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Mediator assisted simultaneous negotiations with multiple customers for order acceptance decision
|
[
"Decision support systems",
"Order acceptance decision",
"Negotiation",
"Mediator"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Manufacturing system is mainly characterized either as make-to-stock (MTS) or as make-to-order (MTO). MTS system uses push-based approach where products are produced and kept in the inventory. On the other hand, MTO system uses pull-based approach where the products are produced only after getting confirmed order from the customer. To attract customer, manufacturers are forced to fill customer order faster, cheaper and better than the competitors (Bayazit, 2006). Further, today's business environment demands manufacturer to increase product portfolio and offer customized or specialized products to have competitive leverage (Fettermann et al., 2017). Increased demand for customized or specialized products has led to increase in importance and a large growth in the number of MTO companies (Stevenson et al., 2005). Therefore, many companies are shifting their production base from the traditional policy of MTS systems toward MTO systems (Piya et al., 2016). Apart from attracting customer, this strategic shift also helps company realize reducing the cost of carrying inventory (Gallien et al., 2004). The main operational issues of concern for an MTO manufacturer are capacity planning and order acceptance decisions (OADs) (Chetan et al., 2004). Over the last decade, the significance of OAD in MTO systems has been widely recognized in academia as well as in practice (Slotnick, 2011). With limitations on manufacturing capacity, company may be forced to be selective in accepting customer orders. Accepting all incoming orders may overload a system, thereby, resulting in the tardy deliver. This results in extra cost in the form of tardy penalty, as well as the loss of company's goodwill (Ruiz-Torres et al., 2008; Leyvand et al., 2009). On the other hand, rejecting incoming orders may have impact on the company's available capacity, profitability and possibility of receiving future orders from the rejected customers. Therefore, a company's capability to choose good orders and allocate the available capacity effectively to improve the objective function and maintain business goodwill affects its prosperity to a great extent (Kreye et al., 2013).\n2. Problem description: The proposed OAD framework consists of customers, manufacturer and mediator. A manufacturer will negotiate with multiple customers simultaneously on the issue of due date and price under the presence of a mediator. The mediator may be considered a software or any autonomous agent. Initially, customers place an enquiry on the due date and the price at which the manufacturer can supply their orders. Then, based on the strategy and production plan, the manufacturer will submit quotations to the customers. If any customer is not satisfied with this initial offer, a mediator will be introduced for further negotiation. The negotiation cycle typically involves a sequence of interdependent activities of offer evaluation, decision making and generation of new offer if deemed essential (Chen and Huang, 2007). Negotiations may continue for several rounds. During each round, the manufacturer plans their production system and generates new offer, taking into account other negotiating orders. Likewise, customers will also generate their new offer and both the negotiating parties will submit their respective offer for the given round to the mediator. The manufacturer will start offer with quotation, which represents their upper limit on the due date and the price. The quotation will be different for different negotiating orders. On the other hand, the customers will start their offer on due date and price from the lower limit. With the progress of negotiation, they each move in the opposite direction in an attempt to reach an agreement. This movement will reduce the gap between them on the conflicting issues.\n3. OAD framework: The flow chart in Figure 1 explains the proposed OAD framework. Customer c (c=1, 2, ..., C) arrives stochastically to the manufacturer (m) for a quotation. The manufacturer will accumulate all the orders (o=1, 2, ..., O) from customers that arrive in a certain time window of each period. Then, based on the production plan, the manufacturer will generate quotations on due dates d and prices p for orders o that arrive in the same time window and submit it to the respective customers (i). If the quoted value is acceptable to the customer, the order will enter the pre-shop pool for production (ii). Otherwise, customer will generate a counter-offer (initial offer) for the manufacturer (iii). If manufacturer accepts the counter-offer, then again the order will enter the pre-shop pool (ii). Otherwise, a mediator will be introduced between the manufacturer and unsatisfied customers for further negotiations. The manufacturer and customers will then revise their initial offers and submit it to the mediator (iv). After receiving revised offers from negotiating parties, mediator will then decide whether the parties can reach agreement at this negotiation round n or further negotiation is necessary (v). It should be noted that negotiating party refers to a pair consisting of manufacturer and a negotiating customer. The total number of such pairs will be equal to the total number of negotiating customers. If the negotiating party can reach agreement, then the mediator will identify the agreed due date and price which will be acceptable to both the parties (vi). The orders will then enter the pre-shop pool for production (ii).\n4. Numerical analysis: The aim of the numerical analysis is mainly to show the working mechanism of proposed framework and to compare it with the method proposed by Piya et al. (2016) where simultaneous negotiations are conducted without the presence of mediator.\n5. Theoretical and managerial implications: The success or failure of an MTO company highly depends on the quality of order they accepts. Simply accepting all incoming orders does not guarantee success if the company cannot deliver the order on agreed due date and the order does not generate enough profit. Therefore, OAD is considered as one of the most important strategic and challenging decisions for the MTO manager (Chetan et al., 2004). Moreover, the structure of the MTO company or its operations, such as planning and scheduling, are fully dependent on the OAD (Chen and Kang, 2010). The decision includes many stages such as enquiry by the customer, quotation, negotiation with the customer for fixing price and due date, planning the production system and physical distribution. Following major insights for management can be drawn from the study:\n6. Conclusion: This paper proposed a new framework of negotiation between the manufacturer and multiple customers, under the presence of mediator, for OAD. In the proposed framework, mediator helps negotiating parties to generate new offers by imparting implicit information, identify the round at which agreement can be reached and the agreed value on due date and price. Within the framework, the paper also develops method that can be utilized by the manufacturer and customer for negotiations. The proposed method implemented some important concepts of negotiation such as aspiration level and level of benefit. Proposed framework is intended to harness relationship between manufacturer and customer on their outstanding issues through negotiation ensuring fairness and helping reach early agreement between the parties involved in negotiation for OAD.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for the manufacturer of a make-to-order company to simultaneously negotiate with multiple customers through mediator to achieve order acceptance decisions (OADs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper developed mathematical models for the manufacturer, as well as customers to revise their offers during negotiations. Moreover, the paper also proposed a method for the mediator to carry out his assigned duties to assist in negotiation. In the decision process, mediator acts as a bridge between the manufacturer and customers to reach an agreement. A numerical example is enumerated to illustrate the working mechanism and superiority of proposed framework as compared to the framework where simultaneous negotiations are carried out without the presence of mediator.\nFindings: Iterative method of negotiation conducted without mediator leads to delay in reaching agreement as the aspiration level of manufacturer offer and counter-offer of customer will never cross each other. In addition, the party who submits the offer first may suffer as the opponent can take the advantage of his/her offer during negotiation, thereby, derailing the issue of fairness. Introducing mediator between the manufacturer and the customer for their negotiations could overcome these two issues. Numerical analysis clearly illustrates that, in average, the rounds of negotiation to reach an agreement can be reduced by 22 percent using proposed negotiation framework. In addition, the fairness in negotiations can be improved by 33 percent with the incorporation of mediator.\nOriginality/value: Through continuing research efforts in this domain, certain models and strategies have been developed for negotiation. Iterative method of negotiations without mediator will help neither the manufacturer nor the customer in terms of fairness and negotiations round to reach an agreement. To the best of the author's knowledge, so far, this is the first instance of research work in the domain of OAD and negotiation framework that attempts to incorporate mediator for simultaneous negotiation between manufacturer and customers on multiple issues simultaneously.\n",
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Accounting and navigating legitimacy in Tanzanian NGOs
|
[
"Non‐governmental organizations",
"Accounting",
"Regulation",
"Culture",
"Tanzania"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper investigates the accounting phenomenon in NGOs in Tanzania. NGOs have become important players in social development and economic intervention throughout the world. This is evidenced by a major shift in development funding routed through NGOs, which have become the preferred agents over governments. For example, in 1999 NGOs in Africa handled $3.5 billion in external aid compared to under $1 billion in 1990 and were involved in 54 per cent of all approved World Bank projects in 1998 (World Bank, 1998, 1999). NGOs comprise a very diverse set of institutions and there are many different categorisations of NGOs in the literature. One simple and useful such categorisation is between NGOs and GROs (grassroots organisations). Edwards and Hulme (1995, pp. 15, 20) make the following distinction, \"NGOs ... are intermediary organisations engaged in funding or offering other forms of support to communities and other organisations; GROs are membership organisations\" and \"an appropriate way to view the relationship between them is to see NGOs as in a position to promote and sustain GROs\". Very often NGOs are donors to GROs as was the case in this research where the case studies were essentially GROs.There is a substantial literature devoted to NGOs in the fields of development economics and international development. Although this literature generally does not attempt to directly address the implications of accounting within organisations, concepts associated with accounting-such as \"accountability\", \"efficiency\" and \"cost effectiveness\" have emerged (see for example, Edwards and Hulme, 1995; Farrington et al., 1993; Billis, 1989; Charlton and May, 1995; Mayo, 1996; Edwards, 1996; Harris, 1988; Leat, 1993). The emergence and use of these concepts is both useful and problematic. Useful because they reflect the need for evaluation of organisational resources and processes, but problematic because they are complex to measure and different meanings may be attributed to them.Several studies are of interest in what might be termed the \"non-accounting\" research in NGO organisations. Hyman and Dearden (1998) studied assessment systems for NGO micro enterprise, development programs in four major, US NGOs. Reflecting a familiar view in development economics and international development literature, they conclude that impact assessment systems ran the risk of becoming too complicated or costly. They also suggest that precisely how accounting information is understood and used by the different parties is the key to understanding what role accounting plays and/or could play in NGOs or any organisation. Alsop and Farrington (1998) suggest a model for monitoring information exchange and decision making in a multiple stakeholder setting within which NGOs operate. The model recognises that stakeholder groups come from different institutional backgrounds and could take varying frames of reference, use dissimilar language, exploit distinct knowledge bases and pursue agendas that may not be wholly convergent. The concept of independent information systems, which are protected and nurtured by actors in organisations, rhymes very well with prior accounting research such as Dirsmith and Covaleski (1985), Preston (1986) and Jonsson and Gronlund (1988). Forbes (1998) conducted an extensive 20-year review of empirical studies in NGOs that addressed the concept of effectiveness. Forbes included quantitative archival data, such as financial reports and operational statements, as measures of effectiveness. He concluded that effectiveness in not-for-profit settings is a complex concept that was not only difficult to measure but also required a multidimensional approach and consideration of multiple constituents.There is a developing literature on accountability in NGOs. Edwards and Hulme (1995) have emphasised the importance of accountability and the need to take it \"much more seriously\" but also note that, \"little is known about the changing nature of GRO and NGO accountability\". Smillie (1995) refers to accountability being the \"Achilles heel\" of the NGO movement. Lewis (2001) goes even further and suggests that \"concerns about NGO accountability and performance remain ... an ability to confront these issues may be the key to the survival of the NGO movement\". Many authors draw attention to various aspects of NGO accountability such as the multiplicity of stakeholders (Edwards and Hulme, 1995, Naja, 1996); the importance of Board structures (Tandon, 1995) and the distinction between functional (short-term accountability for resources) and strategic (accounting for impacts NGOs have on wider environment and on other organisations) accountability (Avina, 1993). Edwards and Hulme (1995) noted that the need to account transparently was an essential NGO practice in relation to enhancing legitimacy. They also noted the possibility of donor requirements distorting accountability and a tendency for \"accountancy\" rather than \"accountability\". Other research has noted the strengthening of accountability resulting from donor demands, without considering the dysfunctional effects of such demands (Bebbington and Riddle, 1995). Ebrahim (2003) noted the emphasis of \"upward\" and \"external\" accountability to donors and the underdevelopment of \"downward\" and \"internal\" mechanisms. O'Dwyer (2005) also raised issues of upward accountability by NGOs. He reports an overseas aid agency that considers maintenance of legitimacy in the eyes of its chief financier as an overriding concern.In recent years a good deal of attention has been made to the applicability of business practices to NGOs. Some researchers, such as Bradley et al. (2003), advocate the adoption of such practices to improve efficiency. However, others such as Simsa (2003) and Myers and Sacks (2003) recognise the complexity of NGOs in terms of their different strategies, internal ideologies and management styles. These complexities are likely to confound a simple transference of business practices. Westerdahl (2001) undertook one of the few empirical interpretive studies in NGO accounting. He concluded that accounting is intimately bound with organisational identity. Moreover, accounting in NGOs is a central force in establishing legitimacy within and beyond the organisation.To summarise, the importance of management information, including accounting, in NGOs has been established, particularly with respect to legitimacy and accountability. However, the complexity of the NGO context and the multiplicity of stakeholders have also been recognised. What is missing is a deeper empirical understanding of how accounting is used in this setting and the purposes it serves. Such an understanding may lead to an improvement in such systems in the future. This paper seeks address this gap by advancing our understanding of accounting processes and reporting practices and the conditions in which these were conducted. The principal output of this investigation is a conceptual explanation or emergent theory which accounts for the social processes involved and seeks connections between events, actions, processes and structures. To achieve this, the research paper adopted a grounded theory strategy (Strauss, 1987; Strauss and Corbin, 1990, 1998). Grounded theory extends beyond mere presentation of empirical, qualitative data to develop field-informed accounting theories. The need to develop such theories from qualitative research has been urged by Humphrey and Scapens (1996). Fieldwork research was undertaken in two phases over a period of 15 months in three studies comprising three non-governmental not-for-profit organisations in Tanzania.The paper is organised as follows. The first section outlines the research methodology and methods, based on grounded theory methodology. This section also provides basic background detail of research sites. Findings are presented in the second section using Strauss and Corbin's (1998) paradigm model to present the emergent grounded theory. In keeping with the grounded theory approach, broader theoretical issues are addressed as the grounded theory is presented, rather than prior to the empirical findings. The paper concludes with a brief summary of the paper's contributions to the literature.\nResearch methodology and methods: The research reported in this paper sought to understand the nature of the phenomena of accounting and accountability from the perspectives of organisational actors. A grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1990, 1998b) approach was adopted to achieve this. Grounded theory is capable of capturing complex social phenomena, as it emphasises the need for developing concepts and their linkages (Strauss, 1987). Furthermore, the methodology allows the actors' own perceptions and meanings to emerge. The central aim is to construct a theory by grounding it in a rigorous observation of the phenomenon, in interplay with data and developed through the course of actual research (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). The task is, therefore, to interpret the varied perceptions of the participants in the research process in order to construct a (theory that is conceptually dense (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Parker and Roffey (1997) suggested that grounded theory offered, \"the prospect of contributing important dimensions of knowledge to accounting research...developing theories on the basis of detailed observations of complex social phenomena without prematurely defining the area of investigation or related prior assumptions\" and offering \"the prospect of providing useful confirmation or disconfirmation of the applicability of pre-existing theories as well as the possibility of offering new theoretical developments\" Moreover, \"the distinctive advantage of grounded theory is that it commences from specific \"real world\" situations with the intent of understanding the nature and rationale of observed interactions and processes. It also offers the possibility of providing more general observations that may have ramifications beyond the particular case being studied.\"Early studies using grounded theory in accounting research include Bamberger and Philips (1991), Gibbins et al. (1990), Cottingham and Hussey (1996). However, since Parker and Roffey's (1997) exhortation, the body of such research is now developing and includes Parker (2001, 2002), Abdul-Rahman and Goddard (1998, 2002) and Slagmulder (1997) who primarily relied on the empirical data alone to generate a theory. Other studies have made more extensive use of other schools of thought to provide perspectives on their research (Coopey et al., 1998, Covaleski et al., 1998). In this paper, reliance is mainly placed on the empirical data but this is discussed in relation to other research literature as the grounded theory is presented. This mixture of in vivo and prior research influences has been exhorted by Locke (2001) and used by Goddard (2004) to inform accounting research.Data analysis using grounded theory procedures\nTowards a grounded theory: accounting and navigating legitimacy in NGOs: Strauss and Corbin (1998) developed their paradigm model as a tool for grounded theory composition and presentation. A simplified version of their original is employed in this paper as the integrating device for describing and explaining the emergent relationships among the main categories. At the centre of the paradigm model is the core category or central phenomenon which emerges from the coding process as described above. In addition, there are action/interaction strategies, which are strategic or routine responses made by individuals or groups to the core phenomenon. The structures and sets of circumstances or situations in which the core phenomenon is embedded, are referred to as the conditioning context. Finally, there are consequences, which are outcomes of action/interaction strategies. The research findings are presented and discussed below under each of the main elements of the paradigm model.Navigating legitimacy in NGOs [dash ]- the central phenomenon\nConclusion: This paper makes several contributions to our understanding of accounting in NGOs specifically and in the public services more generally. It also represents a contribution to the developing, though still relatively small, accounting research using grounded theory methodology. By adopting such a perspective this research addresses a long outstanding theoretical appeal for research in not-for-profit organisations to transcend the technical-rational perspective of accounting (Broadbent, 1999). Findings of this research complements the central premise in the prior literature that accounting is a component part of social and institutional interactions, affecting and being affected by human interactions and institutional conditions.The principal finding of the paper is that in the NGOs studied the primary purpose of accounting was its symbolic use in navigating legitimacy. This transcended any technical or even informational contributions of accounting reports. It also transcended the use of internal accounting information within the organisations for decision-making. This is an important finding for practice as well as for understanding and knowledge. This research also demonstrates the influences of organisational culture in resisting accounting. It nevertheless recognises the perceived potential threat of organisational mortality as a constituent attribute that may explain why accounting changes could not be successfully resisted in some situations but were successfully resisted in others. The research also supports and illustrates the symbolic role accounting plays in legitimating organisations even in circumstances where accounting itself had a minimal role to play in internal decision processes.Finally, the paper sheds light on accountability in NGOs by narrating how the phenomenon is constructed, its features and dimensions and finally how it was perceived by organisations and stakeholders. It suggests that accountability transcended technical issues related to accounting. Organisations with stronger accounting functions, better qualified accounting personnel and well documented accounting systems were not necessarily perceived by stakeholders to be more accountable. Superior accountability was seen to be associated with organisational accessibility to societal scrutiny and the transparency with which its affairs were conducted.However, there are inevitable problems of generalisability of a theory generated from three case studies located in one country. These concerns are somewhat alleviated by the similarities found in other research, particularly institutional theory, but more extensive is required before a more formal theory can be claimed. Such research needs to be undertaken in a broader range of geographically located NGOs across the world. There is also evidence that the religious affiliation of the NGO has significant impact on perceptions of accountability (Abdul-Rahman and Goddard, 1998) and further studies exploring this factor would be welcome. Finally, the study reported here was undertaken in Southern GROs and it would be interesting to compare the findings to those in Northern NGOs. The dependency of GROs upon NGOs is a crucial aspect of the phenomenon of navigating legitimacy and a better understanding of this in both types of organisations might improve the effectiveness of this model of service provision.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of accounting in non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It seeks to understand accounting processes and reporting practices in NGOs and the conditions that sustain those processes and practices. NGOs have become important institutions in world affairs but accounting research has not developed significant interest in their operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research executes a grounded theory strategy as the principal methodology for the inquiry. Fieldwork was undertaken in three Tanzanian NGOs.\nFindings: - The research established the importance of accounting in the process of navigating organisational legitimacy. This was achieved due to its important role in symbolising organisational competence. Two principal strategies were employed by organisations in navigating legitimacy - building credibility and bargaining for change.\nOriginality/value: - The paper makes a contribution to the limited empirical research into accounting in NGOs in developing countries and to grounded theory, accounting research. The principal finding, that in the NGOs studied the primary purpose of accounting was its symbolic use in navigating legitimacy and that it has a minimal role to play in internal decision making, is an important finding for practice as well as for understanding and knowledge. Finally, the paper sheds light on accountability in NGOs by narrating how the phenomenon is constructed and perceived by organisations and stakeholders. Future research should extend our understanding of these phenomena across a broader range of NGOs to incorporate differences in geographical location, religious affiliation and also include Northern donor organisations.\n",
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Searching for new saving behavior theories : How relationships between banks' customers and advisors affect household saving
|
[
"Banking industry",
"Marketing theory"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Most saving theories are based more on the aggregate level of saving than on the process of saving and the marketing context of the saver (Warneryd, 1999). In economics, household saving is mainly treated as a residual, and not as a primary activity. In addition, the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models, which form the basis for forecasting and economic policy (e.g. Kydland and Prescott, 1982) treat the financial sector as an intermediary with no measurable impact on aggregate demand. However, the most recent global banking crisis has demonstrated that the financial sector has a considerable impact on the gross domestic product; this calls for increased understanding of how the financial services have an impact not only on demand and consumption, but also on saving (Kocherlakota, 2010). One step on the way to increasing our understanding can be to focus on the relationship between bank advisors and customers, and how this relationship may relate to customer saving behavior. That such a line of inquiry is important and may be fruitful is supported by research in the fields of finance (Hackethal et al., 2012), economic psychology (Warneryd, 1999), and financial services marketing and behavioral economics (Chuah and Devlin, 2011). Support is also provided by the fact that governments and regulators have pointed to bad marketing practice by financial advisors as a cause for the financial crisis.\n2. Literature review of saving theories: 2.1 Saving theories based on economics and behavioral finance\n3. Literature review of relational and transactional exchange: As discussed above, researchers in different academic disciplines find that the relationship with the advisor may be important for customer saving behavior. Researchers have also distinguished between transaction- and relationship-oriented banking structures as fundamentally different systems. We suggest that the effect of the bank advisor on the customer may depend on the extent to which their exchange is more or less relational or transaction oriented. We now proceed to discuss the theory behind transaction and relational exchange and apply it to saving behavior.\n4. Building a model of how the exchange form affects saving behavior: The above-described theories can be used to build a model to help explain the role of bank advisor and customer relationships in saving behavior. The dependent variable in such a model is thus saving behavior, and defined here as the stock of savings, the flow of saving, and the types of saving or the saving activity (type of saving products). These three perspectives of saving behavior are analyzed one by one.\n5. Conclusions and managerial implications: Saving behavior is often analyzed in a framework of a household's or an individual's ability and willingness to save, or at the aggregate level in a life-cycle perspective. This paper shows the importance of introducing the exchange form when analyzing saving, i.e. the relational and transactional impact on saving. By including the exchange form as a mediating variable, the analysis could both broaden and deepen. The type and strength of the relationship between the bank customer and the bank may have an impact on saving with respect to the flow of saving, the stock of savings, and the activity of saving, e.g. through the frequency of saving and through the types of saving in terms of portfolio choice.\n6. Future research: The framework presented in this research also has implications for future research in areas outside saving behavior. Research in banking distinguishes between relational and transactional banking as two types of banking systems. This paper develops a framework based on the nature of the exchange between the bank customer and the bank advisor and on the features of these kinds of exchange. We presume that these features also can be used to analyze other kinds of financial services, including insurance solutions and lending activities, and when using new types of distribution channels in the financial sector.\n",
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of bank advisor/customer relationships and customer saving behavior.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research is a theoretical review and model development of savings behavior and bank advisor/customer relationships. The review is used for the development of a model of bank advisor/customer relationships, and their effect on savings behavior.\nFindings: Findings are a model that distinguishes three kinds of exchange (relational, interimistic, and transaction) in between bank advisor and customer. The three kinds of exchange then influence customer savings behavior.\nResearch limitations/implications: The implications of this research is that it points to that relationship marketing theory can be used in the analysis of how bank advisors influence customer savings behavior.\nPractical implications: For regulators and financial services firms, these findings point to how the role of bank advisors for consumer savings behavior can be analyzed. This is important, as much policy work presumes that advisors influence customer savings behavior, but the knowledge base for that presumption needs to be better understood.\nSocial implications: The paper contributes toward a better understanding of the social exchange between bank employees and customers as regards savings products.\nOriginality/value: This paper is original because it includes many theoretical research fields, and because it connects the bank advisor and customer relationship with the customer's savings behavior.\n",
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Modeling the aesthetic axis of information organization frameworks, part 1: Theoretical basis
|
[
"Evaluation",
"Research methods",
"Analysis",
"Bibliographic systems",
"Indexes",
"Retrieval languages"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Purpose: Designing, building, and maintaining an indexing language, metadata schema, or ontology is an act of creation. In both the act and the artifact we can examine the form and content through a number of different lenses. We find an incipient discourse within information science (IS) that views such objects through an aesthetic lens, making judgments based on a conceptualization of what is a beautiful indexing language, metadata schema, or ontology. We can consider indexing languages, metadata schemas, and ontologies generally as knowledge organization systems (KOS), yet coupled with their localized history and in their particular contexts we name them information organization frameworks (IOF). For example a localized Dewey Decimal Classification is not the same as the schedules, yet both are KOS if we only consider the structure. To highlight the contingencies and variation we will use IOF from here forward.\n2. Background: 2.1 Information organization frameworks\n",
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework, based on contemporary philosophical aesthetics, from which principled assessments of the aesthetic value of information organization frameworks may be conducted.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper identifies appropriate discourses within the field of philosophical aesthetics, constructs from them a framework for assessing aesthetic properties of information organization frameworks. This framework is then applied in two case studies examining the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), and Sexual Nomenclature: A Thesaurus.\nFindings: In both information organization frameworks studied, the aesthetic analysis was useful in identifying judgments of the frameworks as aesthetic judgments, in promoting discovery of further areas of aesthetic judgments, and in prompting reflection on the nature of these aesthetic judgments.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study provides proof-of-concept for the aesthetic evaluation of information organization frameworks. Areas of future research are identified as the role of cultural relativism in such aesthetic evaluation and identification of appropriate aesthetic properties of information organization frameworks.\nPractical implications: By identifying a subset of judgments of information organization frameworks as aesthetic judgments, aesthetic evaluation of such frameworks can be made explicit and principled. Aesthetic judgments can be separated from questions of economic feasibility, functional requirements, and user-orientation. Design and maintenance of information organization frameworks can be based on these principles.\nOriginality/value: This study introduces a new evaluative axis for information organization frameworks based on philosophical aesthetics. By improving the evaluation of such novel frameworks, design and maintenance can be guided by these principles.\n",
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A two-way causal chain between lean management practices and lean values
|
[
"Organizational performance",
"Lean",
"Lean management",
"Lean values",
"Quality improvements"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Lean manufacturing as learned from Toyota motor company has a philosophy that focuses on doing more with fewer resources, fighting operational waste and improving efficiencies. Based on literature review of Lean definitions (Womack et al., 1990; NIST, 2000; Cooney, 2002; George, 2003; Hopp and Spearman, 2004; Liker, 2004; Shah and Ward, 2007; Hallgren and Olhager, 2009; Radnor, 2010), one can restate Gupta et al. (2016) definition as \"an integrated multi-dimensional approach encompassing bundles of management practices based on values or principles.\" Furthermore, Bhasin and Burcher (2006) asserted that the values or principles are needed in the organization for the successful application of Lean. Therefore, Lean becomes a way of thinking, which adopts the values, whereas practices are the tools to action these values (Gupta et al., 2016).\n2. Research model and hypotheses: The idea of Lean has protracted to all systems in the organization, and not only the manufacturing floor, as the philosophy thrives on creating value in an efficient manner (Womack and Jones, 2005). This gave rise to the Lean enterprise, which is a group of individuals and functions legally separated, but operationally synchronized (Murman et al., 2002). The aim of Lean concept is to achieve the optimal desired performance at the enterprise level via deploying human-related values or principles and process-related practices or tools. These values and practices deployed across different subsystems such as individuals, activity, processes or organizations. The impact of each subsystem on the other subsystems and the impact of values and practices on the enterprise level performance may not follow common sense always. Moreover, a Lean system should consist of simple and clearly defined interdependencies between system components (Spear and Bowen, 1999).\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample\n4. Empirical results: The authors applied Stata version 12.1 to perform the necessary calculations and present the results.\n5. Discussion and findings: The results reveal that LMP affect LVs under investigation, both through the direct (LMP - LVs), and indirect connection (LMP - OP - LVs). However, the direct influence is only related to the LVs dimensions of (LVCF, LVCI, LVEW and LVLT). With respect to the indirect influence of LMP on LVs, the study found an imprint in the LVs dimensions of (LVSL, LVSV) and the mediating negative sign suggest that LMP seems to cause some measure of impairment to these values indirectly. This suggests that Lean practices directly affect operational and customer-related aspects in a positive way and indirectly affects the operational system through the eyes of leadership negatively. In other words, if leaders or upper management personnel not trained well, their actions could hurt successful Lean implementation. These results are consistent to the findings of previous studies (Lawrence and Hottenstein, 1995; Cua et al., 2001; Shah and Ward, 2003; Jayaram et al., 2008; Robb et al., 2008; Rosemary et al., 2014; Anvari et al., 2010).\n6. Conclusion: The aim of the study was to investigate and explore the direct and indirect two-way relationship between LMPs and LVs with OP as a mediating variable by adopting Ridderstaat et al. (2016) methodology of investigating such relationships. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the reciprocal connections between these three constructs in the field of lean philosophy by employing a structural model. The findings are important for many reasons. First, the findings shows a multifaceted link between LMP, LVs (LVs) and OP. Furthermore, the findings points out those LVs do effect LMP, and OP. Second, the findings confirm that not all sub-dimensions of the three investigated constructs were of statistical significance in determining the outcome of the relationships among the three constructs. This means that each construct (LMP, OP and LVs) contain a heterogeneous of multiple dimensions that could affect or be affected by this multi-dimensionality of the three constructs. Third, this type of findings according to Ridderstaat et al. (2016) offer new insights for theory development in a holistic feedback relationship between LMP, LVs and OP. Specifically, the theoretical propositions stemming from this study are:\n",
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},
{
"content": "Purpose: Organizations have varied levels of success with Lean implementation and many did not see tangible results. Some scholars believe the reason has to do with weak Lean culture or Lean values (LVs). The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between Lean implementation practices and LVs. The research goes further to study the nature of this relationship; does LVs affect Lean practices only or do they affect each other in a reciprocal manner?\nDesign/methodology/approach: Literature regarding Lean implementation in various sectors was reviewed. Representatives from several organizations were surveyed. Results from both approaches are compared and presented to highlight the key challenges and drivers facing Lean implementation.\nFindings: Lean works well on enhancing organization performance (OP) but the implementation has to be preceded by careful nourishment of the proper Lean culture and LVs. The relationship between Lean implementation and LVs is of a complex nature and driven by OP.\nPractical implications: The study has important managerial implications that is if Lean is going to be sustained, continuous efforts has to be exerted by Lean professionals to engage leaders and decision makers in the organization and ensure proper values are nurtured.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to examine the reciprocal relationship between Lean implementation practices and LVs while focusing on OP by employing a structural statistical model.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Factor analysis for balanced scorecard as measuring competitive advantage of infrastructure assets of owned state ports in Indonesia: Pelindo IV, Makassar, Indonesia
|
[
"Competitive advantage",
"Balanced scorecard",
"Factor analysis",
"Makassar-Indonesia",
"Pelindo IV"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Construction services can be categorized as one of the services that play an important role in the process of a country's economic development. Before the multi-crisis hit Indonesia in 1995-2005, the construction sector absorbed an investment of +-65 per cent from the total value of national infrastructure development (Widayatin, 2005), and 50 per cent of them contributed to the construction sector, which is widespread across the country as either national or multinational businesses entity. In the past 10 years, rapid construction developments have not been balanced with adequate service quality, with respect to the quality of products and services that are relatively low and less competitive.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Competitive advantages\n3. Methodology: This investigation adopts an explanatory and an exploratory qualitative case study method to analyze the effectiveness of BSC over the strategy management processes. The researchers chose the case study method because it provides a good understanding and content theorization of the processes and context in which the practices of management control take place (Berry et al., 2009). This research was conducted in PT Pelabuhan Indonesia so-called Pelindo IV (Persero) Makassar Branch, for a period of approximately six months.\n4. Result and discussion: 4.1 Factor analysis: measurement of competitive advantages from balance scorecard\n5. Conclusion: The result investigates the factor analysis for BSC, as measuring competitive advantage of infrastructure assets of state-owned ports in Indonesia, Pelindo IV, Makassar, Indonesia, shows the following results:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the factor analysis for balanced scorecard (BSC) as measuring competitive advantage of infrastructure assets of owned state ports in Indonesia: Pelindo IV, Makassar, Indonesia.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This investigation adopts an explanatory and an exploratory qualitative case study method to analyze the effectiveness of BSC over the strategy management processes. For data collection, the researchers have used semi-structured interviews, direct observation and document collection. Data collection was made during a six-month period, which allowed gaining of deep knowledge on the culture and management methods used in alpha. Other data collected refer to the company's documentation and reporting of online media publications. Detailed interview data are the main data sources, which allow obtaining of a detailed and holistic understanding of the experience, opinions and attitudes of the interviewees. Interviews focus on asset management to determine the relationship between various factors. This study adopts ideal BSC principle (four perspectives) to develop strategic map for infrastructure asset of Pelindo IV. Analysis tools using factor analysis for the indicators (financial, customer, learning-growth and internal process) measure the competitive advantages. The data for factor analysis from the perception of each stakeholder using questionnaire are collected.\nFindings: The competitive advantages of Pelindo IV depend on 81.2 per cent from financial perspective, customer perspective, internal process perspective and learning perspective, and 18.2 per cent from the other factor. The result of measurement model of competitive advantage in Figure 2 is significantly (p-value < 0.05) measured by financial perspective performance, customer perspective performance, internal process perspective performance and learning perspective performance. On the basis of the highest coefficient loading factor, it can be shown that the most powerful competitive advantages are measured by learning perspective. The high value of competitive advantage of Pelindo IV, Makassar, Indonesia, is especially seen from the learning perspective performance. The order result of BSC for measuring the competitive advantages is as follows: learning perspective performance, financial perspective performance, customer perspective performance and internal process perspective performance.\nOriginality/value: Originality of this study looks at the following three points: first, the measurement competitive advantages. Previous studies used measurements of cost leadership strategy, differential strategy and focus strategy as competitive advantages measuring (Porter, 1985; Warf and Stutz, 2007; Clulow et al., 2003). This study uses BSCs with four indicators (financial perspective result, customer perspective result, internal process perspective result and learning perspective). Second, on the other hand, several studies have investigated the BSCs as performance measurement (Ozturk and Coskun, 2014; Malgwi and Dahiru, 2014; Binden et al., 2014). Third, this study uses the factor analysis to measure the competitive advantage by BSCs, which is different from the previous study analysis.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Mina makes the most of human-resource management: Mini-market switches from competing on price to competing on service
|
[
"Retailing",
"Strategy",
"Human resource management",
"Training",
"Empowerment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A small mini-market switched from competing on price to competing on service quality following the opening of new, larger retailers close to its shop in the Artemida area of Athens, Greece.\nFrequent provision of in-house training: A second Greek micro-firm, Franco, has been manufacturing high-quality leather goods for more than 40 years.The nine-employee firm suffered a significant profit loss in 2010, forcing the owner to take immediate action to enable his firm to survive. This involved the frequent provision of in-house staff training by the owner so that workers could produce leather goods unique in design and quality.However, in order to support a differentiation strategy, workers had to be not only well-trained but also highly motivated. This was a key concern for the owner since financial rewards had to be kept to the minimum because of financial constraints.For that reason, he attempted to improve staff motivation through such non-monetary rewards as frequent praise for good performance and employee involvement in decision-making regarding the introduction of new equipment.The firm has recently become profitable again, and the future looks bright for the owner and his employees.\nThree employees dismissed: A downturn in business at Athens-based Yiannis Hair Care caused the owner to make major changes to the firm.He decided to dismiss three of the salon's nine employees who were performing simple, routine tasks. In their place he hired two experienced, multi-skilled hairdressers who could undertake a wide variety of treatments.The owner could not afford to pay them above the national minimum wage, but he offered them significant on-the-job training and much job variety, as well as job autonomy, with a view to enhancing their motivation.This helped the owner to maintain high-quality service, but at a more affordable price. The firm, which has managed to regain its share of the market, has been profitable for the last six months.\n\"Pick and mix\" people management: People management in small firms tends to be an ad-hoc, \"pick and mix\" affair, which fails to support the company's overall business strategy.Historically, small firms have found it difficult to adopt the more sophisticated HRM practices associated with large businesses, such as psychometric testing in staff selection or multi-source appraisal methods.Recruitment is often through family or friends of existing employees, training is often limited to subjects that solve an immediate business need, and remuneration is frequently decided on a case-by-case basis by the managing director, rather than through open and transparent pay scales.Against this background, the greatest potential for HRM seems to lie in helping the small firm to define and implement a medium and long-term business strategy.To put it simply, HRM in such enterprises ought to try to enhance the management of people in their daily activities in a way that facilitates strategy development in a state of continuous change.The three cases described in this article highlight how this might be achieved. It could, for example, involve in-house staff training that enables workers to learn how to cope with continuous change.Or it may take the form of frequent employee involvement in decision-making so that the company can benefit from the insights of those at the sharp end of the business.Or it may include the provision of various non-financial rewards that affect staff motivation positively in a sector with scarce resources.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe how strategic human resource management has transformed the fortunes of three Greek micro-enterprises.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper explains the problems faced by Mina mini-market, Franco leather manufacturing and Yiannis Hair Care, and how they overcame them.\nFindings: - The paper highlights the key role that training can play in improving product quality and customer service and setting a struggling company back on the track to success.\nPractical implications: - The paper reveals that training can go hand in hand with new bonus schemes, employee empowerment and better conditions of employment.\nSocial implications: - The paper details a number of approaches that small companies can adopt to help them to survive in a challenging economic context.\nOriginality/value: - The paper recounts how three Greek micro-businesses have achieved organizational change against the background of difficult economic circumstances.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Collaborative logistics management and the role of third-party service providers
|
[
"Transportation",
"Distribution",
"Third‐party vendors",
"Distribution management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The theme of this paper is collaboration in logistics and the role of third-party service providers typically participating in logistics setups. The term is used as a synonym throughout this paper for carriers, warehouse operators, third-party logistics service providers (LSPs), and any other type of logistics service intermediates (LSIs) such as forwarders or information processing service providers.Much has been written about relationships in logistics, primarily between the shipper and the receiver of the goods, not least within the marketing research area as well as within the logistics research area (Kraljic, 1983; Christy and Grout, 1994; Olsen and Ellram, 1997; Bagchi and Virum, 1998; Bensaou, 1999; Gadde et al., 2003). However, the relations in the common triad setup, between the shipper and the carrier and between the receiver and the carrier, have rarely been covered (Gentry, 1996; Larson and Gammelgaard, 2001; Skjoett-Larsen et al., 2003). Larsson and Gammelgaard (2001) define the logistics triad as:A logistics triad is a cooperative, three-way relationship between a buyer of goods, the supplier of those goods and a logistics service provider moving and/or storing the goods between buyer and supplier.The importance of the issue has been brought forward by Beire (1989) who introduced the logistics triad, consisting of shipper, carrier and receiver, as the \"minimum unit of analysis\" for logistics research.The parties taking over these activities are third-party service providers, carriers providing transportation service or LSPs providing transportation and warehousing services. In recent years these LSPs have been extending their service portfolio, with more complex activities than ever before and serving more customers than previously (Lieb and Kendrick, 2003; Lieb and Bentz, 2004).In addition to the above triad setups, new arrangements have been emerging during the last decade or so with yet one more party involved. This is a LSI, also referred to as fourth party LSP (4PL). These companies carry out the majority of the administrative activities but leave the physical activities to other contracted third-party service providers (Bumstead and Cannons, 2002).The description above reveals a need for a framework or a model of relations between the parties that participate in contemporary logistics setups. Such a model provides a language that can recognize the role of the involved parties and the attributes in the relations between them. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the role of different parties in outsourced logistics setups and the aim of the work is to develop a model of collaborative logistics management (CLM) that specifies the services provided by different parties.The paper consists of five chapters where introduction is followed by the chapter frame of references. Methodology chapter discusses the methodology used in collecting empirical evidences and the next chapter reveals the data collected and discusses the analysis. Finally in the last chapter, the contributions and implications are discussed.\nFrame of references: A good framework contains topics that need to be involved to explain the researcher's thoughts and shows how the selected topics are related. The main goal of this section is to establish a common language for the paper and explain terms and definitions that are used throughout the analysis later on.Entities in logistics systems\nMethodology: The empirical evidences for this work comes from a third-party service provider study that involved a multiple-case study design with five different cases included. One setup with transportation services, three setups with cross-docking and value-added services and finally, one setup which includes an operator administrating the transportation and warehouse activities. The purpose of the study was to find out the role of various providers in different setups and what services they offer.The study objects are carriers and LSPs but to support a cross-case study analysis, at least one customer setup of the involved operators was included. Schenker International, Schenker AB in Sweden and Schenker A/S in Denmark, were inquired about their services for Dell Computers in Ireland, and for Grundfos A/S in Denmark. Celexor in Sweden was inquired about their administrative services towards IKEA in Sweden. Finally, DSC Logistics in the US was questioned about its logistics services, mainly warehouse services, for Kimberly-Clark in the Chicago area.The case studies were conducted with semi-structured interview techniques, addressing open-ended questions to one or more respondents. The interviews were followed up by on-site observations and comparison with existing documentation.The units of analysis are:* the services that the company provides;* the flow of material in the chosen logistics setup; and* the activities involved in the service setup.The criteria for interpreting the case study results are to analyze how different services include different kinds of activities.Different measures have been taken in regard to the quality of the case study. For the construct validity, multiple sources of evidence were used. A triangulation was done in all the cases, and interviews were completed with direct observation and review of documents. These documents included, among other things, the companies' Internet sites to confirm the service portfolio.To ensure external validity, multiple cases of operators, that represent the LSP market well, were chosen. An analytical generalization can only be at best done for companies that work in the same domains - LSPs which provide value-added services including warehouse and transportation operation.Case study explanations were done and sent prior to the interviews to the respondents. The explanations included guidelines in the form of a table where the most important factors were shown. In addition, the case studies are well documented. This should make it possible to re-conduct the study with similar results and thereby make the reliability satisfactory.\nEmpirical evidences and analysis: The results of the case study are presented in this chapter together with an analysis of the empirical evidences. The chapter begins with describing the inspected setups and makes a general reflection on contemporary distribution setups. An analytical model of production, distribution, and transportation networks is presented before turning to the analysis of the different service providers. Finally a discussion on customized services is disclosed.The distribution setups\nContributions and implications: A framework for CLM has been derived from a broad literature review and in-depth case study in organizations that participate in apt logistics setups. From the literature study, an apparent terminological mismatch was identified, where similar third-party service providers in logistics setups were named differently, the services carried out, although including the same activities, called unlike, and small adjustments in service portfolios caused specific idioms.An analytical contribution can be identified in terms of a systematic model and a structured terminology for the role of third-party service providers. The concept of integration of key business processes from the supply chain management literature fits well into the analysis for logistics triads as the integration issue is one of the most important matters as it affects the involvement of third parties in logistics setups. In addition, a model of production network structure, distribution network structure and transportation network structure, the PDT model was developed to analyze the role of the third-party service providers in contemporary logistics setups.The practical contribution of the work has its foundation in that activities, performed by two parties, can be adapted to each other so that their combined efficiency is improved. The CLM model can be applied when designing and negotiating third-party services for specific logistics assignments.To apply the CLM model, several strategic issues, such as collaborative arrangement, need to be settled where the various attributes of the relationship between the parties are included. Many of these issues are generated from the requirements of the shippers' customers such as service levels, freight terms, but even specific shipper-carrier issues are to be developed like involved services, price levels, information and communications technology issues that enable the collaboration.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to derive and verify a collaborative framework that specifies the role of different parties in contemporary logistics setups.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To prepare this paper, a study of the logistics literature has been conducted together with several case studies. The empirical evidence has been collected in Europe as well as in the USA. Different aspects of collaboration between organizations in logistics setups have been studied where the services and the activities have been analyzed to understand the characteristics of the role of third-party service providers.\nFindings: - The results from the work cluster the different third-party service providers in three different groups: carriers, logistics service providers (LSPs) and logistics service intermediaries (LSIs). All of these parties have different roles and provide various services in outsourced logistics setups. A collaborative logistics management (CLM) model has been derived that embraces the role of the different parties, the information and material flows between them, the interface attributes and the information systems architecture. In this paper, a focus is mainly on the part of the model that reveals the role of the third-party service providers.\nPractical implications: - The practical implications of the work has its foundation in that activities, performed by two parties, can be adapted to each other so that their combined efficiency is improved. The CLM model can be applied when designing and negotiating third-party services for specific logistics assignments.\nOriginality/value: - The paper offers a model of logistics collaboration between the different parties in contemporary, outsourced logistics setups.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The impact of leadership on workgroup climate and performance in a non-profit organization
|
[
"Transformational leadership",
"Transactional leadership",
"Religious/church‐based non‐profit organization",
"Non‐profit organizations",
"Workgroup climate",
