collection development process for Web-based e-libraries. They laid emphasis on building collection through information resources which are Web-based rather than electronic format. Also, they have given guidelines for the librarians on how they should acquire information resources which are Web-based for their libraries. In a critical study, Roberts (2001) presented the financial models of collection management of e-resources. He affirmed that the collections in digital format have major impact on the future profile of financial models. He also stressed that the traditional collection grant allocation models should be replaced with user access funding models. Bazin et al. (2006) described the process and experience of Providence College while implementing the collection management system in the college library. They have given an insight of the whole procedure with information needed to integrate the periodicals collection. The study by Walia and Momeni (2011) presented the findings of a survey based on public libraries of Tehran, Iran. The paper studies the various practices of giving access to library resources followed by public libraries of Tehran. In the paper, Chaputula (2014) addressed the practices of collection management followed by selected private academic libraries under study in Malawi. The findings revealed that the private universities in Malawi are facing major lack of funds as compared to public universities of the country. Thus, the collection development process has been affected adversely. The study by Kaur and Walia (2016) discusses the collection management process of public libraries of India. They have compared the Indian scenario with the international standards followed by the governing bodies of various international public libraries. They have also evaluated the level of impact that ICT is having on the collection development process of public libraries. Khan (2010, 2016) discussed the patterns of organization followed in university libraries of Uttar Pradesh, India. The study found that the earlier established centralized universities have better organizational pattern of collection development as compared to the centralized universities established recently. Khan and Bhatti (2016) conducted a study focusing on collection management process in academic libraries of Pakistan. They explained the various prominent factors that have impact on the procedure of collection development. The major affecting factors were found to be the aims and objectives of library, user needs, policies and methods adopted for management and development of collection, assessment of collection to identify the strength and weaknesses of different disciplines, selection of various formats of information sources, resource-sharing methods and legal problems faced in collection management.\n3. Objectives of the study: The objectives that the study seeks to achieve with regard to collection management of e-resources in engineering college libraries of Aligarh are as follows:\n4. Methodology: The survey method was adopted for the present study. Keeping in view, the various objectives of the study, a structured questionnaire was framed comprising both open- and close-ended questions. As suggested by teacher experts and from pilot study undertaken at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), some changes were made in the questionnaire so as to remove ambiguity in the questions. The questionnaire was administered personally by the researcher to all the selected engineering college librarians/in-charges of the libraries. It was supplicated with personal interviews conducted by the researcher. Finally, the data collected was analyzed, tabulated and interpreted to present the comparative analysis of all the engineering college libraries under study.\n5. Scope of the study: Aligarh, the 8th largest city of Northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and 55th largest city of India, is famous worldwide for its prestigious AMU. The city has a significant contribution in establishing a modern system of education. Over the years, the city has witnessed significant developments in the education system including the engineering and technological education. The city boasts of several engineering colleges in and around the district, including the eminent Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology (ZHCET), AMU. Most of the engineering colleges in the Aligarh district are providing quality education, as they are having eminent faculty members and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Considering this, the researchers thought that a survey of engineering college libraries of Aligarh would be helpful to understand the patterns of collection management of e-resources in engineering college libraries of India. Table I highlights the engineering colleges and libraries covered under the present study.\n6. Analysis and interpretation: 6.1 Subscription year of e-resources and collection development policy\n7. Findings and conclusion: In the present scenario, print sources in the academic libraries are getting replaced by the electronic knowledge resources. With the emergence of ICT, it has become essential for the libraries to acquire the e-resources including academic libraries. Thus, academic libraries are witnessing a major transition in their collection development practices to cope with the electronic invasion of the content and its accessibility. The basic aim of the present study was to investigate the collection management process in the engineering college libraries of Aligarh. Although, the development and management of e-resource collection is an intricate task, all selected engineering college libraries are working vigorously in the direction. The study revealed that in engineering colleges under study, the committees such as the library advisory committee and purchase committee are responsible for taking decisions regarding collection management policy. It was found that no librarian has got complete control over the activities relating to collection management of e-resources. The study also found that these engineering college libraries lack a proper collection development policy. Thus, libraries should formulate e-resource collection management policy for guiding the whole process. Libraries of engineering colleges are special libraries and, thus, the users of these libraries require specialized subject-specific information. The libraries of SSITM, ACET, ITM and VCTM should build their e-resource collection considering the different field of engineering studies. The major problem that libraries are facing is related to inadequate funds while cost of e-resources being priced higher. Thus, a higher budget is required by these libraries to build a strong e-resource collection. The librarians of engineering institutions should become member of collaborative ventures such as consortia so that they can use e-resources on sharing basis. The study revealed that the engineering colleges are following a mixed pattern of pricing of e-resources. Thus, more standardized pricing models should be built for such libraries. The engineering libraries under study should adopt various promotional measures such as training sessions, information literacy programs and promotion via Web 2.0 tools. To ensure optimum use of subscribed e-resources, full remote access to the databases should be provided to the library users.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the e-resource collection development practices of the engineering college libraries of Aligarh. The research includes budgeting, collection development policy, collection evaluation, sources of funds, modes of procurement, pricing models and other aspects related to collection development activity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The descriptive method was used for conducting the study, in which a well-structured questionnaire was administered followed by interview of the librarians of six engineering college libraries under study.\nFindings: It was found that these colleges are much more interested in focusing on building a strong e-resource collection in their libraries. During the past few years, the budget has also been increased in majority of libraries for the acquisition of e-resources. The study found that the major factors affecting the selection of electronic resources (e-resources) in these colleges are quality, subject coverage, license agreement and vendor support. It was also revealed that majority of libraries lack proper collection development policy, especially for e-resources. The study suggested that these libraries should build their collections keeping in mind the different areas of specializations of engineering studies and the contemporary changes in the field.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper is restricted exclusively to the study of collection development process of e-resources and the librarians of six major engineering colleges of Aligarh as respondents.\nPractical implications: This study has great importance for the librarians of the similar engineering colleges in India. The findings and suggestions of the study can help not only in understanding the engineering college librarianship and its current trends but can also help library professionals who are facing similar challenges in their libraries.\nOriginality/value: The present study is about the e-resource collection development practices followed in engineering colleges of Aligarh, which can serve as a pedestal for future studies in other academic and special libraries in India and elsewhere.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The (unlikely) trajectory of learning in a salmon hatchery	[ "Fish farming", "Workplace learning", "Knowledge processes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Programs of lifelong learning recognize that the development of competencies does not terminate with formal education but continues in various forms throughout life. One corollary is an increased focus on the nature and process of workplace learning that dominates so much of adult life (Billett, 2001). As the interests of the present researchers lie broadly in the domain of adult education, there was concern about reports stating that a fair number of Canadian workers had expressed dissatisfaction regarding the mundane and routine quality of their work (Livingstone and Sawchuk, 2004). A representative survey of 1,000 workers conducted in 1997 indicated that one-fifth believed that they held jobs requiring skills significantly below their level of expertise or experience. A 1994 survey of more than 4,000 employees also revealed that nearly 40 percent felt that their jobs did not require a high degree of skill (Lowe, 2000).While it was understood that these surveys reflected the sentiments of participants, it was believed that they concealed the true extent of workplace learning and expertise, or what has been called \"invisible work\" (Suchman, 1995). Ethnographic studies in the workplace have brought to light high levels of complexity for seemingly routine and mundane occupations such as assembly-line workers, dairy workers, warehouse packers, waitresses, repair technicians, and phone operators (Scribner, 1986; Smith, 2001). In addition, the high levels of competency demonstrated by these workers usually surpassed any codified training manual or courses provided for by management (Kusterer, 1978; Orr, 1998). At the same time, these so-called lesser-skilled personnel are thought to underestimate the cognitive demands of their workplaces (Berryman, 1993). Workplace learning is often unrecognized for what it is because people:... do not think of their job as learning - what they learn is their practice. Learning is not reified as an extraneous goal or as a specified category of activity or membership. Their practice is not merely a context for learning something else. Engagement in practice [...] is both the stage and the object, the road and the destination (Wenger, 1998, p. 95).While there have been studies documenting the extent of expertise and skilful behaviors in workplaces, the research community lags far behind conceptually in explaining the nature and process of that learning in all its multiple dimensions (Berryman, 1993). Countervailing the dominant paradigm, whereby expertise is seen as independent of setting and located in the \"heads\" of individuals, workplace knowledge is better considered as stretched over people, objects, and cognitive practices (Hutchins, 1995). Assumptions that knowledge is an intellectual activity originating and residing in the mind are therefore at odds and in fact incompatible with the notion of skilful behavior arising from persons-in-situations (Il'enkov, 1991).Work-related knowledge and learning are understood here to be not so much \"a way of coming to know the world, but as a way of taking part in the social world\" (Gherardi and Nicolini, 2002, p. 194). Two useful metaphors from the cultural-historical tradition have gained wide currency in the literature - \"communities of learners\" (Rogoff et al., 1996) and \"communities of practice\" (Lave and Wenger, 1991). These metaphors generally eschew precise definitions of learning trajectories, though they are suggestive that learning occurs through some form of apprenticeship or participation within social groups. Knowing, learning and transformation are thus seen as coextensive with changing participation in continuously changing social relations that make mundane, everyday living (Lave, 1993).In this article, the nature and possibilities of learning in a seemingly mundane and routine work environment of a salmon hatchery are described. As useful as the metaphors for learning described in the previous paragraph may be, they are unable to clarify fully how people learn while engaged in supposedly repetitive work activities. It will be demonstrated here that learning, change and transformation are all but inevitable in everyday work practices, contrary to what it is often believed about such environments. When such work is further explicated or articulated such as during problem solving activities or by doing scientific investigations in this case, these actions can contribute significantly to extending one's practical knowledge in the workplace. These findings suggest a need for rethinking the nature and possibilities of learning in repetitive and mundane work environments that are believed to be so widespread.\nResearch design: Site and participants\nDialectic of learning: This study shows that expert practical knowledge of fish culturists emerged through their engagement in concrete, material work activity. Feeding fish, for example, seems like a mundane or repetitive task because it is almost like a trademark, an index of fish culture - when visiting the hatchery one is almost sure of observing somebody engaged in this type of work. Yet this will be used as an extended example to show how activity inevitably leads to change and learning, no matter how infinitesimal. Mundane work is not so repetitive, for the expertise that insiders clearly recognize against non-expertise shows that minute and invisible changes in actions eventually add up to be visible as expert performance. There is a dialectical process at work, as every action is not merely reproduction but is also productive in nature leading to growing fish and to continuously developing expertise - a slightly newer, smoother or more economical way of doing things. If feeding fish was a merely repetitive act that is devoid of any learning then one is unable to account for the visible contrast in expertise between old-timers in the hatchery and that of recently hired workers.It was found that a second dialectical process is at work. Practical understanding develops through a process that further interacts with conceptual understanding of fish culture. The origins of the latter arose when the fish culturists initiated and conducted various scientific experiments to resolve problems in the hatchery. By doing so, the lived, practical experience of fish culture was extended and deepened when fish culturists articulated their praxis of fish culture that concurrently depended on their vast prior understanding of fish culture in the first instance. But, this articulation of praxis was only possible because the workers already had a practical understanding. That is, practical understanding preceded, enveloped, and concluded theoretical analysis, but theoretical analysis led to deeper practical understanding. Thinking in these dialectical terms thus constitutes an advance over attributions of expertise to mere participation in some community.In the next two sections, Jack will be used as the main protagonist to exemplify an aspect of the learning trajectory of an expert fish culturist employed in the seemingly mundane and routine work environment of the hatchery. The first dialectic of doing will be articulated with some ethnographic observations and then summarized in this section by means of an assertion. Following that, the second dialectic of understanding and explaining will be described in a similar manner.\nDialectic of doing: Ethnographic observations\nDialectic of understanding and explaining: Ethnographic observations\nConclusion: This paper presents a case study of the nature and process of learning to be an expert fish culturist in a salmon hatchery, a seemingly mundane and routine work environment. On the basis of these findings, the researchers extend beyond models that explain the growth of expertise through participating in relevant (work) practices. Instead, practical and conceptual understanding can be described as developing in a dialectical manner. This transformation into experts is portrayed against a backdrop of seemingly low skilled and repetitious daily activity in the workplace said to be common in Canadian society. Indeed, this study was prompted by an initial observation that there was an apparent incongruity with the high level of practical knowledge demonstrated by the fish culturists and the relatively low level of formal training in aquaculture that the fish culturists had received. Coupled with the apparent monotony of the daily routine in the hatchery that is dominated by the task of feeding fish about five to six times a day, it seemed difficult to explain how expert workplace knowledge had developed. Certainly, the repetitive and mundane nature of work practices, such as those found in the hatchery, were believed by some learning theorists to stifle innovation or experimentation by being conformist in both the process and outcome of the action. The critical role of novelty in enhancing workplace learning was additionally something that was assumed as lacking in hatchery work practices.For these reasons, understanding the trajectory of expertise in fish culturists was thought to be especially insightful. If there has been a perception by a segment of Canadian workers that their jobs are predictable or unchallenging, then examining how learning and transformation had developed under comparable situations in the hatchery might help alter beliefs that these kinds of work lack significance. At no time do the researchers defend these work practices, much less condone any form of alienating work experiences. Instead, these results demonstrate how learning and expert workplace knowledge as a way of being in the world had emerged from, and despite situations of, routine and mundane work practices.One should be less concerned with the perception that some jobs are mundane or routine (which might reflect genuine sentiment) but that the possibility of learning in these work environments is downplayed. The researchers affirm that learning is all but inevitable in seemingly repetitive chores. This is because every enactment of the task is non-identical from other occasions of its doing - hence being different but not completely so - it leads to change and learning. For these fish culturists, engagement in the same activity over time led to a deep embodied understanding of workplace practices that extended beyond fish feeding. This activity transcended its basic chore of delivering food to be a means of intimately knowing the fish and a reflection of one's identity as an expert. Through the agency of individuals who are undergoing changes in their own forms of practice, there are concurrent changes in the very structures that frame these activities. Jack was not only becoming an expert through feeding fish but also was transforming the character of everyday work in the hatchery. Even if his colleagues were unaffected by this change in Jack, anthropologists would still understand this as a (re)making of workplace culture. In short, individual change and learning is constitutive of cultural change, and equivalently, cultural change always implies individual change.When the practical understandings of fish culture were articulated and explicated in the conduct of scientific experimentation, these initial understandings were deepened and contributed to the trajectory of learning in the workers. The value of these two kinds of knowing is alluded to from a quote from Jack himself: \"[to be a good fish culturist] you gotta have some bookwork but you gotta have some practical work\". It is thought that he beautifully summarized, albeit inadvertently, the trajectories of learning described in this article that he and other fish culturists had taken. Certainly, salmon hatcheries are unique environments but these findings indicate that opportunities for learning and transformation are always present in seemingly routine and mundane workplaces.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Sociocultural learning theories, usually premised on participation in some community, explain workplace learning well up to a certain extent. The paper aims to extend beyond these and to account for learning in repetitive and mundane work environments from a dialectical perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Based on a longitudinal ethnographic study of one salmon hatchery in Canada and the fish culturists that work there, theory (dialectics) is blended with empirical fieldwork (interview data, participant observation data, field notes). Codes that emerged were classified into categories that formed the basis for the tentative hypotheses.\nFindings: - Two assertions are proposed concerning learning from a dialectical perspective: the dialectic of doing (actions might seem repetitive but are in fact always different and productive in nature) and the dialectic of understanding and explaining (practical understanding develops dialectically with conceptual understanding when the latter is subjected to scrutiny). These can account for learning in places that at first sight are not conducive to change and transformation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Using the proposed framework, researchers/management can no longer get at individual learning independent of collective learning, which simultaneously is the effect and cause of individual learning. That is, individual and collective are inseparable ontologically.\nPractical implications: - The study suggests a need to rethink the nature and possibilities of learning in mundane work environments that are believed to be widespread.\nOriginality/value: - Approaches workplace learning from a dialectical, hermeneutical perspective that is not widely appreciated. Affirms the dignity of workers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Identifying customer knowledge on social media through data analytics	[ "Social media", "Sentiment analysis", "Analytics", "Customer knowledge" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Knowledge is increasingly being recognized as the most important resource by organizations; in fact, it is a key differentiating factor in today's business arena. Businesses must be actively involved in creation and utilization of knowledge in order to meet the changing business environment to survive in today's knowledge-based economy. More and more firms are relying on knowledge to sustain their competitive position and help them maintain competitive advantage over their competitors.\nLiterature review on social media analytics: This section provides a brief review of social media analytics including the popular sentiment analysis techniques used in social media analytics.\nMethodology: Data collection and analysis\nResults: Knowledge from customers\nDiscussion: The competitiveness of businesses increasingly depends more and more on their capacity of acquiring, storage and managing knowledge assets in today's knowledge economy. Knowledge could come from diverse sources including customers, employees, partners, products, processes, competitors and experiences (Garcia-Murillo and Annabi, 2002). As social media becomes so popular in businesses, it is necessary to consider social media as a potential knowledge source and turn raw social media data into customer knowledge before it is possible to conduct CKM. According to a survey conducted by Ernst and Young, customers' knowledge was quoted as the most important type of knowledge (97 percent) to assist organizations act effectively (Daneshgar and Bosanquet, 2010). However, a key challenge in data analytics (McAfee and Brynjolfsson, 2012; Wamba et al., 2015) is to transform a huge amount of data available into useful knowledge (Erickson and Rothberg, 2015; Davenport, 2013) that can help businesses create value. The aforementioned study provides a good example to explain how to do such analysis and generate customer knowledge. For example, we found that notebook, RAM and pricing are the most discussed topics by internet users; Dell is the most discussed brand on social media and followed by HP. However, it is not sufficient to look at numbers only, which could give us a false sense of hope that a brand is better than other brands. With sentiment analysis, we found that HP leads the market in terms of most positive perceptions. Lenovo's battery received a higher percentage of positive comments, and Asus laptop received a higher percentage of positive comments for pricing. HP's battery received a higher percentage of negative comments and Toshiba received a higher percentage of negative comments for pricing compared to other brands. These findings show that it is important to dig deeper and look at quality metrics (e.g. opinions or feelings) in addition to the quantity metrics (e.g. number of tweets or re-tweets) when we analyze social media content in the business context. A variety of methods including statistical analysis, text mining and sentiment analysis can be used to derive new insights and knowledge from the huge amount of unstructured social media content and provides a quick exploratory way to develop better understanding on a given topic (He, Shen, Tian, Li, Akula, Yan and Tao, 2015; He, Wu, Yan, Akula and Shen, 2015). In summary, the use of these methods makes it possible for companies to capture useful knowledge from customers.\nImplication: This study highlights an approach for social media data analytics and contributes to the methodological development of social media analytics. The visualization outputs generated from real-world social media content could serve as examples for potential business analysts and managers (Kim and Jeong, 2015). The graphs we developed from the case study contributes to the development of innovative solutions to the data visualization problem. The visualized results can be used to many other industries as well. The findings of this study provide beneficial insights for CKM and contributes to the theoretical development of knowledge management.\nConclusion and future research: Knowledge capture refers to the identifying and gathering existing knowledge both internally within the organization, and/or externally from its environment (El-Helaly et al., 2015). Since social media become one of the most effective ways of reaching out to customers and gathering their experience, it is important for businesses to turn social media data into customer knowledge in order to achieve their strategic goals. Customer knowledge from social media can become an important organizational asset that organizations can utilize and manage to gain a competitive advantage including enhancing marketing strategy, building the brand and creating loyalty. Thus, we recommend organizations to constantly monitoring content posted in social media related to the organization's products or services.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Customer knowledge from social media can become an important organizational asset. The purpose of this paper is to identify useful customer knowledge including knowledge for customer, knowledge about customers and knowledge from customers from social media data and facilitate social media-based customer knowledge management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a case study to analyze people's online discussion on Twitter regarding laptop brands and manufacturers. After collecting relevant tweets using Twitter search APIs, the authors applied statistical analysis, text mining and sentiment analysis techniques to analyze the social media data set and visualize relevant insights and patterns in order to identify customer knowledge.\nFindings: The paper identifies useful insights and knowledge from customers and knowledge about customers from social media data. Furthermore, the paper shows how the authors can use knowledge from customers and knowledge about customers to help companies develop knowledge for customers.\nOriginality/value: This is an original social media analytics study that discusses how to transform large-scale social media data into useful customer knowledge including knowledge for customer, knowledge about customers and knowledge from customers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Price gouging in the Katrina aftermath: free markets at work	[ "Free market economy", "Price positioning", "Disasters", "Economic theory", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The concept of \"price gouging\" during times of emergency, such as in the aftermath of Katrina (Block, 2006; Block and Rockwell, 2007; Rockwell and Block, n.d.), often evokes quite an emotional and reactive response from people. The vast majority are outraged that stores and companies would increase their prices during a time of emergency. How could firms be so cruel as to take advantage of those needy people in such a desperate situation?The problem is that people do not realize that, in times of emergency, the market price they knew before is no longer adequate. They view price gouging as opportunistic pricing on the part of the \"evil\" capitalists in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the consumer. Legislation has even been passed to prevent entrepreneurs from raising their rates (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2004). Government intervention is not the answer to this \"problem.\" Upon exploring basic concepts of economics, one might glean a better perspective of the justification for raising prices during times of emergency, as well as what would happen if there were not laws preventing this very necessary practice.In Section 2 we address these \"basic concepts\" of economics. Section 3 is devoted to applying them to emergency situations, preeminently the dire plight of New Orleans and the Gulf coast after Katrina. We conclude in Section 4.\n2 Basic concepts: Prices are to the economy as street signs are to the urban geography, as are the moving baton and the sheet music to the orchestra. They are signals, they convey vital information. If street signs were taken down, and the conductor and the score removed from the musicians, chaos would ensue. Something close to a real world example occurred in the early days of the Soviet Union, when prices were all but banned. Such pandemonium took place that even the died-in-the-wool Communists, the true believers, had to pull back from this particular abyss. They instituted the New Economic Plan, which brought back some semblance of market prices (Rothbard, 1971; Richman, 1981).But only market driven not any old prices can serve in this capacity. If they are to do their job, they cannot be arbitrary. Prices must reflect the importance people place on the items to which they refer and their relative scarcities, in the eyes of the economic actors. If street signs were randomly switched with each other, or if the notes and movements of the conductor became haphazard, they would do no good at all. It is exactly the same with prices. Arbitrary ones are no better than none at all. Here, again, the economy of the USSR serves as a baleful illumination. Owing to their Communist ideology, markets in raw materials and capital goods were legally forbidden. If it were not for black markets in the Second World, and their knowledge of prices in the Free World[1], they would have been flying completely blind[2]. They would not have known, for example, whether to use wood, plastic or metal for their row boats. They would not have been able to determine whether the resources that went into the construction of a building were worth more, less or the same amount as the final good itself.It is only through the free interplay of supply and demand, which incorporates the comparative evaluations of all market participants, that meaningful prices can be constructed. It is no accident that to the degree that an economy has been free in this way, it has also been prosperous (Gwartney et al., 1996). Thus, paradoxically, introducing a bit of arteriosclerosis into the economy by enacting anti \"gouging\" laws will reduce economic welfare, not increase it.\n3 Applications: During a natural disaster, the demand for batteries, gasoline, milk, candles, bottled water and ice among other things generally increases. Simultaneously, the supply of these goods often decreases due to damage from storms, forest fires, tornadoes or earthquakes. Even without the \"evil\" capitalist getting explicitly involved[3], the natural market price will automatically increase beyond its pre-disaster status. Most people do not take this into account when complaining about the \"fairness\" of post-disaster pricing. The increase in price as a result of shifts in supply and demand is the market's way to allocate scarce resources. When the market is prevented from doing so (most often[4] due to government regulation), scarcity in the form of shortages of vital resources is augmented[5].In an article discussing the \"gouging\" of gas prices Lieberman (2006) illustrates this point:But high prices lead to solutions. They encourage producers to increase supplies and consumers to cut back on unnecessary driving. Over the longer term, they may even create opportunities for alternative fuels. This explains why oil and gas prices fluctuate and why no increase ever has proved permanent. Now, some have lost patience with this process and seek to short-circuit it. But that only leads to demand outstripping supply at the mandated price - which, in turns, leads to shortages, gas lines and rationing. The temptation is great. Consumers paying $3 or more for a gallon of gas may like the idea of government stepping in and reducing it to $2. They are less likely to appreciate passing gas station after gas station with \"closed\" signs in the window.When government intervenes in the market by passing legislation that prevents sellers from adjusting their price to what it should be after a disaster, the situation is worsened. Business owners are treated as criminals, while the \"anti-gouging\" enthusiast consumer gets to rob them of money that is rightfully theirs, according to the market. The government is a co-conspirator to and main proponent of this economic crime. Consumers who truly believe that the government is helping them in such situations are sadly mistaken. Anti-gouging legislation reduces incentives for stores to open or outside sellers to come to the disaster area. Sellers do not want to enter a market in which there is little or no opportunity to earn a profit. It is price that rations the scarce resources and calls forth supply. All other things being equal, production increases as a result of price increasing. Implicit in this is that if prices are not allowed to increase due to government regulation, production will not increase. In times of emergency, when the demand for certain goods increases, this \"helpful\" government regulation is the very reason that the resources are not available to those who need them. Outside firms and entrepreneurs are naturally reluctant to enter such a tumultuous \"market.