"Workgroup performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The non-profit (NFP) sector is a major contributor to social and economic well-being around the world and is taking on increased responsibilities for delivering programs and services that have traditionally been provided by government (Drucker, 1996). Non-profit (NFP) organizations are increasingly playing an important role in the provision of welfare, social and other services in Australia as well and contribute to its social capital. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the impact of leadership on workgroup climate and performance in a religious/church-based non-profit organization. There has been very little research on leadership and innovation in the Australian non-profit sector. The lack of empirical evidence on the characteristics of non-profit leaders limits our understanding of the leadership and management in non-profit organizations as a whole, and voluntary associations in particular (Harris, 1998). This gap inspired us to examine the leadership styles of religious/church-based non-profit organization leaders as indicators of their capacity to build innovative and well-performed organizations. This research is therefore significant because it is the first study of its kind in Australia to examine the impact of both transformational and transactional leadership on workgroup climate and performance in a religious/church-based non-profit organization. This study contributes to understanding the relationship between leadership style and workgroup climate. In particular how this relationship affects an organization's performance and an increased learning about how certain leadership styles work better in certain organizational cultures and workgroup climates. This in turn facilitates in attaining increased organizational performance and assists organizations to identify the best possible candidates for leadership positions in a non-profit organization. As this study was based on a survey that was conducted in a Methodist dynamic church with a worldwide ministry, the produced results may be generalized across the entire population.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Non-profit sector\n3. Research method: 3.1 Sample\n4. Result analysis: 4.1 Demographics\n5. Discussion: The results of our correlations, hierarchical regression and the mediation analysis method proposed by Preacher and Hayes (2008a), provide empirical support for H1, which predicted relationships between leadership characteristics and workgroup climate. Furthermore, leadership and total workgroup climate were positively related (transformational r=0.25, p<0.05 and transactional r=0.32, p<0.05). The results of regression analysis showed that the high performance expectation (0.747) scale of leadership is an important and significant predictor of workgroup climate and which is positively correlated with workgroup climate. One possible explanation for this finding could be that high performance expectation has created an environment that encouraged teamwork among employees to achieve goals and build motivation. Perhaps employees feel that team skills are essential, for having effective teams where people work with each others' ideas and points of view increases the team's effectiveness and thus enhances relationships and promotes a more positive workplace.This finding is in line with existing leadership and team climate studies which identify leaders as change agents; overall leadership combining transitional, and transformational; transformational leadership; supportive leadership; effective leadership; and transactional leadership (Bass, 1998; Bass et al., 2003; Gil et al., 2005; Hogg, 2001; Koene et al., 2002; Pirola-Merlo et al., 2002; Smith-Jentsch et al., 2001; Wilson-Evered et al., 2001; West and Hirst, 2003; Walumbwa et al., 2008).Unexpectedly, the results of our study revealed that transactional leadership has a greater impact on workgroup climate than transformational leadership, which may be a function of working with a largely volunteer workforce that at times requires instruction and transaction as much as it relies on goodwill and values-congruence between workers and the organization's mission to \"complete the job well.\"The second hypothesis predicted a positive relationship between leadership characteristics and workgroup performance, and was supported by the results of our correlations, hierarchical regression and the method proposed by Preacher and Hayes (2008a), which are consistent with the findings of other studies (Al-Beraidi and Rickards, 2003; Avolio et al., 2003; Cheung et al., 2001; Jung and Sosik, 2002; Keller, 1992: Ling et al., 2008; MacKenzie et al., 2001; Walumbwa, 2002). Our study confirmed that both types of leadership have a strong impact on workgroup performance, but the effect of transformational leadership (r=0.41, p<0.01, c=0.11, p<0.05) was higher than transactional leadership (r=0.39, p<0.01, c=0.11, not significant). Consequently our study makes a significant contribution to the existing literature with the same findings which are that transformational leadership has a greater impact on workgroup performance than transactional leadership. Our major contribution to this literature is that our study was conducted in a non-profit organizational context whereas the majority of the literature is conducted in for-profit sectors.Surprisingly, the results of this study revealed that the intellectual stimulation scale of transformational leadership has a greater negative impact on workgroup climate as well as workgroup performance. One potential explanation could be that leaders, who intellectually stimulate their employees, push their employees outside their comfort zone. Employees in a religious organization may be driven by religious values, attitudes and beliefs that are charity driven not competitive driven where intellectual stimulation may be perceived as being a competitive trait.The third hypothesis predicting that both types of leadership would have an indirect (i.e. mediated) effect on workgroup performance via workgroup climate was not supported by mediation analyses (Preacher and Hayes, 2008a). The total effects as well as direct effects of transformational leadership on workgroup performance were positive and significant while indirect effects were not significant. On the other hand, both direct and indirect effects of transactional leadership on workgroup performance were not significant, while total effects were positive and significant. These results indicate that the indirect influence of leadership via workgroup climate was relatively small and not statistically significant on workgroup performance. This finding shows that workgroup climate is not the specific mechanism by which leadership has an effect on workgroup performance in non-profit religious-based organizations. It is most likely that other constructs, particularly those more directly linked to behavior, such as effort/motivation or the communication of important information among workgroup members, are the specific causal mechanisms driving performance. Although conducted in a for-profit sector, this finding would be supported by Brown and Leigh (1996) who found effort and perceptions of a motivating psychological climate were related to work performance among sales representatives in three different manufacturing companies.The findings in our study identify that leadership individually influences workgroup climate in non-profit church-based organization, but which in turn does not significantly influence workgroup performance. Hence neither transformational nor transactional leadership in a non-profit organization indirectly influence workgroup performance through workgroup climate. How these effects break down into more specific components could be addressed by future studies. Thus our findings do not support the mediating role played by workgroup/team climate between leadership and workgroup/team performance/outcomes (Bass et al., 2003; Gil et al., 2005; Mackenzie et al., 2001; Pirola-Merlo et al., 2002; Smith-Jentsch et al., 2001; West and Hirst, 2003; Zaccaro and Klimoski, 2001). The contextual difference between private enterprises and non-profit organizations could be the reason for this finding, as could the specific nature of the organization studied in this case (i.e. a church-based charitable organization).In order to test H4, correlations between the workgroup climate scales and workgroup performance scales were conducted. One-tailed significance tests were performed due to the expected positive correlations and the limited sample size. The results revealed that most of the workgroup climate scales were significantly correlated with the scales of workgroup performance. However, correlation between the participatory safety scale of workgroup climate and workgroup member's cohesion (r=0.70) was the strongest. It is important to note, however, that this finding does not necessarily mean that workgroup climate is the only driver of workgroup performance. One possible explanation for this finding could be that many employees were from the same religious denomination as the non-profit organization thus shared the same religious values, attitudes and beliefs including practices thereby providing them with a context of \"safety.\" Besides, using a total workgroup climate score and a total workgroup performance score, inter-correlations conducted on H4 indicate significant strong positive relationships among workgroup climate and workgroup performance (r=0.57, p<0.001). The Preacher and Hayes (2008a) mediation method analysis also found a significant and positive large effect (b=0.48, p<0.001) of workgroup climate on workgroup performance when partialling out the effect of transformational and transactional leadership. These findings are consistent with the literature demonstrating the importance of West's (1990) model of workgroup/team climate on workgroup/team performance (Bain et al., 2000; Burningham and West, 1995; Laschinger et al., 2001; West et al., 1998). In addition, our study confirms that the impact of workgroup climate is equally important for workgroup performance in non-profit organizations.5.1 Limitation and future directions\n6. Conclusion: This study examined the relationships among transformational and transactional leadership, workgroup climate and workgroup performance in an Australian religious/church-based non-profit organization. The findings indicate that transformational leadership and team climate appear to provide a gateway to workgroup performance because both variables significantly lead to enhanced workgroup performance. Similarly, certain characteristics such as reward, high expectation of performance of both types of leadership have a positive and significant impact on workgroup climate.The findings in this study are twofold in that they make a significant contribution to both scholarly theory and workplace practice in the non-profit sector as they indicate that the influence of workgroup climate on workgroup performance provides an enabling context for the delivery of leadership in a non-profit organization.The study findings contribute to leadership theory as new models of leadership propose that effectiveness in open systems, such as organizations, depends on leadership practices embedded within networks of interdependencies at different organizational levels. These interdependencies consist of various elements, such as groups and units, workplace locations and management roles (Beer, 1999; Heifetz and Laurie, 1999). Our results indicate that leaders were found to contribute significantly to perceptions of participative safety, shared commitment to teamwork and systemic support for cooperation - that is, workgroup/team climate (Klivimaki and Elovainio, 1999). The fact that most of the influence of leadership at all levels was mediated by workgroup/team climate suggests (Hartel et al., 2002) that the influence of these leaders was not direct but instead was embedded within networks of interdependencies comprised of factors such as communication, relationship building and culture as the newer leadership theories propose (Fletcher, 2002).In terms of the study's contribution to workplace practice in the non-profit sector, the findings may assist leaders and managers to better understand how workgroup climate provides an organizational context for focussing on the achievement of collective performance goals. Furthermore, if the influence of leadership on workgroup performance is explained by workgroup climate, then the implication may be that it would be desirable for the leader to delay promoting any workplace change unless the workgroup climate is positive.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the impact of leadership on workgroup climate and performance in a religious/church-based non-profit organization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The impact of leadership is investigated using a questionnaire comprised of established scales such as the transformational leadership scales (TLS), team climate inventory questionnaire (TCI), team effectiveness, workgroup cohesion, and interdependence scales. This is a context based study that considers the unique culture comprised of social, political, economic, technologic, personnel, and personal concerns. Descriptive, correlation, hierarchical regression, and SPSS macro developed by Preacher and Hayes were used as statistical techniques to assess the indirect effects (Sobel Tests) of variables.\nFindings: - Transformational leadership was identified as a key variable for the functioning of workgroup performance whilst transactional leadership was identified as a key influencing factor of workgroup climate. In addition, the study found a significant and positive large effect of workgroup climate on workgroup performance whilst both transformational and transactional leadership did not influence workgroup performance through workgroup climate. This finding provides areas in need of further research.\nResearch limitations/implications: - There is likely to be posing risks of method variance or response biases as all data were drawn from employee surveys. There is also likely to be selection bias as the authors could not directly compare respondents with non-respondents. The fact that there may be operational differences in other as well as smaller organizations, based on the limited size and the ability to allocate job functions, could limit the generalization of this result to other organizations.\nOriginality/value: - This study makes a significant contribution to both scholarly theory and workplace practice in the non-profit sector as the findings indicated that the influence of workgroup climate on workgroup performance provided an enabling context for the delivery of leadership in a religious/church-based non-profit organization.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Performance assessment of electronic theses and dissertations initiatives in Nigeria
|
[
"ETDs",
"University libraries",
"Repositories",
"Electronic theses and dissertations",
"Performance assessment",
"DELOS digital library model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Theses and dissertations are useful sources of research information for prospective graduate students, researchers, policymakers and other practitioners (Alan and Pandey, 2012). These valuable research outputs are churned out of the Nigerian universities every year by post-degree candidates. Not only do these \"intellectual core\" of universities represent the significant research and scholarship of the universities they represent but they are also a valuable historical record of the research and teaching community (Middleton et al., 2015). Theses contain crucial research findings which can be used and implemented in industries and vital sectors of the economy in Nigeria. Thus, there is a need for long-term accessibility and preservation of these vital information resources for posterity (Ifijeh, 2014). On the contrary, however, Han (2014) noted that theses and dissertations are not usually available through the usual routine of scholarly publication and distribution. This author further stated that within the traditional libraries workflow, these resources are either partially catalogued or not catalogued at all, thus making them difficult to access. Alan and Pandey (2012) also stressed that the non-publishing status of theses and dissertations have over time made most of them languish in obscurity as grey literature in university libraries and archives, and thus accessibility was a difficult task. These points have made retrieval of information about theses in Nigeria difficult.\nThe network of excellence on digital libraries digital library reference model: Several models and theories of digital libraries have been developed to guide digital library designers towards building better digital libraries that will meet the information needs of various users. (Isah et al., 2013). DELOS reference model and 5S theory are two prominent digital libraries, evaluation models. The concepts and domains of DELOS model (content, user, functionality, quality, policy and architecture) focus more on the development and implementation stage of digital libraries, while the concepts of the 5S model (streams, structures, spaces, scenarios and societies) resonates with well developed and implemented digital libraries. The DELOS model addresses issues generated from the development of digital libraries. It comprises of a three-tier framework consisting of digital library, digital library system and digital library management system. Six core domains defined in the model provides the base for digital libraries; these have been defined by all systems as core functionalities. They include content, user, functionality, quality, policy and architecture. Isah et al. (2013) see the DELOS digital library reference model as a conceptual framework designed for the development of appropriate digital library systems. In their opinion, the model also addresses the entities and their relationship in the digital library universe.\nRelated studies: Policies\nMethodology: An explanatory case study research method was adopted for the study. Using an adapted methodology of Ghosh (2009) and multiple data gathering techniques, data was collected based on the three domains of the network of excellence on digital libraries (DELOS) digital library reference model used for this study. Multiple data gathering technique was used in other to validate the data. The respondents were the IR administrators of 10 federal government-owned universities in Nigeria.\nResults and discussion of findings: Assessment of policies, contents and system architecture of electronic theses and dissertations initiatives\nSystem architecture: Results from Table 7 revealed that majority of the universities used institutional-based servers as against commercial or third-party servers. This result indicated that Nigerian institutional repositories have not adopted cloud computing measures for storage of ETDs four years after Ifijeh (2014) recommended that academic libraries in Nigeria should digitise theses and adopt the cloud computing preservation model through the operations of institutional repositories. Cayabyab (2015) also observed that none of the literature reviewed in their research article discussed the feasibility of cloud computing despite the hesitance of patronising ETD because of the reliability of storage device preservation after 15-20 years.\nResearch implication and conclusion: Conceptualising the digital library management system for ETDs in Nigeria revealed some salient issues. The ETD initiatives in repositories of Nigerian federal universities have not made remarkable progress as digital libraries based on policy, content and system architecture. This research study concluded that electronic theses and dissertations in Nigerian institutional repositories are not well managed for effective service delivery and long-term accessibility. The ill-management of the ETD initiatives is the reason for the poor global visibility and accessibility of these research output from this part of Africa. It is rather sad that while developed countries were already visualising the impact of ETDs via citation counts and using the data generated from them for societal impacts, developing countries are still grappling with issues related to policy formulation and implementation and content population. It goes without saying that majority of the institutional repositories of federal government universities in Nigeria were set up due to what Bringula (2016) referred to as \"normative pressure\" (institutions adopted practices or innovations because stakeholders are embracing the same practice) with little or no sustainable plans in most cases. A pointer to this is the partial inclusion of librarians in some universities as against the staff from the information technology unit in the initial implementation committee for repositories; the implication was thus shaky and ill-managed repositories. This has led to the near-comatose state of most of these repositories with pertinent issues involving the core of librarianship such as acquisition, preservation and even dissemination not properly stated where there are policies. Incidentally, some of the institutional repositories from developed countries published challenges encountered while setting up their repositories and managing the research output therein with solutions in some cases over a decade ago. A source of concern is why Nigeria did not leverage these solutions. Many types of researches that solve most of the domestic problems in developing countries are buried in these theses and dissertations which repositories would have exposed.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) initiatives in the repositories of federal government-owned universities due to the poor global visibility of ETDs from Nigeria.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An explanatory case study empirical research method was adopted for the study. Using an adapted methodology of Ghosh (2009) and multiple data gathering techniques, data was collected based on the three domains of the network of excellence on digital libraries (DELOS) digital library reference model.\nFindings: The ETD initiatives in repositories of Nigerian federal universities have not made remarkable progress as digital libraries based on policy, content and system architecture. The specificity of ETDs is not clearly stated in the policies where available. The repositories housing the ETDs are also not compliant with the open archive initiative-protocol for metadata harvesting framework.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study focussed on ETD initiatives in federal government-owned universities. Although the findings of the study are relevant to other institutions in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. It cannot be used as a basis for the generalisation based on other performance metrics.\nPractical implications: This research study concluded that electronic theses and dissertations in Nigerian institutional repositories are not well managed for effective service delivery and long-term accessibility. The ill-management of the ETD initiatives is the reason for the poor global visibility and accessibility of these research output from this part of Africa.\nOriginality/value: The study assessed ETD initiatives using constructs from a theoretical framework.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Organizational factors affecting Internet technology adoption
|
[
"Internet",
"Innovation",
"Companies",
"Communication technologies",
"Spain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Internet technology has a direct impact on companies, customers, suppliers, distributors and potential new entrants into an industry (Porter, 2001). In some cases, Internet technology adoption and use contribute to the creation of competitive advantages (Del Aguila-Obra et al., 2002). Far from having all the related issues resolved, some questions arise when thinking of particular uses of this Internet technology, for either internal or external purposes. In the meantime, the adoption of information technology (IT) by firms is a question that has been analyzed from different points of view and theoretical perspectives, such as transaction cost economics, population ecology, or resource dependence theory (Iskandar et al., 2001). However, there is a shortage of specific research analyzing the factors that influence Internet technology adoption by firms. Moreover, if we mainly consider one stage of the innovation process (the implementation stage), the scarcity of studies is more evident. Innovation adoption theory (Rogers, 1983) provides an appropriate theoretical framework to explain the innovation adoption process in organizations and to describe what factors influence it, as well as to identify the phases within this process.In this paper, we are interested in analyzing the effect of organizational factors in the implementation stage of the adoption process of Internet technology (Damanpour, 1991). Within this stage, we aim to explore and analyze the size-related characteristics of the different phases that, according to the theory and our empirical study, the organizations pass through: initiation, adoption, adaptation, acceptance, routinization and infusion.Consequently, the main purpose of this study is to explore what the factors are that affect the implementation of Internet technology and to what extent the size of the company, as an organizational factor, influences that process.The paper continues with a literature review of technology adoption theory and of the main findings of the research carried out on Internet technology adoption. An empirical study on Spanish firms is also presented. A discussion about the main findings follows, including the limitations of the study and some managerial implications. Some preliminary conclusions finish the paper.\n2. Literature review: Internet technology adoption can be considered as a package of innovations (Prescott and Conger, 1995; Daniel et al., 2002). Regarding this innovation, the process of adoption by businesses and the factors that influence the adoption, as an IT, have been studied in the literature.In general terms, the innovation adoption process in firms has the following phases (Rogers, 1983):* agenda-setting;* matching;* redefining/restructuring;* clarifying; and* routinizing.These stages can be summarized in two phases, according to Damanpour (1991):1. initiation; and2. implementation.In the first of these - initiation - the firm considers the need to introduce the innovation, it searches for information, training is carried out, resources are proposed, the process is evaluated, and finally the decision to adopt the innovation is made. In the second phase - implementation - first use of the innovation is made, and subsequently organizational routines are modified appropriately. Similarly, Premkumar and Roberts (1999) considered five phases in the adoption process:1. awareness;2. persuasion;3. decision;4. implementation; and5. confirmation.Cooper and Zmud (1990) argued that the IT adoption process could be divided into six stages:1. initiation (active or passive search for opportunities);2. adoption (negotiations for backing IT implementation);3. adaptation (applying the IT and revising organizational procedures);4. acceptance (company members are encouraged to use the IT);5. routinization (the use of the IT becomes standard); and6. infusion (efficiency is increased as a consequence of the IT use).Concerning the factors influencing adoption, there are many studies classifying them (see Kim and Galliers, 2004). The factors are grouped into different categories: internal or organizational, external and technological factors (Tornatzky and Fleischer, 1990). A summary of the main factors mentioned in the literature that affect innovation adoption in firms is shown in Table I, which includes the main literature about factors affecting innovations and in particular Internet and other IT technology adoption in organizations.Among the external factors relating to IT adoption, and specifically the adoption of the Internet, researchers have found that the following are common:* pressure from competitors, customers or suppliers;* the role of government (incentives);* partners' alliances;* technological infrastructure;* technology consultants;* image of Internet technology; and* users' expectations.These external factors, according to some research (Teo et al., 1997; Teo and Tan, 1998) are less important than internal and technological factors.The technological factors identified in the literature are related to barriers to technology adoption and its perceived benefits. The perceived benefits for managers could be direct, such as cost savings or income generation, or indirect, such as potential opportunities in new markets, marketing, or publicity (Poon and Swatman, 1999). In this respect, when adopting a technology, firms must perceive the positive effects of the adoption - and hence its potential value - before starting the process (Vadapalli and Ramamurthy, 1997).The internal or organizational factors that have been studied mostly include the following:* IT users' community;* organizational structure;* firm's processes;* firm size;* technological capabilities of the organization's members;* the technological and financial resources available;* the culture of the organization;* process of selecting and implementing the IT;* management backing and support for the project; and* the project leader.The project leader is mentioned as being essential in innovation processes in firms (Rogers, 1983), and the managerial factors are considered the most important (Iskandar et al., 2001). In this respect, two types of firm can be identified in adoption processes:1. proactive firms; and2. passive reactive firms.Past studies on Internet technology adoption\n3. Empirical study: In order to answer the research questions, we conducted an empirical study on firms that were using Internet technology. To avoid changes due to country-/culture-specific characteristics, we concentrated in firms located in one country, i.e. Spain. Furthermore, as we were interested mainly in the implementation stage of the innovation adoption process, we selected firms that we could demonstrate were in this phase. Consequently, the population for our study was the group of Spanish firms with a domain name registered in the national Internet registry, named ES-NIC. This is the organization responsible for the registration of domain names under the first-level geographical domain \".es\" (Spain). Recently, this organization has been renamed Red.es. By doing this, we could confirm that the firm had developed some kind of activity using the Internet. Therefore, they were already in the implementation stage of the adoption process. The only firms who can register under the domain \".es\" are ones that are legally established in Spain, i.e. public or private firms or organizations appropriately constituted according to the legal framework that regulates them. Other advantages of using this registry are that it includes firms of all sizes, and that we could select an appropriate sample from the complete list of domain names (which included contact person details).We used systematic random sampling to select the firms, and the questionnaires were sent out via e-mail and/or fax. As the total population was more than 5,000 firms, we considered it infinite and used an appropriate formula to find out how many answers we needed. To achieve a sampling error of +-5.88 percent and a confidence level of 95.5 percent, we needed to have 280 valid questionnaires. A total of 4,000 questionnaires was sent, and 280 valid questionnaires were returned (response rate of 7 percent).The questionnaire was divided into measurement instruments (see Table II), related to internal, external, and technological factors, which could affect Internet technology adoption. Furthermore, some demographics questions, such as type of industry, size of firm (revenues and number of employees) and job title of the respondent, were collected.Mainly, the firms' managing directors (88.1 percent) filled in the questionnaire. As other demographic data (see Table III), we found that 59.3 percent of firms had fewer than 49 employees, and 24.6 percent had between 49 and 249 employees. The remaining 16.4 percent had more than 249 employees. Reviewing the firms' activities, in general terms 24.6 percent were in the industrial sector, while 75.4 percent were in the service sector.In order to carry out a global exploratory analysis of the information obtained from the sample - specifically to determine groups of organizations associated with particular phases in Internet technology implementation, as well as the organizational factors affecting them - we applied a cluster analysis (Cliff, 1987; Jobson, 1991a, b; Greenacre, 1993). We followed the procedure outlined below:1. we distinguished between variables of characterization and variables of behaviour, in the function of the research objectives;2. we applied multiple correspondence analysis or homogeneity analysis to the behaviour variables (HOMALS);3. we ran a hierarchical cluster analysis, with Ward's method of amalgamation;4. we ran a k-means cluster analysis; and5. we checked the results by applying a discriminant analysis.As Daniel et al. (2002) did for e-commerce adoption in SMEs in the UK, we think cluster analysis is an appropriate technique to classify firms in similar groups, according to their Internet adoption characteristics. This allowed us to classify Internet technology adoption by Spanish firms into different stages.Consequently, to determine which organizational factors most affect the adoption of the Internet by firms, and bearing in mind the fact that we had 280 cases and 126 variables, we decided first to apply a multivariate technique to reduce the number of variables and explore the main influences of the factors analyzed on Internet technology adoption. All 126 variables were categorical variables, nominal, not numeric, with a range from two (dichotomic variables) to four. In sum, a total of 265 categories was analyzed. Then, we applied a multiple correspondence analysis to the behaviour variables (126 non-numeric variables), HOMALS, as an amplification of the assumptions of factorial correspondence analysis (Greenacre, 1993). As a result, we reduced the total amount of information into two HOMALS factors, as they explained 73.709 percent of the information provided by the initial variables. The following step was to calculate the absolute contributions of each of the categories of the different variables to the HOMALS factors (Tables IV and V). After this, we made an interpretation of the HOMALS factors (see Tables VI and VII).Next, we made a cluster analysis with the objective of finding groups of firms with similar characteristics. We subsequently ran a cluster analysis where the inputs were the two HOMALS factors obtained from the factor analysis. The aim was to determine distinct mutually exclusive and exhaustive groups in the population associated with the different phases within the Internet implementation stage in firms, and to decide whether these phases could be associated with the two HOMALS factors we had found. As we did not know the number of clusters we applied cluster analysis with hierarchical classification with the Ward method aggregation, recommended when the analysis is made with factors, and not using direct variables, such as in our case. As a similarity/dissimiliarity estimate we used the square Euclidean distance. Using the classification history and the dendogram we fixed four clusters (see Table VIII) and then we calculated their means and standard deviations with respect to the HOMALS factors (see Table IX).In order to test the reliability of the clustering we performed a discriminant analysis, taking as independent variables the factor coordinates for each of the cases (hom1_1 and hom2_1), and as the dependent variable that corresponding to its own cluster for each variable (qc1_1, rank=4). The discriminant analysis was applied using Fisher's discriminant function with the stepwise method, and the minimum Wilks's lambda as variable-selection criterion. The Bartlett-Box test (Box's M test) was also applied, on the determinants of the matrix of covariances between groups - in this case the statistic turned out to be highly significant. The two HOMALS factors taken as independent variables were significant, i.e. they were discriminating variables since they were significant in the Wilks's lambda and F-tests. The confusion matrix represents the general level of accuracy achieved by the discriminant functions. In this case, 98.6 percent of the original cases were correctly classified. This demonstrates the adequacy of the classification obtained in the cluster analysis using the HOMALS factors resulting from the multiple correspondence analysis. Thus, we could confirm that the function predicted better than could be done by chance.\n4. Discussion: Applying these techniques sequentially and in combination allowed us to find an effective classification of the groups of organizations, as well as to explain the results of the empirical analysis better. We shall now describe generally the groups we identified. We will define the phase at which the organizations of each cluster are in their Internet implementation, and what organizational factors most influence the process. To complete the description, we shall also refer to the different demographic context measures.Organizational factors affecting Internet technology adoption\n5. Conclusion: Technological resources and managerial capabilities are the main organizational factors to explain the Internet technology adoption process. Firms in the Internet implementation stage appear to require an intermediate phase within the stage - i.e. an adoption/adaptation phase with external help or support from outside consultants - in order to be able to evolve and reach the acceptance/routinization phase, when the firm sees real changes in organizational routines and improvements in its effectiveness and efficiency. This is mainly due to a lack of managerial capabilities to manage Internet technologies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To explore the factors that affect the implementation of Internet technologies and to what extent the size of the company, as an organizational factor, influences that process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - According to the innovation adoption theory, it was found that Internet adoption in firms is a process with different stages where a company is in one of a number of development stages depending on some variables related to organizational factors, such as the availability of technology resources, organizational structure, and managerial capabilities. The paper identified empirically different stages in the Internet adoption process and linked them with those factors. It analyzed questionnaire-based data from 280 companies, applying factor and clustering analysis.\nFindings: - Four main groups of companies were found according to their stage in the adoption of Internet technologies. The paper established that, contrary to the literature suggestions, the size of the company does not have any effect on the availability of these Internet technologies but it does for managerial capabilities. The smaller the size of the firm, the greater the possibilities of using external advice in adopting Internet technologies, because small firms usually have fewer managerial capabilities. In the mean time, a more sophisticated technology development was identified in larger firms.\nResearch limitations/implications: - As in all empirical research, the characteristics of this study limit the applicability of the findings. First, the study concentrated in businesses that already were using Internet technologies, because they have registered their domain name. Consequently, the study firms that did not have a Spanish domain name were omitted; however, firms could have a \".com\" or \".org\" domain name and still be Spanish firms. Also, other companies without any domain name on the Internet were not included in the study. Second, the study applied a classification analysis with exploratory purposes about the characteristics of the business according to the cluster of pertinence. Nevertheless, a longitudinal study could be more useful explaining whether or not these companies follow the process described. Third, a more detailed questionnaire with more specific questions could be more helpful to gain a better description of the phases of a more sophisticated technology adoption (i.e. the acceptance/routinization and infusion stages).\nPractical implications: - This paper has some relatively important managerial implications. First, the fact of having a domain name does not mean that the companies are in the acceptance/routinization phase and even less in the infusion phase. From this, the paper identified how the majority of firms were in the so-called initial stages of the Internet technologies adoption process. Second, it is possible that managers who do not perceive the strategic value of these technologies are managing the majority of these firms. Third, as more businesses implement these technologies in their processes, presumably more competitive pressure will exist to adopt Internet technologies.\nOriginality/value: - This paper contributes to the research into the organizational factors that affect Internet adoption.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Effective time management for improved performance
|
[
"Time‐based management",
"Culture",
"Communication",
"Electronic mail"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Time has long been viewed as important. In Greek mythology, Chronus or Khronos (the god of time) emerged, self-formed at the beginning of creation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to consider how effective time management can lead to improved personal and organisational performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper draws on the collective experience of the authors. The relationship between culture and chronicity is explained with reference to working styles. It deals with the notion of time and time span with regard to new technologies, and how these may impact on concentration, face-to-face communication and styles of learning. It discusses the importance of effective systems and task management, along with decision making. Finally, the paper addresses time issues pertaining to e-mail.\nFindings: - The paper finds that the nature of information has changed from face-to-face to staring at computer screens. Research shows that over one-quarter of recipients of e-mails misunderstood the communication, even where those interacting are close colleagues, while research at three US business schools found that colleagues were more likely to be dishonest with one another when using e-mail because of the lack of face-to-face interaction. Studies have also shown that business teams co-operate less if they have not talked face-to-face.\nOriginality/value: - The paper will be of relevance to all those working under time constraints in various cultural settings.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Toward a service ecosystem perspective at the base of the pyramid
|
[
"Service dominant logic",
"Service logic",
"Base of the pyramid",
"Value co-creation",
"Ecosystem perspective"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Marketing and management practice and literature acknowledge the dominant logic of co-creative users or consumers, referred to as \"competent customers\" (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000), \"co-creative customers\" (Vargo and Lusch, 2008), or \"working consumers\" (Cova and Dalli, 2009). Both North American and Nordic schools converge in critiquing a passive consumer role, rooted in a conventional goods-dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Gronroos and Ravald, 2011). Whereas North American scholars propose a new service-dominant logic (SDL) for business (Vargo and Lusch, 2004), Scandinavians call for a service logic (Gronroos, 2011; Edvardsson et al., 2005). The former recognizes the co-creative role of the customer; the latter posits that interactions of firms and customers enable firms to know their customers better and become co-creators of value with them (Gronroos, 2011). A service logic also emphasizes the role of interactions in the value creation process and the facilitating role of suppliers in value co-creation processes (Gronroos, 2011). According to both perspectives, value creation processes should involve customers and occur in ecosystems in which multiple business and non-business relationships influence service production or innovation (Akaka et al., 2013). Despite conceptual discussions of their differences and similarities, these approaches are considered equivalent, because they both advocate for a new service perspective for studying service ecosystems.\nCurrent research and management issues in BoP contexts: Recent recognition of BoP segments denotes them as distinctive, complex markets (London and Hart, 2011). Some scholars call for the development of specific service BoP agendas, because many BoP ventures initially focussed mainly on delivering services (e.g. health, energy, water, communications, transportation), such that customers were not considered co-creators but rather as aid or service recipients (Gebauer and Reynoso, 2013). At a glance, this argument creates a paradox with the inherent co-creative characteristics of such services. Any service contains components naturally related to co-creation, though this feature does not mean necessarily that the people obtaining such services have been involved as active co-creators of their own solutions. For example, medical service implies patients' willingness to seek and accept medical help and take medications. The scarcity of energy and water at the BoP leads to a natural need for conservation; the lack of communication and transportation prompts people to share and collaborate to integrate their resources. However, from a traditional BoP perspective (London and Hart, 2011; Kolk et al., 2014), even services with such intrinsic co-creative components that demand recipients' participation frequently are designed and developed without actively integrating customers throughout the process (Fisk et al., 2016).\nToward a BoP service ecosystem: New business models should provide more inclusive, comprehensive frameworks, in which services get socially co-created in and for a specific context (Gummerus et al., 2013). Traditional BoP initiatives fail largely because the business remains external to the communities it intends to serve. From a consumption-based perspective, they look to turn the poor into consumers, without a deep understanding of local needs and aspirations (Simanis and Hart, 2009) and without considering the dynamics of the context. They aim to increase the market where needs exist, rather than understanding how those needs might create new markets (Gebauer and Reynoso, 2013). A new service logic approach is required to build sustainable ecosystems, which should be neither bottom-up nor top-down (Ben Letaifa, 2015; Reynoso et al., 2015). They should feature balanced collaborations, driven by different socioeconomic actors who can build on their complementary competencies to create value in the ecosystem, which is multi-dimensional (social, economic, ecological, and cultural) and multi-actor, instead of venture- or user-specific (Ben Letaifa et al., 2013; Ben Letaifa, 2014).\nFurther research on BoP service ecosystems: The conceptual framework developed here offers a new, comprehensive perspective on how to capture, understand, and address BoP contexts. This perspective offers a way of mapping and simultaneously integrating the challenges that might have been overlooked, due to the lack of multi-actor, multi-dimensional frameworks. Further research might take the next step by exploring and digging more deeply into the four central propositions.\nManagerial implications: Several implications arise for managers and executives of different BoP-related organizations that plan to participate in BoP markets. First, initiatives by MNEs, NGOs, and social businesses must be developed from an open network approach, in which multiple actors - companies, institutions, customers, and beneficiaries - actively integrate resources within the ecosystem. For a true multi-actor perspective (P1), a common vision among managers and effective communication channels based on trust are essential, considering that the BoP relies mainly on informal economic activities.\nConclusion and limitations: This conceptual work proposes a new framework and new agenda for BoP researchers and practitioners. Building on current challenges, as documented and identified in prior literature, this paper follows recent calls for comprehensive and multi-dimensional conceptualizations of BoP contexts (London and Hart, 2011). The theoretical propositions suggest a new ecosystem perspective that integrates an ecosystem vision the SDL premises, to better serve the BoP. This comprehensive framework addresses the complexity of the BoP and allows for scalability and sustainability. However, it is also preliminary, conceptual work that needs further development and validation, as well as confirmation with additional empirical studies. This framework offers a first milestone; the field demands future qualitative and quantitative work to sharpen and refine these notions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to combine service-dominant logic premises with ecosystem characteristics in the base of the pyramid (BoP) environment, aiming to establish the foundations of a new service ecosystem framework for BoP contexts.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper is developed by connecting service logic with an ecosystem perspective, developing theoretical propositions for sustainable service ecosystems at the BoP, and identifying future research direction using this new framework.\nFindings: The paper first highlights main challenges faced in the BoP environment. It then constructs an ecosystem framework for BoP contexts composed by four theoretical propositions: first, need to shift from a top-down to a multi-actor BoP approach; second, need of social embeddedness for successful BoP initiatives; third, service co-creation for and with local communities with actors playing multiple social roles; and fourth, multi-actor and multi-dimensional value creation. Future research directions are identified related to these propositions.\nResearch limitations/implications: Theoretical propositions integrating the service ecosystem framework need further exploration and confirmation with additional empirical studies.\nPractical implications: Proposed framework and propositions provide useful insights for practitioners from different types of organizations aiming to participate in BoP markets.\nSocial implications: Understanding the need to integrate a service ecosystem perspective in BoP contexts is fundamental to better address the needs of all actors involved.\nOriginality/value: The conceptual framework proposed offers a comprehensive, multi-dimensional, and multi-actor perspective on how to understand, and better address services in BoP contexts. Future research avenues identified offer a more inclusive agenda for increasing service knowledge at the BoP.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The drivers of E-banking entrepreneurship: an empirical study
|
[
"Innovation",
"Top management support",
"Social capital",
"Risk-taking",
"Proactiveness",
"E-banking entrepreneurship"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Competition within the banking sector has been increasing in the current business environment and is characterized as hyper-competitive, especially for innovation sensitive products and services. Competition among banks and the need to deliver financial services with greater efficiency to their customers at minimal cost are continuing to motivate banks toward entrepreneurship that encourages innovation and foreseeing future business opportunities. Recent studies have (e.g. Niemand et al., 2017; Ijeoma and Onuoha, 2018) assumed that entrepreneurship is an urgent part of today's banking industry in order to keep in pace with the changes and new challenges.\nLiterature review: E-business applications have become a mainstream trend in today's dynamic business environment, reaching into almost every aspect of organizations' activities. Banks are no exception and are also following the increasing trend of using the most advanced ICT in their everyday activities to stay competitive. E-banking represents the specific application of e-business in the banking sector (Hamidianpour et al., 2016). E-banking is described as a banking transaction type in which people transfer funds, query account balances, pay bills and manage online stock equity (Driga and Isac, 2014). Bultum (2014) defined it as an umbrella term for the process by which customers may perform banking transactions electronically, without visiting bricks-and-mortar institutions.\nResearch model and hypotheses: Based on the related literature, the research model (Figure 1) identifies three influencing factors that have a direct impact on e-banking entrepreneurship. These are top management support, technology context and social capital. The literature (e.g. Chai and Entebang, 2013; Niemand et al., 2017) confirmed the pivotal role of top management in IT adoption as the primary human agencies that provide the necessary resources and power for the success of adopting any new innovation based on managers' perceptions and beliefs. Within the TOE framework, technological context emerges as the strongest factor for e-business value (Zhu et al., 2006).\nE-banking entrepreneurship: Innovativeness\nThe drivers of e-banking entrepreneurship: Top management support\nThe impact of e-banking entrepreneurship on banks' performance: Due to the increasing importance of the entrepreneurial orientation concept, great attention has been given by researchers for exploring the impact of entrepreneurship on the organizational performance. A number of studies (e.g. Chai and Entebang, 2013; Ijeoma and Onuoha, 2018) explored the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on the organizational performance of banks. One of the most notable observations from the literature review is that only a few studies (e.g. Petti and Zhang, 2011; Al Omoush et al., 2018) investigated the impact of a firm's technological entrepreneurship capabilities on performance. However, many scholars (e.g. Scheepers et al., 2007; Ratten, 2012; Kiang et al., 2016) evaluated the performance of entrepreneurship in terms of its contribution to competitive performance. More attention has been paid to the importance that entrepreneurship has on creating new or unique products, services and processes when compared to their less active rivals. A considerable stream of research (e.g. Scheepers et al., 2007; Eren and Kocapinar, 2009) also used financial indicators, such as business growth, profitability, return on investment (ROI) and market share to evaluate the impact of entrepreneurship on organizational performance.\nResearch methodology: The measurement\nData analysis and results: Smart PLS version 2.0 was used for data analysis. Smart PLS utilizes a component-based approach to structural equation modeling. PLS is a powerful approach for testing a new model and studying causal models, including multiple constructs and measures. Fornell and Larcker (1981) confirm that PLS is robust in that it does not need a large sample or normally distributed multivariate data. Furthermore, a PLS path model consists of two elements, the measurement model (inner model) to provide the results related to reliability and validity of the scales and the structural model (outer model) to represent the relationships (paths) between the research constructs.\nDiscussion: The evolution of e-banking technology has prompted many banks to re-evaluate their IT strategies in order to build up an entrepreneurial attitude and success in complex and dynamic competitive environments in which they operate today. Although there is a considerable body of literature in the larger areas of business entrepreneurship, only a few studies have attempted to investigate the role of entrepreneurial orientation within the financial service industry. The previous studies have not investigated the determinants and influencing factors of e-banking entrepreneurship and its impact on the banks' performance. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the drivers of e-banking entrepreneurship. It also investigated the impact of e-banking entrepreneurship on performance in the banking industry.\nConclusion: The purpose of this study was to investigate the drivers of e-banking entrepreneurship. This study also aimed to investigate the impact of e-business entrepreneurship on banks' performance. The results confirm the pivotal role of top management in preparing an organizational environment to establish e-business entrepreneurship. The top management's knowledge and understanding of e-business capabilities, requirements, limitations and commitment to provide necessary resources for e-banking adoption are significant indicators of the intention to establish e-banking entrepreneurship.\nImplications: The findings of the present study are of importance to both academic and practitioner audiences. The present study provides empirical evidence to bolster e-banking technology as an enabler of banking entrepreneurship and improving performance. This study provides a starting point for future research in this area. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the drivers of e-banking entrepreneurship. The study aids in understanding the existing theories and practices that can help in explaining the drivers of e-banking entrepreneurship by addressing the impact of top management support, technological context and social capital on the degree of e-banking entrepreneurship. Moreover, the present study has explored how e-banking entrepreneurship can contribute to improving the banks' performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers of e-banking entrepreneurship. The impact of e-banking entrepreneurship on banks' performance in the banking industry is also investigated.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was developed to collect data from 16 banks with a sample of 214 respondents. Structural equation modeling using PLS was conducted to analyze the data.\nFindings: The results reveal a significant impact of top management support, organizational context, technological context and social capital on the degree of e-business entrepreneurship. The findings also reveal a direct impact of e-banking entrepreneurship on achieving a competitive advantage, financial performance and customer performance.\nOriginality/value: The present empirical study contributes to a better understanding of the existing theories and practices of banking entrepreneurship and e-innovations in today's banking industry. This study also provides insights into the drivers and the role of e-entrepreneurship in this industry for improving the opportunities of competitiveness and growth. The findings of the present study are of importance to both academic and practitioner audiences. The present study provides empirical evidence to bolster e-banking technology as an enabler of banking entrepreneurship and improving performance. Additionally, these findings provide directives to managers regarding the untapped opportunities and potential that innovative e-banking technology can offer in a highly volatile and rapidly changing environment.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Identification, emergence and filling of organizational knowledge gaps: a retrospective processual analysis
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Retrospective processual approach",
"Strategic change"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The roots of modern studies on organisational knowledge in the business and management field can be traced back to Hayek\nTheoretical background: Organisational knowledge in the business and management discipline has been studied since at least the middle of the last century (Boulding, 1966; Hayek, 1945; Polanyi, 1966). However, despite a number of prominent studies from earlier contributors in this field (e.g. Nelson and Winter, 1982; Spender, 1996; Davenport and Prusak, 1998; Teece et al., 1997; Cook and Seely-Brown, 1999; Tsoukas and Vladimirou, 2001: Bontis and Serenko, 2009; Ma and Yu, 2010), our understanding of organisational knowledge is still vague (Tsoukas and Vladimirou, 2001; Orlikowaski, 2002). Due to the complexities involved in studying such a concept, it is suggested that \"it is of little use to engage in conceptual analysis of knowledge\" (Davenport et al., 1998, p. 43). Similarly, Boulding (1966, p. 1) argues that \"considering the difficulties of defining, categorizing, and measuring knowledge, one feels that the efforts to do so lead us into a philosophical mess from which the only escape is to climb out, clean oneself off, go home, have dinner, and forget all about philosophy\".\nMethodology: This research uses a processual approach with a focus on the unfolding of events in retrospective and in real time. The basic tenet of any processual research is to unfold events using different temporal dimensions to seek explanation of the phenomenon under investigation (Aaboen et al., 2012; Bizzi and Langley, 2012; Pettigrew, 1997: Shipp et al., 2009), which fits the objectives of this study. Though the focus of any processual research is on time and history, it does not limit itself to just reporting events in time. Rather, the aim of a processual analyst is to describe, conceptualise, analyse, measure, and explain events or issues over time in the form of a case study, rather than a case history. Further, this approach allows for a close correspondence between theory and data, a process in which emerging conceptual insights are tested and grounded in data.\nData analysis: Critical organizational events and organizational knowledge gaps\nFindings and discussion: Taxonomy of organizational knowledge gaps\nConclusion: This research set out to analyse the processes of organisational knowledge management from the strategy in action perspective (Jarzabkowski, 2004; Whittington, 2004, 2006; Jarzabkowski and Spee, 2009) in order to further understanding of the underlying processes of identification, emergence and filling organisational KGs over time. Although the importance of knowledge in the business and management field has been well established in prior studies (Bontis and Serenko, 2009; Ma and Yu, 2010), there is still a need for further research to explore knowledge processes, and specifically changes in the underlying processes of knowledge management over time (Bizzi and Langley, 2012; Ahmed and Omar, 2011). Issues such as how knowledge requirements change over time and an organisation\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the processes of identification, emergence and filling of organizational knowledge gaps over an extended period of time, using the strategy in action perspective. Specifically, it aims to explore the nature and types of knowledge gaps, to capture their changes and to shed some light on the processes of filling knowledge gaps.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on two case studies and adopts a processual approach. It analyses 40 years of data collected using secondary sources and semi-structured interviews over a period of two years and identifies critical organizational events both in retrospect and real time.\nFindings: The findings show that the two case study companies have identified a number of knowledge gaps over the 40 years period. Changes in the nature and type of knowledge gaps are identified and discussed in detail leading to a new taxonomy of organisational knowledge gaps. The findings report that knowledge gaps emerge due to changes in both exogenous and endogenous conditions over time. The filling of those gaps depends on a number of factors. Among these, the ability to make a distinction between \"strategic\" and \"imposed\" knowledge gaps and the ability to build absorptive capacity within a stipulated time frame have a predominant role.\nResearch limitations/implications: The respondents were asked to look back into the history of their company using their memory of events to provide explanations surrounding critical organizational events. Since some of the respondents had not witnessed all of the events in question, their responses were at times based on hearsay. However, every effort was made to check the authenticity of the respondents\nPractical implications: This study provides examples of knowledge in practice and puts forward a new taxonomy of knowledge gaps which can help managers to deal with imposed and strategic knowledge requirements. Specifically, this study equips managers with tools on how to devise their knowledge strategy, how to identify their knowledge requirements and what are different sources (internal and external) which they can explore to fill those knowledge gaps.\nOriginality/value: The paper builds on the strategy in practice perspective, which stresses the need for further studies to link theoretical frameworks with practical solutions. In this respect, this paper attempts to make sense of organizational knowledge theory by applying it in real life business situations and by unearthing the concept and usage of knowledge gaps. The use of a retrospective processual approach to study changes in organizational knowledge requirements over time is another interesting aspect of this research. Finally, the paper provides a new taxonomy of organizational knowledge gaps.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Lean management and operational performance in health care: Implications for business performance in private hospitals
|
[
"Business performance",
"Human resource management",
"Operational performance",
"Health care",
"Hospitals",
"Lean management",
"Lean bundles"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the business environment being more competitive, organizations in all business sectors, including health care, are under pressure to improve their operations, minimize their costs, and provide better quality services and products. Lean management (LM), pioneered by Toyota Motor Corp., is viewed as a winning competitive strategy that combines the benefits of cutting costs, improving quality and eliminating waste while satisfying customers (Shah and Ward, 2003, 2007). Recently, research studies have been generating evidence that LM successfully is being applied in health-care operations (Simons et al., 2017; Rossum et al., 2016; Al-Hyari et al., 2016; Jorma et al., 2016; Cheng et al., 2015; Toussaint and Berry, 2013). The expectations for LM in health care have been promising because it puts the patient first and redesigns clinical procedures effectively to achieve high-quality care through optimal use of resources (Jorma et al., 2016).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Lean management\n3. Theoretical framework and development of hypotheses: 3.1 Research framework\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Sample\n5. Results: The present study's hypotheses were tested with path analysis by means of structural equation modeling with Amos 20. All the hypotheses were tested simultaneously. The results indicated that H2, H4-H7, H9, H11, H12, H14 and H15 were supported, and H1, H3, H8, H10 and H13 were not supported.\n6. Discussion and conclusion: 6.1 Discussion\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of lean management (LM) on operational performance (OP) in the context of health care in Jordanian private hospitals. LM is measured using four bundles: total quality management (TQM), human resource management (HRM), just-in-time system (JIT) and total productive maintenance (TPM). The study also investigates the effects of OP dimensions on hospitals' business performance (BP).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on survey data collected from 260 respondents from 25 private hospitals in Jordan. Validity and reliability analyses were performed using SPSS and Amos, and the study hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: The study found that the TQM bundle affects quality performance positively, but does not affect efficiency and accessibility performances, while the HRM bundle positively affects all OP dimensions. Furthermore, the JIT bundle positively contributes to both efficiency and accessibility performances, while the TPM bundle positively influences quality and accessibility performances. Moreover, the results have demonstrated that OP dimensions of quality and accessibility significantly and positively affect hospitals' BP.\nOriginality/value: This study is one of the first to adapt the four lean bundles popularized in the manufacturing sector and apply them in a health-care context. It examines the effects of the four lean bundles on hospitals' OP in terms of efficiency, quality and accessibility. In addition, the study demonstrates the role of OP dimensions in improving private hospitals' BP.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Banks and new firm formation
|
[
"Competition",
"Financial funds",
"Local bank sector",
"New firm formation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Start-ups contribute to employment growth, productivity growth, innovation, and the generation of conditions favourable to most firms (van Praag and Versloot, 2007). It is therefore important to identify the factors that influence new firm formation and that are relevant to policy discussions and decisions. An extensive body of literature examines the regional characteristics that influence the rate of start-ups (among others, Davidsson et al., 1994; Armington and Acs, 2002; Sutaria and Hicks, 2004; Nystrom, 2006; Andersson and Koster, 2011). The importance of available financial capital and intermediaries in determining the new firm formation rate is emphasised in the previous research (among others, Evans and Jovanovic, 1989; Winker, 1999; Andersson et al., 2001; Bonaccorsi di Patti and Dell'Ariccia, 2004; Parker, 2004; Sutaria and Hicks, 2004; Colombo and Grilli, 2006; Tucker, 2006; Fritsch and Falck, 2007; Robb and Robinson, 2014)[1]. Their importance originates from the financial resources that entrepreneurs require to start a firm. Because internal funds are non-existent by definition and firm founders often possess insufficient capital of their own, external financing is often provided by banks. The market for bank loans is largely local (Berger et al., 1999; Kwast, 1999; Collender and Shaffer, 2003). However, we observe a dramatic decrease in the number of bank branches in recent years, especially in rural areas. For example, the number of bank branches in rural Sweden has diminished by over 50 per cent over the last two decades. This study focuses on the local bank market and how different characteristics of the local bank market influence new firm formation. The purpose of this paper is to provide a nuanced description of how the local bank sector influences new firm formation and how this influence differs along the urban-rural division. Thus, this paper contributes to knowledge of the importance of the local bank sector in influencing new firm formation. It also illuminates how banks influence regional growth through their impact on start-ups.\n2. The local bank sector and new firm formation: Without financial market friction, profitable projects would receive sufficient financial funds at competitive prices. However, market barriers exist for new firms because credit rationing occurs (Stiglitz and Weiss, 1981; Evans and Jovanovic, 1989); i.e., some individuals cannot obtain the necessary financial funds for viable ventures. Market barriers for new firms include large information and transaction costs (Cestone and White, 2003). Banks can play an important role in this context because banks mitigate information and transaction costs to facilitate the allocation of financial resources (Levine, 1997).\n3. Data and description of variables: The data set utilised in this paper was obtained from Statistics Sweden and includes municipal-level variables for 2010. The new firm formation variable is constructed utilising Statistics Sweden firm-level data aggregated at the municipal level. It is not possible to access details about individual firms. A firm is considered a new firm if it possesses a new organisation number and the majority of the employees are new; i.e., they were not employed in the firm before the organisation number changed. New firms that arise because of the division of firms or mergers of existing firms are not considered new firms. Only firms with economic activity are analysed, i.e., firms that report VAT or payroll tax. These criteria ensure that only new active firms are included in the sample.\n4. Empirical results: Table IV provides the results from estimating Equation 2 through 2SLS in 2010. The estimations utilise the Huber-White-sandwich estimate of variance to adjust for heteroscedasticity. All variables are transformed into natural logarithms except the dummy variables and change in population because these are negative for some municipalities. Because of the high correlation among some of the variables utilised to describe the local bank sector (see Table III), they cannot be estimated simultaneously. The model is therefore split into two specifications[9].\n5. Conclusions: The bank sector in Sweden is dominated by four major banks with local bank branches across the country. Studies have observed that potential firm founders in some municipalities are hindered by low or non-existent access to funding. This paper analyses how the characteristics of the local bank sector influence new firm formation in Swedish municipalities. This paper provides support for the importance of the structure of the local bank sector for new firm formation. Positive relationships are observed among the average size of bank branches, independent banks per capita, bank branches per capita, and the start-up rate in Sweden. Hence, access to financial funds is important for new firm formation. While there is no theoretical consensus about the effect of competition within the banking sector on business creation, there is empirical evidence in this paper that competition (decreased concentration) is positively associated with the rate of new firms. Dividing the sample into urban and rural subsamples reveals differences in the importance of the local bank sector. Independent banks per capita and bank branches per capita are significant and positive in both locations. The value of the elasticity is, however, higher in rural municipalities. These findings accentuate the importance of banks for new firm formation in rural municipalities because other forms of financing, such as venture capital, are concentrated in metropolitan regions. The competition variable is only significant (and positive) for rural municipalities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to give a nuanced picture of how the local bank sector influences new firm formation and how this differs along the urban-rural hierarchy. Thus, the present paper increases the knowledge concerning the importance of the local bank sector in influencing new firm formation. In this respect, it also sheds light on how banks influence regional growth through their impact on start-ups.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical design is based on a cross-sectional approach from 2010, where Swedish municipalities are employed as the unit of observation. To overcome a possible endogeneity problem, an instrumental variable approach is applied. A two-stage least squares approach is employed in which instruments for the local bank sector in 2010 are utilised.\nFindings: The findings present positive relationships among the average size of the bank branches, independent banks per capita, bank branches per capita, bank competition, and the number of local start-ups in Sweden. Hence, access to financial funds is important for new firm formation. When the sample is divided across the urban-rural hierarchy, differences arise concerning the importance of the local bank sector. Independent banks per capita and bank branches per capita tend to have a larger impact on firm formation in rural municipalities.\nOriginality/value: This paper is novel in its detailed approach to describing the local bank sector. This topic is important for local and national policy makers, demonstrating the importance of the local bank sector for a growing and healthy regional economy. This study is also the first study on this topic in Sweden.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Maturity assessment of HRM processes based on HR process survey tool: a case study
|
[
"Human resource management",
"Excellence",
"HR PST",
"Human resource maturity models",
"Human resource process survey tool",
"Process maturity model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Control in general and the performance evaluation in particular are the most important implementation mechanisms for an effective management. On the other hand, measurement and evaluation are essential for an effective control. Researchers believe that the organisation without performance evaluation is like a sick person (Azadikhahsalimi, 2009). In any organisation, performance evaluation and recognition of the status quo are the beginning of the strategy, short-term and long-term planning and also implementing the reforms (Rezai and Ebnerasoul, 2004).\nExcellence in the field of HRM: Administrators seek for the implementation of quality management (QM) systems in their organisations, such as the EFQM model, Six Sigma methodology, ISO 9000 Standards or the Malcolm Baldrige Model (Gutierrez et al., 2010). Specifically, the literature has highlighted the importance of HR in the total QM of an organisation. This aspect has been noted for the Quality Awards (Deming, Malcolm Baldrige and EFQM Prizes) (Wongrassamee et al., 2003), which have considered HRM as an essential aspect. For instance, in the case of the EFQM model, HR is included in the people criterion that assesses what the organisation does in relation to its employees (Para-Gonzalez et al., 2016).\nProcess maturity models: The principal idea of the maturity model is \"that it describes in a few phrases, the typical behaviour exhibited by a firm at a number of levels of maturity, for each of several aspects of the area under study\" (Fraser et al., 2002). The concept of maturity model can be seen as a model that reflects certain capabilities and defines qualitative attributes, which are used to classify a competence object into one of several pre-defined areas (Kohlegger et al., 2009). It is an approach by which the ability of an organisation towards a class of application domain is portrayed in a level-based sequence (Rosemann and vom Brocke, 2015).\nHRM maturity models: People CMM\nEmpirical research on HR maturity models: There are very few empirical studies on the HRM processes maturity. As mentioned above, only two models are available in this area. Meanwhile, empirical studies have paid attention only to the P-CMM.\nResearch methodology: The strategy of the research is a case study. In a classification presented by Dul and Hak (2007), the case study is divided into two categories: theory-oriented and practice-oriented research. Theory-oriented research is aimed at contributing to the development of theory. The academic community is the primary user of research findings. Practice-oriented research is aimed at contributing to the knowledge of specific practitioners responsible for a specific practice. If it is decided that it is not necessary to find and test a hypothesis, descriptive practice-oriented research should be designed and conducted. In terms of this classification, this research is a descriptive practice-oriented research.\nResearch findings: To determine the maturity level of the Sazehgostar Company's HRM processes, according to the requirements of each maturity level, appropriate content of interviews and documents was selected and placed in the following tables. Then, in case of failure to meet relevant requirements, the appropriate performance gap would be inserted. Otherwise the perfect score would be recorded.\nDiscussion: The key role of the HRM in enhancing firms' competitive advantage has been frequently emphasised in the literature (Buller and McEvoy, 2012, Jiang et al., 2012). This research investigates the current status of the maturity of the Sazehgostar Company's HRM processes based on HR PST through an empirical assessment study.\nConclusions: The lack of empirical research on the topic of maturity models is often mentioned in the literature (Tarhan et al., 2016; Poeppelbuss et al., 2011). This problem is more acute in the field of HRM. This study contributes to the empirical research works by an enlarged understanding of how an HRM maturity model assesses an organisation's HRM processes and sketches an improvement path towards a desired level of maturity. As a theoretical contribution, the study helps to enhance the variety of models available in this field by recalling HR PST that despite its strengths, had been neglected in previous studies. Also, the analysis method used in this study will help organisations to perform self-assessment and determine the maturity of their processes. Since the lack of a structured assessment approach is evident in previous studies, such as Chen et al. (2012) and Chen and Wang (2016), this method can be used as a general assessment method for any process maturity assessment and solve the lack of a proper assessment method in the maturity models to some extent (Cronemyr and Danielsson, 2013).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the maturity of human resource management (HRM) processes of the Sazehgostar Co. based on human resource (HR) process survey tool (PST) and provide solutions for them.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The HR PST was adopted as the reference model. Data were collected through interviews with HR experts and reviewing organisational documents. A scoring system (based on RADAR logic) is introduced to score the interviews and documents.\nFindings: Each element of HR PST consists of ten maturity levels. The results of the assessment showed that the overall average of the organisation's HRM processes maturity is at level 2. The process of data management and HR systems with a score of five received the highest score, and the organisational capability development, talent management and rewards and recognition processes with a score of 1 received the lowest score.\nPractical implications: These findings enable management and HR management to measure the quality of HR processes and help them to prioritise development actions.\nOriginality/value: The existing literature does not present empirical research in the field of the maturity of HRM. Also, the analysis method used in this study will help organisations to perform self-assessment and determine the maturity of their processes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Employee engagement in generating ideas on internal social media: A matter of meaningfulness, safety and availability
|
[
"Employee engagement",
"Internal social media",
"Employee communication",
"Employee ideation",
"Internal innovation communication"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Employee engagement, defined as \"[...] the harnessing of organization members' selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances\" (Kahn, 1990, p. 694), is considered a key factor of organizational success embracing productivity, effectiveness, innovation, competitiveness and growth (Albrecht et al., 2015; Kahn, 1992; Ruck et al., 2017; Welch, 2011). Employee disengagement may on the other hand lead to less organizational performance and constitute a threat to an organization's survival (Mazzei, 2018; Parry and Solidoro, 2013). When employees communicate about ideas, i.e. ideate, on internal social media (ISM), they participate in the complex front end of innovation where ideas are generated, further developed, and finally selected or rejected (Khurana and Rosenthal, 1998). Within an organizational and corporate communication context, employee ideation can be defined as the multi-vocal dialogues among a crowd of employees that take place across an organization on an internal web-based communication platform which may allow or constrain employees to suggest ideas, and/or to react to the ideas of others by agreeing to, objecting to, developing, re-combining, or creating new ideas potentially beneficial to their workplace. Rather than considering innovation a responsibility belonging only to designers, engineers or scientists, innovation is increasingly considered the responsibility of every employee. All employees are regarded valuable internal innovation sources and may therefore become involved in suggesting and developing innovative ideas (Bogers et al., 2016; Linke and Zerfass, 2011). Hence, employees need to be engaged (cf. Heide and Simonsson, 2018; Monge et al., 1992; Zerfass and Huck, 2007) across the organization. Together with ISM and its opportunities for idea generation on a larger scale than ever before, it is assumed that the more employees participating, and the more diversity, the more potential for the creation of innovative ideas (Granovetter, 1973; Surowiecki, 2005) that may contribute to fulfilling the corporate strategy of an organization. However, what matters to employees when they engage in communicating about ideas on ISM? This is an important question to raise, since studies have shown that employee ideation on ISM often underperforms, and that employee participation is low or decreasing primarily because of lack of feedback, no transparency in the idea generation process, or the writing styles on ISM (Beretta et al., 2018; Birkinshaw et al., 2011; Coussement et al., 2017). A vast research literature on employee engagement, in general, and on employee motivational factors in particular related to idea generation already exists, whereas research into employee engagement in relation to ISM has only just recently started to emerge. Generating ideas particularly through communication on ISM is a new practice within corporate communication, and studies of employee engagement in ideation on ISM from a coworker perspective have still not been made. Based on this, the overall aim of the study is to contribute to the research field of corporate communication by creating insights into the special conditions that prevail when employees communicate about innovative ideas specifically on ISM.\n2. Literature review and theoretical framework: Employee engagement in communicating about ideas on ISM unfolds in a context of internal innovation communication and ISM affordances. The theoretical framework presented in this section combines three research fields central to corporate communication, namely internal innovation communication, ISM and employee engagement including the theory of the psychological engagement conditions (Kahn, 1990).\n3. Research design and methods: To answer the research questions, a qualitative single case study (Yin, 2014) has been conducted in a large, knowledge-intensive organization (Alvesson, 2004).\n4. Findings: Key findings of this study are presented in the following sections in order to provide answers to research questions 1 and 2:\n5. Discussion: Main enablers and barriers\n6. Implications and conclusion: The actual study is one of the first to explore employee engagement in ideation on ISM from a coworker perspective. Inevitably, it contributes with new insights to almost non-existing studies of psychological engagement conditions in an internal online innovation communication context that is key to the corporate communication research field.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore employees' perceptions of enablers and barriers to engage in multi-vocal dialogues about ideas (ideation) on internal social media (ISM) within a context of corporate communication.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This exploratory study is based on four data sets: online observations of employee ideation on ISM from 2011 to 2018, semi-structured interviews and informal conversations with two managers (2015-2016), archival material, and semi-structured interviews with 14 employees (2017-2018) in a large, knowledge-intensive Danish organization.\nFindings: The study identified various enablers and barriers to engagement related to psychological engagement conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability. Managers' communication role or importance of innovation, as well as tensions, e.g. obligation vs option to ideate or employee influence vs no influence, were identified as enabling or constraining employee engagement in ideation on ISM.\nResearch limitations/implications: Broadening interviews to include employees who decided not to participate in online ideation would increase insights and nuance this study's results.\nPractical implications: Managers need to be aware of the psychological engagement conditions and balance identified enablers, barriers and tensions by acknowledging communication reciprocity on ISM. Not only employees, but also managers, are dialogue partners in employee ideation on ISM.\nOriginality/value: The study is one of the first to explore enablers of and barriers to psychological engagement conditions in a context central to corporate communication, namely internal innovation communication on ISM, and to study ideation from a coworker perspective.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Filling in the gaps in higher education quality: An analysis of Italian students' value expectations and perceptions
|
[
"Innovation",
"Higher education",
"Quality",
"Organizational change",
"Value perceptions"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: contextualizing the value concept to higher education: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are complex entities, which interact with a variety of stakeholders to perform their institutional activities (Pucciarelli and Kaplan, 2016). In line with this consideration, scholars have argued that a system approach is required to contextualize the \"value\" and \"quality\" concepts in HEIs (Chinta et al., 2016). Inter alia, Queen et al. (2009) identified nine main stakeholders, whose expectations should be carefully examined in assessing the ability of HEIs to generate value, including: students, parents, research sponsors, public administrations, firms and other potential employers, academic communities, accreditation bodies, faculty members, and the whole society. The heterogeneity of these stakeholders and the variety of their expectations make it difficult to obtain a comprehensive understanding of value in the higher education context (Jongbloed et al., 2008). As a consequence, it is quite arduous to envision sound organizational and management interventions aimed at implementing a total quality management approach to drive the strategy and operations of HEIs (Psomas and Antony, 2017).\n2. Conceptual background and study rationale: The debate about the role that should be assigned to students in the higher education context is open and vivid (Guilbault, 2018). While part of the scientific literature is consistent in identifying students as the key customers of HEIs (Bounce et al., 2017; Manna et al., 2019), there is a significant resistance to the adoption of a customer-based approach in examining the students' behaviors and expectations (Scullion and Molesworth, 2016). As argued by Sirvanci (2004), students may take four different roles in their interactions with educational institutions. First, they encapsulate the inputs of educational processes; more specifically, they initiate the educational activities and incorporate the value which is produced by educational institutions throughout the learning process (Jongbloed, 2003). Second, students are external customers of HEIs: they demand a specific service offering to educational institutions, which is aimed at improving their knowledge and skills and preparing them to have an active role in the labor market (Carter and Yeo, 2016). Third, students can be conceived as internal customers of non-academic, ancillary services provided by educational institutions, including food services, sport facilities and libraries; such services may be understood as secondary components of educational activities, which concur in increasing the HEIs' ability to produce value for students (Pitman, 2000). Fourth, students are co-producers of educational services: in fact, they actively participate in the learning process as partners of the teaching staff and, therefore, as value co-creators (Hubbard et al., 2017).\n3. Methods: 3.1 Research strategy and design\n4. Findings: 4.1 The students' quality assessment, value expectations and value perceptions\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Study limitations and further research\n6. Conclusions: The awareness of the gaps between the students' value expectations and value perceptions is paramount to allow HEIs to design and implement comprehensive processes of organizational and management change, which should be aimed at setting the conditions for the students' engagement in value co-creation. In fact, value co-creation increases the HEIs' ability to meet the evolving demands of students, contributing to the enhancement of educational services' responsiveness and quality.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: It is not easy to grasp the concept of \"value\" in the higher education context. In fact, different stakeholders generally hold diverging perspectives about the value generated by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The purpose of this paper is to disentangle the value expectations and perceptions of current and former students (i.e. the main stakeholders) of a medium-sized university established in Northern Italy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A mixed, qualitative-quantitative case study was undertaken. A semi-structured survey was delivered through a computer-assisted web interview technique to a sample of 2,572 people. Inter alia, the interviewees were asked to express their value perceptions and value expectations toward the case institution and to rate their own assessment of educational services' quality.\nFindings: The respondents felt that the university was effective in delivering functional, extrinsic and intrinsic value; conversely, they perceived several gaps in the case institution's ability to accomplish emotional and relational value. Moreover, the interviewees argued that the institution was unsuccessful in establishing a bridge between higher education and the labor market, focussing on conceptual issues, rather than on experiential learning and soft skills.\nPractical implications: The gap between the students' value expectations and perceptions hampers the perceived quality of educational services. The lack of awareness of this gap is thought to trigger organizational inertia, which contributes to the impoverishment of educational services' quality.\nOriginality/value: The paper sheds light on different value perceptions and expectations held by students of a medium-sized HEI; also, it provides some insights into the organizational and management implications of diverging value perceptions and expectations of students.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Paradoxes in entrepreneurship education: chalk and talk or chalk and cheese? A case approach
|
[
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Education",
"Curriculum development",
"Biology",
"Universities",
"United Kingdom"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the context of global competitiveness, the UK Government has identified the need to increase levels of enterprise or entrepreneurship as a necessary component of its desire to drive forward a knowledge-based economy, and an enterprising society. In parallel is the government's lifelong learning agenda that recognises the need for individuals to engage throughout their lives in a personal process of learning and retraining. There is recognition within this debate that career choices for graduates and others with higher-level skills and knowledge have not traditionally included business creation (Careers Service Unit, 1999). Without the motivation and movement of knowledgeable and highly skilled people into business ownership, these societal and economic aspirations will only be partially achieved.This national policy rhetoric - a knowledge-based economy and an enterprising society - has been translated into a number of specific initiatives, several of which have been targeted towards the higher education sector. One national initiative in particular is The Science Enterprise Challenge (SEC) (funded from the Office of Science and Technology, Department of Trade and Industry). Its primary aim is to increase the exploitation and commercialisation of world-class science and technology. The implicit assumption in this is that both staff (academic and other staff), and students will need to have an enterprising orientation and a set of associated skills and behaviours to be able to harvest and exploit research findings for new venture creation. Explicitly, recognising that many universities did not have this capacity, this initiative has as its second aim, to increase the enterprising skills of students through a more enterprising curriculum. Enterprise education is therefore one key element of the success of this national policy agenda.Whilst there has been an increase in enterprise activities offered within higher education, there have been relatively few discussions concerning the appropriateness and effectiveness of the pedagogies that underpin these offerings. This paper considers how the life-world of the entrepreneurial small business owner offers a model for an action-based learning approach to support the development of enterprising skills, attributes and behaviours in undergraduate science-based students. It uses as a case study the University of Durham elective module \"Biology Enterprise\".\nBackground: There have been other accounts (Garavan et al., 1997; Hynes, 1996) that have detailed the content and delivery of university courses in enterprise and entrepreneurship. Descriptive accounts of new programmes, courses and general enterprise activities are helpful in that they provide useful insights for a wider audience into what practically can be done, and illustrate how to do things. This latter aspect, i.e. the \"how to do\" is informed by underpinning concepts. For example the Young Enterprise Graduate Programme initiative is informed by a corporate and functionalist view of enterprise, whilst enterprise within primary schools[1] is based on a notion of the adaptability and creativity of young minds.Such concepts can be either implicit or explicit in the delivery of enterprise education initiatives. This paper uses an example from the University of Durham, Biology Enterprise, and the experience of the Foundation for Small and Medium Enterprise Development at Durham University[2] to explore one concept, the life-world of the entrepreneurial owner-manager.The foundation has considerable experience of the research, design, development, testing and dissemination of enterprise education, within all educational sectors both in the UK and internationally. Its preferred mode of operation is one of collaboration with partners who seek to make changes and transformations within their educational institutions, curricula and staff. In October 2000 the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences[3] approached the foundation to explore how an enterprise module might be developed as a final year undergraduate option. The school wished to offer its students an enhanced learning experience linked to the commercial environment, which would equip them with enterprise skills necessary for survival and success in a rapidly changing and turbulent employment market.Using a collaborative, partnership approach, the two departments designed, developed and delivered, a pilot elective module for students studying within bioscience disciplines. The context of the successful Science Enterprise Challenge bid by the consortium of north-east universities[4] provided the development of this enterprise module with credibility and legitimacy amongst both academic staff and students. The pedagogic approach adopted within this enterprise module was recognised for its rigour and creativity by the award in November 2001 of the first National Enterprise Teaching Award[5]. The financial support from this award enabled the University of Durham to continue the module's development for other undergraduate science students and to adapt it for use with postgraduate students.\nEnterprise education: approaches towards pedagogic processes: There is considerable debate within educational circles regarding the meaning of the word \"enterprise\" (and also entrepreneurship). Universities themselves have seen enterprise and entrepreneurship emerging over the past 40 years as a separate field of scholarship, from the disciplines of economics, sociology and psychology. Some would identify the work of McClelland (1961) with the start of this new field, although Harvard Business School did introduce a short-lived entrepreneurship course in 1945 (Vesper and Gartner, 1997). Katz (1991) identified a dramatic increase over the past 25 years in scholarly journals specifically concerned with enterprise and entrepreneurship.There is ongoing debate concerning the nature and scope of the discipline, and the aim and purpose of teaching it. The debate can be encapsulated as follows: enterprise education can be about the subject (enterprise) itself, can be seen as a pedagogy, and as a set of outcomes (Gibb, 1993). In the climate of how to promote an enterprising society, with people engaging in learning throughout their lives, within a knowledge-based economy, the role of enterprise education in higher education assumes critical importance.A traditional academic focus assists students in their understanding of the discipline, learning about enterprise. This focus on theoretical and conceptual frameworks has been augmented by approaches that include learning through, and for enterprise (Gibb, 1993; Hynes, 1996). Learning through enterprise is concerned with the pedagogies of \"teaching\" enterprise where the role of the teacher is that of \"guide and partner in the learning process\" (Gibb, 1993, p. 22). An example of this approach may be students undertaking a practical project for a small business during which concepts and theories are applied in practice, and concepts are derived and built from engaging in activities where the learning mode comprises, \"learning by doing, solving problems and grasping opportunities\" (Gibb, 1993), that is, following a naturalistic model of the entrepreneurial life-world (Gibb, 1997; Hartshorn and Parvin, 1999). This approach is learner centred and so enables students to better prepare themselves for creating and managing their own future learning agendas in an increasingly turbulent and uncertain (global) workplace (Gibb, 1999).Learning for enterprise aims to prepare students for survival and success in their own economic futures, \"to help develop enterprising people [with] an attitude of self-reliance\" (Cotton, 1990), and may have outcomes that include independent small business creation and management. Learning for enterprise aims to produce graduates who are, \"capable of being innovative, can recognise and create opportunities, take risks, make decisions, analyse and solve problems and communicate their findings clearly and effectively\" (Garavan et al., 1997, p. 107). These qualities and skills are needed equally for new venture creation, either on one's own or within another organisation. Employers also, \"are typically seeking individuals not only with specific skills and knowledge, but with the ability to be proactive, to see and respond to problems creatively and autonomously\" (DfEE, 1997). These employers can be in the private, public or third sectors (Drucker, 1990).\nConceptualising enterprise: determining curricula content: Whilst enterprise education can be thus summarised (learning about, through/with, and for enterprise), within the discipline itself there are various conceptualisations of enterprise ranging from a specific enactment, \"the creation of new business ventures [by people completing a degree or postgraduate study]\" (Jones et al., 2000) to the broader \"[shifting] students with latent entrepreneurial tendencies into potential starters by developing skills which overcome their perceived barriers to entrepreneurship (e.g. opportunity identification, raising finance etc.)\" (Mason, 2000). Outside the discipline however, academic colleagues support a broad, inclusive view of enterprise. This is exemplified by recent research (Hartshorn, 2001) with academic members of staff from a wide range of disciplines across the five north-east universities that explored how academics themselves conceptualise enterprise. Using definitions of enterprise provided by the respondents, a typology of conceptualisations was developed. Definitional terms of enterprise coalesced around two major themes, skills and contexts. This can be summarised (see Figure 1) where enterprise is seen as skill sets within particular contexts[6] with the purpose of developing students as enterprising people with the potential of creating a new venture or business.The purpose of enterprise within the curriculum (enterprising people and enterprising forms of new ventures) can be further expanded and explored within a matrix of outcomes as indicated in Figure 2. Each outcome option provides an enterprise environment context within which enterprising approaches at the individual or at the venture level can be enacted.Enterprising people\nThe aims of the research: The aims of this research project were to:* provide insights into the paradoxes faced in determining the relevance of pedagogic approaches to enterprise education within the science-based disciplines;* identify how novice educationalists learn the adoption of \"new\" pedagogic approaches within their expert field; and* explore how students of learning respond to and learn from these pedagogic approaches with respect to their development of enterprising capabilities.\nA single case method experiential learning approach: Learning from the entrepreneurial life-world\nKey findings: The recruitment of academic staff from the School of Biological and Biomedical Science to act as mentors was not problematic. The school's initial keenness was the inspiration for the initiative. The six members of staff trained as mentors now act as a nucleus who can further develop the school's capacity to offer students an enterprising learning experience. The pre-module training focused on increasing staff understanding of the concepts underpinning \"enterprise\" through experiential learning exercises, and close examination of the module timetable and content to demonstrate how and when enterprise education approaches and techniques would be used.Co-teaching with experienced staff from the foundation exposed the school's staff to the reality of an enterprising approach to teaching and learning. In the main this was antithetical to the normal teaching and learning approaches used in a science department and as such presented a challenge to both sets of staff. However, the learning and consequent professional development for all staff involved was reported as considerable. These approaches can be applied to other science and engineering departments across the university.Through the evaluation of the pilot project, the students were very positive about the effect of the experience on their personal confidence and communication and presentation skills. They believed they had improved their understanding of and ability to make decisions and to work with others. Fundamentally, they suggested that the experience had provided them with valuable insights into their personal characteristics and that had begun to help them understand their own behaviours and attitudes. As scientists, the students consistently expressed enthusiasm for the practical and commercial skills the experience had enabled them to develop, enabling them to use the experience in job interviews. Overall there was a sense of having been part of an innovative and exciting event and that the personal risk taken in choosing to take part in the pilot elective had paid off in ways that were hoped for but also in ways that had been unforeseen.From the perspective of the school academic staff, the experience has been both practical in picking up skills and tools related to starting a business but also mentally and emotionally enhancing in that the initiative provided a \"breath of fresh air\". The event further helped staff to recognise in a detailed manner the contrasting approaches, thought processes and challenges across two departments. For some staff it had developed sufficient confidence to contemplate starting a business. As educationalists the initiative provided the opportunity to observe and experience other modes of learning in action for example by using outside consultants to deliver knowledge, by discovering the power of silence to encourage students' self-managed learning, and by recognising how much learning was achieved through the questions posed by students.The mentoring role was viewed as key and the importance of providing consistency or covering a set of key competences was recognised as an important factor. Individuals will have different skill sets whether they are members of the science staff or the business staff. The need to develop appropriate networks (internal and external) and \"know-who\" as well as \"know-what\" was emphasised through the project. This mode of mentor rather than teacher contributed to the sense of risk and success experienced by academic staff.\nImplications for education policy and practice: For greater numbers of students to experience entrepreneurship education at the higher education level, the serious shortfall in the numbers of entrepreneurship educators needs to be addressed. The approach used in biology enterprise has drawn staff from non-business disciplines and developed their abilities as entrepreneurship educators.Complementary initiatives (Higher Education Innovation Funds (HEIF); former Reachout to Business and the Community projects (HEROBaC); Science Enterprise Challenge funding (SEC); and, a regional project Graduate Retention through Enterprise in the North East (GRENE)) provided momentum and leverage to encourage academics to engage in enterprise education.For entrepreneurship education to be embedded within non-business departments, staff from those departments need to have a sense of ownership of the end product, i.e. the module. A collaborative approach to curriculum design begins the process of ownership. A minimum of two years \"hands-on\" tapered support from the specialist entrepreneur educators reinforces ultimate ownership, as the novice entrepreneurship educators grow in confidence.The selection of staff for this type of initiative must be voluntary. Academic staff are under constant pressure to achieve academic excellence through research. The freedom to choose to be a mentor has underpinned the success of this pilot scheme.In terms of personal qualities entrepreneurship educators must be open to a degree of risk, be prepared to expose themselves to colleagues and students as not always (or even usually) having the \"right\" answer. In many instances, there is no \"right answer\", so staff put themselves in the position of being co-learners in the development process.\nConclusions: This paper has demonstrated how learning from the life world of the entrepreneurial owner manager can be incorporated into the mainstream curricula of higher education. The elements and processes involved ensure that individual, personal learning occurs, preparing students for economic futures in an uncertain, turbulent and complex working environment.Students who have undertaken the biology enterprise module have seen how they can utilise their subject knowledge (biological sciences) in various commercial contexts. Particularly they have had contact with the \"end users\" of their various disciplines. Through the completion of the first pilot module, students report an increased sense of confidence in their ability to create a new venture, either for themselves or for others. The module legitimises business ownership as a career option as it demonstrates that \"to be an entrepreneur is a normal way, a natural evolution of a university student\" (University of Twente NL, quoted in Rey, 2000, p. 57).The module has also addressed the challenges outlined by the current government. It has prepared students to lead in the creation of a knowledge-based economy and an enterprising society. Further it has laid a foundation for them to continue learning throughout their lives by enabling them to have the experience of enterprising learning.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to present the challenges raised within a UK HEI between business and non-business educationalists engaged in the provision and integration of entrepreneurship education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Shows a single case experience with biology science undergraduates and educators at an English university.\nFindings: - Clearly more institutions are making more entrepreneurship education offers to their students. Embedded within these offers are fundamental and diverse beliefs about the meaning of enterprise and entrepreneurship. Such differences create a number of key issues concerning what should be offered, where it should be positioned institutionally, to whom it should be offered and by whom, and how it should be delivered. Such issues relate to conceptual and philosophical challenges, design options, and institutional capacity and capability factors.\nResearch limitations/implications: - A single case approach is contextually bounded. However such contexts are likely to apply across other UK HEIs and hence the findings have relevance and utility.\nPractical implications: - There are numerous challenges faced by entrepreneurship educators and there is a need for enhancing learning from experiences and for exploring how the learning modes that are embedded within the practice offered within many entrepreneurship education activities are adopted.\nOriginality/value: - No other published UK study has explored the relationships between educators across different disciplines in embedding entrepreneurship education with university students.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Risk ranking and analysis in PPP water supply infrastructure projects: An international survey of industry experts
|
[
"Public–private partnerships",
"Risk assessment",
"Risk identification",
"Water supply"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since the 1990s, the global water industry has seen a marked growth in public-private partnership (PPP) water supply projects, in response to the need to invest in public water infrastructure and the constraints on public financial resources, growing water demand (Nickson, 1996; Haarmeyer and Mody, 1998) and the numerous PPP benefits. Such advantages include value-for-money (VfM) through optimal risk allocation, managerial and technical expertise and innovation; reduced life cycle cost; and improved service levels, efficiency and performance (Marques and Berg, 2011; Zheng and Tiong, 2010). PPP assumes many forms, such as private-finance initiative (PFI), water concessions, joint-ventures, etc. (Henjewele et al., 2014). PFI - the popular model in the UK - is seen as the forerunner (Smyth and Edkins, 2007) and involves utilising private sector's financial resources, innovative and management skills, and capabilities in providing public infrastructure and services (Oyedele, 2013). HM Treasury (2012) noted that more than 700 projects have reached their financial close with private sector investment of around PS55 billion. Despite its perceived advantages, such as substantial risk transfer, disciplined method of procurement, cost effectiveness and long-term thinking (Dixon et al., 2005), PFI has major flaws that include high transaction cost, inflexibility, lengthy procurement period, inexperienced public sector, waste and lack of transparency (Carrillo et al., 2008; Dixon et al., 2005; HM Treasury, 2012). Following these shortcomings, the UK Government's new approach, Private Finance 2 (PF2), has been introduced for attracting private finance in public infrastructure and services delivery (HM Treasury, 2012). Briefly, PF2 primarily seeks to offer access to broader sources of debt and equity finance, increase transparency of liabilities of projects and equity returns of investors, offer increased flexibility in delivery of services and expedite and minimise costs of the procurement process (HM Treasury, 2012). Thus, PF2 will draw on private sector expertise and finance to provide public infrastructure and services while tackling the weaknesses of its predecessor, PFI.\n2. Literature survey: risk identification and assessment: The literature on risk and risk assessment in PPP projects is vast because PPP risk factor research has been (and continues to be) of interest to both academics and practitioners (Ke et al., 2009). Risks and risk management - risk identification and classification, risk assessment, risk allocation and risk management strategies - are the most active research topics in the PPP arena.\n3. Knowledge gap and justification for current study: Although prior literature has contributed to the knowledge on PPP water project risk factors, the two questions posed in the Introduction have not been adequately addressed. Although some risk factor lists exist in published literature (Ameyaw and Chan, 2013; Cheung and Chan, 2011; Xu et al., 2011), there is still a lack of or limited consensus on the key risk factors that adversely impact on water PPP success across countries. Some of the water sector-specific studies are relatively dated (Moody and Haarmeyer, 1998) and vary in scope and detail to offer an avenue for a systematic risk identification and management. Most of the risk lists have been obtained based on limited samples (Ameyaw and Chan, 2013; Choi et al., 2010) and were not based on research methods designed to derive reliable rankings (Xu et al., 2011; Moody and Haarmeyer, 1998; ADB, 2009; Xenidis and Angelides, 2005). More importantly, published risk factor lists were limited by geographical scope without cross-cultural perspectives (Cheung and Chan, 2011; Zeng et al., 2007; Wibowo and Mohamed, 2010; Xu et al., 2011). That is, these lists are biased by those countries' experience and maturity in water PPP programmes and risk management propensity. Most of these studies were based on China because of its active role in using PPP to develop its water infrastructure (Chen and Messner, 2005). This study, therefore, seeks to contribute to lessening the country-specific bias, and to widen readers' view of risk factors and their ranking by surveying practitioners from different socioeconomic and cultural settings.\n4. Research methodology: To meet the research objectives, a four-stage approach was carried out mainly through establishment of risk factors, identification of PPP experts, discussions and international survey and data analysis and reporting (Figure 2).\n5. Data analysis and results: The feedback collected from the questionnaire survey was analyzed using various statistical methods by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 21.0. Prior to conducting the statistical analyses, the internal consistency and reliability of the factors was assessed through the Cronbach's alpha model (Cronbach, 1951) to ensure validity. The alpha value ranges between 0 and 1. Values of Cronbach's alpha for risk probability and risk severity are 0.942 and 0.954, respectively, which are above the recommended threshold of 0.70 (Hair et al., 2010). This suggests a high degree of uniformity on the survey instrument and a high level of consistency regarding correlation amongst the 40 risk factors.\n6. Findings and discussion: The survey results are presented in Tables III and IV. This section discusses the significant findings of the international survey based on the collective opinion of the expert panelists.\n7. Conclusions and future research: Adequate risk assessment and development of countermeasures for PPP water projects necessitates an in-depth understanding of what the actual risk factors are, which of these risk factors significantly impact on such projects and require both investors' and public clients' attention and how these risk factors differ across cultures. An empirical, email-based international questionnaire survey of PPP experts with direct involvement in PPP water projects was conducted to address above risk issues. Because the initial list was based on a systematic procedure and the ranking was done by a multicultural panel of 32 industry practitioners, the resulting factor list is authoritative, comprehensive and grounded. Analysis was conducted using the risk significance index - a well-established approach in decision theory - and the top-ranked risk factors in water PPPs based on their impact values were identified as (in order): poor contract design, water pricing and tariff review uncertainty, political interference, public resistance to PPP, construction time and cost overrun, non-payment of bills, lack of PPP experience, financing and refinancing risk, faulty demand forecasting (over-estimation), high operational costs and conflict between partners. Kendall's concordance analysis showed that the rankings of the 40 risk factors by the experts were consistent.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to identify and evaluate the most significant risk factors that strongly affect the implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) water supply projects. PPP for water supply infrastructure services has seen continued growth over the past two decades, following public sector's budgetary constraints and inability to provide infrastructure-based water services efficiently and cost effectively. However, these projects are often subjected to major risks leading to failures.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Following extensive literature review and case study analyses, an international questionnaire survey was conducted with practicing and experienced PPP experts to establish the significant risks in PPP water projects. Both the probability of occurrence and severity of 40 risks were evaluated by the expert panel to determine their significance and impact on water projects procured under the PPP arrangement.\nFindings: The paper presents a derived risk factor list, ranks the factors and describes the \"top-ranked\" risk factors as: poor contract design, water pricing and tariff review uncertainty, political interference, public resistance to PPP, construction time and cost overrun, non-payment of bills, lack of PPP experience, financing risk, faulty demand forecasting, high operational costs and conflict between partners.\nOriginality/value: This factor list broadens PPP stakeholders' view of important project risks, rather than relying on culture-dependent studies - an area that has received less attention in PPP risk management research. The identified risk factors would provide governments and investors a useful tool in implementing constructive water PPPs by facilitating the development of risk mitigation strategies, particularly for developing countries with poor risk management practices.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Environmental activity management: its use and impact on environmental performance
|
[
"Environmental performance",
"Activity-based costing",
"Activity management",
"Environmental activity management",
"Environmental decision quality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The focus on environmental costs has increased significantly over the past few decades for a number of reasons including regulatory compliance requirements and social and customer requirements (Burritt and Saka, 2006; Sarkis et al., 2006). However, there are many environmental costs which have not been absorbed by organisations yet but could potentially be in the future, such as higher expenses for pollution control equipment as legislated standards become more stringent, higher costs associated with public concern over environmental issues, or the introduction of \"eco-taxes\" (Bartolomeo et al., 2000). Such costs impose a risk for organisations and provide motivation for organisations to employ environmental costing practices. Furthermore, since many environmental costs are now absorbed by organisations, there is a need for organisations to accurately account for these costs to provide better estimates of product costs and transmit the increased costs to customers through appropriate pricing policies (Tsai et al., 2012). However, in traditional costing systems, environmental costs are often hidden in overhead accounts or not recorded, resulting in a lack of awareness and understanding by managers with respect to the nature and magnitude of the environmental costs generated by their organisations (Burritt and Saka, 2006; Deegan, 2003). Consequently, in response to the inadequacy of traditional accounting systems in providing accurate environmental information for managers to make sustainable business decisions, a new field of accounting called environmental management accounting (EMA) has emerged. EMA is generally defined as the identification, collection, analysis, and use of physical information on the use, flows and destinies of energy, water, and materials, and monetary information on environmental costs, earnings, and savings (Jasch, 2006).\n2. Theory and hypotheses development: 2.1 EMA\n3. Method: 3.1 Data collection\n4. Results: 4.1 EAM\n5. Discussion and conclusion: 5.1 Discussion of the results\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The study provides an insight into the application and usefulness of activity management (AM) principles in an environmental context. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of use of environmental activity management (EAM) utilising Gosselin's (1997) three levels of AM (namely, environmental activity analysis (EAA), environmental activity cost analysis (EACA), and environmental activity-based costing (EABC)). The study also examines the association between EAM and environmental performance, and the role of decision quality as a mediator in this relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 208 Australian organisations across different industries using a mail survey questionnaire.\nFindings: The results indicate a relatively high extent of EAA use but a low extent of use of EACA and EABC. In addition, organisations using each level of EAM to a greater extent were found to experience higher levels of environmental performance. Furthermore, the relationship between EAA and EABC with environmental performance was found to be mediated by decision quality.\nPractical implications: The findings suggest that organisations should endeavour to increase their use of EAM, and modify their existing costing systems to consider the drivers and costs of environmental activities.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to empirically examine the extent of use of EAM and its association with environmental performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Is your sales force a barrier to more profitable pricing ... or is it you?
|
[
"Sales",
"Sales force",
"Sales performance",
"Pricing policy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: One of the most difficult pricing challenges facing marketers is how to maintain consistent, value-based street prices in highly competitive markets where every deal is seemingly at risk. For many, the temptation to maintain flexible pricing policies in order to negotiate customer-specific deals is too much to resist.\nCreating a sales incentive to drive profit: The key to inducing the sales force to sell value and maintain price discipline is to measure their performance and compensate them not just for sales volume, but also for profit contribution. Although some companies have achieved this by adding Rube Goldberg-like complexity to their compensation scheme, there is a fairly simple, intuitive way to accomplish the same objective. Give salespeople sales goals as before, but tell them that the sales goals are set at \"target\" prices. If they sell at prices below or above the \"target,\" the sales credit they earn will be adjusted by the profitability of the sale.The key to determining the sales credit that someone would earn for making a sale is calculating the profitability factor for each class of product. To encourage salespeople to maximize their contribution to the firm, actual sales revenue should be adjusted by that profitability factor (called the sales \"kicker\") to determine the sales credit. Here is the formula: Equation 1 where k is the profitability factor (or \"kicker\").The profitability factor should equal 1 divided by the product's percentage contribution margin at the target price, in order to calculate sales credits varying proportionally to the product's profitability. For example, when the contribution margin is 20 percent, the profitability factor equals 5 (1.0/0.20). When a salesperson grants a 15 percent price discount, the discount is multiplied by the profitability factor of 5, reducing the sales credit by 75 percent rather than by 15 percent had there been no profitability adjustment. Consequently, when $1,000 worth of product is sold for $850, it produces only $250 of sales credit. But when $500 worth of product is sold for $550 (a 10 percent price premium), the salesperson earns $750 of sales credit ($500+(5x$50)). Obviously, the importance of this adjustment is directly related the variable contribution margin. The larger the margin and, presumably, the greater the product's importance to the firm, the greater the profitability factor's ability to align what is good for the salesperson with what is good for the company.\nConclusion: Profit-based sales incentives are not merely theory. As companies have moved toward more negotiated pricing, many have adopted this scheme in markets as diverse as office equipment, market research services, and door-to-door sales.Although a small percentage of salespeople cannot make the transition to value selling and profit-based compensation, most embrace it with enthusiasm. However, senior managers must lead this change; sales will not do it on their own.Company leaders must develop the appropriate polices, metrics and incentives that align the sales force to measures of profitability. In making this change, however, managers should also be prepared for some unexpected consequences as salespeople begin to focus more on profits and less on volume.Now, salespeople who previously fretted about the company's high prices will begin complaining about slow deliveries, quality defects, lack of innovative product features, and the need for better sales support to demonstrate value. The sales force's attention will move from reflexive complaints about price to legitimate concerns about value drivers the company does or (does not) provide to customers. It will be a change so conspicuous you'll know you're on the right track.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The article seeks to discuss how and why it is possible to motivate a sales force to follow the guidelines of a consistent pricing policy that promotes profitability and increases margin, and which is beneficial to both providers and consumers of products and services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Theories and examples stemming from the authors' research and experience with the subject matter are stated. The sales incentive theory in particular is supported by a specific formula that determines the sales credit someone would earn for making a sale based on profit contribution rather than price.\nFindings: - While employing flexible pricing policies in competitive markets is enticing for suppliers, it can ultimately lead to price erosion and falling margins. A sound pricing policy lets customers know that the price they are paying is related to the value they receive, and keeps salespeople from dealing with long, complicated negotiation processes. While many managers worry that their sales force won't accept such a change, most salespeople will adopt it if the new policy is implemented well. The key is to recompense salespeople for driving profitability instead of just revenue and sales volume.\nOriginality/value: - This article addresses an ongoing problem that many companies face as they try to win and maintain business using flexible pricing policies to cut customer-specific deals. It discusses how and why it is possible to change this behavior using sales incentives that reward profitable sales rather than just sales volume.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Linking the Big Five personality factors and career commitment dimensions: A study of the Indian organizations
|
[
"Personality",
"Conscientiousness",
"Big Five factors",
"Career planning",
"Career commitment",
"Extraversion"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the past, various researchers and academicians have emphasized on the role of personality factors in governing the job performance (Judge and Zapata, 2015), career success (Wille et al., 2013), organizational citizenship behavior (Kumar et al., 2009), employee engagement (Kim et al., 2009), burnout (Alarcon et al., 2009), and psychological contract (Raja et al., 2004). Several studies have tried to gauge the linkage of personality dispositions with the work-related variables. Still, there is scarcity of research in exploring the linkage of personality factors with the career commitment especially under the scenario when there is paradigm shift in the concept of careers from traditional to boundary less. Careers are now viewed from the perspective of a series of steps in multiple organizations (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996).\nLiterature review: The Big Five personality model\nMethod: Participants and procedure\nDiscussion and implications: The current study was conducted with an aim to investigate the effects of the Big Five personality factors on the career commitment dimensions in the Indian context. While a lot has been examined about the linkage of the Big Five Factor Model of personality with career outcomes like career success (Wille et al., 2013), career adaptability (Teixeira et al., 2012; Rottinghaus et al., 2005), career exploration (Ohme and Zacher, 2015; Fang et al., 2015; Jin et al., 2009; Li et al., 2015), yet, there is a substantial lack of researches that have tried to gauge the linkage of the Big Five personality factors with career commitment in the South-Asian context. Specifically, while we were able to find some studies linking the Big Five personality traits with career-related variables in the Chinese and Brazilian context; however, with reference to the Indian business context, studies seemed to be scarce. Henceforth, there was need to expand the literature on personality and career outcomes through empirical examination of the personality factors as predictors of career commitment in the Indian business context. Our results revealed that conscientiousness acts as a significant predictor of career identity which reflects Indian managers' strong association with their line of work. This is because highly conscientious individuals have a strong work-role identity (Wang et al., 2012). On the other hand, the finding about the lack of support for conscientiousness as predictors of career planning and career resilience shows that although, conscientiousness personality is characterized by traits such as being achievement-oriented, reliable, hardworking that enhances the resilience as well as goal-setting activities of the individuals (Fayombo, 2010); however, because of the presence of dependency facets in their personality, they are likely to rely upon the support facilitated by the organizational mentors to boost their career planning and career resilience activities. For this, additional research may be conducted in the future to model the effects of conscientiousness and workplace supportive variables on career commitment. For example, future studies should take into account how the various facets of conscientiousness such as industriousness, perfectionism, task-planning, perseverance, etc., interact with variables like supervisory career support to influence employees' career commitment (Rikoon et al., 2016; MacCann et al., 2009).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship of the Big Five personality factors (extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, and intellect/openness to experience) with career commitment measured in terms of three factors as career identity, career resilience, and career planning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study included 363 managers from public and private sector organizations in North India.\nFindings: The authors found that in the Indian context, openness to experience/intellect is the Big Five personality dimension that acts as the significant predictor of all the three dimensions of career commitment (career identity, career resilience, and career planning). Further, conscientiousness was found as the significant predictor of only career identity, which indicated Indian managers who are focused identify well with their career line. In addition, the Big Five personality dimension of agreeableness was found to have a positive significant influence on career planning. From this, the authors inferred that tendency to get along well with others helps Indian managers in enhancing their career planning.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the existing literature on personality and careers in the South-Asian context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Actors' heterogeneity and the context of interaction in affecting innovation networks
|
[
"Innovation",
"Stakeholders",
"Business strategy",
"Interorganizational relationships",
"Heterogeneity",
"Networks",
"Business-to-Business marketing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Companies present higher levels of interdependence, which result in a greater external collaboration for innovation (Tidd et al., 1997). Indeed, an increasing number of studies have suggested that innovation is created by the interplay of different and committed stakeholders, where the innovation activities of the firm must take into account the complementary innovation activities of other companies in the network (Bourne, 2009; Perks and Jeffrey, 2006). Innovation networks include all actors involved in the generation, commercialization and diffusion of new and improved products, processes and services. Different actors can share knowledge resources to generate new ideas and bring them to the market (Cheesbrough, 2003; Hagedoorn, 2002). Through networking, companies mitigate some of the problems associated with the development of new products: shorter innovation cycles, increasing complexity of technologies and the rising costs of innovation (Ritter and Gemunden, 2003).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Context and actors' heterogeneity in innovation networks\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Research approach\n4. Intellimech: the consortium of mechatronics: Intellimech is an Italian consortium of high-tech firms located in the Lombardy region and dedicated to interdisciplinary research in mechatronics. Intellimech's members belong to different industries: electronics, information technology, information and communications technology and mechanics. At the time of the data collection, the consortium was composed of the firms indicated in Table I.\n5. Discussion, conclusions and implications for practice and research: The available data confirm that most innovations involve several organizations (Rycroft and Kash, 2002; Doloreux, 2004), which makes the innovative process complex, chaotic, non-linear and characterized by both diverging and converging directions (Van de Ven et al., 1999). Compared to strategy and organization studies, marketing scholars have dedicated much fewer efforts to understanding how interactions among heterogeneous actors affect the innovation processes and the innovative outcome such interactions generate. Using the Intellimech case, we explored the role of actors' heterogeneity and the context interaction in innovation networks, with respect to two different levels of analysis. On the collective-macro level, we considered the set of actors in the network; on the micro level, we concentrated on each single business actor as part of the wider network.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore the role of actors' heterogeneity and the context of interaction on collective innovation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: By using the six sources of heterogeneity identified by Corsaro et al. (2012) - goals, competences and skills, knowledge bases, power/position, perceptions and cultures - the authors describe the cases of two consecutive projects - ESASIM and NeWTeC - developed within Kilometro Rosso Science Park. The collaborative innovative outcome (simulation software) developed in the first phase was subsequently applied by each actor in its specific context. At the macro level, the authors define the processes that describe the role of actors' heterogeneity in both the contexts of innovation development and application; at the micro level, the authors shed some light on the role of the single actor acting simultaneously as a provider and as a user with respect to different contexts.\nFindings: In this paper, the processes through which actors' heterogeneity and the context of interaction influence the development of innovation (collective/macro-network level) and contribute a better understanding of collective innovation from a perspective that involves each individual actor (single-actor/micro level) are determined. These two phases are labeled in terms of \"decontextualizing\" and \"recontextualizing\", through which it will be recognized how the process of innovation depends on the social context and by the business activities that take place between the organizations. In the paper, term actor is used to refer to organizations taking part in the innovation networks as represented by their key referents.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further research on this topic could explore not only the single sources of actors' heterogeneity but also patterns of them and their effects in the different contexts. In addition, looking at the micro level, it would be interesting to understand if, in certain specific phases of innovation development and implementation, one of the roles - provider or user - prevails over the other and which effects it generates.\nPractical implications: This case study has important managerial implications. First, by better understanding the role of actors in innovation networks, companies could improve their networking strategies and, consequently, increase the likelihood of their solutions satisfying the needs of the different stakeholders. Second, the management of actors' heterogeneity seems strictly related to communication practices. As a result, it would be interesting to develop communication training programs addressing companies located in science parks, built around the profiles of the actors' features, characterizing a certain project and envisioning potential contexts for the development and application of the project outcome. Due to the variety of actors involved and the changing nature of the contexts in which they operate, standardizing communication practices could, in fact, be less effective. Finally, we also see implications for the management company of the science and technology park, which should think in a more comprehensive way about the different sources of actors' heterogeneity and their potential consequences once they build interorganizational collaborations and thus interdisciplinary teams.\nSocial implications: Using the Intellimech case, the role of actors' heterogeneity and the context interaction in innovation networks, with respect to two different levels of analysis, is explored. On the collective-macro level, the set of actors in the network was considered; on the micro level, each single business actor as part of the wider network is concentrated upon.\nOriginality/value: This paper positions in this debate and, in particular, attempts to understand if and how actors' heterogeneity and the context of interaction influence innovation networks. In effect, while the literature includes sporadic references to the role of the two elements, they have not yet been jointly considered. To reach this goal, two levels of analysis were adopted: a macro network level considering the set of business actors collectively and a micro level looking at the single actor as part of the wider network. Empirically, this paper will describe the case of two projects developed within Intellimech, an innovation network located at Kilometro Rosso Science Park, an aggregation node of relationships and connections around innovation purposes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Did the time frame associated with the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act noticeably impact consumer bankruptcy filings?