\" This is perfectly rational and does not imply some absence of a conscience on the firm's part.Anti-price \"gouging\" activists have manipulated people into thinking that there is some moral flaw surrounding the natural fluctuations in price that occur in post-disaster situations. By doing so, they are transforming basic economic theory into an issue of what is just and unjust. It should not be an issue at all. If the market were manipulated to make sure that everything was \"fair\" for its participants, there would be many conflicts within it. It would hardly be a market (perhaps a better term for this would be socialist regime). It would be flooded with businesses that are not needed. Firms that, under normal conditions, should not be in business would stay in operation, wasting precious resources that could be better used in some other endeavor. Government subsidies would be rampant. Simultaneously, firms that should prosper if general economic welfare were to be promoted would be forced out by taxes and price ceilings. That is \"fair,\" is not it? High prices are not an issue. They are the market's way of allocating resources among all those who wish to use them. The media creates these \"issues\" for ratings purposes. Politicians use anti-gouging legislations as a means to get re-elected or increase campaign donations.Then Congressman (now Senator) Bernie Sanders believes that companies charging \"high\" prices need to be stopped for the sake of the consumer. Throughout his article, \"Stop oil company price gouging\", Sanders explores the supposed wretchedness of profits and big business. While the concept of Big Oil raising its prices in response to market forces and the concept of businesses doing so during times of emergency are not exactly the same, the argument against such organic practices follows the same logic. Businesses are taking advantage of consumers. Government must protect the consumers. Government must regulate, i.e. punish, businesses. Sanders (2005) refers to businesses as \"corporate behemoths,\" describes price adjustments by them as \"company greed\" and \"market manipulation,\" and classifies the benefits enjoyed by Big Oil as \"huge windfall profits\" made \"on the backs of consumers.\" This is the anti-gouging attitude[6].Sanders is clearly not a supporter of the free market. He demonstrates this through his condemnation of corporations and market prices as well as his urging of consumer aid in the form of government regulation. By implying that profits made by these companies are made at the consumers' expense, Sanders is blatantly ignoring the fact that the consumers engage in these transactions willingly. Clearly the price, although higher than they may have liked, was one at which they benefited from making the purchase; otherwise they would not have willingly done so. Through engaging in transactions, consumers are demonstrating that they prefer the good or service more than they prefer the amount of money they must pay for it. As long as neither party was coerced, both parties benefit from exchange. Congressman Sanders further illustrates his neglect for this concept by labeling the prices \"anti-consumer.\" Very much to the contrary, legislation that prohibits price adjustments is the anti-consumer measure. Companies earn profits by satisfying the wants of customers. People want these products and are willing to pay for them. If these companies are not allowed to earn profits due to price controls, they may not develop the technology needed to increase supply to the maximum extent possible. They could even go bankrupt. How will the demand for oil and gas be satisfied if companies are no longer in operation or cannot afford to produce at capacity levels due to out-dated technology? If Sanders wants to reduce the price of oil and gas, he should explore ways to reduce demand, such as urging his constituents to use these resources in lesser amounts[7].The main flaw in the anti-gouging argument is its lack of logic. Consumers and politicians want \"fair\" prices, but have not thought much past that point. They are so consumed with the actual price that they neglect to think about the implications of such regulations. In the face of disaster, people panic. It is human nature to do so. Prices lower than otherwise indicated by supply and demand conditions, combined with panic, result in hoarding. People flock to stores and buy as much as they can. Even with quantity limits, supplies run out before most people can get to them. This is where the government is supposed to step in and take care of its people, at least as far as the pundits are concerned; the state has stepped in, alright, but it is not helpful. A good example of this is federal and state response (or rather lack of same) to Hurricane Katrina:From Wal-Mart's satellite-based communications systems to FedEx's aircraft, US business has in some cases managed to provide a swifter response to the initial impact of hurricane Katrina than the federal and state authorities.\n4 Conclusion: Government passes legislation preventing price gouging based on the implicit premise that it can allocate resources more efficiently than the market. By doing so, it alleges that it knows what the people want better than entrepreneurs who sink or swim based on their ability to anticipate matters of this sort[9]. Government regulation is nothing short of a disaster as far as satisfying customers is concerned.Paradoxically, the government is correct in thinking that the people want \"fair\" prices for goods. Were this not the case, they would not dare to oppress price \"gougers.\" Indeed, this is a wildly popular stance for a politician to take. But, the masses of the people are entirely erroneous in supposing that these market interferences can actually be helpful to them. In the words of Caplan (2007), \"the public suffers from anti-market bias.\"Particularly, during times of disaster, prices must be allowed to adjust as a signal to producers and consumers alike. Consumers will utilize less of these goods, and producers will increase their output. As the supply adjusts following the price increase, goods and services will get to those who want them the most and are willing to pay for them. This will undoubtedly be a more effective way to distribute supplies to hurricane victims. The government has demonstrated on more than one occasion how ineffective it can be, and this unwarranted attack on price gouging is no exception. Price controls must be repealed, and the free market must be allowed to work via the beneficent invisible hand[10] (Smith, 1979; Childs, 1977; Diamond, 1987; Flew, 1987; Garrison, 1985), not by the stultifying hands of the bureaucrats and politicians.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The concept of \"price gouging\" during times of emergency, such as in the aftermath of Katrina, often evokes quite an emotional and reactive response from people who are outraged that stores and companies would increase their prices during a time of emergency. The problem is that people do not realize that, in times of emergency, the market price they knew before is no longer adequate. Government intervention is not the answer to this \"problem.\" The purpose of this paper is to explore basic concepts of economics, to glean a better perspective of the justification for raising prices during times of emergency, as well as what would happen if there were not laws preventing this very necessary practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper addresses some \"basic concepts\" of economics and applies them to emergency situations, preeminently the dire plight of New Orleans and the Gulf coast after Katrina.\nFindings: - The paper finds that a government passes legislation preventing price gouging based on the implicit premise that it can allocate resources more efficiently than the market. By doing so, it alleges that it knows what the people want better than entrepreneurs who sink or swim based on their ability to anticipate matters of this sort. The paper voices the view that government regulation is nothing short of a disaster as far as satisfying customers is concerned.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is of value in offering the forthright view that during times of disaster, prices must be allowed to adjust as a signal to producers and consumers alike. Consumers will utilize less of these goods, and producers will increase their output. As the supply adjusts following the price increase, goods and services will get to those who want them the most and are willing to pay for them. The paper posits the view that this will undoubtedly be a more effective way to distribute supplies to hurricane victims - price controls must be repealed, and the free market must be allowed to work via the beneficent invisible hand, not by the stultifying hands of the bureaucrats and politicians.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The 6Ds(tm): a new paradigm for executive education	[ "Behaviour modification", "Professional education", "Training evaluation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Training and development professionals have been slow to accept what other key functions have known for many years - that in the annual budget cycle, scarce capital will go to projects that yield demonstrable shareholder value. For as long as we continue to build our budget submissions around input measures - number of programmes, training days delivered, people trained - we will lose ground to colleagues in production, marketing, sales, logistics and IT who justify their expenditure by reference to the output measures that really catch the chief executive's eye - time saved, costs reduced and margin increased. In short, training and development must adopt new disciplines that identify and deliver business rather than learning outcomes.\nA new paradigm: We are often called upon by our organisations to help change ingrained patterns of behaviour that have outlived their usefulness. But we have been slow to recognise that we are ourselves shackled to ways of thinking and behaving that have passed their sell-by date and serve to confine training and development to a relatively minor role in the organisational hierarchy. We need a new paradigm that embraces all that is best in learning, is couched in the language of commercial accountability and defines success in terms that would be applauded by the finance director.Two practitioners in the USA have proposed just such a model. In their ground-breaking research among 30,000 learners in the USA, Cal Wick and Roy Pollock of The Fort Hill Company, have identified six disciplines - what they call the 6Ds(tm) - that have been shown to improve significantly the rate of return on investment in executive education. This new paradigm challenges the conventional wisdom of the two-day workshop that places the trainer at centre-stage and defines success by reference to learning outcomes. Their new model describes behavioural change interventions that take place over many months, where the real star of the show is the learner's line manager and the only meaningful objective is improved business performance.The work of Pollock and Wick is based on two key assumptions:1. the primary purpose of corporate learning is to improve business results; and2. learning produces business results only when it is transferred and applied to the work of the organisation in the form of new behaviours.They recognise that whereas knowledge is relatively straightforward to transfer to a motivated learner, behaviour is difficult to change. The learner, however well intentioned, will return from the training event to be confronted by rampant indifference from colleagues, the phone ringing off the hook, an e-mail Inbox filled to over-flowing and a boss acutely aware that they hadn't been around for a few days but didn't know why. In addition, the learner will be uncertain about the wisdom of changing their behaviour. On the course it looked so straightforward but back in the workplace it looks difficult, time consuming and even professionally risky. As the trainer's persuasive words fade with each passing day, their personal development goals fall prey to a potent combination of dwindling motivation and pressure of work.The new paradigm acknowledges these realities of organisational life but imposes six new disciplines that will facilitate the effective transfer and application of learning to the workplace, leading to new behaviours and real business performance improvement (see Figure 1).\nPrepare: D1. Define outcomes\nTeach: D3. Deliver for application\nApply: D4. Drive follow-through\nMeasure: D6. Document results\nConclusion: Available evidence suggests we are some way off a new paradigm. The overwhelming majority of training events will continue to pursue learning objectives, set their Finishing Line at 5:00 pm on the last afternoon of the event and measure success in terms of \"satisfaction\". We must address business performance objectives, set a new Finishing Line many weeks after the event when new behaviours can be observed in the workplace and we need to measure the effectiveness of our work in exactly the same way that our colleagues in the other functions measure theirs. Only then will we be able to reverse the long-term decline in real training expenditure.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Today's executive education programmes must lend themselves to comprehensive evaluation and measurement, in order that return on investment can be clearly demonstrated in the boardroom. This requires a unique approach to programme design from the outset, providing scope to ensure that outcomes can be continually followed up, long after an event has taken place. This paper aims to examine proven methods used to achieve this objective, creating programmes that deliver proof of lasting results.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is the 6DsTM approach pioneered by Calhoun Wick and Roy Pollock of the Fort Hill Company, on the basis of research undertaken amongst 30,000 learners. This method focuses on instigating behavioural change interventions over many months. It has been shown to significantly improve return on investment in executive education.\nFindings: - The paper states the evidence for the effectiveness of this technique but also highlights the fact that the majority of programmes are still not designed with the long-term evaluation of performance and behavioural change in mind.\nOriginality/value: - The paper challenges the paradigm of the traditional two-day workshop where the trainer is centre-stage. It instead concentrates on a new and innovative approach where the learner's line manager is pivotal, and success is measured in terms of measurable improvements in business performance. It will be of interest to educators and purchasers of executive education programmes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Examination of student housing preferences, their similarities and differences	[ "Students", "Survey", "Layout" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Debates on student housing topics have become an eminent discussion for scholars in the past few years (Poria and Oppewal, 2002; Cross et al., 2009; Flowers, 2004\nLiterature review on student housing: How important is it to understand students' housing preferences and how important is it that students' preferences be fulfilled? A recent study provided adequate evidence to show that if students' housing preferences are fulfilled, they would be more satisfied with their environment and feel more attached to their residence (Khozaei et al., 2012). Even though the importance of post-occupancy studies in a better understanding of a user's perspective as a way to improve built environments must not be overlooked, they provide limited information about users\nLiterature review on privacy and territory: A qualitative study conducted by Khozaei et al. (2010a) found that privacy, physical facilities, comfort, security, warmth and a friendly environment were identified as factors that make a residence hall similar to a home. This highlights the importance of privacy in residence halls from students' points of view. Privacy is defined as \"opening and closing of a self\" in relation to others (Harris et al., 1996). It is a process that aims to \"control transactions\" between individuals (Abu Gazzeh, 1997) and to a \"degree of access\" (Dorst, 2005). The study of privacy has typically involved groups and settings, such as office environments (Haans et al., 2007), university residence halls (Khozaei et al., 2010a), hospitalized patients (Tabak and Ozon, 2004), elderly people (Schopp et al., 2003), restaurants (Robson, 2008) and Muslim residences (Al-Kodmany, 2000). Previous studies have tried to examine the degree to which people preferred and achieved privacy in different settings and conditions. Studies have suggested that even within a family, an individual's degree of openness and privacy boundaries, sharing and interpersonal discussion may not be the same for all other family members (Chan, 2000).\nMethodology: The data for the current study were driven from a vast study addressing student housing preferences in which a portion was used for the current study. The respondents of the survey were students residing in all eight single-sex residence halls of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) during the first semester 2010-2011. Probability sampling was preferred to non-probability sampling because it was considered more representative of the entire population. Among the different techniques of probability sampling, stratified random sampling was applied for the current study. According to Schofield (2006):\nResult: Out of 877 questionnaires distributed, 805 were returned, yet, 752 were usable which yielded a 91.79 per cent response rate. This response was considered to be a fairly high response and proved acceptable when compared with previous related studies conducted in Malaysia (Najib et al., 2011, with 82.5 per cent response rate). Data were analysed using PASW Statistics 17. Demographic makeup of the respondents is shown in Table I. There was a preponderance of female participants (67.8 per cent) in the sample over male students (32.2 per cent). In terms of nationalities, there were 88.3 per cent Malaysians, 8 per cent Indonesians, 4.4 per cent Iranians, 1.1 per cent Iraqis and 5.5 per cent from other nationalities which participated. From the total population of respondents, 49.1 per cent were Malays, 36.3 per cent were Chinese, 4.8 per cent were Indians and 9.8 per cent were from other ethnic groups. Of the 752 respondents, 41 per cent were between 18 and 20 years old, 44.0 per cent were between 21 and 23 years, 6.3 per cent were between 24 and 26 years, 3.6 per cent were between 27 and 29 years and 5.2 per cent were >= 30 years. The majority of the students (83.0 per cent) were undergraduates, while the rest were graduate students.\nStudent differences on their preferences: Student differences based on gender\nConclusion: The focus of this study was to achieve a better understanding of the student housing preferences in developing countries based on a university case study in Malaysia. The results of this study suggest that students prefer to live in suites compared to traditional residence halls. These findings were similar to Roche et al. (2010)'s study conducted at Longwood university which found that the majority of students preferred to reside in mixed-use apartment-style housing instead of traditional residence halls. Accordingly, if the architects had this question in mind, would traditional residence halls still be the answer? The response remains more or less no. The results have revealed the students' greatest preferences for suite-style residence halls compared to traditional residence halls.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify the university student's preferences for some important attributes of residence hall design. The study also attempts to highlight the differences and similarities in student's preferences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The survey was distributed among students who were living in residence halls of a public university in Malaysia. A total of 752 students were recruited as participants. Data were collected using a self-administrated questionnaire. Students were asked to indicate their preferences rating a 4-point scale. The survey included questions concerning students' preferences for residing in traditional and suite-style residence halls, single room and double room as well as rooms in which each student's area is marked clearly. Collected data were analysed using PASW Statistics 17.\nFindings: The results indicated that, in total, students highly preferred residing in suite-style to traditional residence halls. Staying in a single room with shared bathroom was also preferred to double-sharing room. The results of study also indicated that living in a room in which each student\nPractical implications: The outcome of this study can enhance the awareness of residence hall organizers and architects with regard to some of students' priorities.\nOriginality/value: The results give an important insight into student's preferences towards their residence hall. The study provides statistic evidence unfavourably of traditional residence halls among the students of new generation. It also provides an insight into students\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Recovering from the earthquake: Early childhood teachers and children collaboratively telling stories about their experiences	[ "Disasters", "Story telling", "Christchurch earthquake", "Conversation analysis", "Early childhood education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nRemembering as a collaborative process: It is now commonly known that disasters, such as the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011, can cause post-traumatic stress disorder due to the severity of the unexpected event (National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2012). In response, proactive ways of preventing or minimising such stress are being developed. One strategy promoted during recent disasters in New Zealand, including the Christchurch earthquakes, is the Respond, Renew, and Recover approach recommended by Brown (2012), where the Recover strategy is designed to encourage recalling and telling of stories about the event as a way to come to terms with the experience.\nThe research project: The research project investigated the everyday occurrences of social interactions evident in a New Zealand preschool that had been affected by the Christchurch earthquakes. The project leader located a preschool that was interested in being a part of the study. Ethical consent to collect audio and video footage was obtained from the project leaders' institute, the staff of New Brighton Preschool and all family members and children who attended. Fifty-two children and nine teachers participated in the project; this paper presents interactions involving four children and two teachers. The data collection involved the participating children taking turns to wear a wireless microphone and their interactions with each other and with teachers were video recorded over one week in November 2011. A total of eight hours and 21 minutes of footage was collected; four minutes and 19 seconds of that footage are presented and analysed in this paper. The footage was watched repeatedly and transcribed using conversation analysis methods (Sacks, 1995). Two episodes of talk between a children and teachers are now discussed to investigate how they talked about the earthquake event, and what aspects they talked into significance. A copy of the transcription conventions used in this paper is available as an appendix.\nDiscussion and conclusion: The detailed analysis of the two episodes of everyday interactions between preschool children and their teachers reveals the work done to achieve tellings and recalling experiences about the events that unfolded for them during the Christchurch earthquake of February 2011. The children's and teachers' stories offered accounts of the event from their own perspectives nine months after the earthquake. In each extract, a child introduced the topic of earthquake and remembered a catastrophic moment (Extract 1 - the earthquake sounding like a dinosaur; Extract 2 - the earthquake causing floods). In the first episode, the teacher and Zack collaboratively produced a telling of the earthquake event, providing opportunities for each other to remember what happened and, more importantly, to realise that this was a shared experience where many were involved. In the second episode, the teacher actively managed to proffer information recall from a range of children as well as managing to reflect on her own experience of the earthquake. The teacher encouraged the use of second stories (Arminen, 2004), where children were encouraged to tell their stories that had been touched off by someone's previous story, as a way to display shared understanding of the earthquake event, and opens the opportunity to offer reciprocal accounts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Traumatic events can cause post-traumatic stress disorder due to the severity of the often unexpected events. The purpose of this paper is to reveal how conversations around lived experiences of traumatic events, such as the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011, can work as a strategy for people to come to terms with their experiences collaboratively. By encouraging young children to recall and tell of their earthquake stories with their early childhood teachers they can begin to respond, renew, and recover (Brown, 2012), and prevent or minimise more stress being developed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study involved collecting data of the participating children taking turns to wear a wireless microphone where their interactions with each other and with teachers were video recorded over one week in November 2011. A total of eight hours and 21 minutes of footage was collected; four minutes and 19 seconds of that footage are presented and analysed in this paper. The footage was watched repeatedly and transcribed using conversation analysis methods (Sacks, 1995).\nFindings: Through analysing the detailed turn-taking utterances between teachers and children, the orderliness of the co-production of remembering is revealed to demonstrate that each member orients to being in agreement about what actually happened. These episodes of story telling between the teachers and children demonstrate how the teachers encourage the children to tell about their experiences through actively engaging in conversations with them about the earthquake.\nOriginality/value: The conversation analysis approach used in this research was found to be useful in investigating aspects of disasters that the participants themselves remember as important and real. This approach offers a unique insight into understanding how the earthquake event was experienced and reflected on by young children and their teachers, and so can inform future policy and provision in post-disaster situations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Does more accessibility lead to more disclosure? Exploring the influence of information accessibility on self-disclosure in online social networks	[ "Self-disclosure", "Online social network (OSN)", "Information accessibility", "Social exchange beliefs" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Online social networks (OSNs) are a techno-social phenomenon of the twenty-first century that have dramatically influenced people's lives and their ongoing connections with friends, colleagues and family (Levina and Arriaga, 2014). OSNs allow users to share views, give opinions and generate content in a socially dynamic setting. Given the prevalence of OSNs, it is important to understand the desirable features that OSN users want in order to ensure content creating on OSNs, because user-generated content in the form of text, photos and videos is key to helping OSNs properly function and thrive (Shi et al., 2014). Accordingly, researchers and practitioners highlight the lens of quality in the design of an information technology (IT) artifact (Nelson et al., 2005) and examine how elements of OSN artifacts influence users' perception and information disclosure behaviors (Bazarova and Choi, 2014; Berger et al., 2014).\nDefining information accessibility: Previous research does not clearly distinguish information publicness and information accessibility. In traditional IS areas, the conceptualization of information accessibility is defined by features captured in an IS. According to Culnan (1984, 1985), perceived accessibility to information refers to the level of effort required to get information among various information sources, and this affects individuals' choice of specific information sources. They indicate that perceived accessibility to information could be a multidimensional concept used to evaluate IS and services; the dimensions include \"physical access to the source of information, the interface to the source of information, and the ability to retrieve relevant information\" (Culnan, 1985, p. 302). Accordingly, perceived information accessibility has been identified as a composition of these factors: the type of information, the amount of information and how the information is organized so that it is available in the OSN context (Hsu and Liao, 2014, p. 836). While Goffman (1963) defined publicness as publicness and presentation of information, publicness involves people \"using communication media to make information and their points of view visible and available to others\" (Slevin, 2000, p. 182) which is validated as a crucial factor influencing IS use and success. Based on this literature, Bateman et al. (2011) accentuated information publicness as an attribute of OSN web design and consider OSNs to be publicly accessible spaces.\nTheoretical background: Self-disclosure\nHypotheses development and proposed model: We propose our model as follows, which is a unique contextualization of the SET model that accounts for OSN information accessibility (high-level vs low-level) effects on different sets of social exchange beliefs and self-disclosure behaviors. We suggest that social exchange beliefs could be served as mediators between information accessibility and self-disclosure. In particular, the mediating effects of social capital accumulation on the relationship between information accessibility and self-disclosure will be identified. We also explore how information accessibility affects self-disclosure through privacy risks.\nMethodology: Experiment design\nData analysis: Measurements\nResults: Model testing results\nDiscussion: Contributions to research and theory\nConclusion: The general influence of OSNs is increasingly pervasive in all culture. As hypothesized, our preliminary results found that the participants in low information-accessible OSNs perceive higher social capital bonding than participants in high information-accessible OSNs, who feel more social capital bridging and are more concerned about privacy risks. High information-accessible OSNs and low information-accessible OSNs exhibit different effect pathways through which they affect OSN self-disclosure intentions. In terms of theory, this study provides a new perspective for discussing and evaluating the mediating effects of social exchange beliefs by theorizing the IT artifact of information accessibility in its influence on OSN self-disclosure. In terms of practice, we extend the boundary of knowledge in IS research by discussing the design issue of information accessibility, which is critical for building OSNs in order to ensure active behaviors (e.g. self-disclosure) on OSNs. These elements may be useful to future research focusing on developing social media and aiming to investigate mechanisms underlying self-disclosure.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Given the importance of online social network (OSN) media features, many studies have focused on how different types of OSNs with various media features influence users' usage and engagement. However, a recent literature review indicates that few empirical studies have considered how different types of OSNs with different information accessibility levels influence users' beliefs and self-disclosure. By comparing two OSN platforms (OSNs with high-level information accessibility vs OSNs with low-level information accessibility), the purpose of this paper is to address this opportunity by investigating the differential impacts of the two platforms on individuals' psychological cognition - particularly users' social exchange beliefs - and explaining how these beliefs translate into OSN self-disclosure.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study used a factorial design approach in an experimental setting to examine how different levels of information accessibility (high vs low), influence the social exchange beliefs (i.e. perceived social capital bridging, perceived social capital bonding and perceived privacy risks) of OSN users and subsequently influence OSN self-disclosure.\nFindings: The results show that users on OSNs with high-level information accessibility express significantly higher perceived social capital bridging and perceived privacy risks than users on OSNs with low-level information accessibility. However, users on OSNs with low-level information accessibility express higher social bonding beliefs than users on OSNs with high-level information accessibility, indicating that there are different effect mechanisms toward OSN self-disclosure.\nOriginality/value: The focus of this research helps unveil the complex relationships between OSN design features (e.g. information accessibility), psychological cognition (e.g. social capital bridging, social capital bonding and privacy risks) and OSN self-disclosure. First, it clarifies the relationship between information accessibility and self-disclosure by examining the mediating effect of three core social exchange beliefs. Second, it uncovers the distinct effects of high-level information-accessible OSNs and low-level information-accessible OSNs on OSN self-disclosure.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Union militancy during economic hardship: The strike at the Greek steel company "Hellenic Halyvourgia"	[ "Leadership", "Crisis", "Trade unions", "Injustice", "Strikes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper explores the preconditions for the longest strike to take place in post-dictatorial Greece within an extremely harsh economic context. The strike at Hellenic Halyvourgia (HH) started on 1 November 2011 and ended on 28 July 2012, amounting to 272 strike days. On 31 October 2011, the General Assembly of the 353 steelworkers of HH voted to strike, challenging the dilemma posed by the employer: wage cuts of up to 40 per cent (as a result of working-time reductions) or 180 dismissals (Diakoptes, 2011). Implementing a multiform militant strategy, the HH Union (HHU) attempted to turn its strike into a cornerstone for the Greek labour movement. Despite its negative net outcome, the strike at HH stands out as the kind of labour struggle that enriches our understanding of \"how individuals are transformed into collective actors who have the will and the capacity to create and sustain collective organization and to engage in collective action against their employers\" (Kelly, 1998, p. 38), which is one of the central questions negotiated by mobilisation theory.\n2. Union militancy and mobilisation resources: The labelling of a union as militant or moderate should not be seen as a static categorisation but rather as a useful analytical tool for contrasting the different approaches adopted by unions (Darlington, 2009a, p. 4). Although the discussion on the effectiveness of each type of unionism lies at the heart of the contrasting paradigms, we shall focus on the constitutional issue of the preconditions for militancy in the so-called age of austerity (Schafer and Streeck, 2013).\n3. The role of leadership and its political implications: Albeit necessary in some respects, the collective sense of injustice is not sufficient for the durable implementation of a militant strategy. There must also be \"a leadership willing and able to mobilize members for action\" (Kelly, 2006, p. 286). To be more specific, union leadership can set the stage for collective action against workplace injustice by enacting fair procedures and emphasising interactional justice in conducting day-to-day member relations (Johnson and Jarley, 2004, p. 546). According to the present analysis, union leadership constitutes the core agent of grievance framing, and thus the type of leadership should be adequately stressed and analysed.\n4. Method: A qualitative approach was applied to data collection and analysis of mobilisation resources in the case of the HH strike. The two key factors under scrutiny - the sense of injustice and the leadership quality - have been operationalised through qualitative content analysis of a body of material stemming from individual and collective perceptions that constitute socially shared beliefs such as group beliefs (Van Dijk, 2006, p. 123). In particular themes, items and concepts were chosen as units of analysis combining elements from manifest and latent content analysis (Berg, 2001, pp. 238-258). Therefore the present analysis \"is extended to an interpretive reading of the symbolism underlying the physical data\" (Berg, 2001, p. 242) involving two tasks.\n5. Context: The 272 days strike of the HHU took place within an extremely turbulent economic environment. The increase in unemployment from about 8 per cent in 2007 to a staggering 27 per cent in 2013 has been an unprecedented negative record, while almost a third of the Greek population became at risk of poverty or social exclusion (Pouliakas, 2014, p. 2). Within this context, no one should be surprised by the result of the Eurobarometer Survey (TNS Political and Social, 2014) on working conditions, according to which Greece has the lowest rate of satisfaction at country level (16 per cent).\n6. The embedded sense of injustice, frames and social identities inside and outside the gates of HH: As has already been stressed, the triggering of the collective action described here has both structural and dynamic aspects, which can be analysed based on mobilisation theory underpinnings. Social injustice accounts for a more structural element of the collective actions undertaken at HH, echoing a broader social injustice apparent within Greek society.\n7. When politics and leadership matter: the issue of agency in HH: A further day-by-day examination of the discourse of the HHU leadership and its constituents brought to the fore the systematic attempt of the leaders to expose the unfair managerial and state practices regarding their rights and link them with the general exacerbation of social conditions.\n8. Discussion and concluding remarks: The last days of the strike at HH coincided with the protests of Spanish mine workers who went on strike against the government's decision to cut coal subsidies. Their community's symbolic resources, combined with the widespread sense of injustice among Spanish people, led to militant repertoires of collective actions (Seymour, 2012), indicating the resurgence of contentiousness, fragments of which appear more and more frequently in the context of the lasting capitalist crisis.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper examines the preconditions of the strike at the Greek steel company Hellenic Halyvourgia (HH) which started on 1 November 2011 and ended on 28 July 2012. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of current labour disputes in the context of economic crisis focusing on previous developments of mobilisation theory and social movement literature. The overall aim is to highlight the linkages between trade unions and society when a broader sense of injustice comes to the fore.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Qualitative methods were employed in order to contextualise the strike events and examine the preconditions of the occurrence and the volume of the strike. Semistructured interviews, field notes, interviews taken by the media, documentaries, chronicles and articles, constructed the main body of empirical material.\nFindings: The HH case indicates that certain collective identities and leadership qualities account for high mobilisation potential with spillover effects which are in turn conditioned upon the situation of the strikers' allies. Although there was an agency to transform the sense of injustice into collective action, the framing processes employed by the union did not have the kind of impact that would render state and management's responses ineffective, as the strike message did not eventually penetrate other industries or even the rest factories of the HH.\nOriginality/value: The present paper goes beyond the general description of the social turmoil during the Greek crisis by showing the critical bonds that were established through framing and identity-building processes among the strikers and the anti-austerity protesters in Greece and abroad.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring the impact of rewarded social media engagement in loyalty programs	[ "Social media", "Customer engagement", "Rewarded behaviour", "Loyalty programmes" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A number of companies have jumped on the bandwagon of loyalty programs, because they presume that customer loyalty enhances their firm's value (Dorotic et al., 2014). Currently, loyalty programs are a state-of-the-art marketing tool (Meyer-Waarden and Benavent, 2009) and the number of program members is increasing steadily: In the USA, for example, loyalty program memberships grew by 26.7 percent from 2,089 billion in 2010 to 2,647 billion in 2012 (Berry, 2013).\nRelated literature and conceptual background: The term \"engagement\" has been studied primarily in the field of psychology, where it is mostly related to work and employee behavior (Saks, 2006). It describes the performance of an individual within his defined role in the organization and focuses on behavioral and emotional components (Saks, 2006). During the last few years, researchers from different disciplines, such as education, information systems, sociology, and management, have also started addressing this topic (Bowden, 2009; Brodie et al., 2011; Vivek et al., 2012).\nStudy 1: field study: Development of hypotheses\nStudy 2: experimental design: The field study shows that rewarded customer engagement enhances loyalty intentions toward the program and the company, especially in the case of indirect monetary rewards. In a real life setting, reward types are varied, but the size of the rewards is not modified. Behavioral data on divergent reward sizes are difficult to elicit, as companies typically offer the same rewards to all customers (Garnefeld et al., 2013). However, how a low or a high reward impacts loyalty intentions in different program settings (rewarding transaction or transaction and engagement) provides further guidance for managers on how to reward customer engagement in loyalty programs (Garnefeld et al., 2013).\nGeneral discussion: This study analyzes the effect of rewarded social media engagement on purchase intent in the context of a loyalty program. This was carried out by means of a field study and an experimental design. In the field study, members of the German Railway's loyalty program were rewarded for their engagement in a Facebook community. Afterwards, the authors compared the behavioral intention of the engaged members with that of customers who did not participate in the Facebook group, but who exhibited similar characteristics. All in all, rewarded engagement enhances the attitude toward the program and loyalty intentions. The results of behavioral data support this effect. The field study results show that if companies wish to reward customers for their engagement, they should use monetary rewards.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: New approaches in loyalty programs try to activate membership by rewarding not just financial transactions but also customer engagement. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of rewarded customer engagement on loyalty intentions and behavior by applying a social media context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A field study in the mobility service industry (focus groups (n=18) and questionnaire (n=1,246)) and a laboratory experiment (n=141, 2 (rewarded engagement and transaction/rewarded transaction)x2 (low/high reward) between subjects design) were conducted to determine the effect of rewarded engagement on loyalty.\nFindings: In the field study, the participants could gather loyalty points through their social media engagement. Their attitudinal loyalty to the loyalty program and the company was significantly higher than that of the loyalty members who collected points solely through transactions. This effect is especially prevalent with respect to engagements rewarded with monetary incentives and is underlined by behavioral data. The results of the laboratory experiment show that rewarded engagement positively moderates the impact of intrinsic motivation on loyalty intentions. Offering rewarded engagement in loyalty programs offsets the undermining effect of rewards.\nPractical implications: Rewarding customers for social media engagement can be a beneficial way of boosting active participation in loyalty programs, but this experience should be enjoyable and self-determined.\nOriginality/value: The study is the first to show the impact of rewarded customer engagement on the attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of members of a loyalty program.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Financing public transport: a spatial model based on city size	[ "Public transport", "Finance", "Subsidies", "Transport infrastructures", "Spatial model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: There is no doubt cities require to be equipped with public transport networks as they are primarily responsible for creation of wealth for countries. Public transport improvements in any city enable the growth and densification of urban spaces. Therefore, it is necessary to develop infrastructures and urban transport services to solve mobility problems, especially to ensure sustainability (Banister, 2005), and in line with this principle, it is essential to include sustainability as a first-class variable in the planning and development of transport infrastructures (TRB, 2004). Once decisions have been taken to design, build and operate such networks, it is equally important to set rules for urban transport financing and make it likewise sustainable in the economic sphere, as financial sustainability has often been neglected (Buehler and Pucher, 2011). However, the following questions may arise: how many public transport services do cities require for them to be considered well connected? Are urban transport services' financial needs proportional to the number of cities' inhabitants? Is there any relationship between those financial needs and the size of the city?\n2. Financing public transport in terms of city size: Over the past two decades, most of the large cities worldwide have improved the quality of their public transport services. Bus lines, bus rapid transit, trams and undergrounds are now very popular, even in developing countries, where authorities try to reduce congestion and increase productivity. Engineering has provided multiple methods to guarantee that the needs of the people are met. However, when a city continues to grow, one of the most interesting issues is from view of economy, i.e., the financial sustainability.\n3. The proposed spatial model: All transport systems in cities operate as networks. Although we could use more complex theories about networks, the proposed spatial model can explain, while providing intuition through the use of graphs, the question of the amount of resources allocated for financing the services.\n4. Conclusions: It is certain that public transport improvements lead to benefits to the economy of a country. Although the potential impacts will depend on the specific projects, authorities allocate funds in their budgets for financing the public transport networks. Each country has specific rules for estimating, allocating and distributing the total amount of money for public transport, including different methods for the income of such funds, for example, the case of France, with the versement transport tax, or Germany, with the Mineralolsteuer. But in all cases, the cost benefits analysis shows that it is expected large effects of investments in big cities, and virtually no effects in smaller cities. Although in fact most of the cities demand public transport services, the result is that buses, trams and metros provide such services to the population in almost all medium and big cities. At the end, authorities dedicate more and more resources, and the financial sustainability of public transport is an important omission in several countries.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between public transport services and the financial needs. Cities require to be equipped with public transport networks as they are primarily responsible for creation of wealth for countries and to ensure sustainability of urbanization. Once decisions have been taken to design, build and operate such networks, it is equally important to set rules for urban transport financing. Depending on the city size and other factors, authorities allocate resources. Nonetheless, is there a relationship between the size of the city and its public transport financial needs? This paper develops a model to explain such relationships.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study develops a spatial model, while providing intuition through the use of graphs, to solve the question of the amount of resources allocated for financing the transport services.\nFindings: It is verified that those financial needs are more than proportional to the size of the city; when a city grows in its number of boroughs, economic funds needed to support public transport have to increase in a greater proportion in comparison to the growth of boroughs growth. The model states a formula valid for explaining the financial needs.\nOriginality/value: The model is interesting as it explains why large metropolitan areas need special financial aid from authorities. Real life shows that big cities like Paris, Berlin or Madrid need extraordinary funds for this purpose, and in most of the cases, specific national laws are required for financing public transport networks in these large metropolitan areas.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Centralized vs decentralized sourcing strategy for multi-tier automotive supply network	[ "Coordination", "Supply network", "Demand uncertainty", "Multi-echelon inventory", "Multi-tier", "Order quantity allocation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In today's manufacturing environment, optimal sourcing decision can play a pivotal role in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for any organization (Stanczyk et al., 2015). It has been reported that the cost of materials constitutes about 40-60 percent of total sales revenue in a typical manufacturing organization (Anupindi and Akella, 1993; Thomas and Griffin, 1996). These materials (semi-finished or finished) are procured from various supply sources. Thus, an efficient, mutually beneficial and optimal sourcing strategy can result in a significant cost saving for the entire supply chain (SC). One of the key objectives of efficient sourcing decisions is to minimize the overall sourcing cost without compromising quality and long-term relationship with suppliers.\n2. Literature review: SC management encompasses three distinct activities, namely procurement, production and distribution (Christopher, 2016). Uncertainty, increased competition and complex business environment are forcing organizations to explore new avenues for cost reduction among these activities without compromising quality and service levels (Thomas and Griffin, 1996). Researchers (Arshinder et al., 2008; Thomas and Griffin, 1996) emphasized that proper coordination among different players in an SC can play a major role to minimize overall cost and improve SC performance. Coordination strategies include buyer-supplier procurement coordination (Sarmah et al., 2006; Sarmiento and Nagi, 1999), collaborative planning and forecasting (Larsen et al., 2003) and information transparency (Simatupang and Sridharan, 2002). Park (2005) emphasized that the integration of different processes into a single optimization model, so as to simultaneously optimize decision variables (e.g. OQA and service level) of different processes rather than sequential optimization, can help improve SC performance.\n3. A systematic solution approach to determine ESNCA for a coordinated multi-tier sourcing strategy: Figure 2 provides an overall step-by-step solution framework to determine ESNCA and study solution sensitivity for a two-tier supply network under demand uncertainty.\n4. Case study in a manufacturing industry: To illustrate the applicability of the solution approach and affirm the cost advantage of a coordinated centralized sourcing strategy, a real-life two-tier supply network in an automotive parts manufacturer, located in western India, was selected. The organization is maintaining an inventory of about 40,000 stock keeping units (SKUs). Around 1,500 SKUs are marked as \"Class A\" items. Organization had attempted conventional ways of reducing inventory cost of \"Class A\" items by negotiating with Tier-I supplies on order quantity and lead times. However, these cost reduction initiatives were not fetching results as per expectation. Thus, the organization was looking for alternate ways for cost reduction. In addition, transportation cost of materials was also increasing significantly with an increase in product demand. The organization had also not involved Tier-II suppliers for any cost reduction initiatives. Considering current scenario, organization wanted to explore possible cost advantage for a coordinated multi-tier sourcing strategy.\n5. Theoretical and practical implications of research: In this paper, a systematic solution approach is proposed to determine ESNCA for a coordinated sourcing strategy in a multi-tier supply network. The solution approach is illustrated using real-life case examples.\n6. Conclusions: In this paper, a systematic solution approach is proposed to derive ESNCA for a centralized coordinated multi-tier sourcing strategy under demand uncertainty. A real-life automotive industry case study on two different products is considered to illustrate the implementation steps of the proposed solution approach to derive ESNCA. Some of the key insights from this study are: the empirical case study provides quantitative evidence of ESNCA for a coordinated sourcing strategy over an isolated tier-wise decentralized sourcing strategy for a multi-tier supply network under demand uncertainty.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Multiple stages of procurement for a product in a supply chain (SC) altogether form a \"multi-Tier\" supply network. The purpose of this paper is to develop and verify a systematic solution approach to ascertain the realistic cost advantage of a coordinated centralized sourcing strategy as compared to an isolated decentralized sourcing strategy for a multi-tier supply network under demand uncertainty.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The proposed systematic solution approach consists of seven steps to compare and contrast the cost advantage of a centralized coordinated sourcing strategy over a decentralized stage-wise sourcing strategy for a multi-tier supply network. A real-life automotive industry case analysis of two distinct products provides sufficient empirical evidence on the expected cost advantage of centralized coordinated sourcing strategy under demand uncertainty.\nFindings: The case analysis affirms the practicability of the proposed seven-step solution approach to determine the realistic cost advantage of coordinated sourcing.\nResearch limitations/implications: The scope of this research is restricted to a single product and two-tier supply network analysis. This research work also considers a restrictive assumption of negligible coordination cost.\nPractical implications: The suitability of the proposed solution approach is verified using real-life case examples. This research provides theoretical insights and factual evidence to SC practitioners, so as to adopt a centralized sourcing strategy in a varied manufacturing environment.\nOriginality/value: There is no evidence of a systematic step-by-step solution approach to determine the cost advantage of a coordinated sourcing strategy over an isolated decentralized sourcing strategy for a multi-tier supply network under demand uncertainty.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Broad sensory branding	[ "Brands", "Sensory perception", "Case studies" ]	[ { "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.Advertising is not what it used to be. Let's face it. Despite the fact that we are using more and more marketing resources communicating with consumers, the returns are ever diminishing. According to the Newspaper Advertising Bureau, in 1965 34 percent of consumers in the USA could name the brand of a commercial aired during a show. Thirty years later only 8 percent were capable of doing this. By the time American consumers reach the ripe old age of 65, they have been exposed to two million television commercials. This means that they have spent an equivalent of eight hours each day, seven days a week, watching commercials without a break for close to six years!\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research paper is to reveal data that have emerged from an extensive study into the relationship between the five senses and brands.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Research was conducted by the global market research agency, Millward Brown. A team of 60 researchers undertook a quantitative and qualitative study in 13 countries over an 18-month period. The study set out to determine the role senses play in how one selects brands.\nFindings: - Results revealed that 99 percent of all brand communication currently focuses on only two of the senses - sight and sound. Emotional connections are effectively made with a synergy of all five senses, and as such those brands that are communicating from a multi-sensory brand platform have the greatest likelihood of forming emotional connections between consumers and their product.\nOriginality/value: - The paper uses case studies from global brands to illustrate the effectiveness of messages that incorporate as many senses as possible.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Examining brand communities among children and adolescents: an exploratory study	[ "Brand community", "Children", "Materialism", "Adolescents", "Life satisfaction", "Social anxiety" ]	[ { "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.\nBrand community: Cova (1997) suggests that communities centered on the consumption of products and services are the logical outcome of postmodern individuals who initially tried to free themselves from the restrictions of traditional communities that inhibit individualism, and then reversed themselves to recompose the social link. In their seminal work Muniz and O'Guinn (2001) trace the origins of the demise of the traditional community in modern times and propose that membership in a brand community fills a void that a consumer might feel regarding the loss of traditional community. Muniz and O'Guinn (2001) defined brand communities as \"a specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relations among admirers of a brand\" and brand communities must \"exhibit the traditional markers of community, shared consciousness, rituals and traditions, and a sense of moral responsibility\" (p. 412).\nChildren and brands: Literature suggests that children do form relationships with brands. Self-image/product-image congruity theory introduced by Sirgy (1982) and more specifically the work by Chaplin and Roedder John (2005) and Achenreiner and Roedder John (2003) examined the development of self-brand connections and the meaning of brand names to children and adolescents. Chaplin and Roedder John (2005) demonstrated that as children age, their number of self-brand connections increase. Young children (ages 7-8) make limited self-brand connections which are based on concrete, but simple associations with the brand such as owning or buying branded items. Older children (12 and up) have increased numbers of self-brand connections, and the connections are much deeper. To older children, brands have personalities, user characteristics, and symbolize group membership that provides a natural link to their self-concepts (Achenreiner and Roedder John, 2003).\nProfile of adolescent brand community members: Most brand community studies focus on the market outcome variables of community participation by adults. Fewer studies focus on the factors that influence users to engage in brand communities or what characteristics distinguish brand community members from non-members. One study suggests that the difficulty in developing a profile of typical brand community members may be because different individuals have different motivations for joining a brand community, and thus leads to heterogeneity among community members (Ouwersloot and Odekerken-Schroder, 2008).\nBrand community involvement and adolescents' psychological well-being: Parents, educators, and public policy makers have become increasingly concerned with rising marketing activities that target youth and the negative influence these activities may have on adolescents' psychological well-being. Little is known about the relationship between adolescents' psychological well-being and their propensity for brand community involvement. It is possible that increased participation and identification with brand communities is a substitute for traditional community involvement, and ultimately provides an improvement in quality of life for children. In contrast, it could be that children who gravitate to brand communities do so due to decreased levels of self-esteem and a need to enhance social and life skills (Chaplin and Roedder John, 2007). To explore this further, we examine the relationship between adolescents' likely brand community involvement and susceptibility to interpersonal influence, social anxiety, and satisfaction with life.\nMethod: Context of the study\nResults: Cluster analysis was used to classify adolescent respondents into brand community groups based on the brand community indicators of community identification, quality of brand relationship and brand knowledge (see Table II). To determine a typology of the number of groups, hierarchical cluster analysis with average linkage was computed. The resulting iterative change in coefficients (squared Euclidean distance) on the agglomeration schedule suggested a three cluster solution. K-means cluster analysis constrained to three clusters was then computed. Significant differences were found on all indicators of brand community (F<0.01). Mean results for the three groups of adolescent brand community (high brand community, neutral and low brand community) are found in Table II. Fifty-nine adolescents (24 percent) were classified as having high brand community involvement, 127 (50 percent) were neutral, and 66 (26 percent) were classified as having low brand community involvement. As a validation check, the number of hours spent playing their personal game system was compared across the three groups. A total of 70 percent of the high brand community group (HBC) spent three or more hours per day playing their PGS, whereas 48 percent of those in the neutral brand community group (NBC) spent one to two hours and 70 percent of the low brand community group (LBC) spent less than one hour per day interacting with their personal gaming system.\nDiscussion: The results of this exploratory study highlight several areas deserving discussion and further study. This research suggests that as children move into adolescence, the relationships that are created through brand ownership may take on such a significant role in their lives as to influence some to become involved with brand communities. Albeit exploratory, this study lends credence to the adolescent brand-based groups which are developing in the marketplace. A segment of children indicated that they felt a sense of community identification with other users, thought the product represented an important aspect of their life, and knew a lot about the product. This segment of users was also the heaviest user group. In this study, this segment represented roughly a quarter of the respondent population.\nLimitation and future research: Since this was the first study attempting to measure differences between adolescents who measure high and low in brand community involvement, our exploratory findings generate many questions and must be viewed in light of some limitations. Perhaps the most important limitation of this research is the contextual scope of the findings. Adolescent brand community involvement was examined in the context of PGS ownership. Future research should consider a wider range of product categories to establish the robustness of the findings. In addition, it would be interesting to investigate the types of products in which children tend to hold brand community membership. Do children largely join groups for products for their own use or do they also join groups for products they aspire to own?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Online communities designed to appeal to children are on the rise. The success of this marketplace phenomenon indicates that adolescents are likely candidates for brand community membership; however, the literature has yet to examine this trend. This research aims to address this gap and establish the likely existence of brand community involvement among adolescents. It further seeks to explore the characteristics which may differentiate children who are more likely to become involved in brand communities and examine what impact their involvement may have on adolescents' psychological well-being.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A national online panel was employed to collect survey data from respondents aged 7-18 and their parents.\nFindings: The results support the existence of a high brand community involvement segment among adolescents. Adolescents high in brand community involvement are found to display noteworthy differences in attitudes, values, and marketplace behaviors. Several interesting avenues of future research are proposed.\nOriginality/value: To the authors' knowledge this is the first study attempting to measure differences between adolescents who measure high and low in brand community involvement. Of particular interest are the results indicating that adolescents involved in brand communities may have important distinguishing attitudes and values and exhibit noteworthy differences in their marketplace behavior.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brand line extensions: creating new loyalties or internal variety-seeking?	[ "Brand loyalty", "Markov chain" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A challenge for brand managers, particularly in mature product categories, is growing the brand. Extensions of the brand aim to better segment consumer needs and potentially find new customers and grow the brand. Particularly for mature categories, this often means introducing new branded variants to maintain overall share for the brand or to possibly create a new product category. Indeed, mature brands in mature product categories often find themselves in the position where distribution, pricing and promotional efforts are replicated by competitors (Meade et al., 2009), so innovating along the product line becomes the primary means of brand growth and loyalty (Koschmann and Sheth, 2016).\nTheoretical development: Growing the brand in a mature product category presents a difficult challenge for managers. Marketing mix tools that were useful earlier in the category lifecycle now have less impact. Indeed, long-term effects show that elasticities are higher for product and distribution than advertising or promotions (Ataman et al., 2010). That is, strategies for the product line and distribution have greater returns to sales. Managers are wary of competing on price since price wars can decimate industry profits without altering market shares (e.g. USA airlines in the early 1990s; the Cola Wars of the late 1970s). Advertising effects are also lower in the mature stage than growth stage (Sethuraman et al., 2011) as consumers are well aware of the brand and its benefits. Distribution, by this point in the category lifecycle, has likely peaked as the brand has found ways to reach the consumer; brands should even cut back unprofitable outlets (Kotler and Keller, 2015). This leaves the product line as an area of most interest to the brand manager.\nMethodology: To investigate the propositions into whether varieties of a brand (the modified brand level) create variety-seeking within the brand or create loyalties within the brand, data comes from a mature product category with two brands that use a branded house strategy. The data and model used are described below.\nResults: Additional model-free evidence is presented in Figure 5, which highlights the threshold definitions used in the analysis. Here, the figure shows heavy half households for the fourteen modified brands (seven each for Coke, as black lines and Pepsi, as gray lines). Solid lines represent regular soda and dashed lines represent diet soda. The square markers are for master modified brands, triangles for caffeine-free, circles for cherry, and cross-hairs for Coke Zero and Pepsi Max. For example, of the heavy half households that were designated regular Coke households in the first quarter (the black solid line with squares, where more than 50 per cent of their Coke volume was regular soda at the master modified brand level), 97.2 per cent of these households purchased at least 70 per cent of their volume from this modified brand. At a purchase threshold of 90 per cent of household volume, this describes 91.6 per cent of households in the first quarter. Finally, using a 100 per cent threshold level, fully 88.1 per cent of these households made regular Coke its only Coke purchase in the first quarter.\nDiscussion: Brand extensions within a branded house present consumers with many choices of a brand's offerings. The consumer is already presumed to be loyal to the brand; the focus in this research is whether consumers rotate among the modified brands through variety-seeking, or develop loyalties to a particular modified brand. The Markov Chain represents probabilistic switching and is used here as the per cent of households that either continue to predominantly purchase the same modified brand in subsequent time periods (loyalty), or switch to other modified brands within the brand.\nConclusion: This research contributes to our understanding of variety-seeking in a branded house by examining a deeper level of loyalty: whether consumers switch within the brand through the varieties the brand offers (i.e. the modified brands). This is driven by the notion that for mature brands to compete, product innovation as brand line extensions represents one of the few strategies available to the brand manager. Consistent with the definitions from prior literature, the brand architecture dictates that extension strategies follow those that use the brand (i.e. branded house) versus those that do not (i.e. house of brands), or somewhere in between. By extending the brand, managers risk inducing variety-seeking within the branded house. However, consumers develop habits, as shown here that many households exhibit behavioral loyalty (through repeat purchasing) to one modified brand.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether line extensions (modified brands) create their own loyalties or induce variety-seeking within the brand. Prior research has explored how the branded house strategy (i.e. multiple products bearing the same brand name) retains customers from competing brands. However, this research investigates loyalty within the brand by comparing loyalty and variety-seeking rates of modified brands.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Markov chains examine behavioral loyalty and switching rates of panel households in the USA over several quarters for two family brands of carbonated beverages. Emphasis is placed on the consumers who purchase the upper median of volume (heavy half) and constitute a disproportionate amount of brand's sales (86 per cent of the volume).\nFindings: Three propositions find that loyalty rates are high among modified brands with little switching to other lines within the brand. Further, loyalty and switch to rates are highest for the flagship branded product (the master modified brand).\nPractical implications: Managers segment the market using the branded house strategy, yet loyalty rates vary for each product line. The switching rates can guide managers as to which products have established a loyal consumer base.