|
[
"Health insurance",
"Affordable Care Act",
"Medical bills",
"Consumer bankruptcy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and literature review: Three of the primary tenets of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 are: to improve access to health care, especially preventive and primary care; to improve the quality, transparency and efficiency of health care; and to ensure equitable financing of health care through health insurance market reform and shared household responsibility (www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/law/index.html). While a plethora of arguments were made in support for (or against) the passage of the law, the majority of these arguments directly related to the rapidly rising costs of health care, as well as the even more rapidly rising costs of obtaining adequate health insurance. Expanding access to preventive services and primary care reduces the future need for (more expensive) ambulatory, emergency and specialty care (Kangovi et al., 2013; Bleich et al., 2015). More efficient care produces higher quality health care services at the same or a lower cost. Expanded access to health insurance defrays the costs for individuals who require health services by dispersing costs over a larger population of risk-averse individuals.\nEmpirical methodology: Assumptions and hypotheses\nData: The data are drawn from the US Bankruptcy Court - Eastern District of Washington State's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) database over the years 2009, 2011 and 2014. The Eastern District of Washington, including the Bankruptcy Court, consists of the 20 Washington counties generally lying east of the Cascade Mountains. Despite containing approximately two-thirds of Washington's land mass, the District is home to approximately one-third of the state's population. Three major metropolitan areas exist in the District: Spokane (Spokane County), Yakima (Yakima County) and the \"Tri-Cities\" (Pasco, Kennewick and Richland), which are located in Benton and Franklin counties. The remaining counties in the District are largely rural, and their economies are predominantly based on agriculture, natural resource extraction (i.e. mining and forestry) and tourism. For more information on the characteristics of the District, see: https://fortress.wa.gov/esd/employmentdata/reports-publications/regional-reports/county-profiles\nResults: Table II contains the binary probit estimates characterizing whether or not a filer claimed a positive amount of medical debts in their filing. Two sets of results are presented: one in which both chapter filing and health insurance expenses are interacted with the year indicator variables, and one specification in which only the chapter filing choice is interacted with the year variables. Comparing these two specifications facilitates an examination of whether and how health insurance premium expenses confound the Chow tests for dynamic structural change. As noted by the kh2 tests of overall model fit, both specifications explain a significant amount of variation in the dependent variable at better than a 5 percent significance level.\nDiscussion and conclusions: The purpose of this paper is to empirically determine whether the time frame associated with the implementation of the ACA health insurance requirements impacted the presence of medical debts, as well as the distribution of medical debts, submitted by households filing for bankruptcy protection. Using data drawn from the US Bankruptcy Court's Eastern Washington District over the years 2009, 2011 and 2014, and operationalized through a Chow test for structural dynamic change, we find evidence to suggest that the ACA did impact the presence and distribution of medical debts. Chapter 13 filers in 2014 (post-ACA-based health exchange implementation) were more likely to report medical debts than Chapter 7 filers in the pre-intervention period. Chapter 13 filers in 2014 were also more likely to report a more skewed distribution of medical debts at the time of filing. That is, they not only were more likely to report medical debt, but also to report greater medical debts owed to a single type of creditor. Weak evidence (i.e. statistical significance at the 10 percent level) suggests that filers claiming health insurance premium expenses in 2011 (the period of health exchange set-up) were also more likely to report a more skewed distribution of medical debts.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the timing associated with the implementation of the health insurance-related provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) altered the presence and distribution of medical/non-medical debts accumulated by different types of bankruptcy filers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were drawn from the US Bankruptcy Court's Eastern Washington District over the years 2009, 2011 and 2014 using interval random sampling. Binary probit and Tobit analyses were used to model the existence, and distribution, of medical debts and total debts, respectively, at the time of filing. The impact of the time frame associated with the ACA was operationalized via a Chow test for structural dynamic change.\nFindings: Chapter 13 filers in 2014 (post-ACA-based health exchange implementation) were more likely to report medical debts than Chapter 7 filers in the pre-intervention period, and were also more likely to report a larger proportion of outstanding debts owed to a single creditor. Filers claiming health insurance premium expenses in 2011 were (at the 10 percent significance level) more likely to report a more skewed distribution of medical debts.\nOriginality/value: The time frame associated with the implementation of the ACA impacts the distribution of medical debts among filers who have sufficient net disposable income to fund a Chapter 13 plan. The polarization of outstanding medical debts may indicate coverage gaps in existing health insurance policies, whose costs would be disproportionately borne by patients operating on thin financial margins.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Open access and document delivery services: a case study in Capital Normal University Library
|
[
"Open access",
"China",
"Document delivery"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The last ten years have seen a massive increase in the number of open access (OA) publications in journals and repositories - both institutional and subject-oriented - around the world, with the support of researchers, funding agencies, universities, scientific institutions and publishers. According to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), as of June 2014, there were almost 10,000 peer-reviewed academic OA journals from 134 countries. Additionally, OpenDOAR had >2,600 OA repository listings at that time. Since 2000, the average annual growth rate has been 18 per cent for the number of OA journals and 30 per cent for the number of OA articles (Laakso et al., 2011). Overall, the results show very rapid growth of OA publishing in recent years in the form of either Gold OA or Green OA.\nDevelopment of OA in China: China's participation in the OA movement can be dated to December 2003. At that date, the President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lu Yongxiang, signed the Berlin Declaration to demonstrate the support of Chinese scientists for OA (Chu and Li, 2009).\nDocument delivery service at Capital Normal University Library: Capital Normal University is a comprehensive university under the supervision of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education. Fields of study cover humanities and history, science and technology, economics, pedagogy, psychology, language, art and more. There are 15,000 registered students and 2,600 faculty members.\nA survey on attitudes of users toward OA: The authors carried out an investigation to discover the attitudes of users toward OA through a questionnaire conducted in April 2013. The authors received 100 responses, of which 67 per cent were undergraduate students, 32 per cent graduate students and 1 per cent faculty. Two questions concerned free Internet resources.\nSuggestions: Take greater advantage of OA resources to provide document delivery service\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study in China to show whether open access (OA) affects document delivery services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conduct a statistical analysis and carry out an investigation through a questionnaire.\nFindings: Compared with the rapid development of OA around the world, China has published a small number of OA journals. At present, the effect of OA on document delivery service in Capital Normal University Library (CNUL) is positive in that librarians can use OA as an extra resource to perform document delivery services. CNUL users know little about document delivery service or OA, but they frequently look for free Internet resources. CNUL should do more promotion of its document delivery services. Considering users' behavior and the development of OA in future, the volume of document delivery service may be affected. CNUL should redesign its document delivery service.\nOriginality/value: The paper will be relevant to librarians interested in OA and document delivery services in China.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Quality management practices and their relationship to organizational performance
|
[
"Performance measurement",
"Quality management",
"Operational performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The relationship between total quality management (TQM) and organizational performance is a recurrent theme in several branches of management, including operations management, and it is of interest to both academic scholars and practicing managers. TQM has gained wide popularity around the world due to the interrelationships and impact of various factors and practices on key business results, especially in developed countries (Calvo-Mora et al., 2014; Chavez et al., 2013; Evans and Lindsay, 1995; Dean and Bowen, 1994; Garvin, 1991). In this respect, substantial progress has been achieved in countries like USA, Germany, Japan, and the UK of Britain, just to name a few (e.g. in the USA the turn around that took place decades ago had astonishing improvements at different levels such as productivity, product quality, inventory management, operational processes, and others (Brown, 2013)). Under the banner of TQM, efforts were directed at improving leadership, workforce management, customer focus, use of information and analysis, process management, and strategic planning (Laohavichien et al., 2011; Samson and Terziovski, 1999). On the other hand, traditional quality control practices in developing countries, with their focus on craftsmanship, may not be effective and efficient enough for contemporary service quality systems (Lau et al., 2004).\n2. Literature review: Dating back to the 1970s and early 1980s, several organizations have adopted relatively new methods and programs aimed at improving their processes and productivity in face of the new challenges that were taking their horrendous toll in virtually every industry and sector. Among these methods and programs was the introduction of the TQM system: a system that has attracted tremendous attention from practitioners and academics resulting in a plethora of literature. The revolution of quality was pioneered by W. Edwards Deming in late 1970s followed by significant contributions made by Crosby (1979) and Juran (1989).\n3. Theoretical framework: The underlying assumption for choosing the most appropriate theoretical framework in this study is governed by a holistic approach that captures the main elements of TQM. In this respect, the awards criteria were found to be the most comprehensive and universally acknowledged approach. The MBNQA, regarded as one of the most well known awards, is adopted as the guiding framework in this study allowing the empirical analysis thereafter to be categorized based on the main criteria of the MBNQA. There are several studies that have used the MBNQA, for example O'Rourke et al. (2001) and Lau et al. (2004) used the MBNQA award because of its international standard for performance excellence, and its ability to provide a comprehensive framework for both practitioners and administrators; it is capable of identifying organizational strengths and weaknesses, as well as key areas for improvement. Other studies have adopted MBNQA for its ability to correspond with the basic principles of TQM (Evans and Jack, 2003; Wilson and Collier, 2000; Ahire et al., 1996; Black, 1993).\n4. Methods: To answer the research questions, in the summer of 2012 upon obtaining an approval from the PMoH a survey was carried out by the researchers. The various factor analyses and other statistical calculations (correlations and regression) were conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Windows Excel. The sampling method used in this study was purposefully a convenience random sample of employees working in Palestinian hospitals.\n5. Results: The following section provides a summary of the main findings of the analysis. Table II provides a summary description of the hospitals included in the study, and the characteristics of the respondents.\n6. Discussion of findings: Generally, the results of the analysis in particular about validity and reliability of the seven elements of TQM are consistent and accurate in terms of what they set out to measure. The results also reflect a precise measure of the underlying variables (the seven elements of MBNQA) as well as that the results are credible. This is in line with studies made by Flynn et al. (1994) and Black and Proter (1996). For example, the selection of the measurement elements was conducted based on a thorough examination of the literature and major international quality awards to ensure content validity. Another perhaps more specific example to this study is \"criterion validity\" which was determined by examining the Mulitple R coefficient calculated for the six dependent variables and the independent variable performance; the score of 0.744 (Table V) indicate that the independent variables have a high degree of criterion validity when taken all together.\n7. Conclusion: This study reports on a recent survey of TQM practices in Palestinian hospitals and their relation to the performance in these hospitals. Two important findings have manifested themselves as a result of this study: first, Palestinian hospitals located in the West Bank are operating at relatively acceptable performance levels; second, the TQM factors that were used to predict performance are valid and reliable, and more so that three factors were found significantly related to performance, namely people management, process management, and information and analysis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of total quality management (TQM) practices implemented in Palestinian hospitals and their relationship to organizational performance using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey of 51 hospitals operating in the West Bank of Palestine was conducted in order to test the validity and reliability of TQM constructs and their relationship to organizational performance.\nFindings: The results showed that TQM constructs used in this study are positively related to hospital performance and for the most part the relationship was significant; they were capable of explaining a significant portion of variance in performance. Three elements were found to be strongly significant predictors of performance- people management, process management, and information and analysis.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although hospitals operating in the Gaza Strip were excluded from the study, this research promotes critical management practices that help channeling organization resources into areas aimed at improving quality and performance.\nPractical implications: The study showed that there are certain areas where administrators or managers need to focus on should they aspire for better performance. The constructs used in this study can be used to assess the implementation of quality practices and highlight areas for movement.\nOriginality/value: This paper provided practitioners, administrators, and academics with a fresh perspective on quality management practices and their impact on organizational performance. It also served as a foundation for future initiatives and programs aimed at improving quality in hospitals.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Collaborative governance difficulty and policy implication: Case study of the Sewol disaster in South Korea
|
[
"Governance",
"Collaboration",
"Sewol ferry disaster",
"South Korean ferry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since the start of the twenty-first century, large-scale disasters, terrorism and crises in countries around the world have increased, and there have been various suggestions on organizing and strengthening the national system of crisis management. The disasters we have seen recently have certain characteristics, such as large-scale, complex aspects that cannot be defined as a single type of disaster, and frequent occurrence of new types of crisis. In general, the crisis of the modern generation happens unannounced and unpredicted and requires a variety of skills and resources that a single organization could not afford on its own. The government's disaster-handling approaches at present are limited to its fragmented and centralized response system, and this issue of a weak national system of crisis management has been repeatedly raised whenever there was a crisis. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there was a growing tendency in the USA and other countries in which the participation of integrated and yet various stakeholders is emphasized, with collaborative governance, networks and private and public cooperation in handling disasters.\nTheoretical discussions: Collaboration as collaborative governance\nThe disaster management system and present condition of collaboration in Korea: Evolution of the disaster management system\nAnalysis of disaster management system in terms of collaboration: the Sewol-ho ferry disaster: Overview of the Sewol-ho ferry disaster\nPolicy implications: The tragedy of Sewol left Korean society in shock and regret. Despite its emphasis on collaboration and safety, the Park administration failed to take appropriate action in the face of such a catastrophe and is now left with a ponderous burden of having to restructure the overall system. Based on analysis of the reasons for the failure of collaboration in disaster management, this paper suggests the following policy implications:\nConclusion: Globally, disaster management systems are in the process of reorganization. Many countries are making efforts to make their systems more efficient, mostly focusing on the establishment of governance rather than reorganizing a single department. This trend shows that a disaster management system cannot be operated or evaluated based on a single factor. In this sense, the four factors - integrity, learnability, field-based and cooperation - mentioned above should be considered comprehensively.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the case of the disaster involving the South Korean ferry, Sewol; offer policy implications; and point to the difficulty of collaboration in the functioning of the national disaster management system.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The government network approach of this paper is adopted in order to study how to link different policy actors, how to deal with disaster issues in their networking, and how to produce social-political resilience. This paper explores why the national incident management system was not working properly in terms of \"governance networking\", and focuses on changes that have been made to the legal system and the government organizational system since 2000.\nFindings: The principle results of the analysis are as follows: first, the collaboration between organizations that existed at the time of the accident focused only on sharing resources, and service delivery involved little connection between organizations. Second, assessment of the scale of the disaster was not carried out correctly because of dysfunctional relations between government network organizations and disaster victims, which affected both sides' awareness of policy issues and priorities.\nOriginality/value: This paper found that an integrated disaster management framework was not available, and activities were carried out for the sake of form. Also, no governance network for collaboration had been systematically built up, and there was also little collaboration between public and private organizations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Benchmarking hospitals through a web based platform
|
[
"Benchmarking",
"Performance measurement (managerial)",
"Data envelopment analysis (DEA)",
"Health services",
"Web platforms",
"Aggregate performance measures",
"Portuguese health system"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Benchmarking is the process through which organizations can learn from the best-in-class companies. As a result, benchmarking can be seen as a way to understand the current situation of a company in relation to others, as well as a process towards sharing practices, learning, and improvement (see e.g. Voss et al., 1997). Within the health sector, benchmarking practices are increasing in most places of the globe as a way to control costs, increase efficiency, and increase quality. The importance of hospital benchmarking is undisputable and benefits many stakeholders: governments are interested on comparing hospital's costs and quality for financial reasons and for designing public health policies; hospital managers have interest on knowing the performance of their hospitals in comparison with similar entities; the general public is interested on comparisons between hospitals' quality, such that informed choices of the health provider are possible.\n2. State of the art: Benchmarking is the process of \"finding and implementing best practices\" (Camp and Tweet, 1994). This search from best practices can be internal or external to the company. As a result, there are, amongst others, two important types of benchmarking. Internal benchmarking - when similar internal functions are compared; and competitive benchmarking - when a company (in whole or in parts) is compared to competitors (see e.g. Camp and Tweet, 1994). Mosel and Gift (1994) introduced the concept of collaborative benchmarking in health care that involves a combination of internal and external (or competitive) benchmarking, where the notion of \"internal\" is extended from one company to several companies belonging to a collaborative benchmarking network. The focus of the current paper is on competitive benchmarking.\n3. Methodology: The methodology employed in the creation of HOBE involved several steps. The first step was the identification of all the requirements for the website and their priority. Functional requisites involved, among many others, the visualization of indicators, their formulas and explanation, the visualization of graphs with the indicators, their percentiles and their evolution over time. Non-functional requirements concerned the adequability of the website to the user needs, accuracy, attractiveness, comprehensiveness, efficiency and speed of computation, stability, etc.\n4. Results: 4.1. HOBE's outcomes on individual indicators\n5. Conclusion and research implications: The aim of this paper was to present the benchmarking platform HOBE - that allows a comparative analysis of hospital services based on a set of individual indicators, or based on aggregate indicators constructed using DEA. We argue, as other authors did before, that the best way to benchmark hospitals is by comparing services, rather than entire institutions. In any case, if hospitals wish to have an idea of their overall performance, it is possible to estimate an aggregate performance score based of the performance of their services. Following this idea, we also present within HOBE models that allow the aggregation of service's performance and a comparison between hospitals based on their services' efficiencies. This analysis can be very valuable to hospitals, as their weaknesses and strengths may become clear from this benchmarking exercise.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In a context of international economic crisis the improvement in the efficiency and productivity of public services is seen as a way to maintain high-quality levels at lower costs. Increased productivity can be promoted through benchmarking exercises, where key performance indicators (KPIs), individually or aggregated, are used to compare health units. The purpose of this paper is to describe a benchmarking platform, called Hospital Benchmarking (HOBE), where hospital's services are used as the unit of analysis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: HOBE platform includes a set of managerial indicators through which hospital services' are compared. The platform also benchmarks services through aggregate service indicators, and provides an aggregate measure of hospital's performance based on a composite indicator of the service's performances. These aggregate indicators were obtained through data envelopment analysis (DEA).\nFindings: Some results are presented for Portuguese hospitals for the trial years of 2008 and 2009, for which data is publicly available. Details for the service-level analysis are provided for a sample hospital, as well as details on the aggregate performance resulting from services performances.\nPractical implications: HOBE's features and outcomes show that the platform can be used to guide management actions and to support the design of health policies by administrative authorities, provided that good quality and timely data are available, and that hospitals are involved in the design of the KPIs.\nOriginality/value: The platform is innovative in the sense that it bases its analysis on hospital's services, which are in general more comparable among hospitals than indicators of hospital overall performance. In addition, it makes use of DEA to aggregate performance indicators, allowing for user choice in the inputs and outputs to be aggregated, and it proposes a novel model to aggregate service's efficiencies into a single measure of hospital performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The value of B2B relationships
|
[
"Trust",
"Buyer‐seller relationships",
"Partnership"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: In business-to-business (B2B) markets there is a significant trend over the last few decades towards holding fewer and closer relationships (Ulaga and Eggert, 2006a). Manufacturers reduce suppliers in search of efficiencies, risk sharing and value creation (Barry and Terry, 2008). As Leonidou (2004) points out, establishing long-lasting relationships can help supplier and customer to create higher value than can be mutually beneficial.At the same time, as Vargo and Lusch (2004) discuss, marketing thought is shifting away from tangibles and toward intangibles, and from a transaction focus to a relationship focus. The paper of inter-organisational relationships, as Young and Wilkinson (1989) note, has jumped from emphasising concepts such as power, conflict or opportunism, towards variables such as trust, commitment, long-term orientation, and in general variables relating to sustained relationships (Anderson and Weitz, 1992; Morgan and Hunt, 1994; Geyskens et al., 1999). Specifically, Morgan and Hunt (1994) placed trust and commitment at the centre of their relationship marketing theory and these two variables have subsequently been considered in many studies (Gilliland and Bello, 2002) as key constructs for true marketing relationships.Notwithstanding the importance of the variables of trust and commitment, Ulaga and Eggert (2006a) state that relationship marketing models have mainly focused on this type of \"soft\" variables, but have failed to include performance variables, such as relationship value, which will be more useful for customers to evaluate supplier performance. In fact, both from the customer's and the supplier's, point of view, it is essential to know how to create and deliver value in the relationship, particularly as the product itself may end up becoming a commodity (Eggert et al., 2006).Following those trends, the construct \"relationship value\" has recently emerged as a key variable in inter-organisational relationship models (Walter et al., 2001; Ulaga and Eggert, 2002, 2006a; Ryssel et al., 2004). Yet, despite a growing body of research on relationship value, as Payne and Holt (2001) point out, new conceptual developments and studies are required to identify structures underpinning relationship value. Particularly, Ulaga and Eggert (2006a, p. 313) point out that \"relationship value must be included as a key element in models that analyse the buyer-seller relationship in the industrial context\".The present paper attempts to narrow this research gap by empirically analysing the interdependency between relationship value and the more extensively studied variables of trust, commitment and satisfaction, and how they impact on loyalty intentions. The conclusions of a piece of research like ours would be useful for firms to ascertain the benefits of creating and delivering value in their relationships with key suppliers.To this end, the paper is structured in the following sections. First, the theoretical model and its integrating variables are defined; second, the hypotheses are formulated and justified; third, we describe the research methodology; fourth, the results are of the estimation of the model are presented, and finally, we discuss the conclusions and implications of the paper and suggest future research lines.\n2 Theoretical framework: 2.1 Relationship value\n3 Relationship value in the framework of B2B relationships hypothesis: Figure 1 shows our model of relationship marketing in a B2B context which we wish to verify through a set of hypotheses developed below. This model follows the commitment-trust perspective (a prevalent one according to Palmatier et al., 2007). In fact, most research has conceptualised that relationship marketing improves loyalty and firm performance through relational mediators, such as trust, commitment and relationship satisfaction (Lindgreen and Wynstra, 2005; Palmatier et al., 2006). As antecedent to our relational mediators we choose the construct of relationship value (a customer-focused antecedent, according to Palmatier et al., 2006), following the research by Ulaga and Eggert (2006a). In particular, Eggert and Ulaga (2002) considered it necessary to include commitment and trust in the perceived value-satisfaction-loyalty sequence proposing this as a future line of research.The relationship sequence proposed is based on the reasoned action theory (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), and grounded in the idea that affective variables mediate the relationship between cognitive and conative variables. Hence, the fact that the construct \"relationship value\" is considered to be an antecedent to commitment, trust and satisfaction - affective variables - which in turn affect the conative aspect of loyalty. Although this sequence may be subject of discussion, there has been an extended theoretical debate around the topics of value, satisfaction and loyalty, that have also been empirically contrasted. Generally, the link of value as an antecedent of satisfaction provides a wide consensus, leading to loyalty as a final outcome (Woodruff, 1997; Parasuraman, 1997; McDougall and Levesque, 2000; Eggert and Ulaga, 2002; Caruana and Fenech, 2005; Eakuru and Kamariah, 2008).3.1 Relationship value, trust and commitment\n4 Research methodology: 4.1 Sampling framework\n5 Results: The hypotheses are verified using the structural equations models technique, following the two step procedure recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988). This procedure involves first analysing the quality of the construct measurements, by estimating the measurement model or confirmatory factor analysis, and second estimating the structural or theoretical model which will provide information on the relationships between the constructs object of the hypotheses in this paper.We used statistical software EQS 6.1 selecting the maximum likelihood estimation method.5.1 Analysis of the measurement model\n6 Conclusions and further research: There is a trend among manufacturers to reduce the number of suppliers to a group of key, valued ones, with whom they wish to maintain true relationships, not mere transactions. Understanding what makes B2B relationships lasting and stable is one of the main areas of academic interest in the study of organizational relations (Chumpitaz and Paparoidamis, 2007). This work contributes to the literature in at least three significant points. First, from a theoretical perspective, the study integrates the constructs of relationship value, commitment, trust, satisfaction and loyalty in a model investigating cause-effect links among them, which responds to a research gap noted in the literature (Ulaga and Eggert, 2006a; Ryssel et al., 2004), being relationship value quite a new variable in this field. Second, our work emphasizes the role of relationship value in building strong relationship with suppliers. Our empirical study demonstrates the benefits of augmenting the perceived value of relationships. Relationship value emerges as a critical variable that contributes to generate trust, commitment and satisfaction with the relationship, and those variables have proved to mediate in predicting loyalty. Third, the findings of the present paper confirm the direct significant effect of commitment and satisfaction on increasing loyalty, as proved in several previous studies. Also, our results corroborate the absence of a significant direct effect of an affective variable such as trust on behavioural intentions such as loyalty. Previous studies, such as Ulaga and Eggert (2006a), Shabbir et al. (2007) and Tian et al. (2008) could not either confirm this relationship, but only an indirect effect of trust on loyalty through commitment.The present paper has a number of implications for managers. Our research shows managers that satisfaction and commitment are key factors because of their impact on intention to continue and expand business with the supplier. In this sense, the supplier should first of all create value for the customer - cognitive variable. When the relationship is considered valuable, it generates satisfaction and commitment, affective variables that lead to favourable behavioural intentions. Thus, manufacturers should recognize the role of assessing and building relationship value with their partners, as it has an impact, direct or indirect, on intentions to stay in the relationship. Both customer and supplier would benefit from having sustained relationships as they enhance sales and profits, and also they contribute to increased communication, and opportunities for innovation and growth.The results of this research should be interpreted bearing in mind some limitations which constitute research opportunities. First, we consider that future research could include other variables in the proposed model. Thus, from the relationship marketing perspective, it is useful to establish long-term exchanges. On these lines, in addition to the importance of trust and commitment in this type of exchange established by Morgan and Hunt (1994) and Ganesan (1994), among others, the role of additional variables could be investigated such as dependency, reputation, environment variables, etc. which may influence the configuration and level of the long-term orientation. This long-term orientation is indicated by Ryssel et al. (2004) to justify business investment in information and communication technologies.Our research also assumes, in line with the proposal by Ulaga and Eggert (2006a) in a cross-section study, that cognitive perceptions of value interact with feelings of satisfaction, trust and commitment and finally lead towards behavioural intentions to maintain and intensify the purchase relationship, we consider that longitudinal studies could serve to enrich the results and illustrate the complexity of the direction in the links among the variables and take into account dynamics.On the other hand, in this paper we have adopted a customer's perspective in the perception of value. A vendor's perspective can be different and potential gaps between both parties value perception would be captured by analysing this perspective in future investigations. The reader should also acknowledge that the perception of the constructs in our model may be culturally biased, therefore the results could be different in a different cultural context. Furthermore, it would be interesting to see if the results would be the same in service oriented firms, rather than manufacturing firms.Finally, the relationship value construct has been operationalised as reflective. However, a formative approach could be adopted following Ulaga and Eggert (2006b). This approach would make it possible to discover the different components in relationship sacrifices-benefits and their specific influence on the constructs considered.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the paper is to contribute to the knowledge of how relationship value, trust, commitment, satisfaction and loyalty intentions are defined and relate to each other. It explores these relationships in the business-to-business (B2B) context by analysing manufacturing companies regarding to their main supplier.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - After the literature review and several in-depth interviews, a method of empirical analysis consisting of quantitative intervention with an ad hoc survey using a structured questionnaire has been developed. Structural equations modeling is used to contrast the hypotheses on the links between the constructs analysed.\nFindings: - Confirmatory factor analysis provided satisfactory results. With regard to the direct effects of the relationship value, the three relationships being considered were verified: relationship value has a positive influence on trust, commitment and satisfaction towards the supplier. Also, and as already contrasted in previous studies, trust has a direct, positive effect on commitment. In addition, and regarding to loyalty antecedents, data did not confirm that greater trust would increase loyalty but commitment did, leading to the conclusion that the effect of trust on loyalty is only indirect through the effect it has on commitment. Loyalty was also positively affected by satisfaction with the supplier.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Limitations of this paper open lines for future research. First, it considers that future research could include other variables affecting long-term relationships. Second, longitudinal studies could serve to enrich the results and illustrate the complexity of the direction in the links among the variables and take into account dynamics. Third, a customer's perspective in the perception of value has been adopted in this paper. Finally, relationship value has been operationalised as reflective and a formative approach could be adopted. Implications for managers are in line with the detected importance of satisfaction and commitment as key factors because of their impact on intention to continue and expand business with the supplier. Moreover, manufacturers should recognize the role of assessing and building relationship value with their partners as it has an impact - direct or indirect - on intentions to stay in the relationship.\nOriginality/value: - In comparison, far less research has been done in the area of relationship value. This paper emphasizes the role of perceived relationship value in relationship B2B marketing studies providing a model and contributing to relationship management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
It pays to be happy (if you are a man) : Subjective wellbeing and the gender wage gap in Urban China
|
[
"China",
"Gender",
"Subjective wellbeing",
"Wage gap"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A large literature examines the economic returns to human capital. However, there are relatively few studies that have examined the economic returns to psychological capital (Mohanty, 2009a, b; Mohanty and Ullah, 2012a). Among existing studies, most have examined the role of personality traits in influencing earnings (Nyhus and Pons, 2005). A subset of these studies have explored the role of personality traits in contributing to the gender wage gap (Groves, 2005; Mueller and Plug, 2006; Nyhus and Pons, 2012; Semykina and Linz, 2007). Subjective wellbeing also represents important psychological capital which potentially influences earnings. There are a multitude of studies in organizational psychology that have tested the happy-productive worker hypothesis - the notion that individuals who report having higher subjective wellbeing are more productive at work (see Cropanzano and Wright, 2001; Wright and Cropanzano, 2007 for reviews). While findings have been mixed, Landy (1985) dubs the happy-productive worker thesis the \"holy grail\" of organizational psychology.\n2. Subjective wellbeing and income: Underpinning an expected positive relationship between subjective wellbeing and income is the happy-productive worker thesis. The line of reasoning is that individuals who have higher levels of subjective wellbeing are more productive and more productive workers receive higher levels of income. The organizational psychology literature generally suggests a curvilinear relationship between subjective wellbeing and productivity in which there are diminishing returns to subjective wellbeing (see e.g. studies reviewed in Fisher, 2003). The implication is that at high levels of subjective wellbeing, productivity will peak and thereafter fall.\n3. Data and sample: A written survey containing the Chinese (Mandarin) version of the PWI, which can be downloaded from the web[2], and questions on the personal characteristics of respondents was administered to individuals with an urban hukou (household registration) working in a variety of blue collar and white collar jobs across a range of sectors including government, heavy and light manufacturing, mining and services in six Chinese cities: Chengdu, Dalian, Fushun, Fuxin, Fuzhou and Wuhan. The survey was administered by Chinese academics in each city working with the second author in 2007. The objective was to get a representative sample in terms of age, gender, income, marital status and industry in which the respondent worked for each of the cities. The survey was administered in a range of locations, including shopping centers, train stations and workplaces, across urban districts in each of the cities. In each case the interviewer sat down and went through the questionnaire with the respondent. Altogether, 3,390 surveys were completed, consisting of 500 in Chengdu, 558 in Dalian, 515 in Fushun, 498 in Fuxin, 500 in Fuzhou and 819 in Wuhan.\n4. Empirical methodology: Subjective wellbeing and male and female earnings\n5. Results: Subjective wellbeing and male and female earnings\n6. Conclusion: There is a large literature that has examined the role of income (and relative income) in influencing subjective wellbeing (see Clark et al., 2008 for a review). There are, however, few studies that have addressed the question: Does it pay to be happy? In this study we have examined how subjective wellbeing influences income using a data set collected from six cities in China. We have extended the literature in three directions. First, we have used the methodology proposed by Lewbel (2012) to tackle the thorny issues of endogeneity of education and subjective wellbeing in the absence of conventional IVs. Second, we have employed, arguably, a better measure of subjective wellbeing than in related previous studies. The PWI represents an improvement over existing measures of subjective wellbeing in the literature, particularly single-item indicators, because it is valid and because it is a trait measure. This allows us to look at long-run relationships, which are of more practical relevance than transitory fluctuations in subjective wellbeing and income. Third, we have decomposed the gender wage gap and examined the contribution of endowments of, and returns to, subjective wellbeing to explaining differences in male and female income.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use cross-sectional data collected from six cities in China to examine the relationship between subjective wellbeing and male and female earnings and also to consider the contribution of differences in subjective wellbeing to explaining the gender wage gap.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses survey data for 3,390 respondents working in a variety of blue collar and white collar jobs across a range of sectors including government, heavy and light manufacturing, mining and services in six Chinese cities: Chengdu, Dalian, Fushun, Fuxin, Fuzhou and Wuhan. The authors employ the ordinary least squares, Lewbel instrumental variable and Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to econometrically analyze the relationship between subjective wellbeing and gender wage gap.\nFindings: The paper finds that the relationship between subjective wellbeing and wages is stronger for males than females. The authors note that 0.2 percent of the observed gender wage gap can be attributed to differences in mean subjective wellbeing in favor of females, while 53.5 percent can be ascribed to gender differences in returns to subjective wellbeing in favor of males. The paper also finds evidence that the relationship between subjective wellbeing and income is non-linear and that income peaks at higher levels of subjective wellbeing for men than women.\nOriginality/value: The paper extends the existing literature in three important ways. First, the authors use a novel identification strategy, proposed by Lewbel (2012); second it uses a better measure for subjective wellbeing and third, it examine the role of differences in subjective wellbeing in explaining the gender wage gap.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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The "cool factor" of public access to ICT: Users' perceptions of trust in libraries, telecentres and cybercafes in developing countries
|
[
"Trust",
"Public libraries",
"Communication technologies",
"Internet"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a critical role in global development and venues such as libraries, telecentres, and cybercafes, which offer public access to ICT, and can make ICT accessible to broader sectors of the population. This broader access to ICT can have positive consequences to the social and economic development of marginalized and underserved populations and help bridge the so-called digital divide. But for ICT in public access venues to make a contribution to human development, both ICT and the venues have to be trusted and used.This paper is part of a larger study, the Public Access ICT Landscape Study, which was aimed at understanding what is happening at different types of public access venues, how they are meeting the needs of underserved communities in different countries, and how they can be strengthened to better contribute to global development. The findings of this study suggest several factors that contribute to building trust to use ICT in a public access venue: safety, relevance, reputation, and \"cool\". We discuss them with a particular emphasis on the fourth one, the \"cool\" factor, which is a relatively new concept in the literature.The study was conducted during 2007-2009 by the University of Washington (UW) in 25 countries: Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Georgia, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Moldova, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Uganda (see country selection rationale below). The study did not include countries where there are no public library systems, or where there are significant restrictions to freedom of information of the press; the situation in those countries might be significantly different than what is reported here.The study was conducted in partnership with local research teams who studied public libraries, telecentres, cybercafes, and other venues of importance in each country. It was designed with multiple data-collection and analysis methods to provide data that would give broad insight into the nature of these public access venues, how ICT were being used in them and by whom. Local teams followed a shared conceptual framework for the study that included document review, expert and operator interviews, user surveys, site visits, and focus groups. Approximately, 25,000 people were surveyed and 250,000 public access venues around the world were represented in this study. User surveys conducted by each team were based on a shared template that was translated and adapted to the needs and features of each country.The main research question for this study was:RQ. What are the opportunities to strengthen institutions that offer public access to information and communication, especially to underserved communities, and especially through the use of digital ICT?This broad question was followed by numerous specific questions about the nature of public access venues in each country, particularly focused on issues of equitable access, human capacity and training, and the political and economic environment, using the access, capacity, and environment (ACE) framework (as described below).\nLiterature review: We defined a \"public access venue\" as one that offers public access to information with services available to all and not directed to one group in the community to the exclusion of others. There have been many previous studies about public libraries and ICT (Walkinshaw, 2007; Rutkauskiene, 2008), especially in the USA (Bertot et al., 2005, 2006, 2007), about telecentres for community development (Proenza et al., 2002; Best and Kumar, 2008; Etta and Parvyn-Wamahiu, 2003; Kuriyan and Toyama, 2007; Colle, 2000; Gomez et al., 1999), and to a lesser degree, about cybercafes and their contribution to social and digital inclusion (Gurol and Sevindik, 2007; Haseloff, 2005; Robinson, 2004; Rangaswamy, 2008). Nonetheless, we found no previous studies that have done systematic comparison of different types of venues and across multiple countries.The most common approach to trust in ICT research has focused on Cybertrust, especially on security and trust in electronic transactions: e-learning, e-commerce, e-government, etc. (Urban and Sultan, 2000; Dutton and Shepherd, 2006). Nonetheless, Cybertrust is a new topic of interest in public access centers (Rajalekshmi, 2007). In our study, we found limited evidence of a growing concern for cyber safety in public access centers.From a broader perspective, three conditions are common in definitions of trust: trust is identified with an agent's belief rather than their behavior or action; trust refers to beliefs about the likely behavior of another; and trust is important where context is complex, without an easy contractual relation or enforcement (Lazaric and Lorenz, 1998). Roberts (2000) analyzes the importance of trust for knowledge transfer using ICT, and suggests that the risks and uncertainties of exchanging knowledge using ICT are reduced by a high level of trust in ICT. Much recent research on trust and ICT has centered around building of social capital, frequently referring back to Putnam (1993) and his conceptualization of social capital as a function of network qualities, norms of reciprocity and trust. Onyx and Bullen (2000) suggest five themes as part of social capital: networks, reciprocity, trust, shared norms, and social agency. Pigg and Crank (2004) add the concepts of \"bounded solidarity\" and \"enforceable trust\" and suggest an analytical framework to assess ICT based on five components for social capital: networks, resources for action, reciprocity transactions, bounded solidarity, and enforceable trust.We analyzed safety, credibility, and reputation as factors that mirror the notions of networks, reciprocity, shared norms, and social agency as discussed above. The notion of bounded solidarity is a precursor to the fourth factor in our analysis, \"cool\" as an indicator of trust for users of ICT in public access venues.There is little research about \"cool\" in the academic literature, and it remains a concept that needs further research to understand an important dimension of trust. In a recent study, about social networking, Nealle and Russell-Bennett (2009) identify \"cool\" as an important feature for successful applications:Elusive yet identifiable, cool means different things to different people [...] Cool has evolved to be adopted by Caucasians in the U.S. and throughout the Western world as a characteristic of youth. Being cool is important to youth, and it drives billions of dollars of consumer purchases globally every year. Product adoption and diffusion among youth often relies on the cool factor for teens to recommend the product to their friends (Neale and Russell-Bennett, 2009).Given that \"cool\" is often synonymous with youth, and as we discuss later in the paper - youth's perception of \"cool\" contributes to venue use, we make reference to the concept of \"youthscapes\" and use of media by youths as described by Maira and Soep (2005). They describe the importance of investigating where young people are going, and how that affects society:Young people participate in social relations; use and invent technology; earn, spend, need, desire, and despise money; comprise target markets while producing their own original media; and formulate modes of citizenship out of the various ideologies they create, sustain, and disrupt [...] while conceiving of youth as a shifting group of people that is simultaneously a deeply ideological category (Maira and Soep, 2005).If youth is indeed a deeply ideological category, then public access venues should promote an environment deemed \"cool,\" where young people will want to go to use technology. While the above description of youth does not explicitly state why young people go where they go, lessons can be drawn from research on community radio: in order for young people to be engaged, people, places, and things must \"elicit social and emotional involvement and therefore a high level of motivation to participate\" (Chavez and Soep, 2005).Any discussion of youth would not be complete without assessing the role of parents. A recent study conducted by Pal et al. in rural India discusses how parents perceive technology and computers, and how this affects what they desire for their children's future. They found that parents did not particularly care about what their children were doing on the computers, but they saw computer use as a benefit for their children's futures:From the fairly standard responses of computers being able to bring access to jobs and respect in society, to the more ambitious, \"children can learn English from a computer,\" all of these ideas held a common thread of an underlying class negotiation (Pal et al., 2009).They also found that parents saw computers as a shared resource:[...] their idea that computers are better used in groups, learning together. Although most parents did not discuss specifics of the device in learning questions, they did emphasize the importance of shared ownership and learning from one another, which applied across technological and non-technological resources (Pal et al., 2009).This underscores the importance for public access venues to foster groups and collaboration, which youth perceive as an important factor in determining their use computers in a public access venue (as we shall illustrate below).While the above examples do not necessarily expand upon the perception of \"cool\" in the academic literature, they can provide insight on the behavior of youth, which is important when discussing public access venue use, as illustrated below in our findings. This paper contributes further insight not only to understanding safety, credibility, and reputation as dimensions of trust, but to a better understanding of the existing gap in the literature about \"cool\" and how it contributes to trust in the use of ICT at public access venues.\nResearch methods: In this section, we briefly describe the research methods used in the study, and the methods of analysis for the findings presented in this paper. Note that the complexity of this study cannot be fully accounted for in this short description. For a more detailed description of the research methods, see Gomez (2010). In making the methodological choices for the global study, we took into account the need for shared structure and approach to enhance the comparability of the results, as well as the need for flexibility to adapt to the needs and possibilities of each specific context.Selection of countries\nFindings and discussion: The study is exploratory in nature, and provides an initial perspective of broad patterns and relationships. This paper presents aggregated data across all countries, with special attention to commonalities among them. The findings we discuss are indicative of trends in relation to trust issues, and use; not absolute numbers that apply exactly to any single situation. Given space limitations, we summarize the discussion of the first three factors, and offer a more in-depth analysis of the fourth factor, the \"cool\" factor, given its novelty in the research literature. All country reports are publicly available online (http://cis.washington.edu.pitt.idm.oclc.org/landscape/library/working-documents).1. Perceptions of safety\nConclusion: We have seen how trust is an important component in public access to ICT, especially in development contexts. We suggest trust has to do with the perceived safety, relevance, reputation, and \"coolness\" of the public access venues, and we discussed each one of these categories in some detail. Table I summarizes the main components of trust and how they are perceived in libraries, telecentres, and cybercafes.Overall perceptions of safety tend to be quite comparable across all three types of venues. While physical safety tends to be higher in libraries, the location of telecentres tends to be perceived as more convenient, and libraries tend to be perceived as being of interest only to students or researchers. Telecentres and libraries tend to be more easily used by women in many countries, especially when the operators are also women. While we do not have sufficient data to analyze cyber safety in great detail, it appears computer viruses are the most common problem for both users and venue operators. In addition, there is little awareness of online privacy and security issues in most venues and in the majority of the countries we studied.Overall perceptions of relevance of the information people find in libraries, telecentres and cybercafes vary significantly: while information found in libraries tends to be the most credible, it also tends to be the one least likely to meet local users' information needs (with the possible exception of students). Libraries may be seen as good sources of credible information, but they tend to be perceived as outdated and irrelevant to the majority of the population.The reputation of the institutions hosting the venues and of the persons working in them is also critical to the users' perception of trust in the venue. While libraries tend to have high institutional reputations and more political support than other venues, they also tend to have the lowest level of popular support. Similarly, library staff tend to have the lowest capacity and training to meet the need of ICT users in public access venues: this is exacerbated by the fact that a high proportion of libraries do not offer ICT, and many of the libraries that do offer ICT do not necessarily have trained staff to help users with the ICT tools.The final dimension of trust we analyze is the \"cool\" factor, an emerging insight that requires further research to fully grasp its nuances and complexity. From a broad perspective, just the fact of offering access to ICT is in itself cool. But other things being equal, youth tend to favor \"cool\" venues where they can meet and socialize with their friends, in person, and online; and where they can use ICT for communication and social networking: chat, instant messenger, social networking sites, and games. While these uses tend to be discouraged or blocked in libraries and telecentres, they tend to be not only allowed but also encouraged in cybercafes. More research on the role of these non-instrumental uses and their effects on social and economic development is needed to better understand the challenges they present to libraries and telecentres and to bridging the digital divide.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to determine how trust and perceptions shape uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in public access venues (libraries, telecentres, and cybercafes) in 25 developing countries around the world.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - As part of a global study conducted by the Technology & Social Change Group at the University of Washington, local research teams conducted surveys, site visits, and interviews of over 25,000 respondents in different types of public access venues in the selected countries, using a shared research design and analytical framework.\nFindings: - The use of public access venues is shaped by the following trust factors: safety concerns, relevance of the information, reputation of the institution, and users' perceptions of how \"cool\" these venues are. While libraries tend to be trusted as most reputable, telecentres tend to be trusted as most relevant to meet local needs, and cybercafes tend to be perceived as most \"cool\".\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper is limited by its descriptive and not predictive nature, and is not based on a statistically representative sample of the population.\nPractical implications: - The insight presented in this paper can help inform policy decisions about public access initiatives, and inform future research to better understand the causes and consequences of trust in public access ICT. Understanding these perceptions helps gain a more nuanced understanding of the way services are provided in venues that offer public access to ICT.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is novel as it covers public access to ICT in 25 developing countries across different types of venues, using a shared design and methodological approach. A study of this magnitude has never been done before. The findings provide valuable insight into understanding how people trust different types of public access ICT venues.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The impact of information technology on the competitive advantage of logistics firms in China
|
[
"Information",
"Technology led strategy",
"Competitive advantage",
"Logistics data processing",
"China"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Logistics has evolved dramatically from a passive, cost-absorbing function and supportive role to a primary role. It can help companies to achieve competitive advantages by providing customers with superior services (Sum and Teo, 1999; Bowersox and Closs, 1996; Bowersox and Daugherty, 1995). With increased global competition and higher customer expectations, an increasing number of companies are outsourcing their logistics activities to third-party logistics (3PL) firms so that they can concentrate on their core competencies (Vaidyanathan, 2005).Effective information technology (IT) becomes necessary to support logistics processes (LaLonde and Masters, 1994). IT may help automate routine logistics activities, thus enabling managers to focus on strategic issues and core competencies. Some studies have reported that IT can improve logistical efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, flexibility, cost, and service quality (Bhatnagar et al., 1999; Closs et al., 1997; Daugherty et al., 1995; Lunce and Smith, 2000; Suominen and Takala, 2006). Meanwhile, intermediate supply chain activities, such as distribution, can be enabled and supported by the use of IT (Lewis and Talalayevsky, 1997). Additionally, IT is essential for global logistics management, in particular to coordinate worldwide distribution, product design, production, procurement, and inventory (Huang et al., 2001).Owing to the high cost of advanced IT applications and a lack of expertise, the IT adoption rate of logistics user firms is low (Sum et al., 2001). This low IT adoption rate in logistics user firms means that there are ample opportunities for 3PL providers to adopt and exploit IT (Bhatnagar et al., 1999). Additionally, for 3PL firms, IT is a critical determinant of performance, because they must integrate their systems with those of their clients. IT links supply chain members, such as manufactures, retailers, transportation firms, and distributors (Vaidyanathan, 2005). As a bridge connecting supply chain members, IT in 3PL firms plays an essential role in synchronizing and coordinating complex supply chain activities across logistics users and their customers.Empirical evidence on the ways in which IT influences the competitive advantages of 3PL firms is very limited. The literature on logistics and IT is mainly from the perspective of logistics users. Very few studies have addressed the relationship between 3PL firms' competitive advantage and IT. One of our research objectives was to provide empirical evidence and quantitative support for this relationship.Another objective of the present study was to investigate China's logistics industry. With high economic growth and huge market potential, China has attracted not only business attention, but also a growing amount of academic interest. However, research on China's logistics industry is limited, and more studies are needed. In the following sections, we first review the related studies and describe the research methodology. We then present the results of the data analyses. Subsequently, we discuss the managerial implications and, finally, make some concluding remarks.\n2 Literature review and hypothesis development: 2.1 Logistics in China\n3 Research methodology: 3.1 Measures\n4 Analysis and results: 4.1 Respondent profile\n5 Managerial implications of competitive advantages: From the results of the spline regressions presented above, we could ascertain how IT influences competitive advantages in 3PL firms. The managerial implications of these influences are discussed below.5.1 Service variety advantage\n6 Conclusions: In this study, we examined the relationships between IT and competitive advantages at China's 3PL firms. Through the application of spline regression, we found that IT significantly influences 3PL firms' competitive advantages, and these influences are nonlinear. The influences of IT on competitive advantages are summarized below:* The improvement of service variety advantage is flat when IT is at a low level. Service customization and service variety may be improved when advanced, distinctive, and strategic IT systems are deployed in the firm; when IT managers have obtained sophisticated IT-related management skills; and when IT has been appropriately aligned with business strategies. However, the effect of IT has a \"plateau\" region in which the service variety advantage does not change as much as the level of IT increases. In the \"plateau\" region, the firm is in a learning stage in which it integrates its internal technologies and coordinates with its partners, and managers accumulate and disseminate IT-related management skills. Once IT systems have been integrated, partners coordinated, and the learning procedure finished, the firm goes beyond the \"plateau\" region, and a new wave of higher advantage will be achieved with higher IT.* Higher IT may also help improve delivery speed and reliability, customer relations, and order accuracy. The effect of IT on improvement of service quality, however, is much higher when IT is at high level. When IT is at low level, the effect is slight.* Higher IT may lead to a higher cost advantage when it is beyond the \"strategic necessity\" level. When IT is a \"strategic necessity\" only, a higher level of IT may deteriorate the cost advantage.* To efficiently achieve competitive advantages and alleviate the effects of the TTP and plateau regions, it is essential to integrate IT systems, align IT strategy and business strategy, and obtain superior IT management skills.* Overall, 3PL managers may expect competitive advantages to be derived from investment on IT applications when the deployment of IT applications is higher than the average relative to their primary competitors.This study investigated the relationship between IT and competitive advantages.We confirmed that superior IT may result in improved competitive advantages in 3PL settings. Furthermore, our study indicated that the effects of IT on competitive advantage are significantly nonlinear. In addition, this study constitutes the first examination of the relationship between IT and competitive advantage in China's 3PL setting.Although this study makes a significant contribution to the literature and has important managerial implications, it also has several limitations, and our findings must be interpreted in the light of these. First, our findings were drawn from a Chinese setting and might not necessarily hold true for other countries, due to the uniqueness of Chinese culture and to China's transitional economy. Cultural and economic factors may have a fundamental impact on the generalizability of our findings. In addition, our study only researched 3PL firms, so the results may not be applicable to other industrial settings. Also, data were collected from self-reported questionnaires and may have included individual bias. Future studies should use more objective measurements to reduce the potential for self-reporting bias. Finally, the measures, particularly the first-order IT constructs, need further development.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to examine the impact of information technology (IT) on the competitive advantages of third-party logistics (3PL) firms in China.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A questionnaire-based mail survey was conducted in mainland China. Spline regressions were used to model the relationship between IT and competitive advantages.\nFindings: - This study found that IT could significantly influence a firm's competitive advantage, and the effects are nonlinear.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The modeled relationship between IT and competitive advantages may not hold in different cultural environments and industrial settings. The sample size was small.\nPractical implications: - A higher IT focus may improve a firm's competitive advantage. To achieve competitive advantages efficiently, it is essential to integrate IT, align IT strategy and business strategy, obtain IT-related management skills, and achieve IT competency. 3PL managers can expect competitive advantages from their investments in IT to begin showing up when the deployment of IT is higher than the average relative to competitors.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is a pioneering study that investigates the relationship between IT and competitive advantages in 3PL firms; is a pioneering study on IT and its impact on competitive advantages in China's 3PL firms; and provides valuable guidance and insights for 3PL managers to improve competitive advantages using information technology.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Voices of dissent: unpacking Vietnamese international student experience