\nOriginality/value: While brand switching is a considerable research stream, this research is believed to be the first to explore loyalty versus variety-seeking in the branded house strategy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Linking employee empowerment with productivity in off-site construction	[ "Employee empowerment", "Engineering management", "Off-site construction productivity", "Skills-base application", "Sub-element fabrication", "Efficiency factors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Much excitement surrounds off-site construction, as the introduction of techniques such as prefabrication and modularisation, over time, begin to resolve the productivity limitations of traditional on-site construction (Alazzaz and Whyte, 2012). The off-site construction industry is burgeoning; in the UK, for example the total gross output of the off-site construction sector rose from PS2.3 billion in 1998 to PS5.8 billion in 2008, albeit for only 2.1 per cent of the total value of construction activities (Taylor, 2010). A main reason for industry's endorsement of off-site production methods appears to be a perceived improvement in productivity (Bernstein et al., 2011). Indeed Eastman and Sacks (2008) show off-site production can result in efficiency gains of 40 per cent per employee.\n2. Background: Strategies to increase (labour) productivity in construction are essential; as the comparative cost of human resources rises there is an increasing need to develop systems of work that lead to a growth in productivity (Tzafrir et al., 2004). However, measuring such strategies is challenging. Despite the apparent simplicity of the definition of labour productivity, this indicator is difficult to track consistently, largely because of the complexity of quantifying and comparing diversified outputs in construction (Song and AbouRizk, 2008; Eastman and Sacks, 2008).\n3. Method: In total, two case studies were performed in off-site construction (productivity) to examine empirically the effect of nine factors of employee empowerment upon productivity, where the factors were generated on the basis of related research (Holt, 2000; Holt et al., 2000; Nesan and Holt, 2002; Nesan, 2004). Briefly, the factors are as follows:\n4. Results and discussion: Reliability of the instrument\n5. Conclusion: Most academic studies of off-site construction remain largely anecdotal and lack an empirical objective means of clearly defining the parameters that lead to positive gains; there has been little research that has comprehensively analysed and charted the full range of latent conditions related to the productivity of off-site construction, including its limitations and ways of improving it. In addition, the present study has found that there is a lack both of knowledge and skills in lower-level employees, many of whom experienced difficulty in understanding the empowerment concept. As a result, future studies on off-site construction should link the application of a skills base, perhaps in the form of a skills-efficiency matrix, with empowerment techniques to provide a means to empirically measure such a link.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address current knowledge gaps in off-site sub-element fabrication efficiency factors, by identifying an explicit relationship between productivity and employee empowerment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research is based on two engineering fabrication-yard case studies that investigate both qualitatively (via analysis of semi-structured interviews that incorporate a five-point Likert scale, with fabrication-product stakeholders), and also quantitatively (via assessment using SPSS statistical analyses to determine significance and trends in the data-set) the relationship between empowerment and productivity.\nFindings: The results reveal a positive linear relationship in off-site construction between \"employee empowerment factors\" and, explicitly fabrication-yard \"productivity-levels\". An especially strong and significant positive correlation is found to exist in resource development, worker involvement, process improvement, and task recognition as they refer to off-site construction productivity.\nPractical implications: Most academic studies of off-site construction remain largely anecdotal and lack an empirical objective study; as a result, this (fabrication-yard) case-study research provides a useful approach to measure empirically the link between employee empowerment and productivity of off-site construction.\nOriginality/value: Employee empowerment in the construction industry has long been a focus of analyses; however, there remains a lack of consensus and very few studies into the direct relationship between employee empowerment on the one-hand, and productivity in off-site construction on the other-hand. It is argued here that the on-going new research undertaken in the present study will go beyond subjective opinion towards objective measurement of actual performance in off-site construction.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing customer relationships in emerging markets: Focal roles of relationship comfort and relationship proneness	[ "Customer loyalty", "Emerging markets", "Relational commitment", "Relationship comfort", "Relationship proneness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: One of the longstanding challenges facing service firms has been their ability to build and maintain quality customer relationships (e.g. Al-Alak, 2014; Crosby et al., 1990; Giovanis et al., 2015; Sajtos and Chong, 2018) due to the benefits relationship marketing (RM) can bring customers (Lee et al., 2014). Sheth (2011) makes the point that a firm's RM efforts, and through that how they engage customers, are equally important within emerging market (EM) contexts. However, relatively little is known about how this RM domain of the services discipline plays out within an emerging Asian marketplace. This is particularly important to understand considering that for those Asian customers that have an insatiable appetite for services, that particular need is currently not being fully met by their local \"home based\" service firms (ANZ, PwC and Asialink Business, 2015). With the exception of Singapore, this is largely underscored through the underdeveloped service sector in Asian economies as countries comprise less than 55 percent of their GDPs (WTO, 2019). Typically though, as underdeveloped economies begin to mature, their service businesses begin to play a more dominant role within the economy. Therefore, a better understanding of how \"home based\" providers within EMs are capable of drawing upon their building customer relationships is tantamount if firms are to ensure this growing need in the Asian region is not met by more experienced service providers that are based in more mature economies.\nConceptual background and hypotheses: According to cognitive consistency theory, customers endeavor to have harmonious relationships in line with their beliefs, feelings and behaviors (McGuire, 1976; Meyers-Levy and Tybout, 1989) in order to help reduce the psychological tension which leads to feelings of elevated comfort in relationships. In essence, since the need for cognitive consistency means individuals are motivated to affiliate with \"similar others\" (Luther et al., 2016, p. 51) we posit that this will be reflected in their relationships with the service provider and through that help to underpin the constructs that depict quality relationships (i.e. satisfaction, trust and commitment) as well as the level of customer loyalty. We make this assertion on the basis that previous studies have revealed that customer comfort is an important motivational driver for maintaining robust and quality relationships with service providers (e.g. Lloyd and Luk, 2011; Spake et al., 2003). Therefore, this particular line of inquiry provides a suitable basis to examine how effectively those service firms originating in EMs can use the RM approach to advantage to help build robust customer relationships. Typically, earlier studies in retailing show that Indian customers regard the level of comfort they have toward the store and relationship with its owner to be critical to their store choice (e.g. Sinha and Banerjee, 2004; Zameer and Mukherjee, 2011) suggesting this construct is an important determinant of RM success in services relationships within EMs. Indeed, the impact of relationship comfort in the context of RM strategies given the overall success a firm's RM program is dependent not only on strategy and/or implementation but also on the preferences of the individual customer (Gwinner et al., 1998). This is important to know because earlier literature indicates that some customers are \"psychologically predisposed\" to engage in relationships than others (Christy et al., 1996) thus the effects of wanting to be in relationships (i.e. relationship proneness) needs to be factored into helping explain how well local service firms operating in EMs can nurture key relational outcomes.\nResearch method: Research setting, design and procedure\nData analysis and results: Measurement model evaluation\nDiscussion: This study empirically tested a model of relationship comfort, customer relationship proneness and the various RM outcomes in a financial services context within the emerging Indian marketplace. Our approach makes an important contribution to the literature given that trust-based relationships vary in high context societies, such as the emerging Indian marketplace and we were able to test what factors lead to trust-based relationships. The study's contribution to furthering our understanding of the marketing of services in the EM context is thus three fold. First, it demonstrates that relationship comfort also has a positive impact on key RM outcomes within an EM services setting. This has not been previously tested within EMs so we are adding to the RM literature. Second, our study indicates that customer relationship proneness moderates the link between relationship comfort and commitment and loyalty in a financial services EM context. This finding indicates that while RM can hold within the context of EMs this is also contingent upon the willingness of customers to engage in relationships with the service provider.\nLimitations and future research: This research has a few limitations that future research may address. First, the sample consisted of student customers studying in one of India's leading universities for higher technical education, thereby restricting its generalizability to the relationship between that group and banks rather than the population at large. Moreover, most of the students were the captive customers of the banks that were recommended by the institute on enrollment the element of choice in making relationship decisions regarding which bank to stay committed to over time was reduced. Second, the study took place within the banking sector in the financial services context. While this approach limits the influence of extraneous factors based on context differences, it may limit the generalizability of the findings and not inclusive of other service consumption situations, particularly to the purchase of low involvement and short-term services. Banking services are high involvement, risky and long-term relationships as the customer is most likely to remain in the relationship for a reasonably long period of time because of relatively high switching costs (e.g. Laksamana et al., 2013) suggesting some \"noise\" in the data. However, the external validity of these findings could be established further by comparing these findings with similar service experiences in other industries and settings.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of relationship comfort and relationship proneness on the ability of service firms to build and maintain customer relationships in emerging markets (EMs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A field-survey was conducted with retail-banking customers in India (n=300) using a structured self-administered questionnaire with well-established scales.\nFindings: Relationship comfort positively affects key relationship marketing (RM) constructs (e.g. customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and loyalty) and relationship proneness positively moderates (strengthens) the impact of relationship comfort on customer commitment and loyalty.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings may not be generalizable to all customer types using bank services as well as other types of services and in other EMs.\nPractical implications: Service firms in EMs can build and maintain robust customer relationships by using relationship comfort and relationship proneness to strengthen key RM constructs, such as customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and loyalty.\nOriginality/value: The paper highlights the importance of maintaining RM as a tool to build valuable customer relationships but also reveals the importance of relationship comfort and relationship proneness in building trust-based customer relationships in the EMs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gift-selection for close recipients: how perceived similarity of preferences affect giver's attitude	[ "Belief", "Preferences", "Gift-giving", "Gift-selection attitude", "Relational closeness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The literature on gift-giving identifies that, within close relationships, gifts are used as a means of self-expression and to communicate the importance of the giver's relationship to the recipient. If this relationship is perceived as close by the giver, and if the giver wants to convey to the recipient that the relationship is valued, she will want to maximise the pleasure of the recipient (Belk and Coon, 1993; Belk, 1996, 2010; Ward and Broniarczyk, 2011; Steffel and LeBoeuf, 2013; Aknin and Human, 2015 etc.) and select a gift that matches the recipient's taste. However, because a close relationship does not depend on the gift given, the giver may also want to project her \"self\" or \"identity\" through the gift item she presents to the recipient (Schwartz, 1967; Belk, 1979; Sherry, 1983; Sherry et al., 1992 etc.). Sherry (1983) termed the former motive as \"altruistic\" and the later as \"agonistic\". The \"altruistic\" motivation compels the giver to predict what kind of gift will please the recipient, thus generating a \"recipient-centric\" attitude. In contrast, if the motivation is \"agonistic\", the giver will select a gift that she associates with her self-identity rather than trying to please the recipient, thus reflecting a self-centric (\"giver-centric\") attitude. The self-satisfaction from choosing a product as a gift may arise from the fact that the giver identifies oneself with the product (Kleine et al., 1995; Baumgartner, 2002; Ahuvia et al., 2005; Mittal, 2006; Liu et al., 2010).\nReview of literature and conceptual framework: Belk and Coon (1993) define \"gift\" as a good or a service that is given voluntarily through some sort of ceremonial form, without any formal requirement to reciprocate. While some authors hold the view that gift-giving is an act of reciprocity (Mauss, 1954; Price, 1975; Sherry, 1983), others completely reject this (Belk and Coon, 1993; Belk, 1996, 2010). This research examines the effect of giver's closeness with the recipient on her attitude towards gift selection, without any consideration of whether the act is reciprocal and without any consideration of whether the giver expects reciprocation from the recipient. The scope of this research is limited to unrequested gift items because its intent is to examine how the giver's closeness with the recipient affects her understanding of the recipient's preferences and, in turn, influences the gift selection. The scope of the present research excludes the gifts of money, gift coupons and gift vouchers because such gifts allow the giver to avoid predicting the recipient's preferences. When the intended recipient is a child, instead of trying to satisfy the recipient, givers tend to select gifts that they think will help the child learn something (Otnes et al., 1993). Such objectives are not within the scope of this study and it thus focusses on gift selection for recipients who are not children.\nMethod: Research design\nGeneral discussion: The purpose of this research was to understand how relational closeness with the recipient impacts a gift giver's attitude towards gift selection and the act of gift selection. By analysing the responses of 510 urban Indian gift shoppers, it was found that closeness significantly affects gift-giver's attitude directly and indirectly through its effect on the giver's belief of preference similarity. While closeness reduces the odds that the giver has a \"giver-centric\" attitude, the giver's belief of preference similarity increases the odds. Belief mediates the relation between closeness and attitude. Since closeness affects the belief positively, the indirect effect of closeness on attitude is positive while the direct effect is negative. The total effect remains negative because the positive indirect effect does not offset the negative direct effect. The impact of closeness on gift selection was tested. All givers with a \"giver-centric\" attitude select gifts according to their own preferences. Even among \"recipient-centric\" givers, closeness increases the odds of selecting a gift according to the giver's preference. However, the odds of making a \"preference-contrary\" selection are higher if the relationship is \"very close\", compared to that if the relationship is \"close\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the impact of gift-givers' perception of relational closeness on their gift-selection attitude and eventual selection when the gift is not a requested-gift.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A conceptual framework was constructed on the basis of five hypotheses, which were tested by field data collected through surveys of urban Indian gift-givers while they shopped for a gift. Logistic regressions were used for validating hypotheses. Mediation effect was computed using the PROCESS macro in SPSS.\nFindings: The giver may have either a \"recipient-centric\" or a \"giver-centric\" attitude towards gift-selection. It was found that givers who feel greater closeness towards recipients are less likely to be \"giver-centric\" and more likely to believe that the recipient's preferences are similar to their own. The givers' belief that the recipient's preferences are similar to their own mediates the effect of closeness on attitude. Closeness reduces the odds of making a \"preference-contrary\" selection among \"recipient-centric\" givers because of a perceived similarity of preferences.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study was conducted among urban Indian gift-shoppers. Cross-cultural study may be required for general interpretation of the results. In addition, the role of reciprocity in determining giver's attitude and gift-selection was not studied.\nPractical implications: The study found that the odds of making \"preference-contrary\" gift-selection depend on the closeness of the dyadic relation. This understanding can be used in advertising and promoting products that are used as gifts between close relations.\nOriginality/value: Previous studies postulated and demonstrated that relational closeness affects gift-giving behaviour, but none connected closeness to gift-selection. This research conceptualised gift-giver's attitude, which influences giver's selection.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Arab women principals' empowerment and leadership in Israel	[ "Women", "Principals", "Israel", "Empowerment", "Leadership" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Studies of women's leadership in education have attempted to discover unique feminine leadership styles but ignore other important factors such as cultural, ethnic and religious differences and identity. The complex relationships between these factors shape the being and doing of women principals' professional lives in different ways (Abu-Rabia-Queder and Oplatka, 2008).Further research is needed to understand the personal and professional lives of Arab women principals in Israel, at present largely unexplored. Many of the characteristics of Arab society in Israel resemble those of developing countries (Oplatka, 2006) since it is also dominated by a collectivist patriarchal hierarchy (Shapira, 2006) so that research on developing countries might facilitate the comprehension of this issue. Life in developing countries is characterized by multiple family obligations and constraints, low levels of education for girls, a male majority among education role-holders, the importance of the father's role, and adoption of an \"androgynous\" style of management by the few women principals (Oplatka, 2006). Cultural norms in developing countries allot defined tasks and areas of responsibility to each gender, expecting people to comply with gender expectations (Celikten, 2005). Leadership roles \"belong\" to men. Women are supposed to avoid attempts to achieve these roles or risk incurring cultural sanctions such as reduced chances for marriage (Cubillo and Brown, 2003).Arabs in the State of Israel are an ethnic minority, the remnants and the descendants of the Arab population that remained after the 1948 war. In 2007, Arab citizens of Israel numbered 1,145,000 persons (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2008a). Arabs living in Israel have a different lifestyle and culture than Arabs in other Arab countries. They live in a western-democratic state, and young people adopt more western concepts than those prevalent in the Arab world (Joubran, 1995). Arab society in Israel is divided, and its internal political arena is fissured along ideological, regional, religious, tribal, family, social and class lines (Abu-Asbah and Avishai, 2008).The major ethnic sub-groups that compose the Arab national minority - Muslims, Christians and Druze - are influenced by internal modernization processes, by external processes stemming from the contact with Jewish society and by Jewish-Arab relations and the social context of the sect within the larger community (Shapira, 2006). Arab society in Israel is therefore situated on a continuum between traditionalism and modernity; the extent of tradition or modernity of the community also influences the extent of equality in distribution of family functions (Abu Baker, 2003). This influences the status of women and their ability to study and develop professionally (Hertz-Lazarowitz and Shapira, 2005).\nHigher education and women's leadership in the Arab education system: Higher levels of education among Arab women have led to the feminization of teaching, especially in elementary education, which is now the main employment channel for educated Arab women; and women have begun to attain educational management positions (Adi-Raccah, 2006). In 2008, 28 percent of Arab elementary school principals and 14 percent of Arab high school principals were women (Ministry of Education, 2008) although 74.6 percent of Arab elementary school teachers and 43.6 percent of Arab high school teachers were women (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2008b).Research on women in the Arab education system in Israel has revealed some of the problems involved in women's advancement to managerial positions in schools (Khattab and Ibrahim, 2006). Arab socio-cultural norms limit women's employment to their local and family environment and inhibit their active participation in economic activities (Joseph, 2000). Women are also expected to forfeit their professional promotion for the benefit of men's advancement, to avoid undermining the patriarchal structure of Arab society and threats to men's status (Abu Baker, 2003). Nevertheless, after a struggle, a few women are appointed as school principals. These women are perceived as exceptional (Shapira, 2006). The number of women teachers who study for graduate degrees is steadily growing (Haidar, 2005). Many have the skills and abilities to apply for managerial positions, but the post of school principalship tends to engender fierce struggles against women (Hertz-Lazarowitz and Shapira, 2005).Women constituted 58.3 percent of the Arab students who received first degrees from Israeli universities in 2007, and 47.9 percent of those who received a second degree (Central Bureau for Statistics, 2009). However higher education has not significantly affected traditional gender distribution of functions (Arar and Abu-Asbah, 2007). Women's status is still marginal in the public sphere, and many forces block women's access to managerial positions (Herzog and Yahya-Younis, 2007; Abu Baker, 2003).\nWomen's managerial style: Many studies in different countries have tried to discover whether there are differences in administrative style between men and women. These studies indicate that men and women have different ways of managing organizations (Embry et al., 2008). A recent meta-analysis completed by Eagly et al. (2003) concluded that women are more likely than men to use interpersonally-oriented and democratic leadership styles. Some researchers suggest that transactional and transformational leadership styles may be correlated with gender (Embry et al., 2008). Male leaders are described as more transactional than women and female leaders are viewed as being more transformational than men (Eagly et al., 2003). Reports on women's leadership styles in developing countries, indicate that women adopt an \"androgynous\" style, i.e. a combination of \"masculine\" and \"feminine\" styles, that is driven by strong male-dominated values coupled with women's own tendencies and needs (Oplatka, 2006).In the Arab education system in Israel, the feminine management style and its implications are significant issues. Women's entry into managerial positions may offer a different managerial style and contribute to development and progress in many Arab society life domains in Israel (Shapira, 2006). A recent study reported that they adopt an \"androgynous\" style (Abu-Rabia-Queder and Oplatka, 2008).\nMethodology: The research tool chosen for this work was an in-depth interview; this enabled the construction of a rich description of the varied and multi-dimensional world of the interviewees. Analysis of the interviews relied on the life-stories as a research tool (Lieblich et al., 1998). This approach allows life processes to be examined, revealing transitions and development over the years, examining the meanings that interviewees attribute to phenomena connected to their personal lives and professional development (Josselson, 1995). The researcher attained a rich and broad understanding of the studied phenomenon (Stake, 2005) by analyzing interviewees' narratives (Mishler, 1986; Gilligan et al., 2004) and exposing personal, professional and social issues.Many subjects are depicted more profoundly and meaningfully through stories that provide a live description of the narrators' attitudes, acts and interpretations (Lieblich et al., 1998). The story allows people to provide meaning for their life events, from their own subjective viewpoint, and to paint a rich picture of their world (Mishler, 1986; Polkinghorne, 1995).\nThe participants and the research process: This article presents the following women: Abir, Sarab, Suheir and Samira (pseudonyms), all Muslims working as principals in the Arab elementary school system and residing in Arab settlements in Israel. Interviewees were chosen according to recommendations by colleagues, or relying on prior acquaintance. Interviews, lasting between 90 to 120 minutes, took place in the principals' offices in their schools. The interviews were conducted either in Hebrew or Arabic and transcriptions of the texts of the interviews were uploaded into computer files. Texts in Arabic were translated into Hebrew by the second author who is proficient in both languages.\nInterview analysis: Interview analysis was conducted according to the \"Listener's Guide\" (Gilligan et al., 2004) in which the researcher, who reads or listens to the text, tracks the different \"voices\" that the interviewee articulates to identify each one separately. This method can potentially uncover narrators' different perceptions of themselves, their significant others and society.The analysis relied on a previous study in which four readings took place to identify: perception of \"self\", women's status in the family, relationships and their influence on the interviewees' lives, and self-perceptions in cultural, social and professional contexts (Hertz-Lazarowitz and Shapira, 2005). This study was taken from a broader study including interviews of 18 women principals that produced profuse and rich data and was analyzed by several readings (Shapira et al., 2010). Two of these readings are presented here.\nFindings: Empowerment within the family\nDiscussion: These stories of the school principals, educational leaders and pioneers in their personal, professional and social domains testify to the transitional cultural processes taking place within Arab society in Israel. One explanation for these processes may be the interaction with the majority Jewish society and the fact that Arab women are entering the public sphere, acquiring higher education as a first step to personal empowerment and breakthrough (Arar and Abu-Asbah, 2007).Like other studies of the coping strategies of Arab women in the public sphere in Israel (Abu-Rabia-Queder and Oplatka, 2008) this research focused on the empowerment that these women underwent in their families and on their professional relationships as they experienced and described them. Despite their double marginality as both women and members of the Arab minority in Israel, these principals served as models both for the community and for other women and they draw their own strength from this fact.Empowerment of girls in childhood\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper's purpose is to tell the life-stories of four women who succeeded in forging paths to senior positions as principals in Arab schools in Israel and to describe the personal, professional and sociopolitical contexts of their principalship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is part of a larger research effort that explored the issue of Arab women managers. Open interviews were conducted with four women principals, employing a narrative approach to study career development and managerial style.\nFindings: - The stories indicate that these women act as progressive models for Arab society that has not yet recognized women leaders as a social norm. The source of these women's empowerment can be found in their personal backgrounds. These women have created a new style of leadership in Arab schools. An outstanding feature of the principals' stories is the significant importance that they attribute to their relationships with teachers, students and parents.\nOriginality/value: - To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt to document the development of Arab women principals in Israel in their biographical, professional and sociological contexts. The paper provides insight into the educational and social contributions of women in senior positions in Israel's Arab educational system.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Organisational culture and change: implementing person-centred care	[ "Sweden", "Hospitals", "Nurses", "Change management", "Organizational culture", "Person‐centred care" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Public healthcare organisations are considered to be difficult to change (Arrow, 1963). There are several examples of how professional territorialism and organisational inertia cause slow routines and long waiting times (Ouchi, 1977; Ouchi, 1980; Ahgren, 1999; Street and Blackford, 2001; Scott et al., 2003b). A critical challenge facing healthcare systems throughout the world is to meet the complex and costly care and treatment needs of the already large and growing population of persons with long-term illnesses. To effectively meet this challenge, healthcare systems must realign traditional clinical practices and organisations to better accommodate illness management as a central goal of care and treatment (Palmqvist and Lindell, 2000; Olofsson et al., 2009). However, new working models and new technology have been hindered by cultures that are resisting change processes (Holmberg, 1997; Benders and Van Hootegem, 1999).Culture may be defined in a number of different ways, but an established and simple definition is that culture is the glue that makes up a common identity between different individuals (Smircich and Morgan, 1982; Smircich, 1983; Wilkins and Ouchi, 1980). The definition of culture in this paper is based on Vygotski (1978), who identifies culture as a link or transition between individual and collective behaviour. This refers to the idea that an organisational culture is \"embodied\" in individuals, but shared by the collective (Leontev, 1978; Vygotski, 1978, Valler, 2003; Miettinen and Virkunnen, 2005).Established organisational cultures are expected to induce inertia, maintain social structures and promote unitarianism (Schein, 1985; Young, 1989; Borum and Pedersen, 1992). Despite this, organisational cultures have not always displayed the level of cohesion that has come to be expected. Harris and Ogbonna (1998) associate cultural influences with a low willingness to change, they also identified that subcultures can contribute to a translation of the culture into modifying values. Elwing (2005) has shown, for example, that a communicative culture and the feeling of belonging to a community had a favourable effect on readiness for change.Different concepts of culture such as symbols, metaphors, anecdotes and artefacts have not proven to be the socialising tool that dissolves conflicts and other types of differentiation (Barker, 1993; Barner, 2006; Berlin and Carlstrom, 2010). These can take on certain values and make people act in a different way than expected (Smircich and Morgan, 1982; Smircich, 1983; Wilkins and Ouchi, 1983). The perception that concepts of organisational cultures are always closely connected to cohesion has therefore been criticised (Berry et al., 1995). They can even divide homogenous structures and promote organisational change (Hatch, 1993; Ford and Ford, 1994; Van de Ven and Poole, 1995).Earlier studies of organisational culture and its impact on the performance of healthcare organisations have often investigated culture in management, i.e. the highest level of the organisation (Davies et al., 2007). The culture of middle and senior management from different hospital clinics and wards has often been generalised to hospital performance (Mannion et al., 2005; Davies et al., 2007). However, according to Michie and Williams (2003), hospital wards develop their own culture and the cultures of different wards can be mirrored in different parts of the hospital.The overall aim of this study is to identify the impact of the underlying culture of a health organisation during a process of change from a disease and medical focus to a person-centred and patient-focused care.The purpose is specifically to explore the co-variation between different organisational cultures and the employee's willingness to participate in change processes. This includes the presumption that certain organisational cultures can, whether they are stable or not, contribute to the development of an organisation.\nBackground: Stabilising cultures\nTheoretical framework: This study is based on the two concepts of \"organisational culture\" and \"resistance to change\". The covariation between these two concepts is measured by questionnaires based on theories of organisational culture and resistance to change.Organisational culture\nMethod: Surveys were sent out during the autumn of 2009 to 170 nurses at five hospital wards within one clinic in a hospital in Western Sweden. A key inclusion criterion was that staff had experienced extensive change.The context of the survey\nResults: Participants\nDiscussion: Organisational theorists have emphasised the importance of being aware of the culture in an organisation in order to obtain success in change processes (Peters and Waterman, 1982; Wilkins and Ouchi, 1983; Denison, 1996; Hemmelgarn et al., 2006).In this study, culture was measured in the staff of five hospital wards within one clinic in a hospital. The study reveals that a culture of HR decreases change resistant routine seeking behaviours. The results also showed that flat hierarchal structures and social competence contributed to a decreasing tendency to resist change to the care of PCC. This supports the idea that change is induced by cooperative and supportive cultures (Firth-Cozens, 2001; Scott et al., 2005). HR stands out in contrast to the other three types of organisational culture, OS, RG and IP, as the only one that reached a level of significance.Even if the development of cultures is driven by professionals who share similar values and goals (Edmondsson, 2003), hospital wards do develop their own culture (Michie and Williams, 2003). Wards characterised by a rational goal culture with competitive behaviour can, according to Dutton et al. (1997) induce rivalry. This points to the fact that change processes need broad collaboration and an awareness of common values and ideologies (Tedeshi, 1981; Schneider, 1981; Schlenker and Weigold, 1992).HR stands out as the most important culture in order to facilitate an organisation from inertia and path-dependent routines to the acceptance of new standards. This is especially evident when the HR culture consists of a high tolerance to mistakes and flat hierarchical structures. The opposite, i.e. a low tolerance and steep hierarchies, can induce fear in the collective, which restrains change processes and hinders the dissemination of innovations in healthcare (Berwick, 2003).A greater insight of organisational culture as an important factor on change processes will influence the selection of hospital wards into change projects because the underlying culture of an organisation is considered to have considerable impact (Fischer et al., 2005). An instrument that pinpoints the conditions of a particular healthcare setting can improve the results of a change project. Furthermore, managers who are aware of the organisational culture in their wards can use instruments such as the ones used in this study to investigate and plan for change processes.A HR culture stands out in contrast to the other three types of organisational culture, and the different wards showed a surprisingly low resistance to change. Results from the present study therefore indicate that, even in an old public health care based on long traditions and characterised of standardised care models carry possibilities for changes towards an individualised humanistic care where the patient, as an individual, is at the centre and not the pathological processes or the disease itself.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between organisational cultures and the employee's resistance to change at five hospital wards in Western Sweden. Staff had experienced extensive change during a research project implementing person-centred care (PCC) for patients with chronic heart failure.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Surveys were sent out to 170 nurses. The survey included two instruments - the Organisational Values Questionnaire (OVQ) and the Resistance to Change Scale (RTC).\nFindings: - The results indicate that a culture with a dominating focus on social competence decreases \"routine seeking behaviour\", i.e. tendencies to uphold stable routines and a reluctance to give up old habits. The results indicate that a culture of flexibility, cohesion and trust negatively covariate with the overall need for a stable and well-defined framework.\nPractical implications: - An instrument that pinpoints the conditions of a particular healthcare setting can improve the results of a change project. Managers can use instruments such as the ones used in this study to investigate and plan for change processes.\nOriginality/value: - Earlier studies of organisational culture and its impact on the performance of healthcare organisations have often investigated culture at the highest level of the organisation. In this study, the culture of the production units - i.e. the health workers in different hospital wards - was described. Hospital wards develop their own culture and the cultures of different wards are mirrored in the hospital.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Social interaction and adolescent's learning in enterprise education: An empirical study	[ "Education", "Adolescents", "Social interaction", "Learning methods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The relationship between education and entrepreneurship has always been an area of interest among educators, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners. Whereas the early literature has focused on the impacts of formal education towards entrepreneurship (Casson, 1982; Stanworth and Curran, 1971), over the past two decades, the attention has shifted towards the provision of specific education and training of entrepreneurship (Garavan and O'Cinneide, 1994; Gibb, 1993, 1999; Hytti and O'Gorman, 2004; Jamieson, 1984). Enterprise education programmes and activities have further shown their significant influence on the formation of entrepreneurial characteristics (Fletcher, 1999; Galloway and Brown, 2002; Kolvereid and Moen, 1997; Lewis, 2005; Peterman and Kennedy, 2003; Westhead et al., 2000) and are beneficial to business formation and development (Charney and Libecap, 2003; Erilson and Gjellan, 2003; Henry, 2000; Hindle and Cutting, 2002). The current view expresses that enterprise education is actually a multi-faceted education, aiming at imparting knowledge and capabilities, developing skills, nurturing attributes in a context of enterprise, demonstrating entrepreneurial behaviours, and inducing a culture of enterprise (Gibb, 1993; Hytti and O'Gorman, 2004; Jack and Anderson, 1999). Subsequently, varied teaching and learning approaches are necessary for the successful delivery of enterprise education and achievement of these aims. In addition, it is necessary to create an enabling environment to raise the learners' awareness, make the courses of enterprise education attractive, and encourage opportunities for real-life selling, so that the provision of entrepreneurship programmes and activities can be made more effective (Henry, 2000).The above considerations are of particular importance for the enterprise education to the adolescent, because at this level of age, enterprise education has a wider impact on learners' holistic development than simply enabling them to start their own business (Iredale, 2002), particularly for primary and secondary school students (Gorman et al., 1997). On the other hand, while it is generally agreed that constructivist, learner-centred approaches are appropriate for enterprise education, the current attention of educational practices seems to be inclined towards the action learning or experiential aspects involved in learning. The interactive aspect of enterprise education, which corresponds to the real practices in small business learning (Gibb, 1993), has received less attention in the literature. In this paper, our main proposition is that the social interaction aspect is equally important in providing the enterprise education for youths, as is the action learning or experiential aspect. Therefore, we put social interaction as the focus in this paper and aim to investigating its effect on participants' learning experience.With this research objective, we have conducted an empirical study using a sample of secondary school students who participated in an enterprise activity in Hong Kong. In the literature review, after examining the enterprise education for the adolescent, we will focus on the concept of social interaction in learning and its applications in enterprise education. We will then explain the development of hypotheses on two particular aspects of interactive learning towards the learning outcomes in terms of the students' affection of the activity and their change in the perceived level of personal competencies after the activity. These two aspects are the participants' interaction with the facilitator in the enterprise activity and their interaction with other members of the participating team in this activity. The research methodology and findings will also be reported. Finally, we will discuss the findings and the possible direction for further research in this field of studies.\nLiterature review: Enterprise education for the adolescent\nDevelopment of hypotheses: The studies of Harris et al. (2000) and Gibb (1993) have emphasized the roles of social interaction with various parties in entrepreneurial learning. In this study, we focus on two particular aspects of social interaction - interaction with the facilitator of the enterprise activity and interaction among the team members in the enterprise activity. They served as the two independent variables in this study. We were interested in the interaction with the facilitator because the availability of mentors, coaches or advisors in the delivery of enterprise activities is often believed to be one of the key factors in the smooth delivery and hence successful learning in enterprise education through the provision of concern, support, interaction and encouragement (Hytti and O'Gorman, 2004; Lewis and Massey, 2003). It is also an element in enterprise education by which the education provider can intervene by offering \"train-the-trainers\" activities so as to enhance the outcomes. However, at present very few studies have focused on this aspect at the adolescent level of enterprise education. Moreover, the choice of interaction with team members is another independent variable due to the fact that most of the social interaction takes place in the context in which one works with closely, so that members can develop their enterprising competencies by sharing their experience, feedback, suggestions and even criticisms from each other (Collins and Robertson, 2003; Garavan and O'Cinneide, 1994; Schelfhout et al., 2004). In the context of this study, the interaction with the team members in the enterprise activity is closely resembled to this situation.On the other hand, two types of learning outcomes were chosen to study the impact of enterprise education (i.e. the dependent variables), namely, participants' affection towards enterprise activity and the change in their perceived level of personal competencies before and after the activity. Affection on the learning experience is reflected in one's likeness, enjoyment and excitement in learning (Chin et al., 2004). We are interested in participants' affection on the activity because it initially and essentially develops a positive impression or effective affection towards the activity. If the participants' interaction with the activity facilitator and the team members is positive, it is believed that they will develop a positive affection on the activity. Therefore, the first set of hypotheses is as follows:H1a. The level of social interaction with the facilitator of an enterprise activity is positively correlated with students' affection on the activity.H1b. The level of social interaction with the team members of an enterprise activity is positively correlated with students' affection on the activity.Moreover, competencies are individual characteristics like motives, attitudes, skills and knowledge that are related to effective performance in one's job role (Bourgoyne, 1988; Boyatzis, 1982; Woodfruffe, 1992). As competencies differ for different job roles or contexts (Stuart et al., 1995), the competencies required in enterprise activities should be specific and should include the competencies useful for the adolescent in their future work and life (Skilbeck et al., 1994), as well as knowledge, skills and personal attributes for starting and running a small business as summarized by Iredate (2002). Also, the social interaction with facilitator and with the team members helps participants to acquire the knowledge and skills, to share and work with each other so as to induce a positive environment among themselves. As a result, those competencies for enterprise can be acquired and reinforced among themselves, in addition to the knowledge and skills provided by the facilitator only. Therefore, we also propose the following set of hypotheses:H2a. The level of social interaction with the facilitator of an enterprise activity is positively correlated with students' perceived change in the level of personal competencies after the activity.H2b. The level of social interaction with the team members in an enterprise activity is positively correlated with students' perceived change in the level of personal competencies after the activity.\nResearch method: Overall research design\nFindings: The results of the correlation analysis between dependent and independent variables are shown in Table I.From Table I, it is shown that there is a significant level of correlation between Affection on Enterprise Activity and the two independent variables - Interaction with Facilitator and Interaction with Team Members. For another dependent variable - Change in the Level of Personal Competencies, its correlation with these two independent variables are also moderately significant. Such results have provided preliminary evidence to support our hypotheses.To provide further evidence for the hypotheses, two regression models were developed and tested, with \"Affection on Enterprise Activity\" and \"Change in Perceived Level of Personal Competencies\" as the respective dependent variables. The results are shown in Table II.The results show that there is an overall significant regression model on the first regression with Affection on Enterprise Activity as the dependent variable, resulting in a fairly significant R2 of 0.272 (adjusted R2=0.262) on the final model. Significant and positive effects of the two independent variables were also found. The coefficients and the analysis of the change in R2 also show that two independent variables have played a significant role in the regression model. Therefore, there is supporting evidence for H1a and H1b about the positive effects of the interaction with the facilitator and the team members of an enterprise activity on their affection on the activity.Table II shows that the final overall model of the second regression with Change in Personal Competencies as the dependent variable is also significant, with a final R2 of 0.175 (adjusted R2=0.155). However, whereas Interaction with Facilitator has a positive and significant effect on this dependent variable, Interaction with Team Members is found to have little effect on it. Therefore, H2a is supported with empirical evidence, whereas there is no strong evidence for supporting H2b.Moreover, the results also show that a student's prior experience in business education has a positive effect on the dependent variables but according to the change in R2, they contribute relatively less to the final models as compared with the main independent variables. Nevertheless, controlling the influence of this factor would yield a more accurate account of the hypothesized relationship between independent and dependent variables. On the other hand, the influence of the family entrepreneurial learning of the participants is insignificant. This is probably because the dependent variables are focused on the students' participation in a specific activity within a short time frame instead of on their general characteristics on entrepreneurship, which may be built from a long-term influence.\nDiscussion and conclusion: In this study, three out of four of our hypotheses were supported with empirical evidence. The supportive evidence for H1a and H1b suggested that a positive experience of the participants in interacting with their facilitators and their peers during the enterprise activity certainly help to develop their positive impression on it. This is important because this would be helpful in further developing their entrepreneurial attitudes and ultimately affecting their career option in entrepreneurship in future. For this to happen, the effort of the facilitators and the atmosphere with the team is crucial. These two factors are likely to reinforce each other as well.On the other hand, the supportive evidence for H2a means that the perceived acquisition of competencies requires a close interaction with the facilitator who provides the essential skills and knowledge in planning and running the students' business. However, the unsupported H2b means that the interaction with the team members did not lead to significant gain in a student's competencies. This may be due to the fact that many of the competencies like marketing, planning, organizing, and financial management are more knowledge-based in nature and they involve more intellectual challenges particularly for putting theory into practice. Moreover, team members might not be able to maintain a shared reality on these competencies suggested by Hardin and Higgins (1996) through seeking for the help of others in more in-depth learning. Therefore, the interaction with the team members did not contribute significantly to the acquisition of these competencies within a short period of time. The differences in findings in testing H2a and H2b, when being considered together, may be also due to the fact that those secondary students still perceive the facilitator as an \"instructor\" for imparting them the skills and knowledge necessary for the enterprise activity. In fact, such passive learning style is commonly inherited among the students in Hong Kong and may not be easily changed in a short period of time.In conclusion, the findings have provided empirical evidence for the important role of social interaction in affecting students' learning experience when they participate in enterprise activities. Therefore, while recognizing the importance of action oriented learning in enterprise education as shown in the literature (Cooper et al., 2004; Garavan and O'Cinneide, 1994; Gorman et al., 1997; Leitch and Harrison, 1999; Solomon et al., 1994), we suggest that it is also important to pay attention to the social interaction aspect that emphasizes sharing with, affiliating with, and reacting to others during the knowledge construction process.The results of this study may further imply that, for effective implementation of enterprise programmes and activities, it is necessary to develop participants' interpersonal skills throughout a group learning activity (Johnson and Johnson, 1994). Moreover, more opportunities or guidance for interaction with various people should also be provided for cultivating students' interpersonal skills throughout these programmes and activities. Given that students may still perceive their programme facilitator as an instructor in a traditional sense, a more self-directed and independent learning approach should be adopted for promoting more active learning, even some essential knowledge and skills are to be taught in enterprise education.As a first attempt in addressing issues of social interaction in enterprise education, we successfully identify the impacts of two types of interaction in the current study. However, in the real world, interaction takes place in a much broader extent and so the opportunities to learn are more extensive. According to Gibb's (1993) small business learning mode, most of the learning which will take place is a result of feedback from customers, suppliers, competitors, professional advisers and peer group through a process of personal interaction rather than by formal instruction. Therefore, in further studies, it is possible to extend the scope of interactive learning towards a broader range of social interaction with different stakeholders, particularly when authentic approaches are used for the enterprise education for youth, as the scope of interaction is not restricted to the teachers. The impacts of social interaction on other learning outcomes may also be considered in further studies of enterprise education.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of social interaction on participants' learning experience in enterprise education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - On a sample of 420 high school students who participated in an enterprise activity in Hong Kong, two questionnaires surveys were conducted to collect data on them at the beginning of and after the enterprise activity. Hypotheses were tested on the impacts of two particular aspects of interactive learning - interaction with facilitator and interaction with team members in the enterprise activity.\nFindings: - The results support the hypotheses that both types of social interaction are positively correlated to students' affection on the enterprise activity and the change in their perceived level of personal competencies before and after the activity.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Although two types of interaction are identified in this study, it is possible to extend the scope of interactive learning toward a broader range of social interaction. Also, the impacts of social interaction on other learning outcomes may be considered in further studies.\nPractical implications: - It is necessary to maximise social interaction and develop participants' interpersonal skills for achieving effective enterprise education. More guidance and supervision on social interaction should also be provided in enterprise programmes and activities.\nOriginality/value: - The studies help to address the importance of the social interaction aspect in enterprise education, as the majority of the focus has been centred on the uses of experiential learning approaches.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A Jordanian empirical study of the associations among transformational leadership, transactional leadership, knowledge sharing, job performance, and firm performance: A structural equation modelling approach	[ "Leadership development", "Jordan", "Social factors", "Knowledge management", "Job evaluation", "Arab countries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Changes in the environment in which organizations operate have forced organizations to find new ways of operating, therefore creating challenges in organizational structures, management practices, and leadership. Organizations have realized that total organizational performance is no longer dependent on the deployment of tangible resources, but rather on the human and knowledge resources that they own which are referred to as an organization's most prized position (Masa'deh et al., 2014). With regards to human resources, organizational performance is highly dependent on the leaders of the organization and the job performance of employees (Kamali, 2014). According to Mehra et al. (2006), organizations can outperform others by focusing on the effects of leadership. This is due to the fact that leaders play a key role in organizations as they measure external circumstances, provide guidance for employees to face challenges, and establish organizational superiority for continuous progress and development (Chu and Lai, 2011; Odumeru and Ifeanyi, 2013). In addition, leadership style has been reported to be a strategic factor influencing innovation and knowledge sharing as leaders enables organizations to integrate, share, and use knowledge innovatively (Mushtaq and Bokhari, 2011). Therefore, researchers have studied the concept of leadership over the years and have paid great attention to its various types with a narrower focus on two widely spread types: transformational and transactional leadership. Furthermore, job performance is seen as a crucial variable in human resource management and organizational behaviour literature and thus can be considered of paramount importance to the functioning of organizations (Roth et al., 2012; Shooshtarian et al., 2013). This importance stems from the idea that effective and efficient individual employee performance affects productivity of organizations and in turn the organization's overall performance (Pushpakumari, 2008).\n2. Research model and hypotheses development: Researchers have paid immense attention to the concept of leadership over the years. Most of this attention is directed to the two types of leadership; transformational leadership and transactional leadership as their presence helps organizations succeed (Laohavichien et al., 2009) by influencing others and encouraging followers to achieve desirable outcomes. Furthermore, organizations must take into consideration three facets of an organization in order to be able to keep up and outperform their competitors in today's highly complex, turbulent, and competitive business environment. These include the knowledge possessed by the organization and its employees, the leadership style adopted by organizational leaders, and the job performance of employees in addition to the affects and interrelations between these three concepts that are detrimental to the survival of organizations. Figure 1 demonstrates the research's model and the hypothesized relationships between the adopted constructs.\n3. Research methodology: 3.1. Research type and measures\n4. Data analysis: In order to test the research hypotheses, the study employed structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques with Analysis of Moment Structures 6 software for data analysis. SEM can be divided into two sub-models: a measurement model and a structural model. While the measurement model defines relationships between the observed and unobserved variables, the structural model identifies relationships among the unobserved/latent variables by specifying which latent variables directly or indirectly influence changes in other latent variables in the model (Byrne, 2001). Furthermore, the SEM process consisted of two components: validating the measurement model and fitting the structural model. While the former is accomplished through confirmatory factor analysis, the latter was accomplished by path analysis with latent variables (Kline, 2005).\n5. Discussion and conclusion: This paper contributes to the knowledge management literature by developing and empirically testing a causal chain model of knowledge sharing on firm performance mediated by job performance.\n6. Limitations and future research: Although this study contributes to the literature, it is important to take into consideration some potential limitations. First, the sample consisted of employees working in the Jordanian higher youth council might be a limitation to the study since the findings may be difficult to generalize to other organizations working in different industries. Second, the study focused on a sample taken from a single region in Jordan which is the capital Amman and did not take into consideration other parts of the country. A third limitation may be related to the types of leadership chosen to reflect the concept of leadership as several other types of leadership can be found on the literature other than transformational and transactional leadership. In addition, the study measured the influence of leadership styles (transformational and transactional leadership) on a single process of knowledge management and overlooked other processes which maybe of importance to organizations. Fourth, leadership may not be the only predictor in organizations of knowledge sharing and subsequently job and organizational performance. Other factors may play a crucial role in explaining this relationship and thus should be taken into consideration. Fifth, a quantitative technique was used as the main data collection method which might be considered as a limitation of this study. Self-reporting data collection techniques such as questionnaires may create response bias; therefore more qualitative techniques should be used in order to get more accurate data and results to achieve the objectives of this study. Finally, a cultural constraint maybe found in this study since it was conducted in the Jordanian cultural context and the findings may be limited to that particular culture and working environment.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Knowledge sharing adoption has been considered as a significant practice for organizations. However, there is a modest empirical confirmation to indicate how these organizations value the richness of their knowledge capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate both transformational and transactional leadership styles that influence employees' knowledge sharing practices, and the impact of the latter on job performance, and then on firm performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data collected from 179 employees at the higher council of youth in Jordan were empirically tested using structural equation modelling.\nFindings: The findings revealed that both transformational and transactional leadership styles have significant impact on job performance, and the latter on firm performance. Also, it was found that transactional leadership impacted knowledge sharing, whereas transformational leadership did not.\nOriginality/value: This research proposes a new approach to understand knowledge sharing adoption, and outlines some theoretical and managerial implications of the findings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Midcounties' employees get a voice in big and small conversations: Good internal communications help co-operative to achieve award	[ "Awards", "Employees relations", "Employees development", "Co‐operatives" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Big and small conversations have helped to improve employee communications and develop training at the Midcounties Co-operative, named one of the 25 Best Big Companies to Work For by the Sunday Times for the third successive year.\nImpressed with the business and its values: Nick Porter said: \"I worked for the society for five years in a local food-retail store during my degree and wrote my dissertation about social responsibility around the co-operative. As I completed a lot of research into the society I was impressed with its business and values.\"With a degree in human-resource management, a natural progression would have been for me to go into personnel. However, even though I enjoyed my studies, I was worried that I may find that human resources was not for me. The Midcounties graduate scheme offered me the chance to get a taste of different support functions and businesses.\"So far I have undertaken a placement in finance and one in pharmacy. I have not only learned how these business areas operate but I have also been involved in two fantastic projects that have given me a lot of responsibility and really helped me to grow as an individual.\"Sam Newman, a graduate in business management, commented:\"Having worked in my local Midcounties convenience store during my time at the University of Gloucestershire, I gained a good knowledge of the society's values and principles. The graduate program offered me a brilliant opportunity to develop my business skills and further my career in a business that I had already enjoyed working for.\"I have had the opportunity to meet and work with colleagues from all over the society, from customer-service assistants to senior management. I have developed new skills and have attended various training sessions to improve my knowledge.\"Laura Roper, with a history degree from the University of Birmingham, said: \"The initial appeal of working for Midcounties was the co-op brand as I knew it was well established, successful and solid. I had also heard positive comments about Midcounties as an employer.\"I was impressed that the graduate scheme enabled me to experience several different areas of the business to help me determine where the right role for me would be. As well as gaining practical experience, the program format allows me to meet many people across the society, which is a huge benefit in a large company, especially when you are new.\"Martin Ivory, with a business and management degree from Birmingham University, said: \"Through the Midcounties essential business skills workshops and array of training opportunities offered, both internally and externally, I have been able to develop my skills in a range of areas. They include communication, presentations, managing teams, planning and prioritizing. Furthermore, the program has enabled me to gain various forms of management experience through an assortment of project work which has developed my management style, ability to self-organize, man-management skills, budgeting control and decision-making.\"From a personal perspective, the program has developed my self-confidence tenfold and equipped me with the ability and self-belief to succeed in any task or problem presented.\"Michael West, a business and management graduate from Aston University, said: \"I have been involved in a wide range of roles, from analyzing a potential acquisition site to assessing candidates for an internal-development program. The nature of these varied roles has helped to develop me both personally and professionally. Additionally, my personal mentor and the structured training programs create numerous opportunities to develop.\"I have experienced a wide range of jobs, from stacking shelves to presenting projects to the executive. This has given me an overall appreciation of the work done in a trading group, alongside strong project-management experience.\"Midcounties also offers two-year apprenticeship programs in food retail and funeral services. The apprenticeships lead to a National Vocational Qualification at level 2, key-skills certificates in literacy, numeracy, and information and communication technology and a nationally accredited technical certificate. In addition the society offers its apprentices the opportunity to complete a foundation food-hygiene certificate and a number of internally offered management and personal-skills development courses.The Sunday Times awards cover leadership, personal development, well-being and remuneration. Employee responses showed they are confident about the future, with a positive score of 73 percent. Other scores showed that 75 percent applaud the society's strong ethical principles, 68 percent agree it makes a positive difference in the world, 66 percent approve the work-life balance. Employee turnover averages 15 percent a year, which is relatively low for the retail sector.\nThree days a year volunteering: Staff members can spend up to three paid days a year volunteering. More than 3,000 did so last year.Ben Reid said: \"Britain's top companies are on the Sunday Times list and maintaining our place alongside them shows how seriously we, as an ethical business, take the care and development of our colleagues.\"Our place on the list is governed by the responses given by our colleagues. With this result they are telling us, 'Yes, Midcounties is a great place to work.'\"\"We believe in involving colleagues, helping them to develop and enjoy their work so we can deliver the best for our customers and members.\"An engaged workforce is key to our success as the largest independent co-operative society in the UK. To be recognized as among the very best employers in the country confirms our approach is the right one.\"Midcounties was also named one to watch in the Best Companies scheme for high levels of employee engagement. This accreditation confirms the society's focus on workplace engagement as integral to success and growth.In addition, the society was named as the co-operative of the year at last year's Co-operative Awards, which celebrate excellence, innovation and business ethics. It has also achieved the Investors in People gold standard. For this, Midcounties was judged by an independent assessor for its commitment to developing employees through training, career progression and support as an integral part of its business.Ben Reid said: \"Our assessor found a strong sense of ownership and pride in working at the society and that everyone understood our values and felt involved. It is a fantastic endorsement of what we have achieved and what we will continue to build on.\"The assessment report for Midcounties highlighted its excellent management-development program, its willingness to listen and learn, its employee councils to raise issues with senior management and its willingness to use external benchmarking.Midcounties is the largest independent co-operative in the UK. It employs more than 9,000 people across its seven trading groups, including its food, travel, funeral, child-care, pharmacy, energy and employee-benefits businesses.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to detail some of the policies that have helped Midcounties Co-operative to become one of the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - It underlines the importance of good internal communications and employee development.\nFindings: - It observes that the society's graduate program provides an opportunity for students with a 2:2 honours degree or better to gain experience across the society. They undertake six, four-month placements in different areas of the business. The graduates also carry out a project relevant to their placements.