|
[
"Higher education",
"Student experience",
"International student",
"Staff perception",
"Vietnamese"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper is based on a study located within an Australian university and focusses on the experience of Vietnamese international students, a relatively under-researched nationality compared to other Asian nationalities, such as Chinese or Indian international students. This study examines key issues influencing the student experience by comparing student and staff perceptions. This study answers the following research question:\nTheoretical perspectives: From a theoretical perspective, a large body of the extant literature on student experience focusses on the influence of lower English language competency in international students from Asia and the negative outcomes stemming from difficulties with communication (Arambewela and Maringe, 2012; Wearring et al., 2015). A cultural deficit approach has dominated the discourse on teaching, which assumes the learning experiences of Asian students is reproductive, surface, teacher-centred and inappropriate in the western education context (Troyna, 1988). A major criticism is that the cultural deficit approach misrepresents the learning backgrounds of international students, incorrectly treating all international students from Asia as a homogeneous group and ignoring differences among individual students and the education systems in different Asian countries (Chalmers and Volet, 1997). In contrast, and according to the cultural proficiency approach, Biggs (1996) views the learning styles of Asian international students as not always having produced negative outcomes. Their academic performances are comparable or sometimes better than those of domestic students or international students from western countries (Rienties et al., 2012). The problem with this discourse is a lack of understanding about the learning background, expectations and aspirations of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) international students, making it difficult for academics and university administrators to implement successful strategies to enhance student experience.\nMethods: A qualitative methodology was chosen in preference to a statistical analysis to gain insights into student and staff narratives on Vietnamese students' experiences - that is, a qualitative approach recognises the depth of human experiences, feelings and perspectives (Minichiello et al., 1995). Two methods of data collections were employed in this study: focus group (FG) and in-depth interview. We chose these methods because they are tailored to determine the perspectives, perceptions and feelings of the informants (Minichiello et al., 1995). The advantage of the FG method was that it enabled us to capture the collective view of the groups while interviewing reflected individuals' opinions/experiences and their own narratives. Using FGs and interviews enabled us to triangulate these two data sources, which enhanced the validity of the data (Yardley, 2008). Specifically, we compared and contrasted: student interviews and student FGs and student interviews/student FGs and staff interviews. We saw the similarities and discrepancies in the responses among students and among staff and students as the way to identify the gap in their experiences. The analysis guided our interpretation of the findings.\nFindings: The differences reflected the mismatch between staff and student perceptions of the learning environment, which is a result of the discrepancy between expectations and reality. Three major themes are discussed below.\nDiscussion and implications: This study explores the differences between student and staff perceptions of the key issues shaping the experience of Vietnamese international students. The analysis of student and staff perceptions provides a greater understanding and appreciation of the factors contributing to positive and negative student experiences and the resulting strategic implications for universities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine Vietnamese international students' experiences with the campus learning environment by analysing differences in staff and student perceptions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two focus groups (n=12) and ten in-depth interviews were conducted with Vietnamese students and four in-depth interviews with the university staff (totalling 26).\nFindings: The findings show a greater divergence of views between students and staff on teaching and learning than English language proficiency and student support services. These key differences were influenced by students' prior expectations of their learning environment in Vietnam.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study is limited to one group of international students and to one Australian university.\nPractical implications: The lecturers/administrators must have a good understanding of international students' learning backgrounds and expectations to enhance their positive experience; appropriate teaching skills and practices are essential for teachers to meet the current needs of students. More effective training for international students to understand the multicultural nature of Australia is also essential.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the literature by identifying the experience of Vietnamese international students in a western university, which is, a relatively under-researched nationality compared to other Asian nationalities such as Chinese and Indian.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Nostalgia and technology innovation driving retro music consumption
|
[
"Retro",
"Innovation",
"Technology",
"Nostalgia",
"Music",
"Consumption"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Both retro pop-rock music and innovation are prevalent elements in modern living[1]. The central question is \"What is the role of innovation in retro pop-rock music?\" The paper defines \"retro pop-rock\" as music so identified by leading trade sources, in particular Billboard Magazine. \"Retro pop-rock\" is considered as residing in the past and influencing the cultural development as it pertains to popular music. Further, following Peter Manuel (1990) the paper considers retro pop-rock music as music associated with and disseminated by the mass media.\n2. The psychology of looking back: nostalgia, retro and pop-rock: There have been many studies relating to nostalgia and the relationships between the concept of nostalgia and music. For example, papers by Stratton and Zalanowski (1994) and Baumgartner (1992) show that hearing a piece of music can evoke memories of past times. Holbrook and Schindler (1991, 2003) and Holbrook (1993) discuss the fact that styles popular during a consumer's youth can influence lifelong preferences. An integrative model of nostalgic preferences is developed including biological, psychological and environmental factors. Davis (1979) has written on the sociology of nostalgia, detailing the conditions and circumstances that evoke it, the function it serves, as well as the consequences for society. Muehling and Pascal (2011) investigate the importance of nostalgia in advertising and find that nostalgia or a yearning for one's past is extremely powerful in assessing the effect and attitude toward advertisements. The purpose of the literature survey on nostalgia undertaken for this paper is to arrive at a relevant meaning of the term itself, while not engaging in controversies surrounding research in domains of psychology and sociology.\n3. Technology innovation: Broadly, the applied view toward innovation adopted in this paper is a hybrid adopted in earlier work (Besson and Cartwright, 2012). The point of view considers the works such as those of Christensen (1997), Chesbrough (2003), Hargadon (2003), von Hippel (2005), Vargo and Lusch (2004) and Buisson et al. (2006). Innovation is seen as consequence of exchange over a networked landscape across which of ideas, information and knowledge of people, and artifacts travel and recombine in new ways. Inventors \"borrow\" existing ideas and then bring together the physical objects and the people necessary to apply those ideas elsewhere. This perspective involves taking account of both dynamic forces of supply and demand.\n4. A survey-based approach: 4.1 Methodology\n5. Summary and conclusions: This paper has focussed on understanding a recognized prima facie attraction of retro pop-rock today for a broad spectrum of people and on explaining the impact of technology innovation on the relative importance of the genre. The key idea of this paper is that ongoing popularity of retro pop-rock music driven by a confluence of demand-side and supply-side factors. The demand side is hypothesized to be characterized by a combination of psychological factors contributing to individuals' desires to enjoy, reflect on or even \"live in\" the past. On the supply side, technology has roles in the consumption, production and distribution of music. While all three roles involve demand fulfillment, technology in distribution is suggested as the \"glue\" holding together supply and demand, enabling consumption of retro music. It is thought that distribution technology enables the interconnection of supply with demand. In addition to an extensive review and synthesis of secondary sources, a survey-based approach is used to study the links between nostalgia (demand) and technology innovation (supply) based on perceptions of participants in the retro pop-rock music market.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Understanding a prima facie attraction of retro pop-rock by a broad spectrum of people and the role of technology innovation in driving the importance of this genre. A key idea of this paper is that ongoing popularity of retro pop-rock music is associated with a confluence of demand-side and supply-side factors. The demand side is thought to be characterized by a combination of psychological factors contributing to individuals' desires to enjoy, reflect on, or even \"live in\" the past. On the supply-side, technology has roles in the production, distribution and consumption of music.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The approach of this paper is to provide an extensive search and synthesis of relevant literature and to present and analyze findings from online surveys.\nFindings: The literature supports the idea that attraction to retro music is heavily influenced by psychological factors as well as technology innovation. The survey provides supporting evidence. Of particular interest are findings related to correlations between nostalgia and technology.\nOriginality/value: This study is, to the authors' knowledge, one of the first to provide a survey-based link between the attraction to retro music to nostalgia and technology.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A comparison of the relationship marketing outcomes of SMEs vs large enterprises in the Kuwait fast food industry
|
[
"Kuwait",
"SMEs",
"Relationship marketing",
"Fast food",
"Large enterprises"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Through the exploitation of revenue-generating petroleum products, Gulf States in the Middle East have rapidly transformed from subsidence herding, farming and fishing communities to emerging modern nations. In fact, in 2017, Kuwait was officially recognized by the British financial index compiler FTSE as an emerging market, joining their Middle Eastern neighbors Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on the list. The reclassification of Kuwait is expected to lead to an estimated $700m inflow of capital from both local and foreign investors within the next few years (Pacheco, 2017). This is because emerging markets such as Kuwait possess numerous advantages, including low-cost labor, low-cost capital, high levels of economic growth and stable market systems (Pangboonyanon and Kalasin, 2018; Welsh et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2014). However, research studies on emerging markets remind us that no two are identical, making it difficult to make generalizations. Instead, researchers need to conduct studies and interpret findings solely within the context of a specific market (Nielsen et al., 2018). As such, and in light of the expected influx of new investment, it is more important than ever to establish a specific understanding of the dynamics of the Kuwait market.\nBackground: The theoretical foundation that explains the fundamental differences between SMEs and LE is the resource-based theory of the firm. According to the resource-based view, resources are at the core of firm strategies. Therefore, differential endowment of organizational resources is an important determinant of organizational performance (Barney, 1991). A company's resources include human, organizational, information and relational elements such as the skills and knowledge embedded in organizational actors, as well as general corporate culture (Hunt, 2000). Evidence indicates that SMEs, regardless of the country in which they operate, are challenged by their constraints in accessing resources (De Massis et al., 2017). Since smaller firms are likely to have fewer resources, direct head-to-head confrontation with their larger and more resource-rich rivals is probably unwise. In fact, it has long been established that smaller firms tend to perform better if they use different strategies from those followed by their larger rivals (Caves and Pugel, 1980). Hence, a strategy based on strategic differentiation is probably the best course of action for many SMEs.\nHypotheses: Irrespective of company size, RM has become the primary concern for many firms (Palmatier et al., 2006), and customer satisfaction remains an important goal (Netzer et al., 2008). Nevertheless, the route to achieve customer satisfaction can take many paths. For many small firms, creativity and innovation may be the preferred approach. For example, it has long been recognized that innovative activity tends to emanate more from small firms than from large firms (Acs and Audretsch, 1988). This indicates that small firms may often resort to a strategy of innovation in order to remain viable, and this innovative behavior may lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction. In support of this position, and perhaps counterintuitively, Rego et al. (2013) recently demonstrated a negative relationship between market share and customer satisfaction. In other words, companies with higher market share actually have fewer satisfied customers. Their conclusions attribute this primarily due to the difficulty that firms with larger market shares have in satisfying a greater number of customers.\nData collection and variables: At the time of the study, 68 fast food restaurant chains, each representing a separate brand, were operating in Kuwait. Most of these fast food chains had multiple locations throughout Kuwait, operating approximately 537 fast food outlets in total. Some of these were local brands and some were international brands with franchising rights held by local partners. Note that since the study focused on SMEs and LEs, only multiple-outlet fast food restaurant chains were included in the study and single proprietorships were not considered. In fact, there were 15 single-outlet brands operating in Kuwait that were excluded from the study. Also, four retail chains declined to provide information. These four were also excluded. Therefore, a total of 49 fast food chains, representing 49 separate brands, were included in the study. These 49 chains operated a total of 508 restaurants, approximately 94.6 percent of the market based on total number of fast food outlets. Interviews with the home office marketing managers of each chain were conducted by trained professional interviewers. Each interviewer was assigned the task of gathering information on a variety of details, including the number of outlets and the approximate number of customers per day.\nAnalyses: In order to test our hypotheses, a number of statistical tests were performed. We began with an analysis of the data by country of origin to determine if SMEs and LEs were equally distributed between domestic and international brands. This is because country of origin could potentially serve as a moderator variable that could confound the findings (Cilingir and Basfirinci, 2014). The results of a kh2 test of the data are shown in Table II. As shown in Table II, the statistical test of the cross-tabulation between firm size and country of origin is not statistically significant (p=0.23). Therefore, the results suggest that SMEs and LEs are equally likely to be either domestic or international firms and that country of origin need not be considered when analyzing the results.\nDiscussion: Sarangi (2018) argues that it is vital for firms operating in emerging markets to establish effective distribution systems. Because all business outcomes are ultimately driven by consumer sales, any effective distribution system is dependent on the management of consumer demand at the retail level of the supply chain (Lau, 2012). Consequently, current research studies that seek to understand and profile the consumption patterns found in the Kuwait retail sector are crucial for new firms seeking to identify the most significant business opportunities in this important emerging market. Consistent with this aim, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of retail chain size on RM performance variables in the Kuwait fast food restaurant industry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of retail chain size on a variety of relationship marketing performance measures in the Kuwait fast food industry. These include customer satisfaction, customer retention, penetration rate, preference ranking and share of customer.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 49 fast food chains, operating a total of 508 restaurants, were included in the study. Interviews with the home office marketing managers of each chain were conducted. In addition, a quota sample of 650 consumers representative of the Kuwait population with respect to age and gender was selected for participation in the study.\nFindings: Findings suggest that large enterprises (LE) exhibit superior outcomes than small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on many relationship marketing (RM) performance dimensions, including satisfaction, retention, penetration, preference and share of customer. In contrast, SMEs appear to have few advantages in achieving RM outcomes over LEs. Larger firms appear to use their superior resources to take actions to develop and manage customer relationships in ways that smaller firms cannot.\nOriginality/value: Kuwait is an important emerging market in the Middle East, and managers need to understand the dynamics of this specific market.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Design of global production and distribution networks: A literature review and research agenda
|
[
"Location",
"Transportation",
"Manufacturing",
"Capacity",
"Facility",
"Systematic review"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In today's competitive and rapidly changing environment manufacturing firms face an increased challenge to design, produce and distribute products for a global market and simultaneously manage its global network of operations as efficiently as possible. As the manufacturing footprints of these firms become more global, the firm has to take successively more aspects into account when designing, managing, and improving the global production and distribution network. Consequently, the design of such networks becomes critical for the competitiveness of the firm. The focus of the firm is first and foremost on its own manufacturing network, i.e. the manufacturing plants of the firm, the distribution system that is owned by the firm, and all transportation within this network. In addition, markets and important suppliers need to be incorporated in an extended view on the manufacturing network (Cheng et al., 2011). Thus, a network includes suppliers, facilities for production and distribution, customers, and all transportation between these nodes. Figure 1 displays a general and extended production and distribution network.\nMethodology: The purpose of the literature review is to summarize the state-of-the-art of research on the design of global production and distribution networks published in peer-reviewed journals. Rowley and Slack (2004) stated that literature reviews are important in: supporting the identification of a research topic, question or hypothesis; identifying the literature to which the research will make a contribution, and contextualizing the research within that literature; building an understanding of theoretical concepts and terminology; facilitating the building of a bibliography or list of the sources that have been consulted; suggesting research methods that might be useful; and analysing and interpreting results.\nResults of the content analysis: The key areas that the extant literature address, related to the design or structure of the production and distribution network, are mainly concerned with location, capacity, and opening/closing facilities. This problem has been approached differently depending upon the type of research methodology that has been employed. Since some papers deal with two or even three of the aspects of location, capacity, and facility changes, while other papers use one research methodology only, we choose to present the content analysis of the papers included in this literature review according to research methodology. The appropriate sequence of gradually gaining more knowledge concerning the phenomenon at hand is: case studies; conceptual models developing principles, propositions, and testable hypotheses; surveys with statistical analysis of large data sets; and mathematical models (cf. Fisher, 2007, p. 379). Accordingly, we present the content analysis in this order.\nSynthesis of the findings: In this paper, we review the literature on global production and distribution networks. We categorize the articles according to research methodology and examine the perspectives that each research methodology can provide. The content analysis shows that different research methodologies provide opportunities for different and complementary perspectives on network design. We find that two areas have reached a maturity stage in terms of research in general: location selection criteria and mathematical modelling. The existing literature on location selection criteria contains a large variety of factors that potentially can be considered; the issue that remains is to tailor the decision support to the specific situation. Most mathematical models focus on the material flow, incorporating multiple stages along the supply chain and can easily be extended to even more complex supply chains or networks.\nResearch agenda: Based on the content analysis of the extant literature on the design of global production and distribution networks, we can identify some gaps in the literature and opportunities for further research. In particular, we propose the following research agenda, which we hope can stimulate further research.\nConcluding remarks: In this systematic literature review, we find that the design of global production and distribution networks is gaining interest as a research area. A limitation of this study is that our search strategy may have missed some references that are related to the area. However, as a counter-measure we used back-tracking and forward-tracking to identify additional relevant papers. Different research methodologies as well as different areas provide complementary perspectives and insights. We identify some important and interesting avenues for further research, and we strongly encourage new integrated research approaches. We hope that this review can stimulate further research on this interesting and important topic.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to systematically and critically review the extant literature on the design of global production and distribution networks to identify gaps in the literature and identify future research opportunities. The design aspects deal with strategic and structural decisions such as: opening or closing of manufacturing plants or distribution centres, selection of locations for manufacturing or warehousing, and making substantial capacity changes in manufacturing or distribution.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors examine the peer-reviewed literature on global production and distribution networks written in English. The search strategy is based on selected keywords and databases. The authors identify 109 articles from 1974 to 2012.\nFindings: The authors categorize the literature according to research methodology: case studies, conceptual modelling, surveys, and mathematical modelling. The amount of literature up to 2,000 is rather sparse, while there is a positive trend from 2,000 and onwards. The content analysis shows that different research methodologies focus on different but complementary aspects. The authors propose a research agenda for further research on design of global production and distribution networks.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors identify research opportunities related to complementary actor perspectives, extended supply chains that explicitly include transportation and suppliers, contingency factors, and new perspectives such as facility roles within production and distribution networks.\nOriginality/value: This paper is to the author's knowledge the first broad review that investigates the design aspects of the interrelationships between production and distribution facilities as well as transportation in global production and distribution networks across multiple research methodologies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Social politics: a theory
|
[
"Crimes",
"Sexual behaviour",
"Social stratification",
"United States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This article focuses on how the form of \"modern-day slavery\" known as human trafficking occurs within the existing economic and social global context. It defines three main forms of human trafficking (based on the research findings of the US Department of Health and Human Services' Rescue and Restore Program), and presents case studies of Swedish and Australian national legislative policies regarding prostitution, to illustrate how decisions made in this area affects human trafficking for sex and labor purposes. It is argued that processes of \"social stratification\" both contribute to, and are reinforced by, the international problem of human trafficking. This is explained in terms of a \"social politics theory\".\nThe social politics theory: \"Social stratification\" can be said to refer to processes whereby national societies, and international communities, are layered according to social and political arrangements which result in inequitable distributions of economic wealth. Economic wealth - a factor that influences a country's ability to be autonomous and self-sufficient - often predetermines a state's ability to provide citizens with what Condoleezza Rice (National Security Advisor for the USA) has called \"responsible sovereignty\" (Patrick, 2006, p. 27). This work argues that when states fail to have responsible sovereignty, internal divisions along socio-economic and socio-political differences are most severe.In his article, \"Weak states and global threats: fact or fiction\", Patrick (2006) discusses the state \"strength\" and its relation with \"responsible sovereignty\". Patrick writes:State strength is relative and can be measured by the state's ability and willingness to provide the fundamental political goods associated with statehood: physical security, legitimate political institutions, economic management, and social welfare. Many countries have critical gaps in one or more of these four areas of governance. In effect, they possess legal but not actual sovereignty. In the security realm, they struggle to maintain a monopoly on the use of force, control borders and territory, ensure public order, and provide safety from crime. In the political sphere, they lack legitimate governing institutions that provide effective administration, ensure checks on power, protect basic rights and freedoms, hold leaders accountable, deliver impartial justice, and permit broad citizen participation. In the economic arena, they strain to carry out basic macroeconomic and fiscal policies or establish a legal and regulatory climate conducive to entrepreneurship, private enterprise, open trade, natural resource management, foreign investment, and economic growth. Finally, in the social domain, they fail to meet the basic needs of their populations by making even minimal investments in health, education, and other social services\". (Partick, 2006, p. 29).Patrick's emphasis on the importance of \"physical security, legitimate political institutions, economic management, and social welfare\" is highlighted because when a state/country lacks the ability and/or willingness to address needs in these four categories, an environment conducive to severe internal social stratification results. Such states may be characterized as \"weak\" or \"failing\" states (Patrick, 2006).In this article, it is argued that in such conditions it is helpful to understand social stratification in terms of a \"social politics theory\". The social politics theory is proposed as a concept which acknowledges the importance of the interpersonal societal environment associated with entrenched and unaddressed social, political, economic, governmental, and institutional problems within \"weak\" or \"failing\" states. This can be illustrated in terms of the links between the conditions of \"weak\" or \"failing\" states, and the proliferation of transnational crimes which themselves contribute further to social stratification inequalities.The concept is derived from combined yet varying types of personal politics, communal politics, national politics, race-based politics, religious politics, gender-based politics, and/or economic class-based politics. All of these differences may serve to divide people into what is described herein as two distinct (not mutually exclusive) categories: perpetrators and victims.The social politics theory is a phrase used to encapsulate a broad thought - the interpersonal societal environment resulting from socio-economic and socio-political differences and reflecting social stratification structures. This area is regulated by male and female gender roles; cultural and theoretical views regarding child sexuality; the pervasiveness of socio-economic class distinctions within social communities; sexual orientation and the \"appropriate\" ways it should be expressed; the pervasive influence of racism and discrimination; the impact of institutional racism and discrimination; the social as well as moral repercussions that result from inconsistent enforcement of the law by bribed officials to benefit the objectives of special interest groups; and the effects of large disparities between the financial resources available in individual countries/nations worldwide. Simultaneously, it makes clear the reasons why protecting the inalienable human rights of every person - women and children in particular -is a formidable challenge.The social politics theory is significant because it acknowledges the importance of the interpersonal societal relationships among individuals to better understand how such relationships lead to distribution(s) of power in a manner that implicitly and explicitly succeed in dividing the thriving masses of globalised society into two groups. On the one hand, it creates victims. Victims will be defined here as those who are made vulnerable as a result of social politics. They possess little or no autonomy, and can be acted upon, used, and/or exploited by others (for example, the impoverished, disenfranchised, marginalized, trafficked victims, etc.) On the other hand, it creates perpetrators. Perpetrators will be defined here as those who possess sufficient autonomy to make decisions voluntarily (for example, abusive employers, smugglers, traffickers, the \"clients\" of the sex industry, etc.). Perpetrators occupy a social position less vulnerable to exploitation and are free to act upon those classified as victims to support their own interests with relative immunity from punishment.On a global scale, often the only method that can be used to examine the severity of victimization and reveal the culpability of the perpetrator(s) is the concept of consent - involuntary and/or voluntary consent. Voluntary consent will be defined here as consent that can be given by a person capable of consenting without the pressures of intimidation and coercion; and can be completely and immediately retrieved without violence or the threat of violence. Involuntary consent will be defined here as consent gained by coercion; surrendered out of desperation, the result of violence, or the threat of violence; intimidation; or force. Social politics as a theory and the influences it has on consent (both voluntary and involuntary) is highlighted here not just because it creates the context in which human trafficking occurs, but because it influences heavily the ability of one who possesses both autonomy and decision-making power to act on propensities to indulge in proclivities prohibited by existing national/international enforceable laws as well as human rights standards. A perpetrator's position in relation to specific worldwide social politics - both explicit and implicit - influences what they believe their rights are and determines how they decide to understand and interpret the consent given or taken from victims. Emanating from multiple individual sources the social politics theory articulates a sum composite and abstract influence. This unstudied interrelationship between social politics; voluntary/involuntary consent; the proclivities of perpetrators; and the vulnerability of victims nonetheless succeeds in creating powerful influences that when combined serve to foster and regulate transnational crimes.\nHuman trafficking and the social politics theory: In the context of globalised communities, human trafficking offers a particularly important illustration of how social stratification may be understood through the social politics theory. It is a suitable illustration because it is a social problem that creates both perpetrators and victims. It is also an international crime, which is currently able to thrive financially and expand rapidly on a global scale.According to the US Department of State, an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across borders each year. Approximately, 80 per cent of these estimates are women and girls and up to 50 per cent are minors (US Department of State, 2005, p. 6).It is important to note that this report includes numbers that focus on transnational human trafficking: the data used here does not include the millions of trafficked victims around the world who are trafficked within national borders. By applying the social politics theory, it can be argued that when the conditions which enable the conflicting perspectives of victims and perpetrators, collide with the entrenched long-term circumstances of \"weak\" and \"failing\" states (compromised physical security, illegitimate political institutions, economic mismanagement, and poor social welfare), problems such as human trafficking are able to germinate, grow, and proliferate (cf. Williams, 1997).Forms of human trafficking\nLegislation and policy: The social politics theory as it relates to human trafficking is illustrated further by examining the cases of Sweden and Australia according to their legislative and policy decisions regarding prostitution. The research used for this work supports the view that national legislative and policy decisions on prostitution can influence the proliferation of human trafficking in general and sex trafficking in particular.Sweden\nConclusion: In conclusion, the social politics theory as it has been articulated herein encourages a multidisciplinary approach for analyzing, mitigating, and improving the conditions within \"weak\" or \"failing\" states. If ignored, such states can support the proliferation of human trafficking globally. Conditions existing within \"weak\" or \"failing\" states can be seen to strengthen and widen the existing socio-economic and socio-political gaps between victims and perpetrators on a global scale. The social politics theory tries to highlight how the resulting effects of socio-economic and socio-political legislation and policies created without a sensitivity for how victim and perpetrator categories are created and maintained skews the concept of involuntary and/or voluntary consent in a manner that is dangerous. The social politics theory offers a lens through which these multi-disciplinary and multi-pronged solutions can at least be imagined so needed steps can be taken.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to articulate a theory which connects social stratification processes to the international problem of human trafficking for sex and labor purposes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper develops a social politics theory to connect concepts from social stratification to the study of human trafficking. It draws on data provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services' Rescue and Restore program for trafficked victims to illustrate how traffickers move victims trans-nationally. It cites sources from Australia and Sweden to show how national laws and policies regarding prostitution can contribute to or discourage human trafficking for sex and labor purposes.\nFindings: - The social politics theory is a theoretical idea based on observations of how social, political, legal, and economic changes within \"Weak\" and \"Failing\" states create an environment conducive to human trafficking for sex and labor purposes as well as other forms of injustices.\nOriginality/value: - The social politics theory was created to acknowledge the influence of extraneous combined socio-political and socio-economic forces existing in modern societies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
How personal can ethics get?
|
[
"Whistleblowing",
"Ethics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: During my ethics class in the Master's of Science Program at the University of Chicago, one of my classmates, Valerie Young, told me a story that seemed so unbelievable that I questioned its accuracy at the beginning. But then, when she described the details of the ethical dilemma she had been dealing with, I was shocked to learn how someone was able to be so greedy and ruthless.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to demonstrate an ethical dilemma in transparency. This is a true story. Names have been changed to protect identities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Provides a true real life story. A classmate and close friend of the author told her about an ethical dilemma, and they decided it would make a good ethics case for business school students. The paper tells a story about a person having to make a difficult decision, and the way ethics can play out for an individual whose entire career could be at stake because of that decision.\nFindings: - Companies should show more support for whistleblowers even though that can be problematic. It should not be a risk to say what we know and think.\nOriginality/value: - This paper will hopefully make people aware of the problems faced by whistleblowers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Regulation, awareness, compliance and SME performance in Cameroon's manufacturing and retail sectors
|
[
"Cameroon",
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises",
"Business development",
"Organizational performance",
"Regulation",
"Organizational growth"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Economic importance of SMEs in Cameroon: Studies by Beck et al. (2005), Ayyagari et al. (2005), Sackey (2007), Beyene (2002) and Ndjanyou (2001) have shown that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are significant for economic growth in Cameroon. The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Craft suggests that SMEs accounted for about 22 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2004. SMEs employ a substantial proportion of the country's labour force and constitute a very important avenue for achieving poverty alleviation and reducing unemployment. The Centre de Recherche et d'Etude en Economie et Sondage (CRETES, 2003) finds that 87 percent of SMEs in Cameroon usually employ fewer than 20 employees, and only close to 2 percent employ more than 100 employees. Of the total of 2,800 SMEs in the country, 71 percent operate in the secondary and tertiary sectors[1]. Thus, trade (commerce) only accounts for 22 percent of the total SME employment in the country. The manufacturing sector, in contrast, is in general either publicly or foreign owned. There are few formal manufacturing enterprises owned by Cameroonians.1.1 Background to the study\n2 Defining regulation: Regulation of business activity is a key issue confronting national governments and supranational policymakers (OECD, 2000). There are many definitions of regulation. Regulation refers to the diverse set of instruments by which governments set requirements on enterprises and citizens:Any government measure or intervention that seeks to change the behaviour of individuals or groups. It can both give people rights (e.g. equal opportunities), and restrict their behaviour (e.g. compulsory use of seat belts) (BRTF, 2003).Regulation is: \"[...] A set of 'incentives' established either by the legislature, Government, or public administration that mandates or prohibits actions of citizens and enterprises [...]. Regulations are supported by the explicit threat of punishment for non-compliance\" (OECD, 1994).These definitions encompass all measures or interventions undertaken by central and local government bodies which affect business activity. These include: taxation and financial reporting, employment and health and safety, trading standards and consumer rights, environmental protection, intellectual property, premises and planning rules, data protection and transport. Government also supports a legal framework of contract and property rights, which both enable and constrain business activity (Table I).2.1 The regulation debate\n3 Methodology and data collection: 3.1 Data collection\n4 Empirical result: 4.1 Socio-economic profile of business surveyed\n5 Logit analysis results: Following Odd-Helge et al. (2006), respondents were asked to rate the importance of problems relating to regulation of SMEs in Cameroon. We seek to determine whether these types of constraints negatively affect SMEs business performance. Logit analysis models are used to test the probability of SME owners/managers perceiving themselves to be affected by individual regulation (enforcement, compliance, awareness, business start-up, etc.) from different government departments (DGI, municipality, labour, SMEs, trade). The logit method is useful because the dependent variables being tested are binomial. The second column reports parameter estimates.5.1 Determinants of business awareness of their legal status as SMEs\n6 Concluding remarks and policy recommendation: As studies suggest better regulation improves economic growth performance, our study hence focused on the relationship between some aspects of regulation, awareness of regulators and regulatory impact on SMEs in two regions of Cameroon.The association between awareness and formalization is mixed in our study. Our finding that formalization and owner/manager level of education are correlated supports those of Krause et al. (2010). Our results are also in line with those of Davidsson and Henreksson (2002) and Odd-Helge et al. (2006), in that we find trade regulation and company laws to be the primary regulations that have negative impact on small and medium size businesses. Businesses registered with the Ministry of Trade tend to be more regulation compliant while those registered with the Municipality are not.We also confirm the findings by Svensson (2003) regarding the negative impact of corruption on SME performance. Having experiences of corruption, opinions that regulation is rigid and inconsistent contribute to having the opinion that regulation is negatively impacting on business. The size of business, SMEs experiences of very frequent inspection by the Ministry of SMEs, and investment climate in the Littoral region are significantly associated with having the opinion that regulation negatively affects business performance.Businesses that are compliant with the municipality and the Ministry of SME, owned by men, are aware of their legal status SMEs are more likely to have the opinion that regulation improves business performance. Not surprisingly, businesses that register for tax and those in the manufacturing sector see tax regulation as a burden.It is important for Cameroon's regulatory agencies to embark on SMEs information dissemination campaign. Government should also tackle corruption as it impacts negatively on business development. Trade and company laws should be revised in order to SME friendly. The business climate in the Littoral province needs to improve.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the regulation, awareness, compliance and performance of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Cameroon's Central and Littoral regions, focusing on the manufacturing and retail sectors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The full survey was conducted on 700 randomly selected SMEs which have identifiable business locations. From this, only 575 enterprises were retained for analysis after performing the coherence test.\nFindings: - Businesses registered for tax and those in the manufacturing sector see tax regulation as a burden. Those having opinions that regulation is rigid, inconsistent and that there is corruption also opine that regulation is negatively impacting on business. High compliance with customs and municipal regulations significantly negatively affect business development. On the other hand, high compliance with health and safety as well as trade regulations is good for SME development. Businesses registered with the Ministry of Trade tend to be more compliant, while those registered with the Municipality are not.\nPractical implications: - Overall, it is important that government should create an enabling environment for the development of the SMEs in Cameroon.\nOriginality/value: - The number of studies focusing on the relationship between regulation and business performance in Africa is limited. Hence, the contribution of this paper is to enrich our understanding of this important field.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A note on occupational variations in the returns to education in the US labor market
|
[
"Labour market",
"Remuneration",
"Education",
"Human capital"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Social scientists have long been interested in the causal link between human capital investments and the earnings of labor. Adam Smith was perhaps the first to formalize this link when he stated:...the wages of labour vary with the...difficulty or expense of learning [a trade]...The work which he learns to perform ...will replace to him the whole expense of his education, with at least the ordinary profits of an equally valuable [unit of] capital... (Smith, 1776, Book I, Ch. 10).More recently, the pioneering works of Schultz (1963), Hansen (1963), Becker (1964), Mincer (1974) and others spawned a vast literature that explores the numerous endeavors that are said to enhance the productivity, and therefore the earnings potential, of workers. Such endeavors, collectively referred to as human capital, include education and on the job training, migration and other productivity-augmenting activities. One popular avenue of human capital research has been the investigation of the monetary returns to educational investments. The positive link between schooling and earnings is based on the following premise: a worker's investment in additional schooling requires an initial sacrifice in terms of direct costs and foregone labor market earnings. In return for these costs, the worker expects higher lifetime earnings potential. Whether schooling actually increases a worker's productivity and earnings, or acts rather as an elaborate sorting mechanism, is still a subject of debate among social scientists (Card, 1999). Regardless of the underlying causes, the direct relationship between schooling and earnings is a well established empirical result. Other benefits to schooling include greater access to occupations with higher compensation, more stable employment conditions, and higher social prestige (Schmidt and Strauss, 1975). These occupations are often referred to as \"primary sector\" jobs (Doeringer and Piore, 1971). Thus, education may be viewed as a conduit out of less-desirable, lower-paying, \"secondary sector\" jobs (many of which are blue-collar occupations) and into, perhaps, more desirable white-collar professions such as managerial, professional and technical, and sales.In general, empirical studies from the human capital literature find that schooling is positively correlated with earnings and upward occupational mobility, although there are significant variations in these correlations across race, gender, ethnicity, and over time[1]. Perhaps an overlooked corollary of the human capital hypothesis is whether there is a weaker (or nonexistent) link between earnings and education within traditional blue-collar occupations, or occupations that are predominantly secondary sector jobs. The segmented labor market hypothesis of Doeringer and Piore (1971) suggests that secondary sector jobs have unstable employment conditions and offer little, if any, financial rewards to additional human capital acquisition. Employment conditions in these occupations contrast sharply with those in the \"primary\" sector that offer high wages, good benefits, stable working conditions, and opportunities for additional training and advancement. Dickens and Lang (1985) find evidence of two distinct wage structures: one that offers positive returns for schooling and experience, and one that offers essentially zero returns for these attributes. This finding is consistent with the segmented labor market hypothesis. A recent study by Baffoe-Bonnie (2003) provides estimates of the probability that workers in particular occupations are employed in the primary and secondary sectors. Thus, it is possible to determine if the financial returns to education are skewed towards higher-paying occupations from the primary sector such as white-collar managerial jobs. The issue essentially becomes an empirical question: do certain occupations offer lower financial benefits to acquiring years of formal schooling than others? To address this question, we analyze recent data from the Current Population Survey to estimate rates of return to education across occupational categories in the US labor market.\nEarnings model and data: The wage model employed in this study is based on the standard human capital model of income determination, as developed by Mincer (1974) and others. The basic specification for our wage model is that an individual worker's earnings can be expressed as: Equation 1 where the dependent variable, ln W, is the logarithm of weekly earnings, EDYEARS denotes years of schooling completed, X represents a standard set of personal characteristics that are statistically linked to earnings, and e is a stochastic error term. The OLS estimated coefficient on schooling, a^, measures the percentage wage differential associated with one additional year of schooling[2]. Conventional specifications for expression (1) often include dummy variables for occupation - thus assuming implicitly that the returns to education are constant across occupations. As mentioned above, the assumption of equal returns across occupations is questionable given the findings from the segmented labor market literature. To address the potential variation in occupational rates of return to education, we instead estimate expression (1) for each occupational category. By estimating separate occupational wage regressions, we are assuming that there are distinct wage structures across occupational categories. This assumption is valid to the extent that mobility among occupational classifications is relatively low, a finding that has some recent empirical support (Gabriel, 2003). Although education and occupational attainment are clearly inter-dependent (Schmidt and Strauss, 1975), with higher-educated workers more likely to be employed in upper-tiered occupations, our primary interest is to determine if this relationship translates into higher estimated returns to schooling, once occupational choices have been completed.The samples in this study are taken from the March 2003 Annual Demographic file of the US Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS data allow us to construct a large representative sample of workers from the US labor market. Our samples, separated by gender, are restricted to non-agricultural workers with positive weekly earnings who were neither in school full-time nor in the armed forces. Table I lists the explanatory variables in X for the human capital wage equation, and Table II lists the aggregate occupational categories for our analysis. Following the standard classifications from the US Department of Labor, it is straightforward to separate the occupational categories into the traditional \"blue\" versus \"white\" collar classifications. As an additional classification mechanism, we have identified occupations (in parentheses) as being comprised of predominantly primary (P) or secondary sector (S) jobs. These classifications are based on a synthesis of results from representative studies in the segmented labor market literature (see Doeringer and Piore, 1971; Baffoe-Bonnie, 2003; Latimer, 2000).\nEmpirical results: Table III presents the estimated returns to education, and the estimated impact on weekly earnings across occupations, for men and women. These estimates are based on separate OLS wage regressions of expression (1) for men and women in each occupational category. The estimated returns to education are shown only for those occupations with statistically significant coefficients on schooling, and with sample sizes that exceeded 100 observations[3]. For men, the results shown in column (1) indicate positive and significant monetary rewards to schooling across occupations: in all nine occupational categories there are positive returns to an additional year of schooling. In general, the returns to schooling for men range from 3.75 percent for production workers to nearly 8.41 percent for salesmen. Columns (2) and (3) present a 95 percent confidence interval for the estimated returns of column (1). The highest rates of return to schooling for men tend to be in white-collar occupations. For instance, the estimated returns for white-collar workers in sales, managerial, and professional jobs are statistically higher than all of the blue-collar occupations, with the exception of operatives. An additional finding from Table III is that the two primary sector blue-collar occupations (production and construction) have the lowest estimated returns to education. Although it is clear that additional schooling leads to higher earnings for men, regardless of their occupation, the greatest financial rewards to education are concentrated among primary-sector white-collar workers. However, given the low rates of return in production and construction, we conclude that whether an occupation is considered part of the primary or secondary labor market has little effect on the estimated returns to schooling.Turning to women, the estimated returns to schooling are positive for seven occupational categories. Given the small number of observations, we were unable to estimate the returns to education for women in construction and maintenance occupations. The returns to schooling range from 1.6 percent for service workers to 9.4 percent for professional workers. As with men, the highest returns to education appear in white-collar (primary sector) occupations. However, only women in the professional fields have estimated returns to schooling that are significantly higher than the estimated returns in blue-collar occupations. Thus, the results in Table III present a mixed pattern of the link between education and occupational earnings for women. Although the greatest estimated rewards to education are in two white-collar occupations (professional and managerial) the next highest returns accrue to operatives and production workers. As with men, whether an occupation is in the primary or secondary labor market appears to have little impact on the estimated returns to schooling.\nConclusion: This study estimates rates of return to schooling across aggregate occupational categories in the US labor market. In particular, we investigate whether the positive link between earnings and education applies equally to both white-collar and blue-collar occupations. In addition, we assess if there are differences in the estimated returns to schooling for primary versus secondary occupations, as described by the segmented labor market hypothesis. Our analysis of recent data from the CPS supports the notion that additional schooling increases the weekly earnings of men and women in both blue- and white-collar occupations. Overall, our estimated occupational rates of return to schooling vary from 3.8 to 8.4 percent for men, and from 1.6 to 9.4 percent for women. For men, the highest rates of return are in the white-collar occupations of sales, professional, and managerial. For women, however, only professional workers have statistically higher rates of return to schooling than their blue-collar counterparts. In addition, schooling appears to benefit workers regardless of whether they are employed in jobs from the primary or secondary sector of the labor market. Thus, investing in additional education appears to be a direct conduit to higher earnings for men and women, regardless of the nature of their occupations.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Seeks to answer the question: \"do certain occupations offer lower financial benefits to acquiring years of formal schooling than others?\".\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study uses data from the 2003 Current Population Survey to estimate rates of return to education across occupational categories in the US labor market. The wage model employed is based on the human capital model of income determination.\nFindings: - The analysis suggests that additional schooling has a positive impact on the weekly earnings of men and women in both white- and blue-collar occupations - with the highest returns accruing to sales, managerial, and professional workers. Although returns are generally higher for white-collar workers, no link is found between the returns to schooling and the propensity of occupations to be comprised of \"primary\" or \"secondary\" sector jobs.\nOriginality/value: - Supports the notion that additional schooling increases the earnings of men and women in both blue- and white-collar occupations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
A contingency model for knowledge management capability and innovation
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge management systems",
"Knowledge processes",
"Learning organizations",
"Innovation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Knowledge management (KM) has become a very important concept in the business world. In many firms, KM has become the top investment priority. It is recognized that the performance of KM is highly associated with the intellectual capital of the firm, which in turn affects its innovation and financial achievement (Wong, 2005). However, previous studies about how to improve KM capability efficiently are still controversial (Birkinshaw et al., 2002). First, the characteristics of knowledge have been categorized from many perspectives. However, no one agreed set of definitions has been identified. For example, Polanyi (1962) classifies knowledge into two categories: explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be codified and shared in the form of hard data, manuals, codified procedures or universal principles, while tacit knowledge results from an individual's experience and is only revealed through its application. Spender (1996) proposes that knowledge can be held by individuals or collectivity. Collective knowledge comes from knowledge integration: it is the combination of the coordinated efforts of several individuals who hold different but complementary skills (Grant, 1995).Second, many studies have suggested that KM is a business process consisting of sub-processes such as organizational learning, knowledge integration, and knowledge distribution, among others (Gold et al., 2001; Nevis et al., 1995; Sarvary, 1999; Wilkens et al., 2004). Most previous studies suggest that the activities of KM sub-processes will enhance KM capability (Lee and Hong, 2002; Lin and Tseng, 2005). For example, organizational learning and knowledge integration will influence KM capability. Knowledge distribution will affect innovation. However, the interactions among these research variables are ignored in previous studies and so require further research.Third, previous studies have argued that KM should be closely linked to KM strategy and goals (Davenport and Prusak, 1997). For example, Zack (1999a) suggests that companies oriented toward exploiting internal knowledge exhibit the most conservative knowledge strategies, while unbounded innovators (firms that closely integrate knowledge exploration and exploitation without regard to organizational boundaries) have the most aggressive knowledge strategy. While organizational learning and KM have generated a great deal of attention, relatively few related studies have investigated the interactive effects of KM strategy and organizational learning on KM. Thus, further research on the relationship among these factors is needed.Fourth, knowledge-based theory concerning knowledge characteristics and knowledge integration have been extensively applied for organizations (Bonache and Brewster, 2001; Huang and Newell, 2003; McEvily and Chakravarthy, 2002; Wang et al., 2004). Since, firms can to some extent be seen as distributed knowledge systems (Blackler et al., 2000; Grant, 1996b), in order to acquire sustainable competitiveness, a firm needs to have the capabilities to integrate different kinds of knowledge in an effective manner. Along with others, Grant (1996a) proposes that different types of knowledge require different patterns of integration. Through the knowledge integration process, firms could transform the specialized knowledge base of a number of individuals into applicable knowledge which directly or indirectly relates to an organization's knowledge capability (Huang and Newell, 2003). In other words, according to knowledge characteristics, firms with better knowledge integration processes will enhance their KM capability. However, using KM strategy as a contingent role to investigate the relationship between knowledge integration and KM capability so far has created little attention.Fifth, more and more innovation studies have emphasized the extent to which the innovation process involves the integration of external knowledge with the existing organization (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Leonard-Barton, 1995; Powell, 1998; Wu et al., 2002). For example, Mullen and Lyles (1993) suggest that continuous organizational learning will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a firm's innovation. Since, innovation will strengthen a firm's competitive advantage, knowledge is the key that combines organizational learning and innovative activities. Firms must ensure continuous organizational learning and maintain a superior internal KM system. However, it seems that researchers rarely discuss the interrelationships of a comprehensive model that contains knowledge integration, KM strategy, organizational learning, KM capability, and innovation. Specifically, the moderating role of KM strategy on this KM model has largely been ignored. Thus, further investigation is needed.Based on the above, it is evident that a few research gaps exist for academics and practitioners to develop a contingency model of KM capability and innovation that brings relevant constructs as the influential variables. Thus, the purposes of this study are two-fold:1. to develop a conceptual framework to identify the interrelationships among knowledge characteristics, organizational learning, KM strategy, knowledge integration, KM capability and innovation; and2. to empirically test the above conceptual framework.\n2 Literature review: 2.1 Influences of knowledge characteristics, organizational learning and knowledge integration on KM capability\n3 Research design and methodology: 3.1 Research model\n4 Research results: 4.1 Influences of KM strategy on knowledge interaction, organizational learning, and KM capability\n5 Conclusions and suggestions: 5.1 Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Based on theories of organizational learning and strategy, the purpose of this study is to develop a strategic contingency model to identify the interrelationships among knowledge characteristics, knowledge management (KM) strategy, knowledge integration, organizational learning, KM capability and innovation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study was conducted using the survey method. A total of 800 survey questionnaires were sent to KM managers from the semiconductor, LED, precision machinery, communication, and biotech industries. ANOVA and LISREL were adopted to test 11 hypotheses as developed in this study.\nFindings: - The research results concluded that: knowledge characteristics with higher modularity and explicitness could enhance organizational learning and knowledge integration; levels of organizational learning, knowledge integration, and KM capability had significant impact on a firm's innovation; the interaction effects of human oriented KM strategy and organizational learning, and system oriented KM strategy and knowledge integration were found to significantly impact KM capability.\nResearch limitations/implications: - To further confirm the results of this cross-sectional research, more longitudinal research is suggested. To identify the scope of generalization of this study, future research may use the same questionnaire or an abbreviated one to conduct surveys across different industries or different international settings.\nOriginality/value: - The interrelationships among knowledge characteristics, KM capability and innovation have been evaluated extensively in previous studies. However, the interaction effects between organizational learning and KM strategy and between system oriented KM strategy and knowledge integration on KM capability have been largely ignored. The results of this study provide very important references for academics and practitioners to implement the effectiveness of KM.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Can stories change a culture?
|
[
"Storytelling",
"Organizational culture",
"Organizational change",
"Transformational leadership",
"Coaching"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nWhat Is culture?: A quick check of the dictionary yields no less than 12 different definitions of \"culture,\" ranging across the arts, anthropology, biology, education, and sociology. Here are my two favorites:cul ( ture [kuhl-cher]1 the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.2 the development or improvement of the mind by education or training.So it seems fair to say that in an organizational context, culture is the \"behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular organization\". These behaviors and beliefs emerge over time, usually as a result of a strong founder or CEO's influence (think Microsoft, GE, and IBM), a \"near-death\" experience (think AT&T), a positive customer reaction to the business model (think Dell, FedEx, and McDonald's), or a particular work ethic (think Accenture). Many company cultures have been shaped by a combination of these forces. Like a virus, these \"behaviors and beliefs\" infect every aspect of the business, from hiring practices to corporate governance.A strong corporate culture is a powerful thing. I remember joining IBM as a brand new professional, and it didn't take long for me to \"turn blue\" with company pride. Culture sets the rules, manages the players, and doles out the consequences. Culture defines the very game itself.But what happens when significant change is introduced into this system? Like a new organ being introduced to a human body, strong drugs must accompany this change lest the body reject it!Cultures do change. Slowly, sometimes imperceptibly, attitudes and beliefs shift away from what were once non-negotiable certainties toward a completely new way of looking at things.\nDo cultures actually change?: On a broad social level, consider how attitudes and beliefs towards slavery and civil rights have changed. On an economic level, look at attitudes towards globalization and shifting work around the world. On an organizational level, look at how we have changed our attitudes towards how and where the work gets done. On an individual level, look at how we have changed the tools we use to get the job done. (Look at something as simple as the dress code! As an IBMer, I was required to wear white shirts, suits, and ties every day of the week. This was not up for negotiation ... until it was.)\nCultures do change: *Social - slavery: used to be a fact of life for many.*Economic - globalization: secure, blue-collar jobs based on a high-school education used to be plentiful.*Organizational - work design: your office was for your work life and your home was for your personal life.*Individual - work tools: phones used to have cords attached to them and information had to be looked up in a book.These changes in attitudes and beliefs, of course, happen over time. And they happen in fits and starts ... it is rarely a clear, straight path to a new understanding. But change does happen.\nCan stories change a culture?: Yes. Stories are the most powerful way to change a culture. Since the building blocks of culture are \"behaviors\" and \"beliefs\", these must be addressed head-on in order for change to take hold. One mistake that leaders make repeatedly is that we over-rely on facts to tell people what's changed, as if a clearer understanding of the facts will suddenly affect their behavior. This approach doesn't work any better than relying on the facts to tell people that smoking will kill them.We don't change people's behaviors and beliefs by saying to them, \"Well, as a health insurance company, we used to be about paying claims for sick people, but now we are about helping people live healthier lives\". Instead, we tell stories about how one of our customer representatives used claims history to notice that a woman's child was showing the early warning signs of diabetes and provided her with information that helped her son avoid spiraling into the disease.We don't say, \"Hey, let's not be an airline that just transports people from place to place, but let's have fun. Yeah, that's right ... go have some fun\". Instead, we create and tell stories of what this looks like when it's happening, from the CEO riding his motorcycle into corporate headquarters to the flight attendants cracking jokes during their safety demonstrations.Stories are sticky. Because stories are character-driven, people can easily relate the action of a story to their own context. Unlike bullet points on slides and in e-mails, stories do a number of things well that help people better understand not just the \"what\", but the \"how\" and \"why\". The how and the why are the only things that help people change their behaviors. We can tell people what to do until we are blue in the face, but only until we engage them in the how and why do we have a chance of impacting their beliefs.In corporate America, it's now official - people are bullet-proof. We all have so much information coming at us all the time, that we've learned how to tune out most of it. We even tune out emails from our senior executives exhorting us to do this or that. Bullet points bounce off of us like the never-ending stream of \"headlines\" running at the bottom of our TV screens, rarely sticking long enough to register in our consciousness. But stories are like the water table. They always exist just under the surface and all we need to do is tap them and drink from them.So, how do stories change a culture?Stories \"add back\" context\nStories - into the bloodstream: In order for stories to impact a culture, they must first get \"into the bloodstream.\" There are two main ways that stories are communicated into organizations:1. verbally; and2. digitally.Telling stories verbally\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to identify why we need to get past the bits and bullets - e-mails, text messaging and PowerPoint presentations - and tell the full story. Story is the most powerful way to change a culture. By identifying with beliefs and behaviors, stories are shown as the lynchpin for social, economic, organizational, and individual change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper shows how cultural change is driven by stories and provides a process through which leaders can work to drive change within their own organizations using the Story Tools: WinBook, StoryMatrix and Story Coach, eScenes and Scenarios. Together the tools provide the framework for leaders to be more effective and consistent leaders.\nFindings: - Stories are the most successful way to change a culture. By \"adding back\" context, stories carry success and failure messages, they allow us to reflect and learn by drawing us in, and finally stories influence us to create the right kinds of behavior.\nPractical implications: - This paper offers practical tools for leaders to capture and tell stories that enhance their leadership skills, as well as offering insights into changing a company's culture.\nOriginality/value: - The originality of this approach to story lies in the story tools - StoryMatrix, Story Coach, WinBook, eScenes and Scenarios developed by the author and his company WisdomTools. The authors's book, What's Your Story? Using Stories to Ignite Performance and Be More Successful, provides the reader with more in-depth background on the original Story Tools.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What are the best HRM practices for retaining experts? A longitudinal study in the Canadian information technology sector
|
[
"HRM practices",
"Experts",
"Human resource management",
"Functional retention",
"IT workers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In an increasing number of industrial sectors, staff retention constitutes a salient issue. Resource-based theory suggests that the survival of an organisation is based on its ability to retain its internal resources (Barney, 2001). Retaining experts is even more important considering that these employees add more value to the firm than non-expert employees. An expert who leaves to go over to the competitor constitutes the loss of a key resource. This loss generates costs incurred to re-acquire the skills possessed by the expert who left. It also affects an organisation's attractiveness on the labour market (Abraham et al., 2013).\n1. Theoretical framework: 1.1. Concept of retention\n2. Empirical strategy: The following general equation of employees' functional retention is specified as follow according to both human capital theory and social exchange theory:\n3. Research methodology: 3.1. Data\n4. Results: In line with our first general research question (What are the HRM practices that have a significant impact on employees' functional retention?), Table III first presents the results of the hierarchical regression analyses of HRM practices on functional retention for the full sample. The first step involved performing a regression analysis with all the control variables. The second step involved adding the five HRM practices and, the third and last step, involved adding expert status.\n5. Discussion of results and conclusion: This paper offers important contributions to the existing literature. To our knowledge, there are no published studies comparing the effects of HRM practices on experts vs non-expert employees. This paper is also original in that it proposes a longitudinal study of the relationship between HR practices and expert retention conducted specifically in the IT sector, where rare skills are key skills to be safeguarded.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to answer the following two questions: What are the HRM practices that have a significant impact on employees' functional retention?, and Does the impact of these HRM practices on functional retention differ based on the employee's status as an expert or a non-expert? Our theoretical foundation rests on human capital theory and social exchange theory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study uses longitudinal data that come from multiple surveys conducted on new employees within a Canadian subsidiary of an international information technology (IT) firm.\nFindings: Results show that four out of five HRM practices under study have a significant and positive impact on functional retention of employees regardless of their expert status: satisfaction with a respectful and stimulating work environment, satisfaction with training and development, satisfaction with innovative benefits and satisfaction with incentive compensation significantly increase functional retention of employees. Functional retention was found to be higher for experts than for their non-expert counterparts. Last, results show that expert/non-expert status play a moderating role between HRM practices and functional retention.\nOriginality/value: In short, this study offers five main contributions to the literature: first, it focuses on retention rather than turnover; second, it goes further by examining functional retention as the dependant variable; third, it distinguishes between two categories of employees: experts and non-experts; fourth, it extends the limited literature on IT workers, HRM practices and retention; and fifth, it is based on longitudinal data whereas the overwhelming majority of published studies have been based on cross-sectional data.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Oral reading: practices and purposes in secondary classrooms
|
[
"Case study",
"Literacy teaching",
"Adolescent literacy",
"Literacy practices",
"Reading intervention",
"Oral reading",
"Reading aloud"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Oral reading in classrooms has traversed centuries and contexts (Cole et al., 2017; De Castell and Luke, 1983; Huey, 1908; Warner and Crolla, 2015). Most recently, researchers have documented the pervasiveness of oral reading in secondary classrooms in the USA (Albright and Ariail, 2005; Ariail and Albright, 2005; Klecker and Pollock, 2005). As qualitative educational researchers working in different ninth-grade reading intervention classrooms, we (Maneka and Kate) were attuned to this trend: a hallmark of both classes was frequent oral reading during whole-group instruction.\nTheoretical framework: Literacy as social practice: Although the focus of this article is on teachers and their instructional decisions, we were careful to ensure that our theoretical and analytic choices allowed for a more multifaceted representation of classroom interactions. To do this, we drew on Street's (1984) conceptualization of literacy as ideological social practice, which goes beyond acknowledging that literacy practices are contextual to make explicit that power relations impact literacy teaching and learning (Street, 2012). Through this theoretical lens, we understood literacy practices to be more than just observable actions - they also include ideas and beliefs about literacy (Barton and Hamilton, 2000).\nLiterature review: oral reading in secondary school: We situate this work within the descriptive literature published since 1998 about how and why secondary teachers use oral reading.\nMethodology: The data we analyzed for this article were independently collected by Maneka and Kate as part of two larger studies about literacy teaching and learning in ninth-grade reading intervention classrooms. Post-data collection conversations in which we noted the predominance of whole-group oral reading in both classrooms motivated us to design a cross-case analysis in which we collaboratively analyzed the collected data. A cross-case analysis allowed us to supplement our emerging descriptions of how teachers organized whole-group oral reading in each classroom with a deeper understanding of why it was happening across classrooms (Miles et al., 2014).\nFindings: Whole-group oral reading was a routine instructional reading event across both classes. There were similarities and differences in the literacy practices that constituted oral reading and the teachers' purposes for this kind of reading. We begin by describing what oral reading looked like in each classroom, and then examine each teacher's purpose(s) for using oral reading.\nDiscussion: Our findings indicate that Carla and Mark each used whole-group oral reading as a substantial component of instruction. During oral reading, students' opportunities to engage in independent meaning making were either absent or secondary to other purposes or goals. Below, we discuss the similarities and differences in how Carla and Mark organized oral reading, as well as their purposes for engaging in it.\nImplications: Both Carla and Mark were highly educated, experienced and thoughtful professionals who cared deeply about their students' success. They relied on whole-group oral reading because they viewed it as a way to address the many difficulties they believed their students faced as readers. Moreover, their reasons for engaging in oral reading were connected to their specific background knowledge about reading and their unique classroom and institutional contexts. Nonetheless, their extensive use of oral reading meant that students' opportunities to engage in independent meaning making were either absent or secondary to other purposes or goals.\nConclusion: Joining the findings reported here with previous work that has raised questions about the prevalence of oral reading in secondary school (Alvermann, 2016; Frager, 2010; Warner and Crolla, 2015), we conclude this study of how and why two ninth-grade reading intervention teachers used whole-group oral reading with a call for researchers and practitioners alike to carefully and critically attend to what types of reading happens with which groups of students in school, for what purposes and to what ends.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate teacher-initiated whole-group oral reading practices in two ninth-grade reading intervention classrooms and how teachers understood the purposes of those practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this qualitative cross-case analysis, a literacy-as-social-practice perspective is used to collaboratively analyze ethnographic data (fieldnotes, audio recordings, interviews, artifacts) across two classrooms.\nFindings: Oral reading was a routine instructional reading event in both classrooms. However, the literacy practices that characterized oral reading and teachers' purposes for using oral reading varied depending on teachers' pedagogical philosophies, instructional goals and contextual constraints. During oral reading, students' opportunities to engage in independent meaning making with texts were either absent or secondary to other purposes or goals.\nPractical implications: Findings emphasize the significance of understanding both how and why oral reading happens in secondary classrooms. Specifically, they point to the importance of collaborating with teachers to (a) examine their own ideas about the power of oral reading and the institutional factors that shape their existing oral reading practices; (b) investigate the intended and actual outcomes of oral reading for their students and (c) develop other instructional approaches to support students to individually and collaboratively make meaning from texts.\nOriginality/value: This study falls at the intersection of three under-researched areas of study: the nature of everyday instruction in secondary literacy intervention settings, the persistence of oral reading in secondary school and teachers' purposes for using oral reading in their instruction. Consequently, it contributes new knowledge that can support educators in creating more equitable instructional environments.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Personalised learning environments - Part 1: Core development issues for construction
|
[
"E‐learning",
"Learning styles"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The development of technology-enhanced learning is continually evolving, and, with the advent of digital age the learning industry has experienced a major paradigm shift over the last decade in e-learning (Venkatachary, 2002). This rapid development has placed educational environments in a state of flux (Andrews and Crock, 1996) as institutions strive to embrace these opportunities in order to innovate and dispel the conventional \"intractable\" conditions for learning (Benesova et al., 2002). Such conditions include the concept of synchronous communication; inflexible learning geared to a specific timeframe; high learner to instructor ratios; expensive materials, etc.Within the context of personalised learning environments (PLE), e-learning involves different aspects of using e-documents for learning related activities. It tends to embrace such issues as managing curriculum courses on the Web (advertising, registration, scheduling, exams, etc.), through to online publishing, tutorials, assessment, etc. In this respect, specific efforts have been made to create high-quality and relevant online learning material, as well as the support infrastructure (to support and facilitate the learning process).Within the context of learning per se, learners often have different levels of motivation, different attitudes about teaching and learning, and different responses to specific classroom environments and instructional practices. Thus, the more thoroughly instructors understand these differences, the better chance they have of meeting the diverse needs of their learners (Felder and Brent, 2005). Furthermore, Karagiannidis and Sampson (2004) noted that there was a general shortage of evidence to back up the belief that e-learning provided real advantages - the assumption of which was that \"traditional\" mode of instruction (one-to-one/one-to-many tutoring) could not fully accommodate the different learning styles, strategies and preferences of all diverse learners. Following this train of thought, research is now being undertaken on \"adaptive learning environments\" that can personalise the learning experience (Sampson et al., 2002). In this respect, this paper attempts to crystallise these thoughts into \"tangible nuggets\" for further discussion and critique.This research will be presented in two parts. This paper forms the first part, introducing the concepts and issues surrounding the development of personalised learning environments, which incorporates learning styles. The second part of the research will be presented in the subsequent issue of this journal, covers the conceptual model for the PLE prototype incorporating learning styles for the UK construction industry.\n2. Research methodology: The research methodological approach adopted for this paper embraces the distillation of core research material gathered from a detailed literature review covering the concepts and issues surrounding the development of personalised learning environments, specifically within the context of the management and social sciences fields. A qualitative approach was used in this research, as this was considered more suitable for studying social and cultural phenomena. This paper introduces the concepts and issues in the context of the design and subsequent implementation of a personalised learning environment (PLE), and explores the importance of incorporating learning styles into a PLE. Technological issues are addressed in terms of learning objects and standards, together with their relationship and functions concerning interoperability between different delivery platforms, reusability and manageability of e-learning materials, and accessibility.\n3. E-learning: The term e-learning is relatively new, and several definitions of e-learning have been cited, for example, Horton (2001) cites e-learning as \"the use of Internet and digital technologies to create experiences that educate fellow human beings\", whereas, Fry (2000) defines e-learning as \"delivery of training and education via networked interactivity and a range of other knowledge collection and distribution technologies\". Moreover, Roffe (2002) defines the term e-learning, e-education or online learning as \" ... the way people communicate and learn electronically which has recently emerged as a key source of competitive advantage in the information society\"; and, Welsh et al. (2003) define e-learning as \"the use of computer network technology, primarily over or through the Internet, to deliver information and instruction to individuals\". Whereas, Hirumi (2002) defines e-learning as a \"learning that is stimulated primarily through the use of telecommunication technologies, such as electronic mail, bulletin board systems, electronic whiteboards, inter-relay chat, desktop video conferencing and the worldwide-web\". Urdan and Weggen (2000) define e-learning as \" ... a set of applications and processes, including computer based learning, web based learning, virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration\"; and Tavangarian et al. (2004) define e-learning as \" ... all forms of electronic supported learning and teaching, which are procedural in character and aim to effect the construction of knowledge with reference to individual experience, practice and knowledge of the learner\". Thus, it can be perceived that, whilst no \"common\" agreement has been reached regarding the precise definition, there are however a lot of broad overlaps regarding context - irrespective of semantics and positioning.3.1 Pedagogical developments in e-learning\n4. Learning objects: A learning object is considered as any resource or content object that is supplied to a learner by a provider with the intention of meeting the learner's learning objective(s), and is used by the learner to meet that learning objective(s) (Vercoustre and McLean, 2005). According to Dahl and Nygaard (1966), the key notions behind learning objects are that they can be used and reused in different (and multiple) learning contexts. Duncan (2003) considers learning object as something tangible that is produced by bringing together subject knowledge and pedagogical expertise.Within the e-learning domain, the focus has predominantly been on the development of the technical infrastructure that support reusability, interoperability, durability and accessibility of learning content (Hummel et al., 2004), and the use and reuse of these learning materials has been an issue for more than two decades (Collis and Strijker, 2003). However, the \"reusability\" of an electronic learning resource often depends on its \"fit\" with the language, culture, curriculum, computer-use-practice, and the pedagogical approaches of the potential learners and their instructors. In this context, the reuse of learning objects has managed to gain a lot of attention in the business world, as reusability is an important principle that serves as the foundation for describing a learning object (Polsani, 2003).Invariably with any type of paradigm shift and incorporation of new technology, there will always be advantages and disadvantages associated with the dynamic change and perceptions involved (James, 2003). The benefit of learning objects comes from their reusability; as discrete units, they can be incorporated into a wide range of courses or learning scenarios. Their standards-based structure makes them available for use in many different learning management systems and other applications, and they now also appear to be pedagogically effective. For example, according to Alsubaie (2006), learning objects are a cost-effective, efficient alternative to traditional course construction and materials. Moreover, they are more cognitive aligned than traditional material, thereby improving the learning process. Furthermore, they can be deployed within courses within a distributed Learning Environment that can offer performance, location, cost and learning advantages over traditional Learning Environments. They are also reusable, self-contained, meta-tagged and contain learning outcome entities that can offer considerable cost, production and delivery performances over traditional material; as well as leverage the elements required to successfully improve the learning processes deemed vital if a learner is to partake in the learning experience - especially personalised learning (Alsubaie, 2006).\n5. E-learning standards: Standards play an important role in the innovation, development, evolution and adoption of any product (Alshawi et al., 2005). Thus, the e-learning industry and organisations are increasingly being perceived as having a greater need of protecting their learning content to increase their return on investment. In this respect, standards help to protect the six \"abilities\" which protect and even nurture e-learning investments. The following e-learning standards have been identified by the E-Learning Consortium (2003):* interoperability;* re-usability;* manageability;* accessibility;* durability;* scalability; and* affordability.According to Alshawi et al. (2005), there are no \"formal\" official standards in e-learning that content providers must adhere to - only a collection of different specifications by different organisations and regulatory bodies. However, many leading organisations have now started to share these concerns and are beginning to develop an official standard with interchange capability.\n6. Personalised learning environment: definitions and attributes: Alsubaie (2006) defined a personalised learning environment (PLE) as \"an electronic learning environment consisting of a learner and the Instructional System\"; and that most of the learning environments available claim to offer personalised learning; however, the effectiveness of such programmes for individual learners is limited for a variety of reasons and as such, these elements have not fully attained their potential to create effective and efficient personalised learning. These include:* information rather than instruction being delivered (e.g. the course material is thus pedagogically ineffective);* the lack of exchangeability and reusability between learning materials;* ineffective implementation strategies; and* the mechanistic utilisation of technology, rather than technology being utilised as an informatics driver.Notwithstanding these issues, over the past few years the use and prevalence of the PLE has increasingly become more popular. Therefore, personalised support for learners becomes more important when e-learning takes place in an open and dynamic learning and information networks (Dolog and Sintek, 2004). The PLE should ideally be a robust and flexible Instructional System-based learning environment which can provide cost-effective learning based on the personal needs and background of the learner. It should be capable of delivering individual, bespoke and personalised training matched to the individual needs and learning style. In this respect, the usability of a PLE should be typically designed towards a specific end delivery system or a specific set of standards (Sampson et al., 2005).Sampson (2001) reported that e-learning can capitalise on advances, in information processing and internet technologies to provide, among others:* Personalisation: where training programmes are customised to individual learners, based on an analysis of the learners' objectives, current status of skills/knowledge, learning style preferences, as well as constant monitoring of progress. On-line learning material can then compiled to meet personal needs, capitalising on re-usable Learning Objects.* Interactivity: where learners can experience active and situated learning through simulations of real-world events and on-line collaboration with other learners and instructors.* Media-rich content: where educational material can be presented in different forms and presentation styles, and learning material can indexed and organised in such a way that it can be searched, identified and retrieved remotely from several different learners providing the right material to the right person at the right time.* Just-in-time delivery: where technologies such as electronic performance support systems can facilitate training delivery at the exact time and place that it is needed to complete a certain task, and \"wearable computers\" can provide real-time assistance in actual work environments.* User-centric environments: where the learner takes responsibility for his/her own learning, and the instructor acts as the \"guide on the side\" rather than a \"sage on the stage\".The constitution and delivery aspects of a PLE should therefore address the parameters of (and relationships between) learners' needs and requirements, learners' learning process and the learning/ knowledge repository (Alshawi et al., 2005; Alsubaie, 2006).6.1 The need to incorporate learning styles into a PLE\n7. Conclusion: Advances in technology have increased the demand for new and innovative teaching approaches, prompting the design and development of cost-effective and high quality e-learning environments which can efficiently respond to learners' needs and requirements. Over the past decade, research has attempted to address key areas in this field, such as the automation of the learning process, improving the portability and interoperability of e-learning materials, pedagogy, learning objects and e-learning standards. The relationship between pedagogy and technology also appears to be an important aspect in designing educational systems.From an e-learning perspective, developments and strategic alliances in e-learning are evolving, particularly in the way education and training is delivered in the knowledge-based economy. It is widely accepted that learning through the internet (e.g. e-learning) can take place anywhere, at any time, through any computer and without necessarily the presence of a human tutor. However, research findings have found that the majority of e-learning applications are rather static and represent a generic approach to tutoring which does not take into account learners' needs (i.e. learning styles).Hence, this paper has highlighted key issues of incorporating learning styles into a PLE, and has identified a \"roadmap\" for shaping and identifying the rubrics for further work in this field; which will be presented in the subsequent issue of this journal; introducing the conceptual model for the PLE prototype incorporating learning styles for the UK construction industry which incorporates a learning style inventory based upon the amalgamation of three core models of learning styles defined in literature. In this respect, there is a significant gap in the literature regarding this not only from a pedagogical enhancement perspective, but also from an alignment perspective, e.g. linking learning objects to PLE's (to monitor, assess and manage cognitive behaviour and performance).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to introduce the concepts and key issues surrounding the development of personalised learning environments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This is a distillation of core research material gathered from a detailed literature review covering the concepts and issues surrounding the development of personalised learning environments (PLE).\nFindings: - This paper finds that most e-learning applications are rather static and represent a generic approach to tutoring. Therefore, by default, they do not fully embrace learners' needs (i.e. learning styles). This paper also highlights key issues of incorporating learning styles into a PLE; and, has identified a \"roadmap\" for shaping and identifying the rubrics for further work in this field.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is a very useful source in developing a PLE incorporating learning styles for learners.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
To leave or not? The impact of family support and cognitive appraisals on venture exit intention
|
[
"Family support",
"Challenge appraisal",
"Hindrance appraisal",
"Venture exit intention"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Family plays an important role in new venture creation, venture growth, and venture success (Aldrich and Cliff, 2003; Arregle et al., 2015; Bruderl and Preisendorfer, 1998; Chua et al., 2011; Jennings and McDougald, 2007; Powell and Eddleston, 2013; Sanders and Nee, 1996; Shelton, 2006) either by offering access to resources and information (i.e. the family support perspective) or by interfering with work (i.e. the work-family conflict perspective) (Adams et al., 1996; Bakker et al., 2008; Rothbard, 2001). Recently, scholarly attention has been directed to the role of family in venture exit (Justo and DeTienne, 2008; Justo et al., 2015), \"the process by which the founders of privately held firms leave the firm they helped to create; thereby removing themselves, in varying degrees, from the primary ownership and decision-making structure of the firm\" (DeTienne, 2010, p. 204). Whereas some scholars have applied the work-family conflict perspective to study venture exit (Justo and DeTienne, 2008), a better understanding of the role of family in venture exit needs more research on the other aspect of work-family interface, i.e., family support (Adams et al., 1996). Indeed, DeTienne (2010) argues that entrepreneurs who take family members' advice for the venture (i.e. one form of family support) are likely to stay with the venture. The present research thus examines whether and how family support affects entrepreneurs' venture exit intention.\nA cognitive appraisal model of venture exit intention: Individuals can perceive stress when environmental demands exceed their resources and abilities to deal with it and therefore their well-being will be affected (Folkman and Lazarus, 1985; Lazarus, 1991). At the core of this relationship are two cognitive appraisal processes: primary appraisal and secondary appraisal (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). Through primary appraisal, an individual evaluates whether an encounter is a stressor that can affect his or her well-being and other outcomes that the individual experiences. Through secondary appraisal, the individual evaluates whether resources are available to cope with environmental demands or to improve prospects of benefits and how to cope with environmental demands (Folkman et al., 1986). The present research focuses on the primary appraisal process, which consists of hindrance appraisal and challenge appraisal - a core component of the challenge-hindrance job stressor model.\nMethodology: Three studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. In Study 1, an experiment was conducted with a sample of US entrepreneurs, who were recruited on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an often used online platform for recruiting research subjects. In Study 2, a survey was conducted with the same sample to extend the external validity of the experimental findings in Study 1. In Study 3, the same survey questionnaire was used with a sample of Chinese entrepreneurs to explore whether the relationship pattern found in the US context can also be shown in the Chinese context.\nStudy 1: Sample\nStudy 2: As the controlled setting in the experiment is likely to be different from entrepreneurs' real life and therefore, the external validity of the findings from the experiment maybe challenged (McGrath, 1995), we conducted a survey in this study to show the external validity of the experimental findings in Study 1.\nStudy 3: The negative (though insignificant) relationship between family support and challenge appraisal shown in Study 1 contradicts H3 and this surprising finding motivates a deeper dig into the literature, which leads to the identification of a potential limitation of the challenge appraisal measure used in Studies 1 and 2. The word \"challenging\" is an ambiguous term because it contains both positive and negative connotations. The challenge appraisal item used in Study 1 (i.e. \"I perceived being in the scenario as challenging\") and that used in Study 2 (i.e. \"I perceived working in my firm as challenging\") thus may give participants an impression that a challenging situation is difficult and this negative perception may lead to a negative, as opposed to the expected positive, relationship between family support and challenge appraisal. Hence, Study 3 was conducted using an improved measure of challenge appraisal. The other purpose of Study 3 was to examine whether the relationships found in the US setting in Studies 1 and 2 could also hold in the Chinese contexts.\nDiscussion: The present research integrates the family support literature, the venture exit literature, and challenge and hindrance appraisals to examine whether and how family support affects entrepreneurs' venture exit intention. Three studies using different research designs and samples were conducted. These studies not only establish the causal relationship of family support with hindrance appraisal and entrepreneurs' venture exit intention, but also demonstrate hindrance appraisal as a mediator for the relationship between family support and entrepreneurs' venture exit intention in both the US and Chinese contexts. The mediating role of challenge appraisal in the family support-venture exit intention relationship is also shown in the Chinese context. This research offers both theoretical and practical implications.\nConclusion: The present research develops a cognitive appraisal model of entrepreneurs' venture exit intention and explains how family support affects the venture exit intention through hindrance and challenge appraisals. The findings not only show a negative relationship between family support and entrepreneurs' venture exit intention but also inform us of the essential mediating role of challenge and hindrance appraisals in the above relationship.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how family support affects challenge and hindrance appraisals, which in turn, influence entrepreneurs' venture exit intention drawing on the challenge-hindrance job stressor model, family support, and the venture exit literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An experimental study (Study 1) was conducted to establish the relationships among family support, challenge and hindrance appraisals, and entrepreneurs' venture exit intention. Two survey studies (Study 2 and Study 3) were conducted to extend the external validity of findings in Study 1 and to examine whether the theoretical framework holds in both the US and Chinese contexts.\nFindings: All three studies demonstrate that family support decreases entrepreneurs' venture exit intention by reducing hindrance appraisal. Study 3 also shows the mediating role of challenge appraisal in the family support - venture exit intention relationship.\nOriginality/value: This research contributes to the family embeddedness perspective not only by showing its relevance to the venture exit context but also by validating the relationship of family support with cognitive appraisals and venture exit intention in two cultural contexts. It also contributes to venture exit research by highlighting the unique role of cognitive appraisals in the formation of entrepreneurs' venture exit intention.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Resisting change: organizational decoupling through an identity construction perspective
|
[
"Institutions",
"Decoupling",
"Identity",
"Resisting change",
"Change management",
"Organizations",
"Corporate identity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In institutional theory, decoupling refers to a form of resistance to changes that are mandated by dominant external institutions (Fox-Wolfgramm et al., 1998; Fiss and Zajac, 2004). Organizations adopt policies and structures that address institutional pressures for conformity but never implement them in practice (Boxenbaum and Jonsson, 2008). This ceremonial adoption or facade allows them to retain a legitimate standing in their field by appearing reasonable (Meyer and Rowan, 1977), and by concealing their unwillingness to reform, instead of defying, institutional pressures for change outright (Oliver, 1991). Decoupling arises in a variety of organizational settings: large corporations buffer the implementation of new initiatives (Westphal and Zajac, 2001), schools ceremonially adopt new practices (Meyer and Rowan, 1977), and social movement organizations mask their controversial activities (Elsbach and Sutton, 1992).\nDecoupling process: identity as agency: Institutional theorists argue that the organizations' needs to conform to external pressures are directly linked to their struggle for legitimacy. Resources are essential for organizations, and external actors may allocate resources to firms in the belief that these organizations are legitimate, appropriate or needed (Deephouse and Suchman, 2008). Thus, organizations comply with coercive, mimetic and normative pressures by adapting their internal organizational practices and structures to become compatible with external norms and buffer criticism (Meyer and Rowan, 1977). Such compliance to institutional pressures makes organizations isomorphic with similar firms in their field (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983).However, isomorphism produces homogeneity and makes it harder for organizations to stress their distinctive features (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). Institutional pressures for change, if adopted, may negatively affect the internal routines that lead to organizational efficiency. Some organizations may therefore adopt visible structures of compliance, which do not affect ongoing practices, only to distract attention away from claims of illegitimacy (Elsbach and Sutton, 1992). Examples of such ceremonial practices are ample in the literature (e.g. Boxenbaum and Jonsson, 2008; Orton and Weick, 1990). For instance, Westphal and Zajac (2001) illustrate how firms, under pressure for increased corporate accountability, adopted nominal share-buyback programs, which were rather compartmentalized in small business units with no authority or resources to enforce real change.Organizations that decouple cannot constantly evade regulatory and monitoring devices enforced by external institutions (e.g. the state or industrial associations), and getting unmasked carries heavy social and financial costs for them (Elsbach and Sutton, 1992; Pache and Santos, 2010; Tilcsik, 2010). Studies have thus tried to establish why decoupling is more durable in some organizations than others. Predominantly, scholars have used a macro-level approach to highlight organizational and managerial factors enhancing decoupling (e.g. Espeland, 1998; Rowan and Miskel, 1999; Westphal and Zajac, 2001). For example, it has been argued that organizations may decouple depending on their ownership structure (Lounsbury, 2001) or the power of their existing CEOs (Westphal and Zajac, 2001). Further, firms that have previously experimented with ceremonial implementation of new structures are likely to repeat the same window-dressing in the future (Westphal and Zajac, 2001). However, as scholars often rely \"on inference about motivations rather than more direct assessments\" of change and compliance (Kennedy and Fiss, 2009, p. 898), this stream of the literature has neglected the way the \"targets\" of institutional change negotiate institutional pressures within organizations (Lok, 2010).The focus on how individuals react to organizational decoupling is important considering that, traditionally, organizational members were seen as the guardians of decoupling and as core opponents of a real change process. Meyer and Rowan (1977, pp. 358-9) affirmed that internal \"participants [e.g. employees] commit themselves to supporting an organization's ceremonial facade\", and engage in coordination efforts that save the organization from public embarrassment by preventing institutional inspections. Recent scholars have cast doubt on this assertion, and have posited that individuals do not always commit to managerial practices a priori (cf. Cutcher, 2009; Piderit, 2002). Studies have indicated that decoupling may be abandoned simply because individuals refuse to see themselves as merely ceremonial (Edelman, 1992; Tilcsik, 2010). Hernes (2005) shows that it is unlikely for organizations to uphold decoupling over long periods because the underlying tensions will eventually become untenable, both internally and externally. In other words, individuals may enact on institutional pressures in their own unique ways, forging their own paths toward change (Coburn, 2004; Pache and Santos, 2010).Our study looks deep into the role of organizational members to understand decoupling. Members formulate their responses through a behavioral and attitudinal component (Kostova and Roth, 2002) and, therefore, their capacity to reject or internalize decoupling is salient (Sauder and Espeland, 2009). The concept of identity is important in understanding how individuals see external pressures, as identity represents a link between institutions, individuals and their behaviors (Lok, 2010; Glynn, 2008). Although the influence of structures (internal and external) is strong on individuals to determine their identity, individuals have choice over the values with which they identify when faced with identity pressures (Kovoor-Misra, 2009; Pratt and Kraatz, 2009). Further, scholars have started to explore the link between change and organizational identity in cases where multiple and/or conflicting pressures are exerted upon organizations (Kraatz and Block, 2008; Pratt and Kraatz, 2009).Identity theory provides analytical tools to explain how individuals deal with multiple identities in order to define their behavior. Individuals choose to support and internalize activities congruent with salient aspects of their identities (Stryker and Serpe, 1982), resulting in adherence to group norms, practices and behaviors (Ashforth and Mael, 1989). Pratt and Kraatz (2009) argue that organizations have multiple identities depending on the coalition of individuals in performing different tasks. Organizational identity and image deterioration are important triggers of corrective action, and individuals are naturally motivated to safeguard their image if threatened in any way (Cheney, 1983), but external pressures can equally inform individuals' identity.The decision of the top management to decouple external pressures for change represents the need of the organization to maintain its current identity and compartmentalize the values expressed by the external pressure (Kraatz and Block, 2008). We focus on cases where the decision to decouple is visible among the organizational members (Tilcsik, 2010). Decoupling increases identity multiplicity for the employees, who see their organization maintaining its current identity and ceremonially adopting a new identity projected by institutions. Some employees may interpret decoupling as an unorthodox response to change pressures, and managerial actions that initiate decoupling may be rejected as unnecessary (Glynn, 2008) motivating them to undermine the decision. Others may choose to interpret this decision as justified and support it. Thus, resistance to externally mandated change through decoupling depends on the identification process of these employees.This theorization is in line with recent identity-based explanations in institutional theory. Glynn and Abzug (2002) demonstrate that organizations often change their names according to the prevailing institutional order, thus aiming to safeguard an identity that makes them recognizable entities. Glynn (2008) sees institutions as enabling mechanisms that help organizations construct identities that differentiate them from others. While institutions operate at the inter-organizational level of analysis, identity theories focus on the intra-organizational level. The combination of the two approaches is not only feasible, but also necessary in understanding organizational responses to change pressures (Davis and Marquis, 2005; Fernandez-Alles and Valle-Cabrera, 2006).We suggest that exploring the individuals' behavior driven by identity concerns can greatly enhance our understanding of decoupling as a process of resistance (Hallett and Ventresca, 2006). Our theorizing extends prior work on decoupling (e.g. Tilcsik, 2010), by approaching institutional decoupling as a process, rather than as an outcome, and by drawing attention to the micro-processes (Boxenbaum and Jonsson, 2008) that determine how decoupling is perceived internally after the decision to resist externally mandated changes has been taken.\nIdentity multiplicity and decoupling process: Individuals coping with multiple identities\nDiscussion: This paper argues that there are three possible ways for organizational members to interpret the values of an external pressure for change and to react to the decision of the organization to decouple:* as a threat to the organizational identity, which under the assumption of high levels of identification with the organization motivates them to support resistance to change through decoupling;* as a revelation to a new role, with which they identify and which motivates them to exercise pressure against the decoupling decision of the organization; and* as an opportunity to redefine themselves by combining the organizational and institutional identities, which undermine the decoupling decision of the organization.Our conceptual framework links individuals' micro-processes of identification and managing identity multiplicity with the organizational process of decoupling and macro-level pressures for change. In this way, we explore how organizational members' behaviors sustain or undermine the strategic decision to decouple (Oliver, 1991). We have explored three identity management pathways individuals may choose to pursue and their subsequent behaviors towards organizational decoupling. We have approached decoupling as a process influenced by organizational members, and we have suggested that the interplay between self-construction and organizational and institutional identities are elements of this process that can help us understand what happens after the decoupling decision has been taken by an organization.Implications for theory\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework that explains how individual organizational members' self-construction processes motivate them to support or reject decoupling as a form of resistance to institutionally mandated change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Most studies have looked at powerful organizational actors and top management teams that decide to decouple. This paper broadens the understanding through a micro-level approach that focuses on the role of individual members within organizations. Specifically, it looks at what happens inside organizations after the decision to decouple has been taken.\nFindings: - This paper identifies three alternative self-identity construction pathways that members may choose following the decision of an organization to decouple: strong identification with the organization; strong identification with the institutional pressure; and adoption of both organizational and institutional identities. The framework specifies how and under which conditions the way individuals identify and manage identity multiplicity impacts organizational resistance to change.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Future research could test the proposed framework particularly through case studies or qualitative designs that look deep into organizational processes and individual attitudes towards decoupling.\nPractical implications: - Practitioners, particularly top management teams, can adopt a moderating role in influencing the identification process of their employees. They can also communicate better why efficiency is more important than the mandated changes, and why decoupling must be supported to safeguard the organization's \"efficient\" identity.\nOriginality/value: - The paper integrates institutional theory's macro-perspectives with micro-perspectives of individual members' identity and self-construction processes within organizations. It contributes to existing institutional accounts of agentic change and resistance to change through a dynamic framework that prescribes individual interests and preferences based on identification processes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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The persistent problem of integrated care in English NHS hospitals: Is the Mayo model the answer?
|
[
"Integrated clinical care",
"Mayo Clinic",
"Multi-specialty hospital care",
"NHS hospitals"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Despite attempts to provide complete and integrated services in English National Health Service (NHS) hospitals, many patients seem to receive fragmented and episodic care, resulting in multiple hospital attendances, reviews and shuffling between specialities. This cannot be good for patients or for efficiency. We aimed to compare models of care between an organisation reported to provide high-quality integrated clinical care (Mayo Clinic) and the situation in the English NHS, and to draw lessons which could improve patient care as well as patient and staff satisfaction.\nMethod: We employed a rapid review method to examine the literature on the Mayo Clinic model and other models of hospital-based ICC. Rapid reviews have become a common means of obtaining rigorous but relatively quick insights into the state of knowledge and evidence relating to a particular field of enquiry (Khangura et al., 2012). They are popular with policy makers and public-sector institutions, as they can be more responsive to the timeframes encountered when translating from policy development to implementation (National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools, 2012). This streamlined approach to synthesising evidence has been particularly welcomed by decision makers in healthcare settings, owing to the rapidly evolving landscape of health and healthcare systems (Khangura et al., 2012). Systematic reviews may be the \"gold standard\" under some circumstances, but they generally require significant resources over a 6- to 24-month timeframe, and they often focus on a tightly defined clinical question. Neither of these conditions applied to our study.\nResults: Table I summarises the results of the literature search in relation to peer-reviewed journal articles potentially relevant to hospital-based ICC. Table II presents information on publications specifically concerned with the Mayo model of care.\nDiscussion: This section covers two areas: the background and context of IC as recently understood in the English NHS, and the Mayo Clinic model of hospital-based ICC.\nConclusions: Within the context of the English NHS, \"IC\" is a loosely defined term which has become associated with a number of different approaches to bringing about organisational, clinical, cultural and financial reconfiguration and reform, mainly in relation to better communication between, and coordination of, staff working within healthcare and/or between health and social care. For the purposes of our research study, however, we are interested in integrated clinical care within a hospital setting which allows physicians from a range of specialties to focus their attention, in as efficient a way as possible, on the holistic health needs of their patients, supported by non-clinical colleagues and effective technologies.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine whether some aspects of the distinctive Mayo Clinic care model could be translated into English National Health Service (NHS) hospital settings, to overcome the fragmented and episodic nature of non-emergency patient care.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors used a rapid review to assess the literature on integrated clinical care in hospital settings and critical analysis of links between Mayo Clinic's care model and the organisation's performance and associated patient outcomes.\nFindings: The literature directly concerned with Mayo Clinic's distinctive ethos and approach to patient care is limited in scope and largely confined to \"grey\" sources or to authors and institutions with links to Mayo Clinic. The authors found only two peer-reviewed articles which offer critical analysis of the contribution of the Mayo model to the performance of the organisation.\nResearch limitations/implications: Mayo Clinic is not the only organisation to practice integrated, in-hospital clinical care; however, it is widely regarded as an exemplar.\nPractical implications: There are barriers to implementing a Mayo-style model in English NHS hospitals, but they are not insurmountable and could lead to much better coordination of care for some patients.\nSocial implications: The study shows that there is an appetite among NHS patients and staff for better coordinated, multi-specialty care within NHS hospitals.\nOriginality/value: In the English NHS integrated care generally aims to improve coordination between primary, community and secondary care, but problems remain of fragmented care for non-emergency hospital patients. Use of a Mayo-type care model, within hospital settings, could offer significant benefits to this patient group, particularly for multi-morbid patients.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The impact of board composition on firm performance in the restaurant industry: A stewardship theory perspective
|
[
"Board of directors",
"Restaurant industry",
"Board composition",
"Operational performance",
"Market-based performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A board of directors (BOD) has a critical role in publicly traded firms and its responsibilities include hiring a qualified corporate executive officer (CEO) and evaluating the overall direction and strategies of the firm (Boland and Hofstrand, 2009). Recently, the BOD of McDonald's Corp. announced the retirement of Don Thompson, the CEO at the time, in response to its sales slump. The decision addressed the lack of diversity on the company's top management team (Dean and Gasparro, 2015), which may have been one of the factors that made McDonald's slow to respond to changing market conditions (DiChristopher, 2015).\nLiterature review: The various roles of the board of directors\nMethodology: Sample and data\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion and conclusion: Conclusion\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the board composition on financial performance in the restaurant industry from a stewardship theory perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The composition of board was measured as the ratio of inside and outside directors. Firm performance was operationalized as return on assets (operational performance) and Tobin's q (market-based performance). Panel regression analysis tested the research hypotheses.\nFindings: Using data from 25 restaurant firms from 2007 to 2013, the study found an insignificant impact of board composition on operational performance. However, a higher proportion of inside board members increases market-based performance. A higher proportion of outside board members decreases market-based performance.\nPractical implications: Supporting the basic tenets of stewardship theory, restaurant companies may consider changing the current practice of having a super-majority of outside directors and increase the inside board members. Because inside board member have greater experience with the organization and the industry, they have a better understanding of the status quo and are better able to respond to opportunities and threats in the environment.\nOriginality/value: Considering the scarcity of research on how the board composition affects firm performance in the hospitality context, the present study is a forerunner in its exploration of the impact of inside and outside directors on restaurant firms' performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Impact of supply chain linkages on supply chain performance
|
[
"Supply chain management",
"Business links",
"Risk management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Researchers have investigated supply chain performance (SCP) from many different perspectives. Bichescu and Fry (2009) researched SCP in relation to decision making in terms of power. Wang et al. (2009) investigated SCP in relation to product development strategy focusing on efficiency but not necessarily the potential benefits sought by supply chain members. Lau et al. (2008) looked at real-time supply chain control in relation to risk reduction. Social exchange theory has been utilized in supply chain research to examine stability and alliance performance (Yang et al., 2008), coordination of supply chains (Holweg and Pil, 2008), as well as competitive and cooperative positioning in supply chain logistics relationships (Klein et al., 2007).We extend the work related to SCP within the social exchange context by examining the exchange linkages within supply chain networks in terms of the relationships created among supply chain partners. Previous research indicates that three variables are important to these linkages and influence SCP. In particular, the supply chain linkages will be examined in terms of power (Cook and Emerson, 1978; Emerson et al., 1983; Lawler, 1992; Maloni and Benton, 2000; Cox, 2001), risk (Cook and Whitmeyer, 1992; Johannisson, 1987; Cannon et al. (2008) and benefits (Cook and Emerson, 1978; Burke, 1997; Willer, 1999; Cannon et al., 2008; Polo-Redondo and Cambra-Fierro, 2008; Im and Rai, 2008).We propose a model in which power, benefits, and risk reduction linkages serve to enhance SCP. The model is assessed using data collected from a national sample of manufacturing and services sector managers. The measurement scales are fully assessed for reliability and validity and further assessed within a measurement model context. Study hypotheses are tested using a multiple regression approach for the combined sample and also for the manufacturing and services sector sub-samples. We extend the current literature by developing and assessing measurement scales for power, risk reduction, and benefits linkages and providing an initial empirical assessment of the relationships. The focus of this research is on the management of existing supply chain linkages and SCP.A review of the supporting literature and development of the study hypotheses follows in Section 2. We then provide a discussion of the methodology used and report the results of the scale assessment and regression analysis. Finally, a conclusions section in which the results are discussed, limitations are delineated, future research is suggested, and implications for management practitioners is provided.\n2 Literature review and hypotheses: Past research tends to focus on the technological side of these linkages in terms of SCP. For example, the prominent technologies studied in terms of SCP include radio frequency identification (Lee et al., 2009; Bendavid et al., 2009; Ustundag and Tanyas, 2009), communication technology (Duchessi and Chengalur-Smith, 2008; Swafford et al., 2008), and enterprise resource planning systems (Forsiund and Jonsson, 2007; Zong, 2008). While these are important streams of research there is a need for research investigating the non-technical side of exchange linkages in terms of supply chain relationships and the influence on SCP.Bichescu and Fry (2009) examine questions related to when split decisions result in the loss of SCP and the effect of power on performance loss. This research uses decision making structure as a proxy for the relative division of channel power to determine the effect on SCP. Our research takes a more direct approach and examines power as influence over other supply chain members in relation to SCP. Wang et al. (2009) developed an evaluation approach to measure SCP focusing on efficiency of various product strategies made through group decisions. Our research focuses on the effectiveness aspect in relation to the benefits sought in acquiring resources from supply chain members and the standardization of procedures for supply chain members. Lau et al. (2008) studied supply chain control in relation to adjustable autonomy which is the ability to reduce risk through reacting to changes and having dynamic collaboration. These authors identify that the weakness of their approach is the need to have experts in the area provide accurate information. Our research examines risk reduction in terms of supply chain members.Social exchange has been utilized in supply chain research to examine stability and alliance performance (Yang et al., 2008), coordination of supply chains (Holweg and Pil, 2008) as well as competitive and cooperative positioning in supply chain logistics relationships (Klein et al., 2007). Yang et al. (2008) examine the stability between supply chain members in relation to alliance performance. They focused on benefits and trust. For the supply chain to form, members must seek some benefit or reduction in risk that the other supply chain members can provide. While trust is important it is not the focus of this research. Trust is not initially in place and is an end result in the supply chain context. These authors find that trust plays a role later in maintaining the supply chain relationships. Our research is focusing on the benefits and risk reduction that is being sought as well as the power that supply chain members use to influence each other (Bichescu and Fry, 2009). Klein et al. (2007) address the issue of need fulfillment that creates the relationship. Further, they state that this relationship is a mixture of cooperation and competitiveness that will lead to performance gains. These relationships are exchange linkages between organizations that are supply chain members. A discussion of social exchange theory and its particular application to the model as well as discussion of each of the model components (power, benefits, risk reduction, and SCP) and support for the study hypotheses follow in this section.2.1 Social exchange\n3 Methodology: 3.1 Data collection process\n4 Results: 4.1 Measurement scale assessment\n5 Conclusions: Heizer and Render (2006, p. 432) propose that the key to effective SCM is the ability to forge long-term, strategic relationships with supply chain partners for the purpose of \"maximizing value to the ultimate customer\". The results presented support this general proposition. More specifically, this study and the reported results identify the supply chain linkage variables of power, benefits, and risk reduction as important to the performance of the supply chain. The separate analyses of the manufacturing sector and services sector samples provides insight into the importance of the variables depending upon the type of organization and the organization's position within the supply chain. For the manufacturing sector, power is the dominant linkage; within the services sector, risk reduction dominates.SCM emphasizes collaboration rather than control. Our research findings have potential implications for both manufacturer and service sectors. For example, consider at minimum a supplier-customer dyad. Alliances and long-term agreements are valuable during peak demand time for holding lead times and getting preferential delivery as compared to those who are on short-term purchasing cycle. In addition, a manufacturing oriented supply chain is more likely to have a point of centrality, such as the manufacturing organization, to which other supply chain members are solely dependent upon for orders. The implication is that supply chain members with less power might suffer when demand is low or may face competition from other suppliers when demand is high.Risk reduction is found to be the important variable in service oriented supply chains. Service organizations have few tangible resources associated with them. As a result service organizations are vulnerable to changes in demand and have fewer assets to use as potential collateral. This implies that service oriented supply chains may use membership as a way to reduce the risk associated with a change in demand.While the objective to investigate the relationships of the supply chain linkages variables to SCP was accomplished, there are limitations to the study that should be noted. First, because the same data collection was used to assess the new linkages scales and to test the hypotheses, the study must be described as somewhat exploratory. The benefits scale in particular will require some revision for subsequent research applications. Additionally, some concern related to non-response bias should be noted. Time and financial resource limitations precluded additional third and fourth waves necessary to more clearly identify the presence of the bias.Future research to extend the investigation of the power, benefits, and risk reduction linkages is necessary. While this study incorporated both the manufacturing and services sectors, the sample sizes for each sector are relatively small. Additional data collections are necessary in each sector to verify the results reported here. There is also a need to investigate the impact of the linkages on other performance measures such as operational performance and logistics performance. It will be important also to more thoroughly develop and document best-practice methods for developing the identified linkages with supply chain partners. Another area of future research includes investigation of building and designing new supply chain linkages.The results reported here serve to generally inform management practitioners of the importance of establishing strong linkages throughout the supply chain with both immediate and extended suppliers and customers. Practitioners must continue to successfully manage their internal organizations while forging the \"long-term, strategic\" relationships requisite for improved performance at the supply chain levels.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of supply chain linkages on supply chain performance (SCP). It aims to define and describe linkage constructs for power, benefits, and risk reduction and develop multi-item scales for their measurement. It also aims to assess the relationships of the linkages with SCP.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A total of 145 manufacturing and services sector managers are surveyed. The measurement scales are assessed for reliability and validity and further assessed within a measurement model context. Study hypotheses are then tested using a multiple regression approach.\nFindings: - Results for the combined sample indicate that power, benefits, and risk reduction linkages positively and significantly impact SCP. Power is identified as the dominant linkage for manufacturers, and risk reduction as the most important within the services sector.\nPractical implications: - The key to effective supply chain management is the ability to establish long-term, strategic relationships with supply chain partners. Practitioners should work to fully develop power, benefits, and risk reduction linkages with partners within their specific supply chains in order to maximize value to the ultimate customers of the supply chain.\nOriginality/value: - Through this study, previously discussed supply chain linkage constructs are specifically defined, scales for measurement of the constructs are developed, and an initial assessment of the relation of the constructs to SCP is provided.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Transactional learning and sustainability co-creation in a university - business collaboration
|
[
"Competences",
"Sustainability",
"Co-creation",
"Master class",
"Project based learning",