\nPractical implications: - The paper describes the experiences of a number of people on the society's graduate program and reveals that training opportunities are among the reasons that employees rate the company as good to work for.\nSocial implications: - It reveals that employees are allowed to spend up to three paid days a year volunteering.\nOriginality/value: - The paper shows why employees rate highly the experience of working at Midcounties Co-operative.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cost-optimization modelling for fresh food quality and transportation	[ "Transportation", "Product quality", "Genetic algorithms", "Fuzzy sets", "Cost optimization", "Food supply chain" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One of the specifics that must be considered in the competitive management of fresh food supply chains is concern for the deterioration in product quality. Maintaining high food quality standards is important for product market value, customer acceptability and food safety and in turn, for the long-term reputation of the organisations. Optimization of cost, time and storage conditions of fresh food during transportation has a significant practical value and has received significant attention in the research. This study presents a general cost model for the transportation of multiple fresh food products, from multiple farm locations, in a single truck, to a local retailer (could be a local warehouse). For small-scale retailers or warehouses this is the most common real world scenario. The proposed model considers the transportation cost, cooling cost and product devalued cost where devalued cost is based on deterioration in the quality of the food product during transportation. This study focuses on the required multiple decisions including route selection, temperature setting and average speed for each stage of the route.\n2. Literature review: The management of fresh food supply chain, including fresh food, deep frozen and chilled foods has received increasing research attention in recent years (Angeles, 2005; Van der Vorst et al., 2000; Seuring, 2013). Ahumada and Villalobos (2009) provided a comprehensive review of agri-food supply chain. The importance of preserving nutrition and maintaining the freshness of food products have been discussed both in industry and academic domains (Labuza, 1982; Aiello et al., 2012; Yu and Nagurney, 2012). For example, Rong et al. (2011) provided a methodology that integrates food quality in decision making for production and distribution in a food supply chain. Cai et al. (2012) considered the optimal decisions of producers, customers and third-party logistics providers in fresh-product supply chain. James et al. (2006) emphasized the importance of maintaining temperature in food transportation systems in their study on food transportation systems, arguing that there has been a focus on modelling the refrigeration process while overlooking refrigeration in the transport system.\n3. Model development: Multi-product Food Transportation Cost Function (MFTC): This model considers the case of a number of farms providing products to a single collection entity, (a retailer or a warehouse) where a single truck is used for product collection from these multiple farm locations, thus reflecting a common scenario for small-scale fresh food firms. In real practice, a truck may pick up one or multiple types of products with same or different initial quality levels. The so-called \"Multi-product Food Transportation Cost Function (MFTC)\" accommodates the effects of different initial quality levels of a product as well as different types of food products with different rates of quality deterioration picked up in a single trip. Such generic setting allows for easy modification of the proposed cost function, for example, models that deal with a single product from different providers with different production quality is a special case of MFTC by setting the products picked up from different suppliers to the same product.\n4. Illustration of the model application using the FGA approach: As discussed in Section 3, the total cost is determined by three groups of decisions: route selection, speed and temperature of each stage. Therefore, it is impossible to derive an optimal solution by using mathematical optimization algorithm. Instead, we need to use heuristic optimization algorithm, which helps get an approximate solution for the complex problem. The fuzzy guided GA approach is adopted to illustrate the practical application of the proposed total cost model. GA is an optimization technique of parallel computing. Unlike other algorithms that work on a single solution, GA operates on generations of solutions. The fitness values of chromosomes as well as the improvement of generation jointly indicate the performance of evolution:\n5. Simulation results and discussion: 5.1. Experimental plan\n6. Conclusions: Fresh food supply chain has characterized by the concern about change in quality and freshness during transportation, as well as the cost of fresh food supply chain must be considered in a competitive market. Some previous studies have attempted to investigate the optimization of fresh food supply chain by taking both quality and cost into account (e.g. Rong et al., 2011; Cai et al., 2012), The problem of mix-load of fresh food has not received enough attention, however.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: All along the length of the supply chain, fresh food firms face the challenge of managing both product quality, due to the perishable nature of the products, and product cost. The purpose of this paper to develop a method to assist logistics managers upstream in the fresh food supply chain in making cost optimized decisions regarding transportation, with the objective of minimizing the total cost while maintaining the quality of food products above acceptable levels.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Considering the case of multiple fresh food products collected from multiple farms being transported to a warehouse or a retailer, this study develops a total cost model that includes various costs incurred during transportation. The practical application of the model is illustrated by using several computational intelligence approaches including genetic algorithms (GA), fuzzy genetic algorithms (FGA) as well as an improved simulated annealing (SA) procedure applied with a repair mechanism for efficiency benchmarking. The authors demonstrate the practical viability of these approaches by using a simulation study based on pertinent data and evaluate the simulation outcomes.\nFindings: The application of the proposed total cost model was demonstrated using three approaches of GA, FGA and SA with a repair mechanism. All three approaches are adoptable; however, based on the performance evaluation, it was evident that the FGA is more likely to produce a better performance than the other two approaches of GA and SA.\nPractical implications: This study provides a pragmatic approach for supporting logistics and supply chain practitioners in fresh food industry in making important decisions on the arrangements and procedures related to the transportation of multiple fresh food products to a warehouse from multiple farms in a cost-effective way without compromising product quality.\nOriginality/value: This study extends the literature on cold supply chain management by investigating cost and quality optimization in a multi-product scenario from farms to a retailer and, minimizing cost by managing the quality above expected quality levels at delivery. The scalability of the proposed generic function enables the application to alternative situations in practice such as different storage environments and transportation conditions, etc.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Attitudes of Turkish students against markets: does studying economics matter?	[ "Attitudes", "Values", "Economics education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Are students of economics different from those of other disciplines? Many researchers answer \"Yes\" to this question. Indeed, it would appear, economics students and graduates are seen to behave like the homo economicus of economics textbooks. Studies show that economics students are more inclined to free-ride (Marwell and Ames, 1981) and to be less cooperative (Frank et al., 1993), more rational (Carter and Irons, 1991) and more selfish (Frey and Meier, 2005) than other students.\n2. Method: The study reported here uses a survey developed by Lephard and Breeden to investigate students' attitudes towards markets[1]. The survey consisted of 11 market-positive statements (Items 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22) and 11 market-negative statements (Items 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) (Table II). Participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement with each statement, placed at between 0 and 100 per cent and classified into 11 categories[2].\n3. Findings: Table II shows a summary of all pairwise comparisons. The first three columns show comparisons of the post-introductory-level microeconomics course means of the US students and Turkish economics majors, both freshmen and seniors. In all statements except 7, 8 and 13, there was a statistically significant difference between the agreement rates of the two sets of students. The mean approval rates of the Turkish students for all negative statements were higher than those of their US counterparts, while the Turkish means were all lower than the American for positive statements. For the last statement, which summarizes the survey, the proportion of Turkish students who found market system \"fair and ethical\" was about half that of the US students. These results show that economics students in Turkey are less convinced by the merits of markets than are students in the USA.\n4. Further discussion of the findings: are Turkish students different from westerners?: The findings reported here show that, unlike their western counterparts, economics students in Turkey are not more market friendly than those from other disciplines, and that a period of studying economics has no impact on their attitudes. These findings are contrary to the consensus established by many researchers in the literature and so deserve further attention. This section briefly discusses two possible explanations for the Turkish students' attitudes in order to provide insights for further research.\n5. Conclusion and implications for further research: Many western studies indicate that economics students are more market oriented than are students from other disciplines. Some of these studies have also found that the pro-market mentality of economics students is shaped by courses in economics, while some others have claimed contrarily that pro-market students prefer to study economics or related fields. This study examines the case of Turkey. Results show that Turkish economics students are less market friendly than their western counterparts, and that studying economics has no significant effect on this. Additionally, the different environmental factors examined in the study do not correlate with the (negative) attitudes to markets.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The literature shows economics students to be more market oriented than students from other disciplines. A major shortcoming of this work, however, is that it is based on research carried out in the west. The purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes of Turkish economics students' towards markets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study reported here uses a survey developed by Lephard and Breeden to investigate students' attitudes towards markets. The survey consists of 11 market-positive statements and 11 market-negative statements. Participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement with each statement, placed at between 0 and 100 per cent and classified into 11 categories. The survey was administered to economics, physics and mathematics students from different universities. Then, responses of economics students and others are compared.\nFindings: The results show that Turkish students are less market friendly than their western counterparts. Contrary to the findings of other studies, in Turkey studying economics is found to have no effect on attitudes in this respect.\nOriginality/value: First, almost all of the other studies in this realm are all based on surveys carried out in the west. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study for other parts of the world. Second, results show that Turkish economics students are less market friendly than their western counterparts, and that studying economics has no significant effect on this. These results are surprising and contrary to the consensus in the literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A scheme for the sticky policy representation supporting secure cyber-threat intelligence analysis and sharing	[ "Cyber-threat intelligence", "Data sharing agreement", "Privacy-preserving", "Threat information sharing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the huge amount of information daily collected, produced and processed by IT devices, both new opportunities and security issues are raising. Big data analytics is an extremely hot research topic and it is the enabler of a completely new business market, where collected information is extremely valuable, as they can be exploited to provide services, infer customer preference, timely detect security threats, etc. However, the process of collecting and processing information for analysis brings noticeable issues on the side of security and privacy. In fact, analyzed data may contain sensitive information, whose disclosure might harm physical persons, compromise companies reputation and assets or expose public institutions classified features. For this reason, data sharing and analysis should be done in a privacy-preserving way, i.e. according to specific policies preventing the misuse and redistribution of sensitive data.\n2. Background: This section reports some background concepts related to standards for CTI representation and sharing, with an emphasis on the STIX standard considered in this work. Later, we will summarize some basic concepts of PPDA and on the concept of DSA.\n3. Proposed approach: This section reports and describes our approach detailing the extended scheme for email representation and the one for DSA representation.\n4. Application: This section reports the application of the proposed scheme for the email representation, with the attached DSA used to represent anonymization conditions on some attributes of the email message.\n5. Performance experiments: In this section, we report a set of experiments to measure the improvement brought by the proposed model to performance related to access time and anonymization operations.\n6. Improving the scheme for data sharing agreements representation: The existing scheme for DSA representation was modified with utilization of STIX objects. Specifically, we have define new scheme through the bundle of new custom STIX objects. More pressingly, we have defined data processor and data consumer through the labeled identity SDOs, where the label for data consumer is consumer, while processor labels the data processor. Moreover, we have introduce the condition and requirement custom objects. Through these objects, entities can define terms and conditions of DSA and specify them differently for each entity.\n7. Related work: This section reports some works related to CTI sharing. Our work aims to fulfill the lack of the general CTI representation for PPDA, by proposing the new model for standard CTI and DSA expression.\n8. Conclusion and future work: Timely CTI analysis is a task required to infer relevant information to tackle or mitigate new and upcoming security threats in IT systems. To simplify the task of information analysis, common standards for CTI semantic representation enable simplified development of tools for automated analysis, which can rely on a standardized format for specific CTI types. In this paper, we have presented a preliminary effort in this direction, to represent the semantic of STIX cyber-observables by defining a general JSON scheme, applied to email for spam analysis. The second proposed general scheme allows to include in the same STIX record privacy policies for PPDA, in the form of a DSA.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to propose a structured threat information expression (STIX)-based data representation for privacy-preserving data analysis to report format and semantics of specific data types and to represent sticky policies in the format of embedded human-readable data sharing agreements (DSAs). More specifically, the authors exploit and extend the STIX standard to represent in a structured way analysis-ready pieces of data and the attached privacy policies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The whole scheme is designed to be completely compatible with the STIX 2.0 standard for cyber-threat intelligence (CTI) representation. The proposed scheme will be implemented in this work by defining the complete scheme for representing an email, which is more expressive than the standard one defined for STIX, designed specifically for spam email analysis.\nFindings: Moreover, the paper provides a new scheme for general DSA representation that has been practically applied for the process of encoding specific attributes in different CTI reports.\nResearch limitations/implications: Because of the chosen approach, the research results may have limitations. Specifically, current practice for entity recognition has the limitation that was discovered during the research. However, its effect on process time was minimized and the way for improvement was proposed.\nOriginality/value: This paper has covered the existing gap including the lack of generality in DSA representation for privacy-preserving analysis of structured CTI. Therefore, the new model for DSA representation was introduced, as well as its practical implementation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of the gender diversity of audit committees in modelling the quality of management earnings forecasts of initial public offers in Malaysia	[ "Gender", "Malaysia", "IPOs", "Audit committee", "Earnings forecasts" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The audit committee has a major role in management oversight, monitoring and advising when it comes to the implementation of internal accounting control systems and financial statement preparation. In prior literature, studies have focused on some audit committee characteristics related to the accuracy of earnings forecasts. Among them, Ahmad-Zaluki and Wan-Hussin (2010) report that audit committees with more members and higher proportion of independent directors are associated with higher forecast accuracy. Truong and Dunstan (2011) state that companies with boards and audit committees chairing more directors experienced in accounting are expected to release more accurate earnings forecasts. In the present study, a distinct audit committee characteristic, namely female directorship on the audit committee, is focused on. According to Cormier et al. (2014), little evidence is available, and several issues are still unanswered concerning the impact of audit committee on the accuracy of initial public offerings' (IPOs) earnings forecasts.\n2. Literature review and hypotheses development: 2.1 Prior studies on gender diversity\n3. Methods: 3.1 Sample selection and data collection\n4. Results: 4.1 Descriptive statistics\n5. Conclusion: Gender diversity of the board of directors and audit committee has been the major focus of several governance reform studies. Nevertheless, the outcomes of changing the board's gender diversity are still ambiguous. Our study extends the literature on earnings forecast accuracy, gender diversity and corporate governance. The specific contribution of our paper is that it investigates whether gender diversity impacts the accuracy of earnings forecasts of companies issuing IPOs. Further, this paper is important because gender diversity has increasingly been acknowledged as being of societal importance by regulators. Our study also helps in recognizing why there is value improvement for companies with diverse boards.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Presently, one of the major governance issues faced by management and shareholders of organizations is the gender composition of the boards of directors and audit committees. This study aims to examine the impact of gender diversity in audit committees on the accuracy of management earnings forecasts disclosure in initial public offering (IPO) prospectuses.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study sample comprises 190 Malaysian companies issuing IPOs that transformed into public companies during the period 2002-2012. Earnings forecasts accuracy (quality) is proxied by absolute forecast error and the study model is developed based on the frameworks of the signalling theory, the agency theory and the resource-dependence theory.\nFindings: The study proposes that female directors introduce a set of specific features in the boardroom that serve to improve investor protection and efficient monitoring of management. However, findings reveal an insignificantly positive relationship between gender diversity in audit committees and absolute forecast error, which shows that more female directors in audit committees could translate into more errors and less accuracy in earnings forecasts.\nPractical implications: Considering the recent regulatory developments that encourage the number of women on the board of directors, the findings obtained have significant implications for policymakers. The study findings can also be invaluable to investors, investment analysts, market players and researchers.\nOriginality/value: The composition of the board of directors and audit committees in terms of gender plays a significant role in the promotion of effective corporate governance practices. This study is one of the pioneering studies that examines the advantages of gender diversity in the board of directors. It is also the first study to extend IPO literature by investigating the role of gender diversity in audit committees in the enhancement of accurate management earnings forecasts included in the IPO prospectuses.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The allure of the bottle as a package: an assessment of perceived effort in a packaging context	[ "Packaging", "Perceived effort", "Product evaluations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Packaging is typically viewed as an important marketing instrument by practitioners, and some firms spend more money on packaging than on advertising (Rebollar et al., 2012; Schoormans and Robben, 1997). Indeed, packages are communicative instruments in the same sense as ads (Holmes and Paswan, 2012; Khan et al., 2015; Vilnai-Yavetz and Koren, 2013; Wang, 2013). The communicative aspects of packaging are particularly relevant given that consumers often rely on packaging aspects when making in-store purchase decisions, and that packaging has a potential to contribute to brand identity, brand personality, differentiation and creation of meaning (Binninger, 2015; Gomez et al., 2015; Hollywood et al., 2013; Holmes and Paswan, 2012; Khan et al., 2015; Underwood, 2003; Wang, 2013). Although some authors argue that packaging has been largely overlooked in marketing-related research (Underwood, 2003), researchers have identified many concrete packaging attributes (e.g. size, color, shape, logos, texture, typeface, pictures and label information) that influence consumers in various ways (Silayoi and Speece, 2007). The impact of abstract packaging attributes, such as prototypicality, novelty and attractiveness, has also been assessed (Celhay and Trinquecoste, 2015; Schoormans and Robben, 1997, Vilnai-Yavetz and Koren, 2013). So far, however, the packaging literature has not dealt with one particular packaging aspect: perceived effort.\n2. Theoretical framework: It is assumed here that perceived effort related to packaging signals unobservable characteristics of the packaged product, particularly product quality, and that quality perceptions mediate a positive impact of perceived effort on overall product evaluations. However, it is also acknowledged that there can be other ways for perceived effort to have an impact on overall evaluations - both directly and in terms of mediation by other variables than quality perceptions. Arguments regarding these impact routes are discussed below, and they were used to develop hypotheses for the empirical studies. The main outcome variable is overall evaluations of the product (i.e. the attitude toward the product); such evaluations are assumed to be important because of their capability of predicting a wide range of intentions and behaviors of general importance for both marketing researchers and practitioners.\n3. The empirical studies: The hypotheses were tested with three between-subjects experiments in settings in which bottles served as the package. More specifically, a soft drink setting was selected for the tests. Soft drinks have been shown to represent a product category in which consumers select products based more on hedonic rather than utilitarian values (Holbrook et al., 1986; Khan et al., 2015); and in which choices are routinized (Holbrook et al., 1986). Soft drinks share this position with other drinks (e.g. orange juice, beer and wine), as well as with packaged goods such as cereals and coffee (Holbrook et al., 1986). The hedonic value priority of soft drinks suggests that visual cues stemming from the packaging are particularly likely to influence consumers' reactions, and it is assumed here that such clues evoke effort perceptions.\n4. Study 1: 4.1 Procedure and participants\n5. Study 2: 5.1 Procedure and participants\n6. Study 3: 6.1 Procedure and participants\n7. General discussion: 7.1 Summary of main findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to assess the impact of perceived effort related to packaging on overall product evaluations. Perceived effort, defined as the consumer's perceptions of how much manufacturer effort that lies behind an offer, is assumed to contribute to evaluations by signaling unobservable characteristics of an offer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three between-subjects experiments were conducted with soft drink bottles, which were subject to variation in perceived effort.\nFindings: The results show that perceived effort was positively associated with overall evaluations. The results also show that the impact of perceived effort was mediated by product quality perceptions, which indicates that effort signals quality.\nOriginality/value: Perceived effort has to date not been examined in the packaging literature. The present findings thus imply that models of packaging characteristics and their impact on consumers would benefit from including the effort aspect.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Examining the existence of double jeopardy and negative double jeopardy within Twitter	[ "Clustering", "Twitter", "Sentiment analysis", "Fuzzy c-means", "Negative double jeopardy", "Online environment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Online microblogging sites have transformed the way in which consumers discuss multiple facets of their lives, including brands and products. Understandably, this transformation has been the subject of interest across many areas of research in marketing (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). The purpose of this study is to contribute to the theoretical and practical understanding of double jeopardy (DJ) and negative double jeopardy (NDJ) within an online microblogging environment.\nLiterature review: Double jeopardy\nMethodology: Category selection\nResults: Brand market volume share and percentage share of tweets\nDiscussion: This research is the first to theoretically apply and empirically test the presence of both DJ and NDJ in an online environment. Only very limited understanding of DJ and NDJ online exists, and typically such studies examine the presence of either DJ or NDJ in a separate and detached perspective. By utilising Twitter data, we contribute to the theoretical, methodological and practical understanding of DJ and NDJ dynamics.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The theory of double jeopardy (DJ) is shown to hold across broad ranging geographies and physical product categories. However, there is very little research appertaining to the subject within an online environment. In particular, studies that investigate the presence of DJ and the contrasting view point to DJ, namely, that of negative double jeopardy (NDJ), are lacking. This study aims to contribute to this identified research gap and examines the presence of DJ and NDJ within a product category, utilising data from Twitter.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 354,676 tweets are scraped from Twitter and their sentiment analysed and allocated into positive, negative and no-opinion clusters using fuzzy c-means clustering. The sentiment is then compared to the market share of brands within the beer product category to establish whether a DJ or NDJ effect is present.\nFindings: Data reveal an NDJ effect with regards to original tweets (i.e. tweets which have not been retweeted). That is, when analysing tweets relating to brands within a defined beer category, the authors find that larger brands suffer by having an increased negativity amongst the larger proportion of tweets associated with them.\nResearch limitations/implications: The clustering approach to analyse sentiment in Twitter data brings a new direction to analysis of such sentiment. Future consideration of different numbers of clusters may further the insights this form of analysis can bring to the DJ/NDJ phenomenon. Managerial implications discuss the uncovered practitioner's paradox of NDJ and strategies for dealing with DJ and NDJ effects.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first to explore the presence of DJ and NDJ through the utilisation of sentiment analysis-derived data and fuzzy clustering. DJ and NDJ are under-explored constructs in the online environment. Typically, past research examines DJ and NDJ in separate and detached fashions. Thus, the study is of theoretical value because it outlines boundaries to the DJ and NDJ conditions. Second, this research is the first study to analyse the sentiment of consumer-authored tweets to explore DJ and NDJ effects. Finally, the current study offers valuable insight into the DJ and NDJ effects for practicing marketing managers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Performance impact of mobile banking: using the task-technology fit (TTF) approach	[ "Gender", "Age", "Individual performance", "Mobile banking", "Task-technology fit" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Mobile banking (m-banking) is an expanding application of mobile commerce (m-commerce) that has drawn the attention and interest of e-commerce researchers (Kourouthanassis and Giaglis, 2012). These applications offered by the financial industry are applicable to mobile devices such as personal digital assistants, mobile telephones, smartphones, and tablet computers (Yun et al., 2012). Mobility offers banks the opportunity to tailor products and services to their customers' exact needs - or exact location, in order to retain them (Floh and Treiblmaier, 2006). M-banking enables users to access account balances, pay bills, transfer funds, and perform other financial services. Many banks have chosen to focus their investment on the development of platforms for channels that eliminate the need to visit a branch, and offer convenient access to bank services and products. This also allows banks additional benefits such as cost savings (Hoehle and Huff, 2012).\n2. Literature review: 2.1. M-banking\n3. Research model: The theoretical foundation for the fit dimension in the TTF perspective argues that a better fit between task requirements, technological characteristics, and individual attitudes will lead to better performance (Goodhue and Thompson, 1995). Reported studies recognise that fit affects both user's attitude and performance (Goodhue and Thompson, 1995; Kositanurit et al., 2011). The research model (Figure 1) outlines our proposal to explain through TTF the matching between the task characteristics and technology characteristics, which explains the m-banking usage and PI. The TTF model posits that beliefs are based on the extent of the fit between the individual, the task, and the technology (Goodhue and Thompson, 1995). The path from use to PI reflects the user's perception of performance improvement to be derived from using m-banking. The essence of this construct means that the degree of using the particular system will help to save time in the performance of banking tasks (Venkatesh et al., 2003). In addition, the findings of several earlier studies on age and gender also mention the role of these factors in the impact on behavioural intention to adopt an IT (e.g. Venkatesh et al., 2003, 2012; Morris and Venkatesh, 2000). In terms of gender, men and women have different views of IT-based services as stated in earlier studies finding that men tend to be more task oriented than women (Venkatesh et al., 2012). In terms of age, younger consumers tend to seek novelty and innovativeness more than do older consumers (Venkatesh et al., 2012; Morris et al., 2005). Drawing upon these findings and applying the TTF model, we propose to study the age and gender differences.\n4. Methods: 4.1. Measurement\n5. Results: Validation of the research model was performed by applying a two-step method, starting with the measurement model in order to test the reliability and validity of the instrument and then analysing the structural model (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). Since the research is an early stage assessment of m-banking and none of the items in the data were normally distributed with the K-S's test (p\n6. Discussion: Over the past decades TTF has been applied to explain an individual performance of technology usage, but to the best of our knowledge, it has never been used to explain individual performance in the m-banking context. We asked users if they felt a benefit of time savings and if they performed financial services faster by using m-banking. The findings of this study indicate differences in the age subsamples and differences for the gender subsamples that are not statistically significant. The results indicate that m-banking has a pronounced effect on an individual's performance. Analytical results obtained herein are consistent with those reported in the current literature that have demonstrated that both task characteristics and technology characteristics strongly affect the TTF. Our model explains 62.9 per cent of the variation in TTF, which is consistent with results from similar studies (Zhou et al., 2010). Study findings are also consistent with those in the literature that state that TTF and usage positively contribute to performance improvement (McGill and Klobas, 2009; Lin, 2012). The analysis provides support for the model. In particular, the results demonstrate the importance of examining the use of a particular technology in explaining individual performance. These findings also provide evidence that individual performance is a function of both system usage and TTF, which in turn provides evidence on how m-banking adds value to individual performance.\n7. Conclusion: The huge explosion of mobile device usage and the initiatives in the electronic banking sector have drawn the attention of researchers towards m-banking adoption. However, the influence of m-banking usage and individual performance considering the TTF impact has received limited attention. Our research seeks to understand the determinants of TTF, m-banking usage, and individual performance, with the added dimensions of the age and gender subsamples. In the full sample, TTF explains m-banking usage, and TTF and usage explain PI. In the subsample we find statistically significant differences between younger and older subsamples on path usage and TTF to performance impact. Therefore, usage is a more important factor for the older subsample and TTF is more important for the younger subsample. Overall, our study confirms the importance of TTF's impact on usage and individual performance of m-banking.