"Transactional learning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: There is general agreement that traditional teaching methods relying on the transmission of knowledge, attitudes and values do not suffice in higher education for sustainability (Pearson et al., 2008; Konig, 2015; Tilbury, 2011), and that new pedagogical approaches incorporating sustainability objectives are urgently needed (Lozano et al., 2017). Alternative teaching methods are being developed and applied to provide learners with the necessary knowledge and skills that will not only enhance their awareness of sustainability problems, but will also make them active partners and change agents in the process (Bovill et al., 2016). Transactional approaches to learning aim at the development of independent and self-directed problem-solving, inquiry and critical-thinking skills through interaction, dialogue and collaboration among teachers, learners and practitioners (Svensson et al., 2017).\n2. Sustainability competences and project-based learning: 2.1 An integrated framework for sustainability-oriented competences\n3. The case: a master class on sustainability in the mining industry: 3.1 The content of the programme\n4. Material and methods: Material for the study was collected from various sources to obtain an enriched picture of the process and thereby to strengthen the validity of the research. It included, first, the letters the participants were asked to write when they applied for the programme explaining their motivation: these letters varied in length from a few paragraphs to a few pages (Table I). Second, the participants were asked to answer a short ex ante survey at the start of the programme, which included open questions about their motives for participating, their expectations, and their conceptions about sustainability. A total of twenty completed questionnaires were returned. Third, semi-structured interviews were conducted among twelve participants after the programme: the questions concerned their experiences of it, their conceptions of sustainability, their ideas about solving sustainability problems and their impressions of how the Class had affected their previous ideas on these issues.\n5. Results: In this section the main learning outcomes are described in terms of sustainability competences using the integrated framework introduced in Section 2.1 (Table II) The letters (A or B) refer to the set of data as follows: A to the ex-ante survey, B to the ex-post interview. The number following the letter indicates the number of the respondent/interview in the respective data.\n6. Discussion: In the following, the authors discuss how the different elements of PBL introduced in Section 2.2 affected learning and the acquisition of competences. Although a key factor, e.g. inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration or problem solving, as having the most important role in a certain learning outcome could have been named, the authors suggest that competence acquisition depends on many different elements.\n7. Conclusions: There is clearly a need for new pedagogical approaches in higher education for sustainability. Among other methods, project-based learning has proved to be efficient. In this paper the authors have explored the learning outcomes of a transdisciplinary Master Class on sustainable mining, and how PBL enhanced them. A framework integrating key competences in learning for sustainability identified by several authors was used to examine the learning outcomes and four elements of PBL to analyse the learning process.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the learning outcomes of the project-based learning in a Master Class programme on sustainability carried out in collaboration by the University of Helsinki and a private company operating in global mining technology. The following two questions were addressed: Q1. What kind of sustainability competences do participants acquire in the Master Class? Q2. What is the role of PBL in the learning outcomes?\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on an ex ante open-ended survey and post-ante interviews addressed to the participants. The data were analysed using the qualitative content analysis.\nFindings: The findings show that the Master Class contributed to most of the competences under study. However, unlike in previous studies, systemic thinking is highlighted as a fundamental rather than a parallel core competence. Furthermore, the results also emphasise the role of emotions, which is insufficiently acknowledged and accounted for in sustainability education.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study focussed only on the learning outcomes of the participants (students) and not the other parties (such as company and researchers).\nPractical implications: Future research should focus on affective dimension as a stepping stone to the transformational learning. In addition, the role of the systemic understanding in sustainability education should be highlighted as a core competence.\nSocial implications: The study revealed the overall positive impacts of the co-creation in university - business collaboration to the participants' sustainability competences.\nOriginality/value: The study presents an empirical case study where the various competence frameworks were applied with a result of confirming the validity of the existing key competences, in particular the systemic understanding and showing the role of the affective dimension in the transactional learning.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Emotional intelligence of leaders: a profile of top executives
|
[
"Emotional intelligence",
"Senior management",
"Leadership",
"Performance management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The construct of emotional intelligence (EI) has garnered recent interest for its potential utility in leadership development as evidenced by the recent increase in the volume of empirical investigations assessing individual differences among those in leadership positions (e.g. Atwater et al., 1999; LePine et al., 1997). With the maturation of the EI construct in the psychology literature, scholars have sought to link emotion competencies to leadership behavior and organizational performance (George, 2000; Huy, 1999; Law et al., 2004; Rubin et al., 2005). Despite the proposed relationship between EI and leadership and the recent increase in research, empirical evidence supporting such conjectures is still relatively sparse (Zeidner et al., 2004). The present study advances our current understanding of the influence of emotional intelligence on leadership performance by examining EI in relation to two high profile executive groups: the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) and the Innovators' Alliance (IA).\nEmotional intelligence at work: Since its inception in the early 1990s, the construct of emotional intelligence has received considerable attention in applied and academic text and has been identified as an important part of an individual's ability to successfully contribute to an organization's success (Bar-On, 1997; Bar-On and Parker, 2000; Goleman, 1998; Stein and Book, 2003). Although I/O psychologists have been studying aspects of EI in organizations for decades, the concept is still relatively new and there is still much that needs to be researched in order to gain clarity into the impact that EI may have on individual and organizational performance. While there are several conceptual definitions of emotional intelligence (Bar-On, 1997; Goleman, 1995, 1998; Mayer et al., 2000; Salovey and Mayer, 1989), they all share several theoretical underpinnings, which include: an awareness of one's own emotions, an awareness of emotions in others, an understanding of emotions, and the ability to manage one's own emotions and the emotions of others.Although there is a general agreement of EI as a nonacademic intelligence with predictive value beyond general intelligence or \"g\" (Fox and Spector, 2000; Gardner, 1983), there is a growing debate as to how EI should be operationalized. The two prominent models of emotional intelligence include an ability-based model and a skill based model, which differ in their conceptual approach to the application of EI. The ability model defines EI according to intelligence theory, emphasizing the cognitive elements of EI and uses a performance-based assessment method known as the MSCEIT (Mayer et al., 2002) to discriminate various levels of EI. Specifically, Mayer and Salovey (1990) defined emotional intelligence as the ability to monitor one's own and other's feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions. The skills based model is trait-based and encompasses a broader set of competencies. In this framework, Bar-On (2005) defines emotional intelligence as a cross section of interrelated emotional and social competencies, skills and facilitators that determine how effectively we understand and express ourselves, understand others and relate with them, and cope with daily demands. A measurement tool that underpins the skills based model is the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i; Bar-On, 1997). In either case, each model and its respective inventory has been examined empirically and accepted as a valid measure of emotional intelligence (Bar-On, 2004; Mayer et al., 2004; Van Rooy et al., 2005).For the purpose of the present study, the EQ-i was identified as the instrument of choice for two reasons. First, past research has shown links between the EQ-i and leadership (Barling et al., 2000; Butler and Chinowsky, 2006; Stuart and Paquet, 2001). Second, the EQ-i was selected due to its application in organizational settings. The EQ-i has been shown to be positively related to teamwork behavior (Sue-Chan and Latham, 2004), and job performance (Bachman et al., 2000), and negatively related to anxiety (Summerfeldt et al., 2006) and depression (Dawda and Hart, 2000).\nEmotional intelligence and leadership: Because of a constantly changing business environment, leadership positions often require more than just task competencies or technical know-how (George, 2000). Riggio et al. (2002) propose that effective leaders possess multiple forms of intelligence, which allows them to respond successfully to various situations. In particular, scholars have noted that emotional skills are essential for executive level leader performance (Carmeli, 2003) and become increasingly important (compared to IQ and technical skills) as individuals advance within their organizational hierarchies (Dulewicz and Higgs, 2003; Goleman et al., 2002). Goleman (1998, p. 93) states that \"effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: they all have a high degree of emotional intelligence\" and suggests that emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership.In their research with leaders of a large biotechnology/agricultural company, Rubin et al. (2005) found that the ability to recognize emotion, maintain positive affect, and demonstrate agreeableness, positively predicted transformational leadership behavior. Using emotion recognition, a facet of EI, Rubin et al. (2005) concluded that leaders who were able to perceive emotions more accurately were rated more highly on transformational leadership behavior, suggesting that these types of leaders were more interpersonally sensitive than leaders who rely on contingent reward behavior. In their research with construction executives, Butler and Chinowsky (2006) found a positive relationship between total EQ and transformational leadership and that 34 percent of the variance in transformational leadership was explained by total EQ. The authors also identify five specific components of EI that were related to transformational leadership behaviors. As such, we suggest the following hypothesis:H1. The executive group will have significantly higher scores on emotional intelligence than the general population.Transformational leadership is largely viewed as the most effective form of leadership, a style in which leaders are closely engaged with followers beyond conventional transactional exchanges and is predictive of positive individual and organizational outcomes (Bass, 1997). In order for leaders to engage in transformational behaviors they must be confident in their ability to manage their own emotions and the emotions of others. Bar-On (1997) proposes that individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence have the ability to handle stressful situations without losing control and are able to maintain a calm composure when relating with others even while experiencing intense emotions. Sosik and Megerian (1999) suggest that emotionally intelligent people feel more secure in their ability to control and influence life events and, as a result, provide individual focus on others as well as intellectually stimulate and motivate followers. Accordingly, we hypothesize that:H2. Higher scores on emotional intelligence will be positively related to the degree to which managing others was perceived as less challenging.\nOrganizational outcomes: This study also examines EI in relation to organizational outcomes. Huy (1999) posited that emotional intelligence could help facilitate adaptation in periods of discontinuous change or paradigm shifts. Under these conditions, a leader must address the emotionality of the challenge before focusing on the rationality of it in order to inspire individual and collective action. During changing conditions, communication is often laden with emotional content (George, 2000) and skillful persuasion using emotional appeals is the key to overcoming resistance to change (Fox and Amichai-Hamburger, 2001). We can therefore expect that there will be an association between EI and the perception of business challenges facing the organization, since the executive's perception will serve as the basis for the generation and communication of any sort of change program. Accordingly, the hypothesis would be stated as:H3. Higher scores on emotional intelligence will be positively related to the degree to which a business challenge was perceived as less challenging.Given the pervasive influence of the executive over the organization, it is expected that the EI of the executive group will be directly related to organizational performance in regards to profitability. McClelland (1999) reported that division presidents with higher levels of emotional intelligence outperformed performance targets by 15 to 20 percent and had a 94 percent retention, while those who scored lower on emotional intelligence competencies under-performed by 20 percent and had only a 50 percent retention. Pesuric and Byham (1996) found that supervisors who received emotional intelligence training exceeded performance targets by $250,000, while research conducted at a national insurance company revealed that sales people who were rated very strong in five of eight key emotional intelligence competencies doubled the sales of others (Goleman, 1998). This leads us to the following hypothesis:H4. Executives who possess higher levels of emotional intelligence will yield higher profit.\nMethod: Participants and procedures\nResults and discussion: Table II presents the means, standard deviations, and t-values for each of the composite scales and subscales of the EQ-i for the executive group and the general population. The general population's average score is 100 with a standard deviation of 15.Hypothesis 1 - executive comparison with general population means\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the emotional intelligence (EI) scores of two high profile executive groups in comparison with the general population. Also the study aims to investigate the executive group's EI scores in relation to various organizational outcomes such as net profit, growth management, and employee management and retention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) was administered to a sample of 186 executives (159 males and 27 females) belonging to one of two executive mentoring associations, the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) and the Innovators' Alliance (IA). A series of questions relating to pre-tax operating profits over the past three years, previous year's net profit, and various business challenges were asked of each executive.\nFindings: - The results showed that top executives differed significantly from the normative population on the EQ-i in eight of the 15 EQ-i subscales. Executives who possessed higher levels of empathy, self-regard, reality testing, and problem solving were more likely to yield high profit-earning companies, while Total EQ-i was related to the degree to which a challenge was perceived as being easy with respect to managing growth, managing others, and training and retaining employees.\nPractical implications: - The findings enable researchers and practitioners to better understand what leadership differences and similarities exist at various organizational levels. These profiles further aid in human resource initiatives such as leadership development and personnel selection.\nOriginality/value: - Despite empirical evidence supporting the relationship between EI and leadership, research with high-level leadership samples is relatively sparse. The study examines EI in relation to two unique, yet high functioning executive groups, which will enable further exploration into the emotional and psychological structure of these high-performing groups.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Facilitating learning spaces in forum theatre
|
[
"Forum theatre",
"Learning and development",
"Facilitation",
"Learning space",
"Learning",
"Theatre",
"Arts"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: \"Life is increasingly becoming theatrical and performative in character\" (Clark, 2008, p. 401) and this performative approach has made its way into learning and development activities. Whereas traditionally theatre has been connected with entertainment, it is also suggested that the purpose of theatre can extend further, and, as Mangham (2001) notes, \"over the years [...] theatre has been regarded as a particularly powerful space for challenge, reflection and instruction\" (p. 296). Thus using theatre and drama as a vehicle for organizational development has becoming increasingly popular in organizations, whether hiring professional actors to support skills development or, more recently, using drama to address wider organizational issues, such as diversity, bullying and harassment or conflict management through the use of a particular form of \"organizational theatre\", namely forum theatre.\nUnderstanding forum theatre: Forum theatre in organizational settings owes its techniques to the South American theatre director, Augusto Boal, whose innovative work using theatre as a method of giving voice to marginalised communities, moved theatre away from the traditional director-led approaches with the aim of enabling communities to both challenge and change society\nConceptualising \"space\": Using forum theatre in learning, development and/or change interventions can open up a learning or aesthetic space (Coopey, 1998, 2002) where 'there is a suspension of truth or knowledge claims [...] when participants are able to accept that no view is a priori authoritative or true [and] managers have no claim to a privileged vantage point' (Fulop and Rifkin, 1997, p. 59). Burgoyne and Jackson (1997) offer a similar approach through the \"arena thesis\" of learning. Here, the arena is described as \"any setting, event, or process that allows ideas to be shared or explored between people and interest groups\" (p61) which enables the facilitation of processes which are \"directed at the creation, questioning and development of joint meaning in organizations\" (Burgoyne and Jackson, 1997) Both approaches resonate with the model and processes of forum theatre where, in theory at least, all participants are deemed to have an equal voice and \"roles and plots are emergent rather than scripted\" (Meisiek and Barry, 2007, p. 1806), offering a pluralist rather than unitarist approach to organizational learning and change processes.\nMethodology and methods: Given that the research aims to explore the interpretation by the stakeholders of forum theatre approaches to learning and development, the approach adopted was that of social constructivism (Czarniawska, 2001) whereby meaning and knowledge are \"constructed in concrete places at specific times\" (p. 254). Thus a qualitative method was employed on the basis that the open-ended nature of theatre-based interventions and the features of such interventions - for example, \"learning spaces\", \"audience participation\" - are by their nature ambiguous concepts and problematic to operationalise. Taking this approach enabled the exploration of the meanings and interpretations of forum theatre interventions, be it the practitioners, commissioners or participants, to gain a better understanding of the underlying philosophies of forum theatre approaches in relation to learning and organizational change, and the extent to which these philosophies are carried forward into the event itself.\nResearch participants: A purposive approach to sampling was undertaken (Silverman, 2000), seeking out \"groups, settings and individuals where [...] the processes being studies are most likely to occur\". The starting point for data collection was the theatre consultancies, and the criteria for selecting the consultancies were that they used the term \"forum theatre\" when promoting their services and, for practical reasons, were based in London and the South-East. Research participants were recruited through making contact via e-mail with theatre consultancies; as a result access was provided to two long-term forum theatre events, which in turn provided access to the event commissioners, the actors/facilitators who managed the events, and the delegates. In addition, noting that previous forum theatre studies have been located within one specific event or case (Clark and Mangham, 2004a, b; Gibb, 2004; Meisiek and Barry, 2007) interviews were also carried out with practitioners and commissioners not linked to a specific programme or event.\nData analysis: Data analysis was undertaken using template analysis, a \"flexible technique with few specified procedures, permitting researchers to tailor it to match their own requirements\" (King, 2004, p. 257). This form of analysis is particularly useful when different types of data are collected, in this case, through focus groups, individual interviews and observation and where data are collected from a range of stakeholders (King, 2012), enabling comparisons to be made between these perspectives.\nFindings: The first section of the findings discusses the actors\nDiscussion: The findings provide insights into delivery of forum theatre events; such interventions being initially designed to promote more participative approaches to learning, development and change management initiatives within organizations. The theatre of Augusto Boal aimed to provide a space where different and opposite points-of-view are aired, with the ultimate goal of promoting social and personal change through critical thinking and discussion (Babbage, 2004). This would imply that, in the organizational context, forum theatre facilitators would work with the participants/spect-actors to work through the issues and develop their own solutions, acting as a collaborator, with learning developing \"out of communication between the participants themselves\" (Bates, 1996). However, the findings show that, while employees were engaged in the process and perceived such events as being highly participative, the extent to which the outcomes were emergent rather than pre-determined is open to question.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which forum theatre interventions can support non-hierarchical approaches to learning, development and change management initiatives in organisations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with theatre consultancies, actors/facilitators, commissioners and participants in two forum theatre events. The data were analysed through thematic coding using template analysis.\nFindings: The findings show that the impact of forum theatre interventions was constrained by the need for practitioners to meet the requirements of their organizational clients. There was a lack of clarity by the facilitators about how they can carry out the role effectively and meet the expectations of their own managers, organizational clients and participants. The paper concludes that without explicit acknowledgement of these competing expectations or the facilitators\nResearch limitations/implications: The study is relatively small-scale and there is a need for research across a wider range of theatre-based interventions to develop understanding of the ways in which such events can enable the development of non-hierarchical learning spaces.\nPractical implications: The paper highlights the need for consultancies offering forum theatre interventions to understand the dilemmas of facilitators and provide a more pro-active approach to their learning and development needs.\nOriginality/value: There has been limited exploration of the facilitator\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Manufacturing performance: evaluation and determinants
|
[
"Performance measurement (quality)",
"Operations management",
"Manufacturing systems",
"Statistical analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Manufacturing is considered to be an important element in a firm's endeavor to improve firm performance (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1984; Skinner, 1969). Superior manufacturing performance leads to competitiveness. We have identified two necessary steps which a firm must undertake to excel in manufacturing. First, the firm must determine what its manufacturing competitive priorities are, and where it stands on these aspects relative to its major competitors. Second, in order to sustain or improve manufacturing strength, the firm needs to understand what critical manufacturing practices determine superior manufacturing.In comparing manufacturing performance, most studies define performance in terms of multiple achievement indicators such as waste reduction, operating efficiency, timely delivery, superior quality, motivated employees, customer satisfaction, etc. However, performance is usually reported for each indicator rather than in a consolidated manner through an aggregate index of performance. In addition, most studies focus on the operating outcomes while overlooking whether the improvement efforts warrant the time and costs devoted to them (Clark and Fujimoto, 1991; Leachman and Hodges, 1993; Silver and Lowe, 1989; Womack et al., 1990). On the other hand, in the studies where outputs (operating outcomes) and inputs (improvement efforts) are both considered, performance is usually assessed based on a single output (usually production volume) and limited input items (usually capital and labor). These studies usually employ econometric analysis. In these analyses, nonquantitative achievements which also create superiority in manufacturing, such as quality, on-time delivery, and flexibility are not captured in the measures of performance. Also usually ignored in the inputs are indirect costs, which have increased significantly in manufacturing enterprises due to extensive use of automation, system integration, etc. Clearly, performance based on partial measures falls short in providing a complete description of a firm's overall measure of manufacturing competitiveness.Performance evaluation generates classes of firms based on performance. This leads naturally to a subsequent question: what factors determine the variations in manufacturing performance among firms? Manufacturing activity is comprised of many processes, decisions, and actions. Correct choice and effective implementation of critical decisions and actions can enhance a firm's manufacturing capability, which in turn strengthens the competitive status of the firm (Hayes et al., 1988; Miller and Roth, 1994; Skinner, 1982). Many studies have attempted to outline the critical manufacturing practices that lead to superior manufacturing performance. However, most of them fall short in two aspects. First, most of these studies are prescriptive in nature, or propose a theory but only a handful of them empirically verify the essential factors in explaining superior, competitive manufacturing performance. Second, studies that employ empirical analysis often include manufacturing practices in the measures of manufacturing priorities, or vice versa. These studies conceptually fail to distinguish between the goals (manufacturing priorities) and the means (manufacturing practices) for achieving the goals (Vickery et al., 1993).The purpose of the study is thus two-fold:1. to assess a firm's manufacturing performance using a reasonably comprehensive model; and2. to empirically verify critical manufacturing practices that account for manufacturing performance differentials.In this study, manufacturing pursuits and manufacturing practices are clearly distinguished. A manufacturing performance metric is constructed around direct and indirect inputs, and quantitative and qualitative outputs. We propose and examine hypotheses on the relationships between superior, competitive manufacturing performance and key manufacturing practices outlined in the literature.For our analysis, we contend that manufacturing performance can be expressed, from the resource transportation perspective, in terms of the capability of translating input resources to valuable products (Cameron and Whetten, 1983), and that performance can be numerically expressed in relation to the best performing competitors (Banker et al., 1984; Charnes et al., 1978). The common term used for this performance measure is relative efficiency which is based on the ratio of weighted outputs to weighted inputs. We use the world automobile industry for the empirical analysis. The automobile industry provides a cornerstone for economic expansion and technology development. Great interest in analyzing and explaining the success and failure of the automobile industry can be found in a number of studies (Aizcorbe et al., 1987; Clark and Fujimoto, 1991; Cole, 1982; Womack et al., 1990).In evaluating performance, we explicitly incorporate vehicle field performance as well as vehicle production volume in the output measures, and direct and indirect costs in the input measures. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to obtain a measure of relative manufacturing performance. The variations in manufacturing performance are subsequently explained by the dispersions of research and development (R&D) commitment, outsourcing rate, and work-in-process inventory turnover (ITO) among the volume automakers. While the proposed analytical approach is directly applicable to other industries, we suspect that the results can also be extended to other industries because the identified sources of competitiveness have been suggested for other industries as well.The paper is organized as follows. Studies on performance evaluation and on the new challenges and key success factors in the new manufacturing paradigm are reviewed in the next section. Productivity analysis and key success factors for world volume automakers in the new competitive environment are also discussed. Next, a performance metric is identified, and the relationships between major manufacturing practices and superior manufacturing performance are hypothesized. Empirical analysis through DEA is used to obtain relative manufacturing performance evaluations. Statistical analysis is subsequently undertaken to test the hypothesized relationships between critical manufacturing practices and superior manufacturing. A test of consistency of the empirical results based on different displays of outputs is presented next. Finally, the conclusions and a discussion of limitations and future research directions are provided.\n2 Related studies: 2.1 Benchmarking using comprehensive measures\n3 The performance metric and hypotheses: In this section, we identify a performance metric for evaluating manufacturing performance. We then hypothesize the relationships between manufacturing performance and the key practices.3.1 A manufacturing performance metric\n4 Empirical analysis: 4.1 The sample\n5 Test of empirical results robustness: In the preceding analysis, the relative performance used in testing the H1-H3 depends critically on the measures for inputs and outputs in the performance metric. Each input and output displayed in the performance metric incorporates certain assumptions. For instance, use of the quality index, based on vehicle trouble frequency and crash protection, to capture vehicle field performance implies that these two quality dimensions are of equivalent importance. These aggregation assumptions naturally lead to the following question: what is the effect of aggregation on the calculated performance ratings, and in turn, on the empirical results of the hypothesized relationships? Conversely, will the resulting conclusions alter when these variables are disaggregated in the performance evaluation? If the answer to the above question is \"no\" then it provides a degree of robustness to our results. A high degree of robustness provides stronger evidence in support of the hypothesized relationships.We test the robustness of the hypothesized relationships by varying the output manifestations. We achieve this by disaggregating vehicle field performance. We decompose vehicle field performance into two separate dimensions: trouble index and crash protection index, and use them as two separate outputs of manufacturing. Thus, the performance metric contains one input: total manufacturing expenditures, and three outputs: vehicle production volume, trouble index, and crash protection. The assessment using the original input and output construction is termed the aggregate model. The assessment in which field performance is disaggregated is termed the analysis with Q variation. A summary of these variations is shown here:Aggregate model Equation 5 Q variation model Equation 6 where Vehicle field performance=Average of trouble index and crash protection index, Em=Relative efficiencyThe results of the analysis with Q variation are reported in the following tables. Table IV presents the relative manufacturing performance ratings. The regression results on the determinants of superior manufacturing are presented in Table V. We summarize the results below.First, consider the relative manufacturing performance. The ratings of analysis with Q variation exhibit a similar pattern to those in the original analysis, both in terms of magnitude and trend. We now turn our attention to the empirical results for test of H1-H3. All the empirical results of analysis with Q variation resemble those of the original analysis.\n6 Conclusions, limitations, and future research: In this paper a new efficiency metric was developed based on traditional measures of total expenditures as input, and production volume and quality as output. This study shows how manufacturing performance can be measured objectively with a composite performance index. It also shows how the resulting performance ratings can then be used to determine the effects of a selected group of practices on manufacturing performance. The approach is tested on a multi-year sample of the world automobile industry.It is noticed that, while many studies have attempted to identify the critical manufacturing practices, most of them are prescriptive in nature or propose a theory without verifying essential factors. One distinction of this study is that it both proposes and empirically validates the theory.While most of manufacturing managers have roughly equal access to most of the information required to build an outstanding manufacturing organization, how they combine and exploit that information as competitive advantage has become one critical success factor in manufacturing. Yet, performance is usually reported as an individual indicator rather than as a composite aggregate index of performance. The composite index used in this study consists of two nonfinancial measures as outputs and manufacturing expenditures as inputs. The two output measures are vehicle production volume and vehicle field performance objectively assessed by consumers and/or field tests.Manufacturing performance is determined by means of a linear programming technique - DEA. Through DEA, we obtain relative ratings for the manufacturing performance composite index. The variations in the ratings (i.e. manufacturing performance differentials) were then accounted for, through regression analysis, by a selected set of key practices. Three key practices were identified and hypothesized as determinants of superior manufacturing. The practices are R&D commitment, time compression during production, and degree of outsourcing.The relative manufacturing strength among automakers found in this study agrees with the observations in a number of focused studies and special reports on the world automobile industries. The regression results reveal that R&D commitment and time compression during production are positively linked to improved manufacturing performance. However, the degree of outsourcing is found inconsequential to enhancing manufacturing performance. Interestingly, a quadratic relationship between outsourcing rate and manufacturing performance is observed in the study, suggesting that an increase in outsourcing will decrease, at an increasing rate, the firm's manufacturing performance.Instead of using a questionnaire to obtain self-reported evaluation, this study evaluates performance objectively based on a direct appraisal of the firms' multiple manufacturing inputs and outputs. In this study, theories and techniques from different disciplines were utilized. The multi-disciplinary approach led to robustness and objectivity.Since, the study uses a broad-based approach, and the determinants of superior manufacturing must exhibit some generic similarity among similar manufacturing industries, we believe the findings obtained in the study can therefore probably be transported to other similar manufacturing industries.The main limitations of this research arise from the inherent problems of the use of accounting measures (cost items), use of secondary data (data availability), and effects of foreign exchange markets in the analysis. However, the effects of using different accounting principles between US and Japanese companies are found to be \"not seriously distorting the compatibility of their financial statement data\" (Brown et al., 1994). Moreover, the fundamental pattern and changes in relative manufacturing competitiveness, revealed in the DEA results, are strongly in conformity with direct evidence exhibited in a number of reports and studies. Also, the adjusted R2 and the levels of significance of test statistics are relatively high, indicating that the essential factors in superior manufacturing are adequately addressed, to the extent that data availability permits.A number of issues require further investigation. It is desirable that the research model be expanded with additional variables from a new perspective in order to develop a more comprehensive performance metric. Other performance benchmarks should be incorporated in the output. Direct and indirect inputs should be calculated separately in examining their individual relevance on performance. There is a need to extensively examine other important issues in supply chain management. The portfolio of items outsourced, the configuration of the supply chain, and the details of the supplier-manufacturer relationship should also be included in the analysis to enhance the understanding of the impact of different sourcing practices on manufacturing performance. Subsequent studies should attempt to identify other important manufacturing practices that also explain manufacturing performance differentials. The results also suggest the need for further analysis of where the improvements can be made within a particular company, according to its firm-specific characteristics. Moreover, there is a need to replicate this study in other industries to enhance the generalizability of the approach, and verify the transportability of the findings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Many studies examine manufacturing performance along individual benchmarking dimensions. This study aims to develop a performance metric based on quality and output volume among other variables to assess a firm's manufacturing competitiveness in relation to its major rivals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The relative manufacturing performance is measured by data envelopment analysis (DEA). Several key manufacturing practices are examined for their impact on performance. They are research and development (R&D) commitment, time compression during production, and degree of outsourcing. The results are based on a sample from the world automobile industry.\nFindings: - The empirical results suggest that a strong R&D commitment and ability to compress production time explain 37 percent of the manufacturing performance differences among major volume automobile producers. A nonlinear convex relationship is also found between outsourcing rate and manufacturing performance. The results show how the resulting performance ratings can then be utilized to assess the effects of a selected group of practices on manufacturing performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Since, there is a common basis for the sources of competitiveness among industries, the findings derived from this study are probably transportable to other industries. Also, the proposed metric and analytic approaches are generic and thus can be broadly applied to other industries. The results also suggest the need for further analysis of where improvements can be made within a given company, according to its firm-specific characteristics.\nOriginality/value: - Examines manufacturing performance along individual benchmarking dimensions and develops a performance metric based on quality and output volume to assess a firm's manufacturing competitiveness in relation to its major rivals.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
New life luxury: upcycled Scottish heritage textiles
|
[
"Design",
"Narrative",
"Sustainability",
"Luxury",
"Pre-consumer waste",
"Upcycling"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The concepts of luxury and sustainability can be perceived as contrary ideas. While luxury was associated with branded goods and splendour, sustainability was linked to environmental and social responsibility with an ethical approach to consumerism (Hennigs et al., 2013).\nPre-consumer waste: Pre-consumer waste is a by-product of the manufacturing process; whereas, post-consumer waste is discarded by the end user (Hawley, 2006). At each stage of production, waste is created and on average 15 per cent of pre-consumer waste is disposed by manufacturers in the fashion industry (Rodie, 2010). This waste is material that is discarded and burnt; it constitutes selvedges, offcuts, faulty weaving or knitting, threads and yarns. As a result of the cutting, production and finishing processes, an immense amount of waste materials are generated (Black, 2008).\nPetit h: Hermes, a stalwart of luxury business, launched the Petit h project in 2010 (Boucherat, 2014; Stylebubble, 2013). Initiated by Pascale Mussard, a member of the founding family, the project is designed to use material offcuts or repurpose flawed items from across the atelier range. Mussard, the artistic director of Petit h, had been a passionate collector from childhood onwards. Growing up with the values of the post-war generation, she was taught to respect the textiles and products she was surrounded by Boucherat (2014) and Woo (2013):\nResults: Although the company does not want to be \"a sanctimonious green initiative but rather, a unique metier that continues in Hermes' tradition of upholding values of supreme craftsmanship, unquestionable quality and longevity\" (Stylebubble, 2013), Petit h embodies the values of the slow fashion concept:\nUpcycling pre-consumer tartan waste: Another of the critical success factors of luxury is \"An association with a country of origin that has an especially strong reputation as a source of excellence for a certain product category, such as champagne from France\" (Brun and Castelli, 2013). Not only is Scotland famous for tartan, but also the provenance associated with woven and knitted cashmere products.\nDesign limitations: Regardless of using pre- or post-consumer textiles, there is a range of restrictions that the designer has to address when working with these materials. In some cases, these challenges can also present opportunities for unique design solutions.\nSize: The research project described in this paper focuses on upcycling selvedges, a by-product of the weaving process. To successfully upcycle textile waste from Schofield, it was necessary to take the existing textile structures into consideration. The length of each fabric strip is limited, with an average width of three to four centimetres and an approximate length of a 150 centimetres. Each piece of selvedge is connected with two or three threads.\nPattern: In each bag there are many differently patterned selvedges ranging from stripes to checks in a variety of colours, fibres and weights.\nFibre: Each of the fibre presents different material properties. For designers, these play a key role in deciding the technique to employ and the ultimate end use. High-quality materials such as cashmere are mixed with selvedges made of varying qualities of wool. To upcycle the different types of materials, wastage needs to be categorised into different groups of material type, colour and weight.\nColour: Many of the fabric strips are quite strong in colour combination and pattern, requiring careful consideration when combining.\nDesign solutions: In order to upcycle the materials successfully, different making strategies and techniques were explored. Initially selvedge strips were knitted together, however the colours and patterns of the checks did not emerge clearly enough. As the remnants are made from high-quality materials with the distinctive Scottish tartan, the aim was not only to upcycle the wastage but also to preserve and upcycle the tartan patterns, maintaining the heritage and provenance of the textiles.\nProblem: During the course of the project, it soon became apparent that supplementary materials had to be introduced to improve the resilience of the fabrics. By only upcycling the tartan strips, both the design possibilities and the colour scheme were too strictly limited.\nResults: The most successful textiles used stitch and weave to create new patterns from the tartan strips. These techniques did not require a great deal of supplementary materials and utilised the traditional tartan pattern as a design tool to form new designs. The variations are manifold and there is still considerable potential to explore, with these and other textile techniques. Furthermore, these samples fulfil different features of the slow fashion concept.\nSashiko workshop, collins gallery: The concept of using old textiles to make new ones is nothing new and it has been an indigenous craft in many cultures for centuries. Across the world, groups (often women), come together socially to create textiles from remnants. Similarities can be drawn between the patchwork movement in the west, Indian quilting, Pogagi in Korea, Mola from Guatemala, applique in Africa and even the Make do and Mend drive of the Second World War in Europe. What all of these textiles have in common is craftsmanship and an embedded social narrative. With the investment of design, skill and time, upcycled materials can be elevated to luxury status.\nConclusions: This paper gives an insight into how design plays a key role in elevating discarded materials into luxury textiles and products. Following an overview of these projects, several conclusions can be drawn on how Scottish heritage pre- and post-consumer waste can be upcycled and indeed fall under the category of luxury, despite second life origins. The following criteria are crucial in the design and production process:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The term luxury and sustainability, within the fashion and textile industries are seldom seen as natural bedfellows. Recently however, the perception of luxury has begun to include a definition left behind in the twentieth century; beautifully hand crafted artefacts valued for the time, skill and design invested in them. It is possible though, for the concept of luxury textiles to embrace this definition and that of the sustainable credentials of a \"Cradle to Cradle\" (McDonough and Braungart, 2002) mindset (that of a life beyond original creation) and be fashionable. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Utilising a variety of methodologies including case studies, reflective practice and a practice-based approach; this paper examines the use of pre-consumer waste in the creation of new luxury textiles. Several projects are cited, offering examples of collaboration between textile mills and designers in the creation of new fabrics made from luxury by-products. This luxury waste is routinely shredded for automobile seat filling or landfill, however current sustainable thinking encourages a more creative solution to this circumstance. Designers have a crucial role to play in converting an unwanted by-product to one that is highly desirable.\nFindings: Traditional values of what constitutes a luxury item include the concept of time invested in making a unique handmade artefact. More recently, this premise has been overlooked in favour of branded goods. The slow fashion movement advocates the inherent value of craftsmanship coupled with the ethical use of sustainable and or local materials and processes. The traditional techniques of felting, weave and stitch are utilised to create beautiful, original textiles from discarded waste. By collaborating with local mills, designers provide solutions to something that could be perceived as a problem.\nOriginality/value: The embedded narrative within these layered textiles provides an original quality and added value, building on their Scottish heritage. The resulting textiles reflect their provenance; the landscape they come from and the people who created them. As a result of purchase, the story continues with the new custodian, adding to the ongoing history of the textile. The design work and collaboration that this paper outlines embodies a transferable model for sustainable upcycled luxury textiles.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Applying holistic principles in management development
|
[
"Leadership",
"Management development",
"Management philosophy",
"Oriental philosophy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Meaningful management learning occurs where concepts meet experiences through inner and outer reflection, therefore management education needs to encompass but also go beyond teaching of the business functions and into a more natural way to organize learning based upon the zone where thoughtful thinking meets practical doing (see: Mintzberg and Gosling, 2002). A key for managers who enter this zone is managing of the self through a reflective and holistic mindset in which they learn to think in terms of creative tensions of \"opposites\" in a dynamic process. Ultimately this means managing through an awareness of one's own nature. Developing managers and leaders in this direction may be achieved by engaging learners in experiential, self-expressive (which may include unusual or unexpected) activities for the purposes of thoughtful reflection and the generation of new insights. Mintzberg and Gosling (2002) cited examples of such activities ranging from drama workshops to discussions of ethics and spirituality, which they argue give participants the opportunity to focus on themselves, their lives, their work, their world and give them a better feel for managing themselves and others. The approaches suggested by Mintzberg, Gosling and others resonate with many Eastern cultures in which a holistic philosophy is embodied in a disposition towards self-reflection, self-investigation and self-development in pursuit of harmony in \"body-mind\" to obtain a state of \"happiness and blessing\" (Dychtwald, 1992).The central precept of this case study project is that managers need to have an inner center to act as an anchor and source of gravity and calm through which they may acknowledge and accept the inherent tensions and paradoxes of, for example, rationality and intuition, creativity and control, and change and preservation (Autry, 1991). Unchanging core values based upon holistic principles may, paradoxically, allow flexibility and adjustment in a changing environment. Furthermore, meaningful organizational change and adaptation to new and challenging environments can happen much more easily if there is personal change by key stakeholders such as managers and leaders. Those managers who are exposed to a more holistic learning experience may be able to act from this centered state and thereby recognize, develop and use their full range of capacities - the \"soft\" and the \"hard\" - and in doing so cope better with personal, interpersonal, organizational and environmental challenges in turbulent times and also act with greater authenticity and integrity.Inter-cultural aspects add an additional dimension to these arguments. Rather than there being \"lone best way of organizing\" (usually the \"Western\" way) there are alternative approaches that may be drawn from other cultures and philosophies. One need look no further than the expansion of the Chinese economy for a very pressing and valid reason for managers in the West, if not to embrace, then at least to begin to understand some of beliefs and values that underpin the mindset behind East Asian business (Tung, 1994). However, interest in Eastern approaches goes beyond a utilitarian or market-based argument to a concern equally with the learning and development, and ultimately the spiritual (and in the sense we use it here this is not equated with the religious aspect of spirituality) fulfilment, of managers and leaders and the organizations of which they are a part.If applied successfully some of the approaches outlined here have the potential to build organizations in which humanistic, and hence more ethical, principles are overtly recognized and fostered. Bolman and Deal (2003, p. 395) viewed the heart of many of the recent corporate scandals that have been witnessed as being the result of an erosion of the sense of what the organizations concerned \"were\" and what they stood for. Authenticity and ethical behaviors must rest in a \"soul\" which Bolman and Deal described in terms of the corporate sense of identity, beliefs and values and which, depending upon one's frame of reference (and a plurality of frames is possible), might embody itself in:* authorship: giving space within boundaries wherein leaders may increase their influence and build more productive organizations;* love: confronting our own and others' vulnerability as a sign of understanding and accepting the individual (Bolman and Deal, 2003, p. 402);* power: paradoxically Bolman and Deal (2003, p. 406) argued that leaders who \"hoard power produce powerless organizations\" whereas giving power liberates employees' productive energies; and* significance: employees' work should be perceived as worthy of their efforts.If one accepts the values and beliefs that underpin these and related arguments the question arises of how the practice of manager and leader development might respond? There are many possibilities. One possibility which draws upon a non-Western philosophy is embodied in the words of the Tao te Ching which have operated as a \"correct guiding discourse\" for many centuries and for a significant portion of humanity (Hodge, 2002, p. 17). The aim of this project was to use the first-named author's interpretation of certain aspects of the Tao te Ching as a guiding discourse for a manager and leader development program. It was hoped that by drawing upon the precepts of this text some of the attributes that are the hallmarks of a more holistic way of managing and organizing may be brought to the fore in the thoughts and actions of managers and leaders.\nHolistic principles for management development: Holism is a philosophical concept, deriving from the Greek root holos meaning a whole with a value greater than the sum of its parts - a Gestalt of things. To be whole an organism should have the ability to \"self-organize, including self-renewal and self-transcendence, but with the ability to be self-assertive and integrate with the whole\" (Patterson, 1998: 288). The ancient Chinese texts the I Ching and the Tao te Ching both have holism, self-development and growth among their central precepts and see the purposes of life as learning and the expanding of one's spirituality. For this reason one of these ancient texts, the Tao te Ching, was taken as the basis for this Case Study project.Taoism's central text is the Tao te Ching which is ascribed to Lao Tzu (an older contemporary of Confucius) but is more likely to be an anthology of chapters or wise sayings from approximately the fourth century BC. The Tao te Ching has had an influence on Chinese thought out of all proportion to its length (it is very short, so much so that it is sometimes referred to as \"the book of five thousand characters\"). From the verses of the Tao te Ching it is possible to identify a number of core principles for management development, and an attempt will be made to draw a comparison (a contrast) between the Taoist core principles and the work of the Western manager. In this paper there is a focus on the core capabilities of the \"Taoist\" leader that may provide values to underpin a managerial and leadership role for the twenty-frist century which is more balanced than one that relies solely upon the traditional principles employed in business and management education in the West. These principles were derived from a reading of various translations of the texts and a personal interpretation of them in the context of management and organizational development (the classic English translation by Lau (1963) was the basis for the case study paper). The principles are described separately but in reality they overlap and inter-relate; in spite of this they each provide their own unique insight for the design of a holistic management development program. The six principles are:1. quieting the mind;2. harmony and balance;3. relinquishing the desire to control;4. transcending the ego;5. centeredness; and6. the power of softness.Principle 1. Quieting the mind\nThe study: Research question\nDiscussion and conclusions: From a reading of managers' delayed reactions to the program there appear to be four core values that emerged through the responses that were observed:1. emotional awareness not only to personal feelings but to how one's feeling and actions might affect the feelings of others also;2. shared perspectives of one's own perspective and that of others - seeing the world through someone else's eyes and seeing oneself through their eyes also;3. interpersonal sensitivity in one's own ability to the extent that it is possible to \"let go\", and in others' abilities to the extent that it is possible to give up tasks and responsibilities to others - to delegate and empower;4. benevolence embodying a concern for one's own well being and for that of others; and5. fulfilment by being receptive to the need to change, learn and develop and to enable this change in others also.The six guiding principles for this developmental experience were:1. quieting the mind;2. harmony; and balance;3. relinquishing the desire to control;4. transcending the ego;5. centeredness; and6. the power of softness.The principles drew upon Taoism in order to raise managers' awareness of core values that may help them to become more in accord with themselves, those around them and their changing environment. While current approaches in management emphasize traits and behaviors adapted from external knowledge this paper has emphasized some of the inner values. The inner values of emotional awareness, shared perspectives, interpersonal sensitivity and benevolence and fulfilment represent core qualities that a manager may bring to complex, dynamic and uncertain workplaces. For example, the value of benevolence may be seen as a core quality of ethical management (Confucianists view \"the Way\" as an ethical principle - see Wenfeng and Shaojie, 1991, p. 161). These values are linked to holistic principles that serve specific developmental goals (Figure 1). As noted earlier Western principles and values have tended to predominate in organizational life; our argument is that the development of the holistic manager requires a greater recognition of non-Western assumptions and values in order to become more \"centered\" and for organizations to become more spiritually (in a non-religious sense) focused.The managers that took part in the development program were exposed to what the first author refers to as \"mind by-pass tools\" since some of the activities aimed to connect them with more holistic modes of thinking-and-being beyond cognition and the natural compulsion to reduce, analyze and dichotomize, and often ignore the body. From the analysis of the feedback it appeared that that exposure to the various activities that have been described in this case study created a perceived change in participants' ways of thinking and acting as managers. These findings suggest to us that there is scope to borrow ideas from non-Western philosophies and apply them to the managerial job role or leadership function. This is not a new idea and in this regard Taoist philosophy and the principles derived from it provide an inner anchor or spiritual focal point, which is practical, relevant and immediately useful to the manager's role. The principles relate to inner values that are necessary, and that may constitute a foundation for the identification of important managerial traits and behaviors that may characterize the holistic manager. The core of the approach is the centeredness that may be achieved by acknowledging and accepting the complementarity of opposites.The limits of current approaches to management learning, the imperative of creativity in management development and the need to continuously refine and develop the techniques available to management development practitioners suggest that there is a need to develop managers in a holistic manner (including the spiritual dimension). This is especially true given that many aspects of the technological society in which we live often may mean that the rational mode of thinking is presented as being superior to an intuitive mode, the paradox is that human nature and the natural world in which we must live in harmony is not becoming more abstract and analytical (Frisch, 2000, p. 674) but rather more complex and chaotic (Briggs and Peat, 1999). Underlying these claims is our view that there are common themes within a \"universal leadership\" that have value across Eastern and Western divides and are based on universal humanistic and spiritual values such as compassion, love, caring respect, meaning and service and manifest themselves in managerial capacities and behaviors. These spiritual values transcend the individual and the group to the organization and beyond in a process of upward spiralling through a complex human/environmental field (Wendler, 1996, p. 837).Certainly it is possible for individual managers to be exposed to the methods outlined here in order to raise their personal awareness of the various possibilities of such a leadership. It is worth noting that the methods were credible (there was every chance that with a conventional group they would not be perceived as such). The managers who participated in the program may themselves work within existing structures where these allow. However, the experience may be transformational to the extent that it may surface conflicts between their values (and behaviors) and the structure and culture of the organization. This potential source of tension is certainly something that any organization needs to be cognizant of before it embarks on such a program. It might be possible to embody some of the principles discussed here, or indeed those outlined by Bolman and Deal (2003) (i.e. authorship, love, power and significance) in the behavioral expectations for individual managers. A test of the extent to which any development program has been successful in this regard might be through an upward- or 360 degree-appraisal (moreover this in itself may be a learning process for the appraisers - bosses and subordinates).But what might an organization look like in which these principles were embodied? This is both a more grandiose project thank our small-scale case study. In terms of its implementation in many organizations it would require a degree of re-orientation of current systems which themselves may be built upon tacit philosophies, deeply-seated mental models and grooved thinking that may need to be articulated, surfaced and challenged. The wisdom of leaving the organization's underlying values and beliefs as un-articulated and assumed is perhaps a questionable one, especially in the light of recent corporate history. Whether the desirable values for the first decades of the twenty-first century would be those of a reframed organization (Bolman and Deal, 2003), a learning organization (Pedler et al., 1997) or even a spiritual organization (see Zohar and Marshall, 1999) is an open one which scholars and practitioners need to jointly explore. Whatever the answer to this question, the approach outlined here may offer some tools and techniques for use at the individual level. But in reflecting upon the value of this case study project we are reminded that living and working with exclusively Western or Euro-centric mind-sets may no longer be an option for managers in the twenty-first century. This paper has described some tools that may permit an engagement with a wider world of personal and spiritual fulfilment and which may provide greater inner peace, calm, meaning, purpose and will-power in managers' lives (see Mitroff, 2003).\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - In preparing managers for the uncertainty, threats and opportunities posed by the challenge of frequent and unexpected changes in organizations and markets, an alternative to a traditional Western viewpoint is a holistic approach that embodies balance and harmony, sees more subtle relationships and avoids the tensions of opposites. The purpose of this paper is to report the derivation and application of six holistic principles for management development (quieting the mind, harmony and balance, relinquishing the desire to control, transcending the ego, centeredness, and the power of softness) derived from a non-Western philosophy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The six principles were implemented in a management development program in a small high-tech company. The reported effects upon the managers' role perceptions and behaviors were captured in immediate and delayed evaluations by means of face-to-face interviews.\nFindings: - The analysis of the interview data identified four underlying values that managers reported emerging from their involvement in the program: emotional awareness, shared perspectives, interpersonal sensitivity and benevolence and fulfilment.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research is an action-based single case study which was evaluated longitudinally using participants' perceptions. Further work is now required to apply these principles more widely and assess them using pre- and post-test measures of attitudes and behaviors and upward/360 degree assessments.\nPractical implications: - The broader impact of a holistic approach for management development in terms of personal and spiritual fulfilment as well as its significance of corporate issues is discussed.\nOriginality/value: - The paper presents a challenging and innovative approach to developing managers holistically and provides a counterbalance to the predominant approach of much management education and development.\n",
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] |
Better together? A hospitality case for umbrella branding
|
[
"Umbrella branding",
"German hospitality industry",
"Association attributes",
"Communication behaviour",
"Association management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The tourism market presents opportunities for large, medium and small businesses and is one of the fastest-growing sectors (Liu et al., 2015). However, it is also challenged by a huge variety of uneven provisions from the excellent to the basic, depending on the types of businesses offering hospitality, from sophisticated large hotel groups and lower-priced economy chains to a plethora of small players in bed-and-breakfast proprietorships and individuals offering room lettings. Large hotel chains have their own product variants by keeping their individual hotel brands under one group name and offering incentives to returning customers in the form of the group's rewards to customers for points accumulated for each stay. For example, the Intercontinental Hotels Group has nine hotel branded names, including Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn. Smaller hotels wishing to keep their independence can look for greater synergies by coming together in a brand alliance to help each other to build further strengths. Or they could join in a brand alliance under the umbrella of an organisation, e.g. a hotel association, for it to develop greater synergies in exchange for their membership fees, so as to take advantage of specialised marketing and information services in a combined operation with scale economies.\nLiterature review: It is essential for services firms to develop and manage their services brands because of the increased competition in the services industry (Berry and Seltman, 2007). Services firms must design their brands and make important choices about the names they will give to their services (McDonald et al. 2001). These names can be categorised along a spectrum with a company name at one end and individual brand names at the other end. The authors claimed that tying the brand name with the firm's name has many advantages but can also inhibit firms from successfully expanding to new market segments or products that do not fit into its existing customer base (McDonald et al., 2001). The choice of brands names is very important in a service alliance context, i.e. hotels' associations or umbrella brands, because perceptions about brand names need to be consistent across all the association's members. Moreover, De Chernatony and Segal-Horn (2003, p. 1098) claimed that \"a holistic brand image integrates entities such as values, colours, name, symbols, words and slogans\". This brand image requires consistency, which has to be carefully managed (Berry et al., 1988). This consistency is particularly important and challenging because brands are intangible (De Chernatony and Segal-Horn, 2003). The authors identified three main criteria of the success of a service brand:\nUmbrella branding in the hospitality industry: The success of an umbrella brand can be explained as the effective implementation of a consistent brand identity across product and service variants with clear advertising and/or word-of-mouth messages designed to produce positive outcomes with consumers by leading them to trust the quality or essence of the umbrella brand, time and again. Therefore, umbrella branding can be a successful marketing strategy and accepted as a common approach in portfolio management, when a parental brand name is applied to a range of products to create a \"halo effect\" (http://millwardbrown.com, Millward Brown, 2014). This \"halo effect\" asserted by the Millward Brown company is about consumers developing familiar and positive associations with the credible parent brand, which in turn benefits the \"kick-start\" of other variants, e.g. via a programme of planned and executed advertising. Widely applied in the product and service contexts, an umbrella brand ties several products together to generate an efficient vehicle for communication (Wernerfelt, 1988).\nResearch aim and objectives: The aim of this paper is to evaluate top management perception and expectation of the umbrella brand within the German hospitality industry following the debate in the literature concerning alliances' outcomes. Zollo et al. (2002) build on Dyer and Singh (1998) to highlight the challenge of developing and refining relational capabilities embedded in the tacitness of inter-organisational cooperative routines, which could improve the causal linkages between decisions, actions and performance outcomes. However, the difference between an alliance and an umbrella association for hotels lies in the structure which involves different levels of control (Luo et al., 2008). Dekker (2004) built on transaction cost economics and organisational theory to identify two control problems that arise when firms engage in inter-organisational relationships: the management of appropriation concerns and the coordination of tasks. Alliance associations within the umbrella branding type are different by being much more driven by the members of their boards and while exchange of information between members is encouraged, the umbrella alliance headquarters conducts the major creation of value, i.e. marketing on behalf of all its members.\nFindings and discussion: Association attribute: trust\nConclusions and managerial implications: The results showed the impact of three types of behavioural characteristics in this form of alliance success under an umbrella brand within the context of Germany's biggest association hotel. Not only did the association serve as a pool of knowledge with expertise provided to the Ringhoteliers within the departments of sales, marketing, PR, business development, quality care, finance and distribution, but it was the main contact point and consulting platform for any issues occurring for the senior managers of member establishments within Ringhotels e.V.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: While the topic of \"umbrella branding\" strategies for manufacturers' products in the business-to-business literature has received attention, much less has been written about umbrella branding strategies in the hospitality industry. With the aid of a theoretical framework, this paper aims to explore three types of behavioural characteristics: alliance attribute, communication behaviour and alliance management, to examine cost and service benefits for alliance success within one umbrella organisation in the German hospitality industry. The theoretical framework of the paper built on the model of Vanpoucke and Vereecke (2012), incorporating a top management perspective to test and extend an umbrella brand.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews with a sample of senior managers were carried out in Germany at the headquarters of Ringhotels e.V. Content analysis of the data collected was implemented to increase understanding of the research phenomenon with regard to relationships and the conceptual framework applied. The results were presented in the tables with discussions about the qualitative research.\nFindings: The results of the study showed that behavioural characteristics played a significant role in explaining overall alliance success on cost and service benefits. A good level of quality presented in Ringhotels' services, marketing, risk and coordination was found to be a better predictor of success when absence of management and lack of trust hampered good performance.\nOriginality/value: The study offers insights into the management of relationships within Ringhotels e.V. and how these can be better managed. The main contribution of the work fills in a gap currently existing in the literature about umbrella branding within the hospitality industry.\n",