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of mobile banking (m-banking) for individual performance and whether or not there are any age or gender differences.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research model is based on the task-technology fit (TTF) theory, which integrates elements of task and technology characteristics, technology usage, and individual performance, while combining the age and gender subsamples. The empirical approach was based on an online survey questionnaire of 256 individuals. Partial least squares based on the multi-group analysis were used to analyse the proposed framework construct relationships.\nFindings: The results reveal that TTF and usage are important precedents of individual performance. The authors find statistically significant differences in path usage to performance impact for the age subsample, and no statistically significant differences for the gender subsample.\nOriginality/value: The paper highlights the TTF model to understand the determinants that influence the individual performance of m-banking, and whether or not there are any age or gender differences. While most earlier research focuses on m-banking adoption, the approach diverges from the majority of the work by examining the individual performance, which has not been considered in earlier studies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Entry barrier's difference between ICT and non-ICT industries	[ "ICT market", "Entry barrier", "Bass diffusion model", "Information technology", "Innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: To assess a firm's market dominance in a red ocean, we need to determine whether there is an entry barrier in a given market and compare entry barriers in the information and communication technology (ICT) market with those in other markets because various tangible and intangible entry barriers in markets are formed based on existing market dominance and because this market dominance has considerable influence on the market entry of new firms as well as on their market positioning (Abel, 2008; Chen et al., 2009; Pehrsson, 2009). For example, when there is severe competition among firms and the entry barrier is low, any monopoly or oligopoly cannot be sustained. On the other hand, if an entry barrier is formed based on some complex factors preventing new firms from participating in the market, then the existing monopoly or oligopoly can continue (Chakrabarty, 2009; Gutierrez and He, 2011; Kim et al., 2011; Shelegia, 2011).Many markets are saturated worldwide, and the intensification of competition among firms has allowed the survival of only limited numbers of firms. In particular, the ICT market depends far more on technological innovation than non-ICT markets (Grover and Goslar, 1993; Chiesa and Frattini, 2011). In the ICT market, existing firms' defense strategies and newcomers' entry strategies coexist. In addition, even within the same market, manufacturers generally face higher entry barriers than service firms because of substantial sunk costs and economies of scale. Therefore, government regulations, entrepreneurs' revenue models, and new ICT firms' successful entry may vary according to the level of entry barriers and the type of business (Greve, 1996; Garcia-Villaverde and Ruiz-Ortega, 2011; Blazenko et al., 2012). Because the outcomes may vary according to ICT firms' strategies for achieving market dominance, it is important to investigate the entry barriers in the ICT market and the factors influencing those barriers.A saturated ICT market is characterized by intense competition and a few existing firms that dominate the market in terms of their market share. This characteristic of the ICT market can be explained by the swing effect. That is, consumers flock around the best products such as Internet Explorer and the Windows operating system (Karimi et al., 2001; Barrena and Sanchez, 2009). On the other hand, because of shorter product life cycles and the inability of dominant firms to cover various needs of consumers, newcomers offering innovative products and services have better opportunities to succeed in the ICT market than in non-ICT markets. However, recent studies have not clearly explained why competition is more severe in the ICT market than in other markets or what entry barriers exist in the ICT market.Therefore, there is a need for examining newcomers' strategies for achieving market dominance over incumbents. This study investigates newcomers' strategies for achieving market dominance through innovation activity and explains incumbents' strategies for inducing the swing effect, the bandwagon effect, and winner-take-all outcomes, which have not been sufficiently addressed in previous studies, by considering the imitation effect.\n2 Literature review: The literature review of this study first examines the difference in technological innovation activity between the ICT market and the non-ICT market. Second, it reviews the major definitions and determinants of market entry barriers to determine the particular market entry barriers that must be overcome by the newcomers in the industry in order to enter the market. Third, the literature review explores the characteristics of the manufacturing and service sectors so that the reader can understand the differences between these sectors. Finally, it introduces the Bass diffusion model, a methodology used in this study to measure the influence of the determinants of market entry barriers in the ICT market, non-ICT market, manufacturing and service sectors based on the numbers of newcomers in the industry.2.1 Technological innovation activity\n3 Research hypotheses: 3.1 Research hypotheses\n4 Method and data collection: We collected data on the establishment date for manufacturers and service providers in the ICT industry from the database of Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (http://dart.fss.or.kr). Through the collected data, we found the number of companies established in each year. Then, we applied this number to the Bass diffusion model. This is how we drew innovation effect and imitation effect. We employed the establishment date because this date represents a firm's initial participation in the ICT market. Firms enrolled in the data analysis, retrieval, and transfer (DART) system of the Financial Supervisory Service can obtain information on other firms for trading or investment. Because these firms are subject to external auditing (i.e. publicly traded firms), the credibility of the data is officially guaranteed. We classified the data into two categories: ICT manufacturing and ICT services. ICT manufacturers made electronic devices, computers, videos, audio equipment, and other communications equipment, whereas ICT service providers engaged in publishing, video production, broadcasting services, and information services. We excluded printing- and publishing-related firms because they were less relevant to the ICT market. For data on non-ICT industries, we employed data from Korea's automobile market, which is a representative non-ICT market. For non-ICT manufacturers, we considered those firms manufacturing automobiles, trailers, and transport equipment, and for non-ICT service providers, we considered those firms distributing automobiles and components and offering transportation services. Table IV presents the data.\n5 Results: Table V shows the results for the establishment date for manufacturers and service providers in the ICT and non-ICT industries based on the Bass diffusion model. The results indicate the significance of the Bass model based on a test for white noise. Table V also shows the results for market entry patterns for manufacturers and service providers in the ICT and non-ICT industries. Here P and Q indicate the innovation and imitation effects, respectively, under the Bass diffusion model. That is, an increase in the innovation effect reduced the number of newcomers, whereas an increase in the imitation effect increased the number of newcomers. The fact that the number of newcomers is increasing shows that in the current market environment, existing firms find it difficult to sufficiently utilize the determinants (e.g. economies of scale, absolute cost advantage, switching cost, and incomplete information) that create the market entry barriers. As a result, the market entry barriers created by the market are low. As seen above, technological innovation activity differs depending on the differences between market characteristics, while the characteristics of the manufacturing and service sectors also significantly differ. The resulting differences in market entry barriers according to the market can be seen in Table V. That is, the ICT and non-ICT industries showed similar innovation effects, but the imitation effect was stronger for the ICT industry. These results indicate that the imitation effect was the main driver of market entry for both the ICT and non-ICT industries. In addition, both the ICT and non-ICT industries showed substantial differences in the imitation effect. The imitation effect was stronger for ICT manufacturing and services. In particular, the imitation effect was much stronger for ICT services than for non-ICT services. Finally, with all firms classified into services and manufacturing, the imitation effect was stronger for services.We now discuss the results for each hypothesis (Table VI).5.1 Hypothesis 1\n6 Conclusion: It is critical to have a good understanding of the effects of entry barriers and maintain fair competition for the ICT industry. Although previous studies of the ICT market have generally focused on consumer behavior, this study examines two types of firms: manufacturers and service providers. In addition, most studies have provided statistical analyses using surveys. However, this method has two important limitations. First, it does not consider the internal environment of the ICT market. It is possible to understand the overall ICT diffusion from the perspective of consumers, but this method cannot reflect the viewpoint of incumbents. Second, it is difficult to analyze market dynamism in a timely manner. In the real business world, many factors influence the market, and these factors interact with one another, sometimes resulting in important consequences. In this sense, questionnaires may not be effective. However, this study overcomes this limitation by revealing important insights into the patterns of market entry, which should be useful for firms interested in developing market penetration strategies.The results suggest that although the imitation effect is stronger for the ICT industry than for non-ICT industries, entry barriers are gradually reduced over the course of market expansion. These results imply that the determinants of market entry barriers (e.g. economies of scale, absolute cost advantage, switching cost, and incomplete information) created by the existing firms in the ICT industry have little influence. Furthermore, the difference in the market entry barrier between technological innovation activity and characteristics of the manufacturing and service sectors can be confirmed. The manufacturers and service providers in the ICT market are similar to their counterparts in non-ICT markets in terms of entry barriers, and in particular, ICT service providers are likely to face the strongest imitation effect (lowest entry barriers) because of the characteristics of the network effect. This verifies that competition after chasm stage is more severe in the ICT industry than in a non-ICT industry, particularly for service providers. For service providers, technological innovation may be the most reliable way to safely enter the ICT market and compete, and this competition may be the main cause of shortened life cycles for ICT products. In addition, even with a few technological innovations, newcomers can easily dominate the market if the innovations lead to the imitation effect. In the ICT market, high-quality services are constantly released through the convergence of technologies, which results in severe competition as the market becomes saturated. In this sense, an in-depth understanding of strategies for market penetration and dominance are crucial for the survival of firms.The results provide a clear understanding of the characteristics of entry barriers facing manufacturers and service providers in the ICT market and suggest the following market dominance strategies: first, incumbents in the ICT market should acquire appropriate know-how in developing core technologies and nurture derivative products. ICT service providers can achieve dominance by exploiting existing products and facilitating convergence with respect to other markets. Therefore, supporting the use of existing products should be beneficial to both newcomers and incumbents. That is, newcomers can enter the market in an effective manner, and incumbents can maintain their market share. In addition, the ICT market environment should be enhanced to attract more newcomers, which should facilitate the convergence of core technologies. For example, the recent competition between the iPhone and Android smartphones has depended mainly on the diversity of applications and their quality, not on device performance. Second, service providers considering ICT market entry should focus on niche markets as part of their entry strategy. Because entry barrier is relatively low after chasm stage, and mimic is easy in the ICT service sector, taking advantage of niche markets should help service providers to survive in high competition market.\n7 Limitation: Although the Bass diffusion model can provide insights into the market dominance strategy from early diffusion to later diffusion and indicate innovation and imitation effects, the market environment does not correspond solely to a few factors. In this regard, this study has two important limitations. First, we analyzed the adoption pattern based only on the establishment date for firms already in the market. Therefore, future research should consider quantitative measures for firms that no longer exist or those with successful market entry. Second, we analyzed the ICT and non-ICT markets based on the number of newcomers and thus disregarded other variables for intangible elements. Therefore, future research should employ a wider range of approaches such as applying this methodology to markets in other countries and using substantially more information from the statistical data and survey questionnaire. This study provides important guidelines for the type of market dominance strategy that incumbents and newcomers should pursue because the results are based on the market entry of actual firms and their establishment date.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Given the increasingly saturated information and communication technology (ICT) market and the intensification of competition among ICT firms, there is a need for a better understanding of entry barriers in the ICT market. The purpose of this paper is to examine the overall characteristics of these entry barriers and identify firms' strategies for achieving market dominance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors examined the overall characteristics of these entry barriers and identified firms' strategies for achieving market dominance by tracking the actual patterns of firms' ICT market entry based on the Bass diffusion model.\nFindings: - The results indicate that the saturation of the ICT market reduced entry barriers, which strengthened the imitation effect. In addition, entry barriers were lower for ICT firms than for non-ICT ones. Furthermore, entry barriers were higher for the manufacturing sector than for the service sector, indicating that the innovation effect was stronger for the manufacturing sector than for the service sector, whereas the opposite was true for the imitation effect.\nOriginality/value: - These results suggest that those firms that are planning to enter or are already in the ICT market should develop better strategies for gaining a competitive advantage.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effect of strategic knowledge management on the universities' performance: an empirical approach	[ "Resource-based view", "Panel data", "University performance", "Dynamic simulation", "IT solutions", "Strategic knowledge management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: n 1958, Penrose defined, for the first time, a firm as a pool of knowledge and its supply of services as the result of the experience and knowledge of its employees (Penrose, 1958). After this definition, many authors have studied the relation between knowledge management (KM) and firm's performance, as well as the way in which KM involves all actors (government, academia, industry and civil society) that take part in the acquisition and transfer of knowledge inside and outside of organisations (Carayannis and Campbell, 2006, 2009, 2011; Miller et al., 2011). The knowledge-based theory of the firm (Grant, 1996) also recognises knowledge as the most significant resource of a firm, and its relevance as input factor to the achievement of organisational goals (Kalling, 2003; Marr et al., 2004).\n2. Theoretical framework: As we mentioned in the Introduction section, in the theoretical part of this paper, we first develop a conceptual framework for exploring the effect of SKM based on IT on the organisation's performance (Subsection 2.1). Then, we review the few studies that have empirically analysed the relationship between SKM and performance in universities to validate whether the proposed conceptual framework is also applicable to this kind of organisations (Subsection 2.2).\n3. Methodology: 3.1 The data and sample\n4. Results: 4.1 Descriptive analysis\n5. Conclusions: Over the last two decades, a stream of the KM literature began devoting attention to the effect of SKM on firm's performance. Particularly, the massive use of IT tools has provided researchers with a valuable opportunity to test whether the SKM based on IT solutions may influence firm's success. While the bulk of empirical analyses focuses on the big companies, this approach often neglects other knowledge-driven organisations such as universities. In this paper, we address this question by exploring the relationship between the availability and use of IT solutions for SKM and the universities' performance.\n6. Scientific and policy implications: We, based on the previous results, propose, from a system dynamics perspective (Forrester, 1961; Sterman, 1984, 1987, 2000), a flow diagram that shows the sequence of generation of original knowledge at universities, a key factor of their performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the availability and use of IT solutions for strategic knowledge management (SKM) and the universities' performance, measured in terms of scientific production.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and the knowledge-based theory, the authors develop a conceptual framework for exploring the effect of SKM based on IT on the organisation's performance that they empirically test by applying panel data methodology to a sample of 70 Spanish universities over the period 2011-2014.\nFindings: The authors confirm that the SKM based on IT influences the university's performance. This effect is positive in the case of the IT solutions referred to the infrastructure of data grouping and more evident when the university's performance is measured by indicators more directly related to scientific quality. Contrary to expected, the percentage of training and research staff that uses institutional tools of collaborative work is negatively related with the universities' capacity of publication.\nPractical implications: The authors followed the system dynamics approach to identify a causal diagram and a flow sequence that lets them group universities in three different profiles in the knowledge management (KM) flow diagram.\nOriginality/value: First, the authors develop a conceptual framework for exploring the effect of SKM based on IT on the organisation's performance that could be applicable to analyse the case of other knowledge-driven organisations. Second, in contrast with the large number of studies dealing with SKM and performance focused on firms, the authors analyse universities. Third, the authors' empirical approach used the panel data methodology with a large sample of universities over the period 2011-2014.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Saving lives through effective patient engagement around NHS health checks	[ "Health care quality", "Information technology", "Communication", "General practice" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Putting behavioural insights theory into practice a trial in Southwark using iPLATO Hub to communicate with over 13,000 patients concluded that the right combination of text messaging and letter content increased uptake of NHS Health Checks by 65 per cent.\nResults: As can be seen in Figure 4 the most successful invitation combination included a letter with a \"deadline commitment\" (i.e. your NHS Health Check is due in August) (Figure 5) accompanied by both a primer and reminder text message. This combination delivered an uptake of 30 per cent, a 12 per cent absolute increase and a 65 per cent relative improvement in uptake of NHS Health Checks compared to 18 per cent for the standard letter and no text messages.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Putting behavioural insights theory into practice a trial in Southwark using iPLATO Hub to communicate with over 13,000 patients concluded that the right combination of text messaging and letter content increased uptake of NHS Health Checks by 65 per cent. This iPLATO case study, based on a randomised controlled trial with the Department of Health, Public Health England and Southwark Council, reported in July 2015. The purpose of this paper is to spread best practice and help other parts of the country transform uptake to NHS Health Checks.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research - led by the Department of Health and Southwark Council - was designed to test the impact of certain forms of communication informed by insights from behavioural science. These insights involved small, pragmatic and very low cost or free changes to the invitation process, for example, how messages are framed and the language used. These changes are designed to fit within existing practice, which means they can easily be scaled up across all CCGs.\nFindings: Results from the trial also indicate that a combination of the deadline commitment letter and just a reminder text message (no primer message) was nearly as effective as two texts, while the new letters on their own (without any text messages) increased uptake to 21 per cent. This suggests that clear and concise text messages from the iPLATO Hub delivered the major impact on uptake.\nOriginality/value: iPLATO is working with the research group to expand the research and improve on the reported findings while helping to spread best practice across the NHS.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Refinement of the technology readiness index scale: A replication and cross-validation in the self-service technology context	[ "Taiwan", "Consumer behaviour", "Internet", "Mobile technology", "Self‐service technologies", "Technology readiness index", "Scale refinement", "Replication", "Cross‐validation", "Measurement invariance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Although consumers are increasingly sophisticated in interaction with self-service technologies (SSTs), some avoid new technologies (Meuter et al., 2003) while others feel frustrated dealing with such systems (Parasuraman, 2000). Many scholars have examined the beliefs and motivations that enhance or inhibit consumer adoption of technologies (Dabholkar, 1994; Davis et al., 1989). Parasuraman (2000) developed a 36-item technology readiness index (TRI) scale that measures an individual's propensity to embrace and use new technologies. Although the TRI is insightful, assessment of its validity and generalizability is limited. Parasuraman (2000) and Verhoef et al. (2009) call for further validation and extension of the TRI to increase its generalizability.In this study, we replicate, refine, and cross-validate the TRI scale across contexts and cultures according to psychometric procedures to increase the TRI's generalizability and applicability. We first review the conceptual background of TRI. Then, in Study 1, we report our methods with four separate psychometric phases of scale development. Each phase of scale development is built on the previous phase to cross-validate the scale. Drawn from the original TRI scale, substantive and empirical considerations are employed through the scale development process using different samples. In Study 2, measurement invariance analyses are performed across contexts and cultures to ascertain the stability of the refined scale compared to the original scale. Finally, we provide a general discussion of our findings.\nConceptual background: Consumers are increasingly sophisticated with use of SSTs but not everyone readily embraces technology-assisted services (Lin and Hsieh, 2006; Zeithaml et al., 2002). Individual characteristics determine a person's adoption of technology; the propensity to embrace and use new technologies for accomplishing goals at home and work is labeled technology readiness (TR) by Parasuraman (2000). A person's predisposition to use new technologies, as expressed in TR, is a state of mind resulting from a gestalt of mental enablers and inhibitors. Parasuraman (2000) developed a 36-item TRI scale that includes four dimensions: optimism, innovativeness, discomfort, and insecurity[1]. The positive drivers (optimism and innovativeness) encourage people to use technological products/services and hold positive attitudes toward technology. The negative drivers (discomfort and insecurity) inhibit people's adoption of technology.Scholars from a diverse range of management fields emphasize the need for replication and extension. Such efforts play valuable roles in determining the scope and limits of empirical findings (Hubbard and Armstrong, 1994; Hubbard et al., 1998). Since Parasuraman (2000) and Verhoef et al. (2009) both call for studies to assess the TRI scale, the lack of evaluative support for TRI's generalizability left a gap in an important and growing area[2]. This research replicates, refines, and cross-validates the TRI scale according to psychometric procedures using data drawn from samples across multiple contexts and cultures.\nStudy 1: scale refinement and validation in the SST context: SSTs are \"technological interfaces that enable customers to produce a service independent of direct service employee involvement\" (Meuter et al., 2000, p. 50). Customers interact with such technology-based services in lieu of interacting with service personnel. The types of SSTs employed by firms include kiosks, the internet, interactive voice response, and mobile services (Castro et al., 2010; Meuter et al., 2000; NCR, 2008, 2009). In combination with the growth of multi-channel marketing (Cassab and MacLachlan, 2009), service firms have increasingly provided combinations of SST channels for seamless customer service delivery (NCR, 2008, 2009; Retail Merchandiser, 2009). For example, airlines and banks offer a variety of integrated SSTs (the internet, kiosks, interactive voice response, and mobile services) for \"anywhere, anytime\" convenience of customers (Castro et al., 2010; NCR, 2008; SITA, 2010). The trend toward multi-channel environments is strengthening as SSTs continue to grow and new technologies are developed (Castro et al., 2010; Sousa and Voss, 2006). Since these integrated systems have grown to involve numerous technological parts, the study focuses on respondents' evaluations of the overall SST experience (Cassab and MacLachlan, 2009; Grewal and Levy, 2009).In Study 1, we replicate the multiple-item TR scale and test it in four separate phases according to psychometric procedures for scale development (Bagozzi et al., 1991; Bauer et al., 2001; Churchill, 1979; Hinkin, 1995, 1998). Phase 1 assesses psychometric properties of the scale and refines the instrument through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), examination of reliability estimates, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Test-retest reliability is also assessed in this phase. Phase 2 confirms the factor structure through alternative model analyses. Phase 3 estimates construct validity by assessing the convergent, discriminant, nomological, and known group validity of the scale. Phase 4 replicates findings with a new sample to allow examination of scale generalizability.Phase 1: scale refinement\nStudy 2: stability of the refined TRI vs original TRI across contexts and cultures: To assess further the stability of the refined TRI versus the original scale across cultures, we test the measurement invariance of our model with new samples. Data from two industries in two countries (the USA and Taiwan) were collected for further cross-group measurement invariance analyses, and comparison of the refined TRI and original TRI. The survey produced 545 usable responses, with 228 from the USA (127 in banking services and 101 in transportation services), and 317 from Taiwan (177 in banking services and 140 in transportation services). We divide the whole sample into two groups based on age (a median split), gender, industry, and culture. We generated four splits from the survey for measurement invariance and nomological validity assessment.Measurement invariance: refined TRI vs original TRI\nDiscussion: Accurate instruments lead to better reliability and increased opportunity for discrimination between sub-samples such as cross-group/cultural differences. Systematically conducted replications and cross-validations ascertain whether earlier results are generalizable to other populations, product categories, organizations, time periods, measurement instruments, geographical areas, and investigators. This approach facilitates the goals of social science: empirical generalization and utility of scientific constructs (Hubbard et al., 1998). Informed by insights from the extant scale development literature, this study replicates, refines, and evaluates Parasuraman's (2000) multiple-item TRI scale psychometrically across contexts and cultures. In Study 1, the original 36 items are first replicated with different samples in Taiwan and reduced to 16 items spread across four dimensions, consistent with the original TRI dimensions: optimism, innovativeness, discomfort, and insecurity. The 16 items demonstrate consistent factor structure and reliabilities above recommended levels; they also demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity. In addition, further support for TRI as a multi-dimensional construct is provided by regression results that show each dimension contributes differentially to the explanation of variance in outcome variables (satisfaction and BI). In Study 2, additional samples collected from both the USA and Taiwan are used for measurement invariance analyses and predictive model assessment, which support the generalizability and stability of the refined scale versus the original full scale across contexts and cultures. The refined TRI empirically demonstrates superior measurement invariance and nomological validity in comparison to the original scale.The contribution of this study lies in increasing the validity, generalizability, and applicability of Parasuraman's (2000) TRI scale across contexts and cultures while also serving as a guide for replicating newly developed scales. Through psychometric procedures, the number of items is reduced, easing application in both research and business settings. Service managers will find the refined TRI less complicated and easier to apply in customer surveys across contexts, which in turn greatly benefits service firms in understanding customers' TR when implementing SSTs. Additionally, our replication and validation confirms that the four dimensions of Parasuraman's (2000) TRI scale are stable across contexts and cultures. With the growth of SSTs and the significance of TR, we strongly encourage more academic attention on this topic.Implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to replicate and refine Parasuraman's 36-item technology readiness index (TRI) across contexts and cultures to enhance its applicability and generalizability for both researchers and practitioners.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Based on psychometric procedures of scale development, four separate research phases, each one building on the previous, are performed using several samples. Measurement invariance analyses are performed across demographics, industries, and cultures to ascertain the stability of the refined versus the original scale.\nFindings: - A refined 16-item TRI scale demonstrates sound psychometric properties based on findings from various reliability and validity tests, as well as scale replications employing several samples. The four dimensions remain stable across techniques and samples, while the utility of the refined scale increases due to ease of application. Measurement invariance analyses across demographic groups, industries, and cultures provide further support for the superior stability of the refined TRI.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Assessment of TRI across different contexts and cultures enhances validity, utility, and generalizability by reducing the number of items, building a nomological network, and verifying stability.\nPractical implications: - Service firms should pay more attention to measurement of customers' technology readiness. For both researchers and practitioners, the refined 16-item scale benefits from reduced complexity and enhanced utility of TRI across contexts and cultures. Service managers will find the refined TRI less complicated and easier to apply in customer surveys, which greatly benefits service firms attempting to better understand customers' TR when implementing self-service technologies.\nOriginality/value: - Replication and cross-validation of new concepts play a valuable role in determining the scope and limit of empirical research findings; they allow researchers to demonstrate how broadly and in what circumstances such concepts can be used. While Parasuraman calls for studies to assess the generalizability of the TRI scale, the current lack of support for TRI's generalizability is an important gap that needs to be addressed. The current study fills that gap, increasing the applicability and generalizability of the TRI scale through refinement, replication and validation across several samples, contexts, and cultures.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Centralization and the success of ERP implementation	[ "Organizational innovation", "ERP implementation success", "ERP use", "ERP user acceptance", "Policy-related centralization", "Work-related centralization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent times, implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems has become a trend across the globe and organizations are investing vast resources on it. ERP implementations are associated with a promise of benefits from automation and integration but they also carry the risk of failure. Some of the biggest failures were seen at Foxmeyer, Hershey Foods, and more recently, Avon Products (Koch, 2002; Kemp and Low, 2008). It has been suggested by some researchers that many new information systems (ISs) including ERP systems fail due to shortcomings in the implementation such as lack of facilitating implementation climate, inadequate user training, lack of users' commitment, absence of change management activities, and so on rather than technology shortcomings (Klein and Sorra, 1996; Kemp and Low, 2008). Accordingly, issues pertaining to the implementation of ERP in organizations have become an important subject for academic research.\n2. Literature review: This section presents a review of the literature, pertinent to the study.\n3. Study constructs: In this section, we discuss the four key study constructs, two each representing ERP implementation success and centralization, respectively.\n4. Hypotheses: The hypotheses of the study are developed in this section.\n5. Methodology: In this section, the methodology used in the study is presented, which broadly includes descriptions on the study's sample, measurement items used for the constructs, data collection, and data analysis.\n6. Discussion and research synthesis: A stream of research (e.g. Ouchi, 1980; Goodsell, 2004) holds that in large bureaucracies centralization promotes efficient and effective functioning. Particularly when the focus is on efficiency, stability, and maintaining the status quo, centralization is beneficial. However, centralization may not be beneficial, or may even be detrimental, when there is change and adaptation. Andrews et al. (2009) discussed both types of situations - those where centralization is beneficial as well as those where it is not. They argued that when there is a potential increase in goal ambiguity, centralization may be particularly conducive to maintaining stable service priorities. In such contexts, centralization can increase efficiency by reducing the \"inconsistencies\" sometimes associated with decentralized decision making, especially intra-organizational communication and office administration costs. However, in \"prospector\" organizations, less centralization is better. Prospectors are organizations that almost continually search for market opportunities, regularly experiment with potential responses to emerging environmental trends and deal with uncertainty and change more frequently.\n7. Conclusion, limitations, and directions for future research: Klein and Sorra (1996, p. 1056) noted, \"[...] although cross-organizational studies of the determinants of innovation adoption are abundant [...] cross-organizational studies of innovation implementation are extremely rare [...]\" Though this observation was made in 1996, our review of the literature revealed that hardly any work in the ensuing years has addressed this gap empirically. This is notwithstanding the fact that a lot of literature on ERP has mentioned and discussed factors that are critical to implementation success.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Centralization, which indicates distribution of decision-making power in organizations, is well-discussed in innovation literature as one of the influencing factors of innovation implementation. Motivated by a gap in enterprise resource planning (ERP) research, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of centralization on the success of ERP implementation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Centralization is characterized twofold: policy-related centralization (PRC) and work-related centralization (WRC). ERP implementation success is captured in terms of user acceptance and the use of the ERP system. Using organizational innovation theory, six hypotheses relating centralization, ERP implementation success, and organization size are built and tested using data gathered from 51 Indian organizations that implemented ERP. The data are analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling.\nFindings: User acceptance is significantly inhibited by PRC. WRC has a negative influence on use. The negative influence of PRC on acceptance is more pronounced in the case of larger organizations. On the whole, a decentralized set-up is favorable to ERP implementation success.\nOriginality/value: The study highlights the impact of a centralized management structure on success of ERP implementation and in doing so, it demarcates the varied influence of two types of centralization. It contributes to the scarce research on ERP implementation using the strong theoretical basis of organizational innovation. The findings highlight the implications of centralization to the implementation outcomes, for organizations embarking upon ERP.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Small firm growth as a function of both learning orientation and entrepreneurial orientation: An empirical analysis	[ "Growth", "Learning", "Entrepreneurial orientation", "Learning orientation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The hopes and dreams of thousands of small business owners were shattered during the immense economic shock of the most recent recession. For example, approximately 170,000 small businesses were dropped from the US economy between 2008 and 2010 and this included a reduction in the number of small businesses in 97 of the top 100 major US markets (Thomas, 2012). Small firms face significant resource constraints when compared to large firms (Acs and Audretsch, 2003) including limited access to credit, the inability to significantly reduce the labor pool without reducing the value provided to customers, and less opportunities to cut budgets that are already small. To successfully cope with the challenges they face, small firms must develop the values and requisite behaviors that will help these firms counteract or adapt to the exogenous shocks that inevitably occur in any business environment. In other words, they must find methods to adapt their businesses in ways that allow for greater flexibility in difficult economic or industry-specific times. The margin of error in small firms is often razor thin owing to issues deriving from the \"liability of newness\" (Stinchcombe, 1965) and the \"liability of smallness\" (Freeman et al., 1983). Without proper adaptation and growth (Morgan, 2011), these firms could join the large number who failed.\nTheory and hypothesis development: Small firm growth\nHypotheses: The discussion above provides the basis for the general assertion that a logical link exists between the cultural values present, the action orientation demonstrated, and the organizational outcomes experienced by a firm. Specifically, our study examines the relationship between LO (values), EO (actions), and the growth (outcomes) of small firms. Lumpkin and Dess (1996) called for an examination of the contingent impact of a number of variables on the EO and performance relationship. They presented several theoretical propositions regarding the possible impact these variables may have on the EO and performance relationship with two of Lumpkin and Dess' proposition sets dealing with potential moderators and mediators of the EO to the performance association. The work of Wiklund and Shepherd (2003) called into question the moderator issue with respect to EO and empirically examined whether EO was perhaps a moderating variable. The results of their analysis provided empirical support for the notion that, indeed, EO moderated the knowledge/performance relationship.\nMethodology: Research design\nAnalysis and results: Assessment of measures\nDiscussion: The intent of this research paper was to better understand how SMEs can grow to overcome exogenous shocks in the marketplace and we did this by illuminating the relationship between two important research constructs, LO and EO, and firm performance. Each of these constructs, together and independently, has been the subject of much research effort in recent years. However, understanding how the constructs LO and EO relate specifically to SME growth is important for two reasons. First, SME growth is one of the primary drivers of economic activity and employment so it is important to gain better insights into the process by which SMEs can grow. Second, from a management and ownership perspective, SME growth may facilitate long-term survival by insulating a small firm from the inevitable external shocks that manifest from time to time within any business environment. Therefore, a better understanding of the relationship of the antecedent factors to growth and how they may be managed more effectively will be useful for both practitioners and researchers. We believe that the results from this study shed light on both of these areas.\nConclusion: We set out to empirically examine SME growth while considering its relationship LO and EO. The logic employed in this examination posited that values (LO) shape and influence behavior or action (EO) which generates organizational outcomes (SME growth). Analysis of the data generated for this study resulted in statistical support for the primary contention that EO is an intervening variable with respect to the LO-SME growth relationship. This research result is, we believe, logically consistent with the current conceptualization of the dependent variables (LO and EO) examined herein. However, the results from this study, while consistent with other research in some respects, are not consistent in others. Other research studies have found that LO is the intervening variable in the EO-performance relationship (Rhee et al., 2010; Wang, 2008). Given the divergent relationships found by the research, we believe there is an opportunity for future research to test the premise that feed-forward and feedback loops potentially give rise to a reciprocal relationship between LO and EO.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between learning orientation (LO), entrepreneurial orientation (EO), and firm growth in small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs). The authors theoretically argue for a mediation effect of EO on the relationship between LO and growth. The study considered how companies that value learning enact actions to affect firm outcomes. This is particularly important for small firms that may not be capable of withstanding significant shocks in the marketplace.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research design employed the survey method for data gathering and resulted in 105 completed responses from CEOs/presidents of SMEs. To examine the construct validity of the measurement dimensions the authors used a multistage process. Additionally, the authors employed a competing models analytic design to determine the presence and strength of mediating effects of the EO construct.\nFindings: The findings empirically demonstrate the notion that firm cultural values embodied in a LO and translated into action behaviors by an EO is positively related to SME growth and adaptation. The research also supports the notion that learning is an important element in opportunity recognition insofar as opportunity recognition is entrepreneurial or reflecting an EO. SMEs that are open to learning may identify opportunities to exploit through an EO that facilitates growth. In the face of dynamic external environments and competitive conditions SMEs are well served by being more creative and entrepreneurial.\nResearch limitations/implications: The design of the study is limited by single source, key respondents in SMEs, and has the potential for common method bias even though the authors tested for this effect successfully.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the literature by examining how learning and an orientation toward entrepreneurial behavior affect the growth of firms. These findings will be of value to both scholars and entrepreneurs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Doing well and doing good: The relationship between leadership practices that facilitate a positive emotional climate and organizational performance	[ "Emotional intelligence", "Organizational performance", "Leadership", "Human resource management", "Canada" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Emotions affect many aspects of employees' relations in organizations, from perceptions of authority to feelings about the desirability of making a career within an organization. For instance, as Kahn (1998) noted, employees form emotional attachments in the context of their work relationships and, beneath the layer of formal organizational structures, these relationships and emotions shape how they engage with their work environment. Within organizations, emotions serve as the social glue that can potentially \"make or break organizational structures\" (Fineman, 1993, p. 15).\nTheory and hypotheses: Conceptual framework\nData and methods: Sample\nResults: Table II presents the means, standard deviations, and correlations between the variables used in the study. As we expected, the PEC practices had significant positive relationships with all of the three outcomes variables of the study, including company performance, strategic growth, and outcome growth. The outcome variables were also significantly related to some of the control variables. Company performance had a negative relationship with the company's age. Strategic growth was positively related to the number of newly hired employees and the company owners' intention for growth.The results also indicated significant positive relationships among the outcome variables, with one exception. The non-significant relationship between company performance (an increase in gross revenue) and outcome growth might be due to the fact that the latter variable reflects growth in terms of the number of customers and sales transactions as well as gross revenue. Some companies might have decreased the number of customers and/or sales transactions and yet still increased their gross revenue by doing more business with existing customers and/or increasing the dollar volume of sales per transaction.We used multiple linear regression analyses to test our hypotheses. For each dependent variable (i.e. performance, strategic growth, and outcome growth), we ran a separate regression analysis. For each analysis, on the first step, we entered our control variables, and in the next step, our variable of interest, the emotional climate practices scale. The results for these analyses are presented in Table III.Company performance\nDiscussion: The results of this panel study show that leadership practices that facilitate a positive emotional climate in an organization have a significant effect on the organization's performance, as measured by the rate of increase in the gross revenue of companies. In addition, our data provide empirical evidence that the emotional climate practices of a leader are significantly related to his or her organization's growth, in terms of both strategic growth (i.e. the number of products/services, geographic markets, and customer niches) and outcome growth (i.e. the number of customers and volume of sales). These results add to our knowledge of how emotional factors relate to organizational-level outcomes, by showing that company leaders' emotional management practices could be an important factor in determining organizational outcomes.On the other hand, although the results of the regression analyses provided support for the hypotheses of our study, we should also note that the PEC practices explained modest levels of unique variance in the regression models, with values ranging between 5 and 12 percent. These results suggest that certain factors might limit the capacity of a leader's emotional management practices in creating a positive emotional climate. The affective personalities of employees, for instance, could be one of these limiting factors. In specific terms, despite the PEC practices, employees who have a negative affective disposition (Watson and Clark, 1988) might undermine the emotional climate of their organization as a result of their tendency to perceive their work environment from a more pessimistic perspective and to express negative emotions to others about work related issues (Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996). Future research could empirically explore such limiting factors that might diminish the link between a leader's positive emotional climate practices and organizational outcomes.Our results indicated that, in comparison with the other outcome variables, strategic growth had a weaker relationship with the PEC practices. The emotional climate practices of leaders explained 5 percent of the variance in strategic growth. This result may be due to the possibility that strategic decision-making processes were more centralized in some of the organizations in our sample, and, thus, employees did not have a significant role in making and/or implementing these decisions (thus, confounding the relationship between positive emotional climate practices and strategic growth). It is also possible that management practices that focus on material rewards played a stronger role in motivating employees to actively support their organization's strategic growth than practices that facilitate a positive emotional climate. This suggests the need to include a focus on material rewards in future research so that the incremental contribution of leadership practices could be identified.The results of our study also inform the strategic human resource management literature by revealing the potential role of managerial practices that address employees' emotional needs in determining organizational-level outcomes. Previous research in this literature has found that organizations can better mobilize their employees' knowledge, skills, and abilities by utilizing a number of high-performance work practices, such as incentive compensation, training, employee participation, selectivity, and flexible work arrangements (Combs et al., 2006; Huselid, 1995). Our study suggests that, in addition to such high-performance work practices which motivate employees primarily at a cognitive level, the PEC practices could help organizations mobilize their employees' energy at the emotional level. Thus, an interesting and practically important future research direction would be to simultaneously examine the emotional climate practices and the previously studied high-performance work practices to determine their relative contributions to organizational-level outcomes.Finally, the results of this study should be considered in light of its limitations. The data were collected from a single source, i.e. the owners of the companies. To alleviate this common-source bias, we have used a panel study design in that we measured the independent and control variables in the first wave, and the growth outcome variables in the second-wave, 18 months later. In addition, we measured organizational performance as the rate of change in actual gross-revenue figures, based on the data collected from the company owners in both waves. We measured the strategic and outcome growth variables, however, by directly asking our respondents in the second wave, which is another limitation of our study. Thus, future research could examine the relationship between emotional climate practices and growth by using more objective outcome and strategic growth measures.The relatively small size of companies included in the sample also poses a limitation. Future research would be needed to verify whether the results of this study can be generalized to larger organizations in which company leaders might have less direct contact with their employees and, thus, less capacity to influence the emotional climate of their organization.Another limitation of our study is in relation to its design. In presenting the hypothesized relationships, we assumed that company leaders' practices would result in a positive emotional climate, which, in turn, would contribute to organizational-level outcomes. However, we did not empirically examine the degree to which a company leader's emotional management practices actually translated into a positive emotional climate in his or her organization. Future research could examine this relationship by measuring both the leadership practices presented in this study and the positive emotional climate itself, i.e. an enduring quality of the organization shared by its participants (Schneider and Reichers, 1983).For decades, both scholars and practitioners of management have searched for more effective methods of motivating employees for better performance. Although many have focused on the provision of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, the managerial practices aimed at improving the emotional climate of organizations have not received much attention. Our paper represents an attempt to shed light on this relatively less explored area. Our findings suggest that company leaders can mobilize their employees' efforts and resources to achieve higher organizational performance not only by considering the material rewards provided in the workplace but also by paying attention to what is emotionally shared there.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to investigate whether and how leadership practices that facilitate a positive emotional climate (the \"PEC practices\") are related to organizational outcomes in terms of performance (increase in revenue), strategic growth, and outcome growth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A panel study was conducted to test the hypotheses. Data were collected from 229 entrepreneurs and small business owners operating in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In the first wave of the study, the authors collected data regarding the PEC practices. The data on outcome variables, i.e. revenue, strategic growth, and outcome growth, were collected in the second wave, 18 months later.\nFindings: - The regression analyses showed that the PEC practices were positively related to company performance, revenue growth, and outcome growth, providing support for the hypotheses in the study.\nOriginality/value: - This study provides valuable insights about the role of emotional factors in organizational-level outcomes, a relatively unexplored area in emotions research. Analyzing a set of panel data, the study has shown that leadership practices that facilitate a positive emotional climate in an organization make a difference in organizational-level outcomes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Triggering the emergence of digital ecosystems: the role of mobile and video games in emerging economies	[ "China", "India", "Mass media", "Developing countries", "Public policy", "Mobile communications systems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Over the last 40 years, the video games industry has grown steadily, increasing its audiences worldwide, widening its demographics and adding access platforms along the way (video consoles, portable consoles, portals, mobile handsets, etc.). Indeed, the video games market has been growing, not only in value but also in its audiences. Now, gaming itself is beginning to be seen as a mainstream source of entertainment for families. According to Newzoo (2018), the worldwide games market will reach $113.3bn by 2018. This sector has become as important for the production of content (especially digital) as the movie industry.\n1. Changing markets and the role of mobile in emerging markets: The information and communication technology (ICT) sector[2] has been a major contributor to the growth of these economies, specifically to the development of their GDP. For instance, ICT industries are at the core of innovation and the transformation of economic systems. ICT industries lead the globalization of value chains, enabling these countries to play a growing role. For instance, the participation in global trade networks and global value chains has been pivotal to China's economic success.\n2. China[11]: 2.1 An overview of the information and communication technology sector\n3. India. The new kid on the block[28]: 3.1 An overview of the information and communication technology sector\n4. Russia: \"from turnips to tanks, the changing face of Russian video games\"[35][36]: 4.1 An overview of the information and communication technology sector\n5. Conclusion: As stressed in the first section, the internet is going mobile, driven by data, mostly video. The new mobile platforms are becoming the key for the distribution of content and mobile games are among the most popular apps on the platforms. At the global level, over the past few years, spending on mobile games surpassed spend for online gaming and consoles worldwide. As more consumers in each of the three countries purchase smartphones and access the internet through their mobile devices, the mobile gaming industry is bound to grow further.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to shed some light on the role of video games within the media industry and IT sector, on its contribution to the production and distribution of digital content in emerging economies. It offers a case study on the role of mobile devices as a factor of transformation and shows how under changing socio-economic conditions, the transformations enabled the creation of digital ecosystems and innovative business models.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper is based on desk research, a review of literature and trade press and comments from experts and industry players.\nFindings: The paper argues that as the internet is going mobile, driven by data - mostly video - the new mobile platforms are becoming the key for the distribution of content and mobile games. Whether it is the history of browser games in China, mobile games in India or PC games in Russia, each national gaming industry has required a unique strategy for making money, building on some prominent cultural factors and adapting to the local economic conditions. The paper reveals that video games are now clearly a vital part of digital content production in these countries, while stressing upon the role of public policies.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper relies mostly on industry and consultancy data, as in such a fast-changing environment official data even when accessible are in most cases too old to remain relevant to identify the trends and the fast changing stakes. This calls for some caution about the data. Therefore, the data used should be treated as just signals of potential trends, sufficient to provide an appropriate overview of the evolution of the global mobile ecosystem.\nPractical implications: This paper shows that the video games industry can serve as a pivot for the ICT industry. Besides, this prompts upstream and downstream industries of the entire digital entertainment market to thrive.\nSocial implications: The paper shows that companies from emerging markets companies have been betting on a combination of factors: the development of the economies, the growth of the mobile market, emerging middle-classes and young customers. It provides a growth model that appears to be close to a \"regular\" industrial growth model.\nOriginality/value: Although there is a growing academic literature on the video games industry, few research have been devoted to specific issues of emerging economies and to the role of video games within the media industry and IT sector.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An assessment of the impact of the sensory environment on individuals' behaviour in special needs schools	[ "Sensory perception", "Individual behaviour", "Children (age groups)", "Learning disabilities", "Schools" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nBackground: Sensory perceptual problems\nMethodology: A multi-pronged approach was adopted in compiling both subjective and objective data. This is primarily based on questionnaire directed at carers and teachers. The findings were cross-validated via open-ended interviews with teachers and carers to glean more in-depth understanding about sensory impacts. Both participant observation and behavioural mapping based on video recording analysis will be adopted in stage two of this research which is beyond the scope of this paper. This is in order to compile relevant factual and perceptual information about children's responses to varying sensory stimuli.The empirical study\nFindings: Potential sensory problem areas/facilities within the school\nConclusions: This research aims to assess the relationship among a few sensory environmental parameters and children's behaviour in selected SN schools in the UK. The findings are preliminary at this stage; they merely show that sensory stimuli have an adverse effect on children behaviour in varying teaching settings including classrooms, gymnasium and main halls. These need to be interpreted and cross validated with behaviour mapping and observation, which will be pursued at the next stage.The findings broadly support the claims that sensory stimuli is a complex and multi-facetted which might be affected by the spatial characteristics, design layout and finishing of the classroom.Stereotypical behaviour is particularly aggravated by the source of light, intensity, luminance and contrast. Sound echoing and reverberation in larger spaces have similar influence. This is determined by the volume of space as much the internal finishing of having large un-curtained window areas and hard floors.Low-pitch sound from traffic noise, extractor fans and PC fans has been shown to influence behaviour. These seem to interfere with sound intelligibility leading to fragmentation and loss of meaning of the perceived sound and hence the difficulty of making sense of content and the context and act accordingly.\nBenefits, outcomes and areas for future research: This study represents a leap forward by providing comprehensive measuring framework by which some sensory environmental attributes can be assessed objectively and their impacts on children behaviour can be thoroughly assessed; meanwhile other likely risk of harm can be minimised or mitigated. The findings have pinpointed to the key factors, which need to be controlled to ameliorate the adverse impact on the teaching environment in tune with childrens' need and expectation. Clearly the new government policy of integrating sensory impaired children other children with learning difficulties in main stream school might have wider implications in terms of adapting these schools to cater for the impairments which might again create a whole range of problems in terms of adaptation and management of school facilities? In the light of the findings there is a need to develop a cross-disciplinary approach to the impact of sound environment on children behaviour and in particular to assess the impacts of echoing and low-pitch sound on behaviour.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship of a few sensory environmental parameters, mainly visual and acoustical stimuli, with childrens' behaviour and performance in special needs schools.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Analysis of teaching layouts and the sequence of activities in ten selected special needs schools have been conducted using questionnaire directed at carers and teachers. The findings were cross-validated via open-ended interviews with teachers and carers to glean more in-depth understanding about sensory influences.\nFindings: - Several sensory parameters were observed in the teaching environment: bright colours and light, pattern glare, echoing, higher and low-pitch sound and background noise level. The study identified numerous factors having a negative effect on children's behaviour.\nPractical implications: - This paper provides further understanding of the key factors contributing to the quality of teaching environment consistent with user's need and expectations. It provides suggestions regarding the briefing and design to support childrens' performance. This can assist in developing alternative design guidelines based on users-centered approach to schools design.\nOriginality/value: - This paper will highlight issues for open discussion amongst all those involved in the process of planning, design and management of school environments which further reduce the undesirable consequences of the aforementioned parameters towards improving their operational efficiency in use.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Measuring organisational capabilities in the higher education sector	[ "Universities", "RBV", "Capabilities", "Resource-based view", "Competitive resources", "Higher education sector" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past two decades, the higher education sector has become increasingly characterised by intense competition for students, staff, and research funds (e.g. Hemsley-Brown, 2012; Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006; Hillman et al., 2014). This is due to changes implemented by governments under the auspice of new public management (Hood, 1991) with its focus on the issues of efficiency, effectiveness, and economy (Pollitt, 1990). One significant change has been the shift in university funding from the public purse to increasing levels of private financing (Karkkainen, 2006; Longden and Belanger, 2013; Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2012, 2013; Sharrock, 2012), making universities increasingly subject to market forces (Li and Roberts, 2012; Heller and Rogers, 2006; Johnstone, 2004, 2005). These changes have been referred to in the literature using various terms, including academic capitalism (Rhoades and Slaughter, 2004; Slaughter and Rhoades, 2004), commercialisation, marketisation (Williams, 1995), and privatisation.\nRBV and its applicability to public universities: Strategic management scholars have long been interested in investigating the sources of sustained competitive advantage and, in turn, superior performance (e.g. Ansoff, 1965; Barney, 1991; Dierickx and Cool, 1989; Penrose, 1959; Porter, 1980, 1985; Rumelt, 1984; Selznick, 1957; Wernerfelt, 1984). The central research question for these scholars has been to identify the reason why some firms persistently outperform others (Barney and Arikan, 2001; Barney and Clark, 2007; Makadok, 2011). Over the years, several theoretical explanations have been proposed. Porter (1980, 1985) suggested that external forces determine the attractiveness of the industry/market, and the position of the firm within the market determines its profitability. Others have posited that internal strengths in the form of capabilities determine how competitive a firm will be, which in turn determines its performance (e.g. Barney, 1991; Penrose, 1959; Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; Selznick, 1957; Wernerfelt, 1984). This perspective is referred to as the RBV. The principal theoretical development of the RBV occurred between 1984 and the mid-1990s (Kraaijenbrink et al., 2010) and has become one of the most prominent theories of strategic management today (Armstrong and Shimizu, 2007; Foss, 2011; Newbert, 2008).\nMethods: Questionnaire development\nResults: PCA\nDiscussion and conclusions: Due to changes being implemented by governments, universities are being transformed into market driven, entrepreneurial institutions competing for staff, students and research funds, requiring them to be managed like businesses (Abbott and Doucouliagos, 2009; Bigalke and Neubauer, 2009; Carvalho and Santiago, 2010; Deem et al., 2007; Mok and Cheung, 2011; Peters, 2013). As such, the development of strategies to compete and achieve competitive advantage over other universities is now paramount.\nLimitations and future research: These findings are subject to the usual limitations arising from the field survey method. The questionnaire data used in this study have not been triangulated with data from other sources, apart from experts' validation and a small number of preliminary interviews. In addition, the use of self-rated responses to closed-questions in the instrument may have given rise to respondent error or biases due to fatigue, acquiescence, partitioning, or halo effects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), the purpose of this paper is to develop a framework and instrument to measure the organisational capabilities of university schools/departments. In doing so, this study provides evidence of the way competitive resources are bundled to generate organisational capabilities that give university schools/departments a sustainable competitive advantage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire to measure the resources that contribute to the capabilities of university schools/departments was developed. Constructs were determined, and the questionnaire was refined based on an analysis of responses from 166 Heads of schools/departments across all 39 Australian public universities.\nFindings: Heads conceive of the development of capabilities within their schools/departments along the core operating functions of research, teaching, and networking. Reliability and supplementary analysis confirm these constructs have strong convergent and discriminant validity as well as internal consistency.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings confirm that effective management and coordination of research, teaching, and networking with important stakeholders are keys to success. The framework and instrument developed in this paper also provides the opportunity to investigate university performance through the perspective of the RBV, which will enhance the understanding of the determinants of universities' performance.\nPractical implications: The framework and questionnaire developed in this study can be utilised by Heads as a diagnostic tool to gain an understanding of their department's/school's organisational capabilities in the areas of research, teaching, and networking.\nOriginality/value: This paper is the first study to develop a framework and questionnaire to measure organisational capabilities for university academic schools/departments.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

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