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Humanitarian logistics: the role of logistics service providers
|
[
"Outsourcing",
"Disasters",
"Aid agencies",
"Cross-sector collaboration",
"Third-party"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Along with some of the biggest natural disasters of all time, the twenty-first century has brought great advances in how humanitarian aid is provided. Among the largest disasters, the 2004 Asian Tsunami triggered public recognition of logistics as a key feature of disaster relief (Kovacs and Spens, 2007). Since then, humanitarian logistics has received increasing attention from academics and practitioners as both a field of research and a source for strategy (Vega, 2013). Major international NGOs such as WFP, IFRC or MSF have developed specialised logistics divisions capable of supporting their own activities, as well as offering logistics services to the humanitarian community (Samii et al., 2002, Samii and van Wassenhove, 2003; Vega, 2013). These divisions, known as \"humanitarian service providers\" (HSPs), carry out tasks in the areas of procurement, warehousing and transportation management for other humanitarian organisations and governments (Schulz and Blecken, 2010). They provide high quality logistics services on a not-for-profit basis. Nevertheless, private logistics firms (commercial logistics service providers - LSPs), defined as specialised firms \"who manage, control and deliver logistics activities on behalf of a shipper\" (Hertz and Alfredsson, 2003, p. 140), should also logically be involved in the humanitarian context. Spurred by the growing trend of outsourcing logistics activities, the role of LSPs has evolved from \"offering transportation services to offering a broad array of bundled services that also includes warehousing, inventory management, packaging, cross-docking and technology management\" (Zacharia et al., 2011, p. 43). LSPs have shifted to more strategic considerations, broadening their value-added services to become major players in supply chains (SCs) (Fulconis et al., 2006). Given their worldwide coverage and their capacity to offer solutions adapted to specific customers (Fabbe-Costes et al., 2009), LSPs ought to have grown into important players in the \"unique\" context of humanitarian and disaster relief SCs (Day et al., 2012)[1], providing support to NGOs and governments.\nResearch design: This section outlines the research design and describes the methodological approach adopted for the investigation. The nature of the two research questions calls for a two-stage exploratory approach. First, a review of the academic literature on humanitarian logistics was carried out to see how much discussion there is of LSPs. This was followed by an analysis of the web sites of leading LSPs to examine how they communicate about their role in humanitarian SCs. The two approaches aim to address the same two research questions (RQ1 and RQ2) by finding and triangulating complementary information. Both sources were considered relevant to this exploratory intent to identify the roles of LSPs in humanitarian relief. The literature provides insights on how researchers refer to or analyse LSP involvement in relief SCs. The web sites give us an idea of the commitments and services firms want to highlight for this particular business. The two analyses were conducted separately and in parallel by the two authors without any interaction, leading to separate findings that are presented and compared in \"Findings\". The findings from the two analyses were collated and compared in a cross analysis that led to four research propositions presented in \"Discussion\". The research process can be described as inductive as \"existing theoretical knowledge\" and \"real-life observations\" (Kovacs and Spens, 2005, p. 138) lead to theoretical conclusions. Designed in two iterative phases, the research process triangulates data from different sources (academic publications and company web sites) overcoming \"the potential bias and sterility of a single method approach\" (Mangan et al., 2004, p. 569) to enhance the quality of the study. The following paragraphs describe and justify the selection and codification of papers and web sites.\nFindings: The next two sections present our findings with respect to the research questions. For each question, the findings from the literature and web site analyses are successively presented and then compared.\nDiscussion: Interpretation and implications of findings\nConclusion: The purpose of this study was to explore the roles of LSPs in relief SCs. The research points out a gap between the attention paid to LSPs in humanitarian logistics literature and the apparent willingness of such firms to be part of relief SCs. As noted before, this gap may be due to the established role of HSPs in the humanitarian field. The research also highlights the fact that HSPs and LSPs could play similar roles in the humanitarian context. The findings of this study open avenues for future humanitarian logistics research, as the role of LSPs in this context remains unclear. They may also alert HSPs to the potential for additional competition from commercial providers in their field.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: In recent years, logistics service providers (LSPs) have become important players in the humanitarian field, providing support for NGOs and governments when they respond to major disasters. However, the academic literature on humanitarian logistics has not really explored the roles that LSPs play in relief supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of LSPs in humanitarian relief.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research uses a two-stage exploratory approach: first, it systematically reviews the humanitarian logistics literature to see the extent to which LSPs are taken into account. Then it analyses the web sites of leading LSPs to examine how they communicate about their role in humanitarian relief.\nFindings: This research produces some surprising findings. While the academic literature seems to neglect the roles of LSPs in humanitarian logistics, some major third-party firms highlight their roles in relief networks. A number of research propositions are presented describing emerging roles for LSPs in relief supply chains.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper focuses on academic humanitarian logistics literature; a review of practitioner articles and the LSP literature might also be relevant. The web site analysis is based on corporate communication which may contain bias. Further research should add to this work with NGO/government perspectives and produce primary data in order to demonstrate the external validity of the research propositions.\nPractical implications: The research identifies different roles LSPs could play in humanitarian supply chains, suggesting opportunities for new business lines.\nOriginality/value: The main contributions of this paper are to explore the roles LSPs could play in humanitarian logistics and to bring a new perspective to humanitarian logistics research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Threats of common method variance in student assessment of instruction instruments
|
[
"Common method variance",
"Instructor assessment",
"Single-source bias"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Developing a method of assessing teaching that is valid and considers both disparate disciplines and various instructional methods is vexing to colleges and universities. Many institutions rely on student responses gathered by student assessment of instruction (SAI) instruments to perform summative evaluations of instruction. However, teaching faculty members are often skeptical of the validity of data derived from such instruments and of the purposes to which the data are applied. This skepticism derives partially from lack of a common definition of excellence in teaching at institutions and general distrust of single-factor or numerical assessments of an activity as diverse as teaching. When assessment data are inaccurate while assessing teaching excellence, it influences an institution's ability to measure instructors' effectiveness as the institution defines it. Accurate data from students are essential to providing accurate feedback regarding teaching excellence to instructors. The method of application of data collected is also paramount.\nCommon method variance: Thorndike (1920) discussed that in a study of corporate employees, multiple attributes (e.g. intelligence, skill and reliability) correlated highly in the same individual, concluding:Those giving the ratings were unable to analyze out these different aspects of the person's nature and rate each [attribute] in independence of the others. Their ratings were apparently affected by a marked tendency to think of a person in general as rather good or rather inferior and to color the judgments of the qualities by this general feeling. (p. 25)\nDevelopment of a student assessment of instructor instrument: Every institution has its own method for developing and adopting an SAI instrument, collection of data and use of data collected, and it would be difficult to agree on what constitutes a typical process for developing or adopting such instruments. What follows is a description of the methods used to develop an SAI instrument at a mid-sized, regional, comprehensive, public university in the USA that approximates typical instrument development and implementation. Prior to the study, the institution's governing body requested development of a common, summative SAI instrument. At the time, teaching assessment instruments varied widely across colleges and departments, and included simple Likert-type scale response forms, exclusively discursive forms and hybrids of numeric and discursive responses. Lack of uniformity made it difficult to make equitable personnel decisions across the various colleges, departments and disciplines. The institution's administrators desired a common instrument to assess instruction better and more uniformly, but faculty members were concerned that such an instrument might not consider varied delivery methods and disciplinary topics offered at the institution. Faculty reservations about such evaluation instruments appear to be common. Nasser and Fresko (2002) and Shelton and Hayne (2017) addressed faculty perceptions of summative evaluation instruments, suggesting that few instructors change their teaching methods based on such evaluations, and many are leery of the uses to which the data are applied. There is little evidence that the use of these evaluation instruments enhances teaching quality (Spooren and Mortelmans, 2006). Academic institutions offer a variety of majors and courses at many levels using disparate pedagogies. Concerns about evaluation instruments and their ability to define teaching excellence are valid and should be addressed to allow assessments to be perceived as credible and useful to enhancing instructor performance.\nMethods: Participants\nResults: Descriptive statistics from the data, including means, standard deviations, reliabilities and inter-correlations, are shown in Table II. Results suggest internal reliability for each of the constructs. Significant un-hypothesized inter-correlations of a similar magnitude suggest that the individual items are not measuring the constructs discriminately. These correlations represent an indication of a problem, not a means by which to make conclusions about the structure present in the data or suggest that the structure is congruent with the hypothesized five-factor structure. However, they do warrant further investigation.\nDiscussion of results: The three analyses conducted in this study suggest that the hypothesized five-factor structure is not evident and that single-source bias resulted in a one-factor structure. Since the committee that created the instrument did not hypothesize a one-factor model, there is question regarding what the instrument measures and what conclusions can be drawn from data collected. Triangulation of results suggests that without testing, an SAI instrument collection method can have inherent flaws that skew perceptions of teaching quality and effectiveness. Since teaching effectiveness is used as a primary criterion for tenure, promotion and performance excellence, administrators must be cognizant of the validity and reliability of similar assessment instruments when measuring instructor success. A well-planned instrument might yield reliable information regarding student perceptions of instruction, but data obtained from such an instrument might not provide information institutions want or should use to make summative evaluations of instructors. Evaluation of teaching effectiveness should be conducted using multiple methods and a variety of techniques. Relying too heavily on data from one source such as SAIs can be inappropriate no matter how intently an institution develops an instrument to collect such data.\nConclusion: An instructor's role during learning is a significant element of student success both in a course and for lifelong learning. Readers are likely able to recall instructor behaviors that influenced their life's trajectory, even those that had lasting effects decades later. Responsible selection and use of SAI are critical to identifying and rewarding instructors who influence positive learning experiences and whose behaviors result in shaping student trajectories in careers and life. Broad categories of stakeholders have an interest in selection and use of a particular SAI instrument that make for compelling motives to design those processes with balanced consideration of the needs represented by each stakeholder group. These groups and their interests include faculty members, whose primary interests include course feedback and career influence; administrators, who leverage SAI outcomes to determine pay, promotion and tenure decisions; current students, who earn a voice in course and instructor feedback, and future students, who benefit from improvements implemented because of SAI outcomes; and the university, which enjoys enhanced reputation and ranking because of positive SAIs, using SAIs to identify areas of organization-wide accountability and opportunities so overall quality of instruction improves. New SAIs or modification of existing ones must be introduced in a way that builds support for the instrument. Meaningful input from representatives of each stakeholder group and a needs assessment should precede changes to SAIs. Implementation of changes to a university's SAI process should include a rationale regarding how the new process addresses issues identified during needs assessment. Replacing one flawed instrument for another is not only counterproductive, it risks unintended consequences concerning behaviors of individuals in stakeholder groups. Using SAIs represents the possibility of enhancing rapport between instructor and student, instructor and direct supervisor, and instructor and administrator. A quality SAI program strengthens a university's culture, student engagement and collaboration between students and other members of the university community.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that common method variance, specifically single-source bias, threatens the validity of a university-created student assessment of instructor instrument, suggesting that decisions made from these assessments are inherently flawed or skewed. Single-source bias leads to generalizations about assessments that might influence the ability of raters to separate multiple behaviors of an instructor.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Exploratory factor analysis, nested confirmatory factor analysis and within-and-between analysis are used to assess a university-developed, proprietary student assessment of instructor instrument to determine whether a hypothesized factor structure is identifiable. The instrument was developed over a three-year period by a university-mandated committee.\nFindings: Findings suggest that common method variance, specifically single-source bias, resulted in the inability to identify hypothesized constructs statistically. Additional information is needed to identify valid instruments and an effective collection method for assessment.\nPractical implications: Institutions are not guaranteed valid or useful instruments even if they invest significant time and resources to produce one. Without accurate instrumentation, there is insufficient information to assess constructs for teaching excellence. More valid measurement criteria can result from using multiple methods, altering collection times and educating students to distinguish multiple traits and behaviors of individual instructors more accurately.\nOriginality/value: This paper documents the three-year development of a university-wide student assessment of instructor instrument and carries development through to examining the psychometric properties and appropriateness of using this instrument to evaluate instructors.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The effects of 2015 El Nino on smallholder maize production in the transitional ecological zone of Ghana
|
[
"Ghana",
"Adaptation",
"Rainfall",
"Climate variability",
"El Nino"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: One of the topical issues in the world today is climate variability and its effect on crop production. According to Rowhani et al. (2011), climate variability is expected to increase in some regions, with significant consequences on food production beyond climate change impacts. The issue attracts much attention because among other things, such changes have implications for food security globally (Godfray et al., 2010; Frelat et al., 2016). For Africa in particular, climate variability impact is pertinent because the continent receives the most food aid, with some 30 million of its people requiring emergency food aid in any one single year (Godfray et al., 2010; FAO, 2016). As indicated by the 2015 global food security index, malnutrition, starvation and deaths still persist in Sub-Saharan Africa despite significant food security improvements over the past decade. Although this situation is attributed to a number of factors including distribution obstacles, (Godfray et al., 2010; FAO, 2016), ineffective local agriculture (Antwi-Agyei et al., 2013) and poor governance (Clover, 2003), it is the changes in climate and climate variability that seem to have a stronger explanatory weight in the whole food security discourse (Sasson, 2012; Mawunya and Adiku, 2013).\n2. El Nino and Maize production: The ENSO commonly referred to as \"El Nino\" has been the subject of scholarly efforts in the last four decades (Babkina, 2003). Occurring every three to seven years and lasting between 9 to 24 months, it represents an irregular periodic variation in winds and sea surface temperatures (Wang et al., 2004; Cane, 2005). El Nino is attributed to a weakening of the trade winds which result in atmospheric modifications (Trenberth, 1997). Selvaraju (2003) explains that heated surface water becomes concentrated near the equator of the eastern Pacific where it then spreads up and down the coasts of North and South America. The expanse of warm waters in the Pacific causes such a huge increase in evaporation from the ocean resulting in a natural mode of oscillation from unstable interactions between the tropical Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere leading to El Nino. The effects of El Nino have global tele-connections resulting in pressure, temperature and rainfall variability with the severest impacts in the tropics.\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Study area\n4. Results: 4.1 Effects of El Nino on rainfall\n5. Discussion: This study found evidence on the El Nino and its linkage with reduced rainfall in the transitional zone of Ghana. The findings presented indicate that rainfall was significantly reduced in terms of amounts and distribution during the 2015 El Nino year with some spatial variability. The reduction in rainfall as a result of the El Nino is consistent with findings of other studies which report of such rainfall patterns associated with the phenomenon in other parts of the world and the study area as well (Adiku et al., 2007; Owusu and Waylen, 2009; Collins et al., 2010; Davey et al., 2011). In other jurisdictions like the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia, El Nino events have been found to cause similar rainfall deficits (Davey et al., 2011). There was a reduction in the number of rainy days which could have more severe impact on crop production. The reduction in rainfall had negative consequences for maize production by smallholder farmers. Given that maize is largely cultivated under rain-fed conditions, farmers suffered the worst of crop failure with low yields recorded across the towns and villages. These observations also resonate with other studies in Ghana and elsewhere (Akpalu et al., 2008; Hansen et al., 2009; Acquah and Kyei, 2012; Adamgbe and Ujoh, 2013; John and Olanrewaju, 2014; Huang et al., 2015), which report of a significant relationship between maize yield and climate variability. A study by Araujo et al. (2015) for instance, found the occurrence of El Nino to cause about 50 per cent of productivity losses for corn and beans in northeast Brazil.\n6. Conclusion and recommendation: It was established that like other severe El Nino's, there were significant reductions in rainfall and increased variability with the within season characteristics. The number of rainy days was found to be fewer than normal years. Productivity of smallholder farmers was found to be low and in the Techiman Municipality in particular, production was reduced by as much as 15 per cent. In the Ejura Municipality, however, the impact was not that severe indicating that there is a spatial component to the El Nino induced rainfall variability in mid-Ghana.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the El Nino and its effects on maize production in three municipalities: Ejura, Techiman and Wenchi in the transitional zone of Ghana. Using a mixed approach, the study details the effects of the El Nino on rainy season characteristics, particularly, rainfall amounts and distribution, onset and cessation of rains, duration of the rainy season and total seasonal rainfall and how it impacted smallholder maize production.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study used a mixed method approach in collecting and analyzing data. For stronger evidence building, (Creswell, 2013) the authors combined interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) to collect the qualitative data. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to extension officers, management information system officers and other relevant personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture in the three municipalities. Six FGD's were held for maize farmers in six communities in all three municipalities.\nFindings: The study shows that the 2015 El Nino had dire consequences on farm yields, subsequently affecting farmer's incomes and livelihoods. The study further finds that complex socio-cultural factors, some unrelated to the El Nino, aggravated the effects on maize farmers. These include the lack of adequate climatic information, predominance of rain-fed farming, a lack of capacity to adapt and existing levels of poverty.\nOriginality/value: The study recommends inter alia, appropriate use of seasonal rainfall forecasting to enhance better farming decision-making and the development of elaborate climate variability interventions by national and local agencies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Measuring people's preferences for cyclone vulnerability reduction measures in Bangladesh
|
[
"Weather protection systems",
"Natural disasters",
"Bangladesh"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Because of the frequency and diversity of natural hazard events, Bangladesh is considered one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. There are several kinds of natural hazards that take place almost every year in the country, particularly in the coastal areas. Cyclones are the most frequent hazard, and they sometimes become so catastrophic that they destroy many existing elements of affected areas. For example, in 1991, a severe cyclone left behind a trail of destruction, taking more than 150,000 human lives and causing indescribable miseries among more than ten million people in the coastal zones of Bangladesh, and colossal property damage valued at more than $US2 billion (Banglapedia, 2006; Government of Bangladesh, 2003).Bangladesh has a long history of cyclone hazard events. Table I shows some of the past largest cyclone disasters in the country in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that killed more than 10,000 people.A group of experts in different disciplines such as geography, sociology, geology, engineering, and meteorology have conducted a series of studies on disaster management and related issues in Bangladesh (Islam, 1974; Rahman, 1988; Haque and Zaman, 1989; Latif, 1989; Boyce, 1990; Brammer, 1990; Adnan, 1990; Hossain et al., 1992; Khalequzzaman, 1994; Zahan and Rowshan, 1997; Zahan, 1997; Hussain, 2001; Maniruzzaman et al., 2001). The focus of most of these studies was mainly on hazard analysis, coping and adjustment strategies, and loss and damage analysis. In addition, many programs and projects have been undertaken to minimize the impacts of cyclone disasters in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, governmental and non-governmental agencies (national or international) have not paid adequate attention to the vulnerability and its root causes and people's preferences for vulnerability reduction measures. Priority should be given to vulnerability analysis and vulnerability reduction measures (Bogard, 1989; Kates, 1985; Downing, 1991; Alexander, 1993; Blaikie et al., 1994; Dow and Downing, 1995; Smith, 1992; Comfort et al., 1999; Birkmann, 2006).Cyclone disasters in Bangladesh are not only caused by the cyclone hazards, but are also caused by some fundamental root causes, dynamic pressures, and unsafe conditions (Blaikie et al., 1994). In this study, it is argued that socio-economic and policy-related issues play an indirect but key role in disasters that have not been fully addressed in mainstream disaster planning and management in Bangladesh. Considering this gap, the present study was conducted to explore people's preferences for alternative vulnerability reduction measures in coastal areas of Bangladesh. The study combines the pressure and release (PAR) model (Blaikie et al. 1994) with the choice experiment (CE) method to determine the attributes of the vulnerability reduction measures that are most preferred by the residents of highly affected areas.The remaining parts of this article are organized as follows: section 2 introduces the theoretical and analytical frameworks of the study. In section 3, the study area, data collection, and choice experiment design are discussed. Section 4 provides the major findings of the study and finally section 5 concludes the paper.\n2. Theoretical and analytical frameworks: This article combines two different theoretical and analytical models, namely the pressure and release (PAR) model and the choice experiment (CE) method. While the PAR model is used as a framework for understanding vulnerability to cyclones in the study area, the CE method is used to address how people form their preferences to reduce their vulnerability from a series of vulnerability reduction options.2.1 The PAR model\n3. Empirical design and data collection: 3.1 CE design\n4. Analysis and findings: Respondents' decisions to choose different cyclone vulnerability reduction measures were estimated using a logit regression model. The results are presented in Table VI. To draw correct inferences from the model results, it was important to validate the model. The validation included evaluating the goodness of fit and assessing each variable coefficient. The explanatory power of the model is relatively good, with an adjusted R2 of 0.11. The significance of the regression coefficients implies that the model is good. All regression coefficients are significant at an acceptable level. The signs of all the parameters are theoretically consistent (Table VI). The six qualitative attribute coefficients (Access to resources, Education and training, Access to decision-making process, Access to shelter and evacuation, Access to warning system, and Structural mitigation measures) suggest increasing utility as respondents are offered cyclone reduction measures that have higher values of these attributes. The significance of the attributes reveals that respondents care about the impacts of cyclone vulnerability reduction options with higher values for Access to resources, Education and training, Access to decision-making process, Access to shelter and evacuation, Access to warning system, and Structural mitigation. This means that these attributes have significantly affected respondents' decision making.Table VII provides the marginal values for each attribute. Since we did not have a monetary attribute in this choice experiment analysis we could not measure the relative monetary values for each of the attributes but marginal values provided relative importance of attributes in household choices. Marginal values could be used to rank the attributes in terms of their significance in respondents' selections of different alternative vulnerability reduction measures. The results demonstrate significance in all areas since the rating is larger than 0.04. The attributes provide positive significance to the overall utility of choosing these measures. If consideration was being made to increase one attribute at a time, the following order provides the order to consider making the most impact to participants' utility:1. Access to resources (0.22712);2. Education and training (0.08850);3. Access to cyclone shelter and evacuation (0.08561);4. Structural mitigation measures (0.06841);5. Access to warning system (0.05684); and6. Access to decision-making process (0.04739).\n5. Conclusion: This paper examined people's preferences for hypothetical cyclone vulnerability reduction measures using a choice experiment method. We were particularly interested in seeing:* what factors determine people's preferences for cyclone vulnerability reduction in cyclone hazard prone areas of Bangladesh; and* whether choice experiment provides encouraging evidence for the PAR model.With regard to the former point, all six attributes included in the choice experiment design were found to have significant influences on people's choices for different vulnerability reduction measures, but three had the highest impact:1. Access to resources (root cause);2. Access to training and education (dynamic pressures); and3. Access to cyclone shelter and evacuation (lack of).The second purpose of this paper was to test the PAR model. This was thought to be important, since the PAR model has been an influential model in natural hazard vulnerability discourse during the past decade. Our findings are consistent with the suggestions of the PAR model, particularly with regard to root causes and dynamic pressures. As suggested by the PAR model, people would prefer reduction measures that tackle the root causes of vulnerability such as access to resources and education and training. Although pressure and release related factors also contribute to their choices, they have shown relatively lower impacts.Emergency management agencies should look to reduce the vulnerability of people in cyclone hazard prone areas of Bangladesh through measures that enhance people's access to resources and provide them with education and training. More access to resources means enhancing households' capacity to fulfill a secure livelihood. Access to resources can create a strong social and economic base, which would play a significant role in vulnerability reduction to cyclone disasters. In addition, emergency management agencies should provide proper education and training to the public and accurately recognize public preferences for various vulnerability reduction measures. They should then focus on measures that provide people with better access to evacuation and shelter during cyclone emergencies as people have limited resources in this regard.The method of finding and ranking factors (attributes) that have the most significant impacts on people's choices for various cyclone vulnerability reduction measures using CE in this paper was found to be useful for determining the relative effectiveness of vulnerability reduction measures from end users' perspectives. This study demonstrates that choice experiment method is a feasible mechanism to analyze people's preferences for the vulnerability reduction measures offered by governmental and non-governmental agencies in hazard prone areas in developing countries.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine people's preferences for alternative cyclone vulnerability reduction measures in cyclone prone areas of Bangladesh.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A choice experiment (CE) method has been implemented based on the pressure and release (PAR) vulnerability model. Data were collected from a sample of households in two districts of Bangladesh in winter 2008.\nFindings: - The results of a choice experiment (CE) method conducted in selected areas of Bangladesh prone to cyclone hazards indicated that access to resources is viewed as the most influential factor in cyclone vulnerability reduction options. Findings support the pressure and release model (PAR) of vulnerability analysis. Access to training and education and cyclone warning systems are also found to have significant impacts on households' choices of cyclone vulnerability reduction. Structural mitigation measures and access to power and decision making, though significant, were found to have the least impact.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper shows that the choice experiment method is a good technique for understanding people's preferences for vulnerability reduction measures.\nPractical implications: - The paper concludes with a policy recommendation for governmental and non-governmental agencies to focus on vulnerability reduction measures that tackle the root causes of vulnerability.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first time that the choice experiment method has been used for cyclone vulnerability analysis, and it provides quantitative supports for the PAR model.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An empirical examination of the effects of the attributes of supply chain openness on organizational performance
|
[
"Organizational performance",
"Developing country",
"Supply chain attributes",
"Supply chain openness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In order to remain competitive, organizations often need to collaborate with their business partners. It is pertinent to employ the lens of open system theory for examining the interactions of supply chain partners (Fantazy et al., 2016). The system view gives a holistic view of the supply chain (Cavinato, 1992). This perspective improves the understanding of external business dynamics as organizations constantly adapt to the ever-changing business environments and strive to work closely with their partners for sustaining competitive advantage (Chatterji, 1996). In order to compete at the supply chain level (Ketchen and Hult, 2007), organizations need to collaborate and leverage their mutual resources and competencies. Though mutual collaboration among supply chain partners is crucial, many supply chain partners still fail to fulfill their partners' expectations (Barringer and Harrison, 2000). This refers to the willingness of the supply chain partners to open up their boundaries in terms of different supply chain dimensions.\nLiterature review: Supply chain openness\nMethodology: Survey instrument\nDiscussion: Organizations compete at the supply chain level in order to sustain supply chain wide competitive advantage. This interdependence of supply chain partners requires the partners to open up their boundaries and share resources and capabilities. The available literature does provide partial account of the mutual interaction of supply chain partners. In this context, a range of different terminologies has been adopted by supply chain researchers. However, the relative degree of supply chain openness in terms of various supply chain attributes remains understudied (Fantazy et al., 2016). Given the limitation of the available literature in terms of examining the relative openness of supply chains, Fantazy et al. (2016) suggested to employ the system perspective in order to study the relative degree of supply chain openness and its influence on OP. The current study responds to their call and empirically tests their conceptual framework which takes into account different attributes of supply chain openness. Therefore, the current study contributes to the literature in two important aspects. First, drawing upon the current literature, it proposes an instrument to measure the relative openness of supply chain. Second, it empirically tests the conceptual model of relative openness of supply chain developed by Fantazy et al. (2016).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine how different supply chain attributes as determinants of the openness of supply chain affect organizational performance (OP).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 259 supply chain executives in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.\nFindings: The findings indicate that organizations may take the selective view of their supply chains resulting in a varying focus on different SC attributes. The results show that though all identified supply chain attributes positively relate to OP, some attributes such as combined agility and cooperation among supply chain partners have a weak correlation coefficient. This indicates that overall the relative openness of supply chain among selected sample of Pakistani organizations is low.\nPractical implications: Supply chain executives may not have a selective focus on some attributes; rather, they may consider to have a broader perspective drawing upon a wider range of supply chain attributes as identified in the current study. In order to remain competitive, Pakistani manufacturing organizations need to learn more about opening up their boundaries and enhance the openness of their supply chain.\nOriginality/value: The contribution of the current study is two folds. First, drawing upon the current literature, it proposes the instrument to measure the relative openness of supply chain. Second, it empirically tests the selected conceptual model which highlights the relevance of supply chain attributes and their role in the resulting relative degree of supply chain openness. The empirical examination of the selected conceptual model of supply chain openness tends to make contribution to the wider literature on supply chain management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Exclusion and inclusion in the Danish Military: A historical analysis of the construction and consequences of a gendered organizational narrative
|
[
"Inclusion",
"Military",
"Exclusion",
"Diversity change programmes",
"Gender narrative",
"Historical analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Many organizations are today engaged in various diversity programs in the attempt of increasing the percentage of women in their organization, especially at senior level (Muttarak et al., 2013; Oswick and Noon, 2014; Qin et al., 2014). It has been shown that such attempts of changing the gender composition of organizations are highly influenced by the profession within which the organization operates, as professions due to their historical meaning tend to have developed subtle cultural codes for the way individuals are seen as suitable (or non-suitable) for the work performed in a given profession (Ashcraft, 2013; Ashcraft et al., 2012; Butler et al., 2012; Davies, 1996; Sullivan, 2012). As professions tend to be read as masculine (opposite to the feminine connoted semi-professions that, e.g. Hearn (1982) very successfully has shown), these cultural codes are highly gendered, and in this way work as subtle but powerful inclusion or exclusion mechanisms often obstructing the more formal inclusion programs (of, e.g. women) aiming at changing the organization (Ashcraft et al., 2012). Therefore, particularly professions culturally read as masculine seem to struggle with including women on equal terms with men.\nStudying diversity change programs: While several studies show that diversity in organizations pays off economically (e.g. Herring, 2009; Lyngsie and Foss, 2017), it is also a well-known fact that organizations do not optimize the diversity of the human resources at their disposal. This is evident as, for example, women and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented in management positions, boards of directors as well as certain occupations (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2013; Zanoni and Janssens, 2015). The discrepancy between potential gains and actual practices has led research on diversity to focus on developing methods for increasing the number of minorities in leadership positions. Hence, tools and initiatives like sensitivity training, networks, mentoring and \"minority only\" programs have been developed and implemented (e.g. Clarke, 2011; Kossek et al., 2006).\nThe role of organizational narratives: Flory and Iglesias (2010) already in the 2010 JOCM special issue on rhetoric and narratives in management research asked the crucial question: what impact do stories have? In answering this, they point to the power narratives have as \"the reflective product of looking back and making sense of stories constructed to make sense of life\" (Flory and Iglesias, 2010, pp. 116-117). Narrative is therefore \"a way of understanding one's own and others' actions, of organizing events and objects into a meaningful whole, and of connecting and seeing the consequences of actions and events over time\" (Chase, 2000, p. 656, see also Parada and Viladas, 2010). Stories can therefore be used by individuals \"to make sense of their lived experiences and organize these experiences within their narratives\" (Hawkins and Saleem, 2012, p. 206). Through this process, narratives come to convey an experience of objectivity (Goosseff, 2014), and are therefore rarely questioned, but rather taken for granted truths about an organization (Essers, 2012). Actions, therefore, are difficult to interpret if they are not viewed in the light of grander organizational narratives (Hawkins and Saleem, 2012) and the materialization of these as practices and symbols in the organization.\nMethodology: As Essers (2012, p. 349) points out, management research is troubled by a \"false choice between narrative 'meaning' and scientific 'truth'\". Essers instead points to the fact that narratives are carriers of ideological fantasies, which then shape the way we perceive so-called \"truth\" and \"facts\" and use them to make sense of experiences. Narratives are therefore crucial for understanding how perceptions about the \"ideal worker\" in a given profession are constructed not only from objective facts, but always intertwined with a \"narrative truth\" as Bruner (1986) among others referred to.\nHistorical analysis of the Danish Military: exclusion, inclusion and the construction of the gender narrative: The Danish Armed Forces is somewhat standardized in its organization as it consists of an army, a navy and an air force as well as a couple of additional special operation units. The military employs around 20,000 people of which three-fourth fill military positions while the last one-fourth are civilians. In addition to this group of employees comes another 4,200 conscripted soldiers each year of which most serve in the army.\nDiscussion: the power of the narrative today: While the assistance women offered the Danish Military through their volunteer work during the Second World War to a large degree was pivotal to their later access to \"real\" military positions, their participation in these supporting units casted women as supporters. This organizational narrative of women as supporters rather than combatants has lived on and is key when trying to understand the gender dynamics and integration issues of contemporary military organizations. We argue that it cannot simply be disregarded as a historical account since several of the so-called \"truths\" produced by this narrative has influenced - and still influence - the careers of female officers. This narrative is for instance found in the praising of women's contributions to CIMIC (civil-military) activities, which are centered on dialogue and intercultural competencies rather than aggression and physical strength. An appraisal mostly emphasized by (male) officers in the military ironically as a way to complement their female colleagues. However, the reiteration of this \"compliment\" is concurrently writing women out of the narrative about combat on which the military profession could be argued to be based, displacing women to a supportive role as communicators rather than fighters. This displacement is strengthened by a number of accounts during our fieldwork where young women have been told that they were not able to apply to the Danish special operation units due to their gender. This limitation was formally eliminated in 1988, yet when a female recruit during a career event at a military barrack in the spring of 2016 asked about women's possibilities to apply for one of the special operation units, she - and the rest of the 150 recruits in the auditorium - were told by a recruitment officer that \"we are looking into opening the unit to women.\" This type of (incorrect) reply may explain why no woman has ever served in these units. Concurrently, it underpins that women are still not (despite formal rules) perceived as full-blown members of the profession, and adds to the gender narrative that women are per definition never \"elite\" soldiers. Equally, the historical data presented in this paper have for one of the authors given rise to a number of debates as many current and former employees in the military argue that duty in, e.g. submarines and the special operation units were not opened up to women before the mid-1990s or even later. Despite the fact that there is no evidence or juridical basis for these claims - just as the stories about current limitations regarding women's access to special operation units go against formal policy and legislation - these still to a large degree successfully limit women from parts of the profession because they are presented and understood as \"truths\" within the organization.\nConclusion: With this paper, we have aimed at showing how the history of inclusion and exclusion within the Danish Armed Forces has created a very specific gender narrative around support, nurture and weakness, which serves as a barrier for women's careers in the military today. Overall we found that women are (still) constructed - and referred to in stories - as weaker, less powerful and less suitable for being soldiers compared to men, who fit the masculine ideal within the military profession. Women's inferiority is inscribed narratively into the military organization in diverse ways; as stories about limitations in women's access to various units, uniforms that do not have room for distinctions, the recurrent push-ups and lack of \"credit\" for women in leadership. Many of these stories, however, are not based on facts, but on untrue myths and false information. Still, they seem to be stronger and more powerful in constructing the present day opinion about female soldiers and their career possibilities, thereby obstructing the change initiatives based on actual facts and managerial support for women.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine why and how past stories of women's insufficiency for military work survive and how they come to form a gendered organizational narrative dominant in constructing current opinions on women in the military.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis is based mainly on archival data, but supported by interview material as well as participant observation data. The authors do this from the assumption that the culturally constructed notion of the ideal soldier is based on a historically constructed professional narrative.\nFindings: The authors show how a historically produced gender narrative - based on (fictional) stories on what women can and cannot do - is perceived as true and thereby casts women as less suitable for a military career. Thus, despite the current equal legal rights of men and women in the military, the power of the narrative limits female soldiers' career possibilities.\nOriginality/value: The paper is unique as it, in drawing on archival data, is able to trace how an organizational narrative comes to be and due to its ethnographic data how this creates limitations for women's careers. This narrative is stronger and much more powerful than management is aware of. The paper therefore adds crucial knowledge about the ideological influence a historically produced organizational narrative can have on current change initiatives.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Social expenditure, social rights, and benefit receipt as indicators of welfare state generosity: Three peas in a pod, or a different kettle of fish altogether?
|
[
"EU-SILC",
"Benefit recipiency data",
"Dependent variable problem",
"Welfare state generosity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Next to the issue of defining the welfare state, the question of how to conceptually operationalise and measure the size of a welfare state or the extent to which it provides welfare to individuals and households has been key in welfare state research. Labelled as the \"dependent variable problem\" in academic literature (Green-Pedersen, 2004), discussions revolve around the quantitative measurement of differences between and developments within the extent or the \"quality\" of welfare states - an idea that is also captured by the notions \"welfare stateness\", \"welfare effort\" or \"welfare state generosity\". To this effect, a large body of research puts forward two yardstick indicators: social expenditure data as the budgetary size of what is considered to represent public welfare and data on the generosity of benefit-related social rights. In a more recent research, other scholars suggest the extent and level of benefit receipt as a third and hitherto underused indicator (De Deken and Clasen, 2013; van Oorschot, 2013) of what could be labelled more neutrally as the \"extent of public welfare provision\". In contrast to the two prevailing indicators, this is micro-level data that are either derived from administrative records or via surveys. By giving an idea of the received extent of public welfare provision in national contexts rather than the legally intended extent or the financial output resulting from the legal intentions, they are believed to complement our understanding of welfare state differences and welfare state change.\nIndicators of the extent of public welfare provision: Social expenditure and social rights data\nData: For this study, the focus is on individually granted public unemployment cash benefits (UE). This selection represents an important working age population benefit in European welfare states, for which data are available for the years and countries studied across the different indicators.\nMethods: Data across all countries and years are pooled and the various indicators are regressed on each other. This method is chosen for two reasons. First, because comparable data of all indicators and their respective measurements are only available for the relatively recent past (2003 to 2011) and only for 16 European countries. Second, the relatively small number of countries and of time points (maximum of 9 time points for 16 countries, which gives a maximum of N=144 depending on the indicator) is a significant constraint on the analysis. The impact of different national policy emphases or specific time points cannot be explored this way. However, a broad brush idea of the overall relationships is given while keeping control of time.\nResults: Table I indicates the bivariate correlations between the indicators: UESOCX.na (need-adjusted unemployment cash benefit expenditure as a proportion of GDP), UERGEN (unemployment cash benefit rights generosity as a composite social rights measurement), UERGEN.AG (access-related unemployment cash benefit rights generosity), UERGEN.LG (level-related unemployment cash benefit rights generosity), UEAR.na (unemployment cash benefit access rate), and UETSg (gross unemployment cash benefit transfer share). It indicates that more generous unemployment benefit rights are positively and strongly related to need-corrected unemployment benefit expenditure as a proportion of GDP. Need-corrected unemployment benefit access rates as well as transfer shares are also positively related to unemployment benefit expenditure figures. The correlation is particularly strong in relation to access rates. In line with expectations, this indicates that higher scores on the benefit rights indicator and higher scores on the benefit recipiency indicator are positively related with higher score on the social expenditure indicator. This is interpreted as showing that the various indicators indeed share a common reference to the generosity of unemployment welfare provision, c.q. to \"welfare stateness\" in the field of unemployment benefit.\nConclusions: Many scholars have been using social expenditure, social rights, and benefit recipiency data as approximating indicators of the extent - sometimes also referred to as the generosity - of public welfare provision in quantitative terms. Despite aiming to get a grip of the same background concept and a shared interest in quantify information on its size, these indicators are based on different measurement approaches and come along with diverse theoretical assumptions. As a consequence, they are neither alike as three peas in a pod nor are they a different kettle of fish altogether.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Revitalising the debate about how to operationalise and measure the extent of welfare states - the so-called dependent variable problem - recent research claims a close theoretical interaction between three different indicators: aggregated data on social expenditure, social rights and social benefit receipt. It is suggested that they all serve as an approximation of welfare state generosity as a dependent variable and help understand variation between as well as change of welfare states. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how these three indicators statistically relate to each other, using data on unemployment cash benefits.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To this end, a time series cross-sectional analysis is carried out, covering 16 European countries for the period 2003-2011.\nFindings: Results confirm theoretical reflections on the link between the different indicators, whereby higher levels of social expenditure are positively associated with more generous social rights as well as higher levels of benefit receipt. Additionally, the study points to an ambivalent relation between benefit access and benefit levels within indicators as well as across them. This suggests competing policy choices in European welfare states, whereby more generous benefit access implies lower benefit levels and vice versa.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the existing dependent variable literature in a twofold way. First, the conceptual link between the three different indicators and the assumptions they are associated with are critically reviewed. Second, by providing a statistical analysis of the relation between the different indicators across 16 countries, the study goes beyond theoretical elaborations about their association as well as existing small-N or medium-N case time trend studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The 5 conversations that really matter in business: transforming trust, engagement and performance at work
|
[
"Leadership development",
"Engagement and learning",
"Conversations in business"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In so many organizations today, leaders seem to have forgotten (or never learnt) the power and importance of being simply human - of building personal trusting relationships with those they lead, of listening to others with care and humanity and of making things happen through deep emotional engagement with the people in their teams.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to outline five conversations that leaders must hold to build trusting relationships. People's engagement at work correlates directly with the quality of relationship they have with their line manager. Leaders need to be supported to develop their capabilities in holding conversations, but more importantly to recognize the power of authenticity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper is based on the author's work with managers and leaders in organizations around the world.\nFindings: Holding authentic conversations that focus on the five areas identified will build trust which, in turn, will improve engagement and ultimately drive performance.\nOriginality/value: Leaders are often expected to focus on visionary, decisive and driving action. This paper proposes that this is not enough; building trusting relationships must lie at the heart of effective leadership. It identifies five critical conversations that line managers as leaders must have to build trusting relationships.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Perceived trustworthiness in using B2B digital services
|
[
"Buyer–supplier relationship",
"Technology readiness",
"Trustworthiness",
"Individual characteristics",
"Digital services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: So far, much of the attention surrounding digital services has focused on consumers, while B2B companies have been slower in launching and investing in digital services (Andersson and Wikstrom, 2017; Angevine et al., 2017; Zaki, 2019). Digital channels can be helpful when searching for information about alternative trading partners, including their services and products: especially alternative options, their features and price information. Undeniably, digital services save time and effort in making B2B purchases, and consequently many interactions that traditionally have taken place in face-to-face encounters can now be handled through digital channels using various digital services and self-service technologies.\n2. Theoretical background and model development: The relationship between perceived trustworthiness (Mayer et al., 1995) and the intention to use digital services is the core of this study, and consequently, we ground the theoretical reasoning on the theories of behavioral intention (e.g. Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Davis et al., 1989; Ajzen, 1991) and the theory of perceived trustworthiness (e.g. Mayer et al., 1995; Gefen and Straub, 2004). According to the behavioral intention theories, intentions are driven by various beliefs that an individual hold. In this study, perceived trustworthiness represents customer beliefs about a service provider's trustworthiness, and according to the theory, these beliefs influence customer intentions and behavior (McKnight et al., 2002; Schlosser et al., 2006).\n3. Measurements and data collection: 3.1 Measurement scales\n4. Data analysis: 4.1 Confirmatory factor analysis\n5. Results: The direct effects of the baseline model show that ability and benevolence have statistically significant effects on the behavioral intention, but the effect of integrity is not statistically significant. We used multigroup structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses and in the following, we report the results for different job levels (H1), decision-making roles (H2), technology readiness segments (H3), age groups (H4) and women and men (H5).\n6. Discussion and conclusion: 6.1 Theoretical contribution\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the perceived trustworthiness of a B2B service provider relates to a business customer's intention to use digital services from that provider. The study investigates whether perceived trustworthiness, composed of ability, integrity and benevolence, explains behavioral intentions equally among all business customer segments, and how characteristics such as job level, decision-making role, technology readiness age and gender moderate these effects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on a model of trust transfer mechanism, the study explores how perceived trustworthiness established in face-to-face interaction influences the use of digital services in making B2B purchases. Hypotheses are tested using a sample of 1,866 responses collected from customers of four B2B firms.\nFindings: Ability is the most influential on the customer's intention to transact through digital channels, while the effects of integrity and benevolence show more variation. The effect of perceived trustworthiness on the intention to use digital services is remarkably stronger among senior and middle management, high-level decision makers, the younger age segment, men and individuals high in technology readiness, compared to other segments studied.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the scant research on B2B customer behavior in the digital environment and incorporates individual characteristics specific to the industrial domain.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Elixir or delusion: General systems risk management and A-REIT entity performance
|
[
"Risk management",
"Property",
"Systems theory",
"Performance management",
"Surveillance",
"Australia"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Although risk management deficiencies were detected well before the Global Financial Crisis, many firms resisted change (Standards Australia, 2004; Taleb, 2007). The severe impact of the GFC on the property sector forced a reconsideration of risk management functions. In Australia, where its impacts were comparatively mild, by early 2009 the GFC had wiped $Au 80 billion off Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A-REITs) market values (Reid, 2009). Aside from direct financial losses, the GST provided ammunition for those seeking to discredit the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) (Minsky, 2008; Taleb, 2007; Ball, 2009; Galbraith, 2009). With this turbulent backdrop, the paper conducted a preliminary investigation into the benefits of a GST risk management configuration.\nLiterature review: Although a risk is variously defined, it essentially reduces to assessing the likely impact of various adverse future events, caused either by operational failure (e.g. BP in the Gulf of Mexico) or by exogenous turbulence (Servaes and Tamayo, 2009). The identification and estimation of specific risks, in terms of magnitude and probability, presumes clear purpose, priorities and preferences as well as sufficient historical, scientific, or legal information to enable probabilities to be attached to future events (Pearce et al., 1981; Brody and Davis, 2009). Even were all parameters specified at a discrete time, inductive uncertainty would persist (Hume, 1988, p. 1748).Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), side-steps individual operational and market risks and, instead, focuses on their expected aggregated impact on relative volatility. In practice, expectations are, to a greater or less degree, influenced by past performance. Entity share prices adjust to ensure that expected returns and volatility mirror alternate market opportunities, given economic conditions and likely prospects (Fama and French, 2004). When market sentiment on strategy and risk management is positive, share prices inflate to reflect this optimism. Three factor models indirectly tap the financial impact of operational mechanisms, including robust risk management, which ultimately underlie productivity.In property development, Newell and Steglick (2006) found risk management ad hoc but identified environmental risk, delay and land costs as critical risks. For equity analysts, risk management indicators feed into the asset quality picture and could help detect mispricing opportunities. However, as the GFC illustrated, even when robustly configured and implemented, risk management cannot shield entities entirely from exogenous turbulence. It involves, first, the explicit articulation of strategic goals and \"risk appetite\". Once articulated, an appropriate risk policy is formulated; risks are scanned, registered and assessed before appropriate treatment. Where risks cannot be terminated, tolerated or transferred, treatment involves diversification or a reduction in impact or likelihood.In the post-GFC recrimination phase, four salient risk management failings emerge. First, it was considered a public relations appendage and not embedded within entity corporate culture, strategy and decision-making. Second, risk-management functions were ill-defined and risk often unmeasured (Servaes and Tamayo, 2009, p. 77). Third, even when risk data was systematically collected using, for example, Value at Risk (VAR) models, it became a mathematical curiosity, which presumed the span of a few euphoric years was representative. Nobody wanted to contemplate sober cyclical reality. In effect, uncertainties were falsely attributed comfortingly low probabilities. Underlying risk management procedural inadequacy was a misguided confounding of market rationality with process stability, which infected government regulatory oversight. In this atmosphere, process deficiencies went unchecked and short-term gaming in \"mercenary\" organisations led to, what turned out to be, excessive speculation (Schmidt, 2010). In effect, entities failed to balance their conflicting security and opportunity objectives.\nOrganisation and methodology: The paper is organised into three sections. The first, establishes a GST-risk management framework, which identifies the major risks facing A-REITs. Second, risk management practice in a selection of prominent real estate entities is benchmarked on the significant GST risks detected. Finally, five A-REITs with significant residential exposure are selected from the GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Real Estate Industry Group class: 127 (diversified A-REIT's). The selected cases are key Australian property operators and developers engaged in the acquisition, development, ownership, leasing, management and operation of various types of property (IBIS World, 2009, p. 24). The Investa Property Group is excluded due to lack of readily available financial data. The selected A-REITs were:* Stockland;* Lend Lease Group;* Peet Limited;* Mirvac Group; and* AVJennings Limited.Finally, the link between assessed risk management practice and entity performance since the GFC is investigated. Entity performance is moderated by relative risk. Performance for the year to 17 May 2010 is tracked using pre-tax annualised return to shareholders, including all price changes and reinvestment of dividends, adjusted by the beta. Beta measures the stock price's relative market volatility or systematic risk. It is used to adjust entity returns for volatility against security analysis (Treynor and Black, 1973).The Treynor ratio is defined as: Equation 1 where:Ki =return generated by the target entity.Rf =risk-free rate.b =Beta = Cov (Pi, Pm)/Var (Pm).Pi =share price of target.m =market portfolio.\nGST-risk management framework: GST provides a simplifying architecture to interpret imperfect urban housing markets where communities, planners, developers and buyers seek direction but face a miasma of asymmetrical information. It originated in the scientific field but it is now applied widely, including to geography and property market developers (Von Bertalanffy, 1950). GST can comprehend dynamic interconnections or \"churning\" between system components and offers insights for understanding an evolving property market. The requirements of any system are: boundaries, inputs, outputs, components, positive and negative feedback mechanisms and sparks or catalysts that ignite and accelerate transmission. Figure 1 applies GST to urban property markets and illustrates how a nested hierarchy of exogenous information, accentuated by capital and migration inputs acts to transform productivity and risk profile. The system has three major risk outputs: market or idiosyncratic and the twin idiosyncratic ones of entity instituional and asset quality which we now explore (Adair and Hutchison, 2005; Von Bertalanffy, 1950; Trevillion, 2002).Figure 1 illustrates that property market munificence and transparency depends on interactions at four spatial hierarchies: global, national, urban and local. Clearly, risk management involves robust surveillance of market relevant conditions and prospects. The main global risk is recessionary contagion. One transmission channel could be the Greek debt crisis, which triggers derivative toxicity and faltering commodity prices. Nationally, risks are a derailment of GDP or demographic growth trajectories or unexpected policy and regulatory reconfigurations. Urban risks involve turbulence in regional economic drivers or metropolitan planning regimes. Local risks involve poorly located assets because, urban geo-social complexity is mis-diagnosed, revitalisation hotspots are undetected or evolving transport issues neglected. Apart from poor location choice, the other asset risk is an unbalanced product in terms of design, technology, build quality, accreditation, obsolescence, as well as covenant strength (leases, contracts, consumer protection, and professional liability).Other operational risks for property entities are lack of environmental or planning capacity or governance failures. A weak board fails to act \"in good faith for the benefit of the company\", neglects financial constraints or fails to strike an appropriate balance prudence and innovation (Parker, 2009). Governance mitigates the agency problem and requires leadership. Good directors know the financial situation and drive necessary strategic change without compromising current profitable operations. Practical governance mechanisms are an ethical culture and a diverse and independent board of directors who disseminate clear policies and diligently monitor established control mechanisms.Using the GST risk management framework, Table I illustrates some of the major risks facing A-REITs.\nResults: Risk management scores\nImplications and limitations: Intelligently configured risk management should contribute to entity quality, flexibility and performance. The GST model distilled four functional risks: strategy, surveillance, capacity and controls or governance (including monitoring of performance, liquidity and debt). However, web-sourced corporate information was inadequate to properly score entity risk management configuration and practice. As predicted by the EMH, publically-derived risk management scoring confers neither information advantage nor risk-adjusted performance improvement. Presumably, stock prices capitalise quality to maintain a consistent marginal price of risk. No correlation was detected between risk management score and risk-adjusted entity performance.As part of more sophisticated judgement of quality, future risk management research should devise and deploy more refined scoring, which confers information advantage. A balanced analyst assessment needs to incorporate informed judgements about product portfolio appropriateness, innovation trajectory and financial resilience. It could involve surveying a random and hierarchical sample of employees in the target entity to establish if actual risk management practice reflects corporate rhetoric. Apart from more intrusive dissection of entity discrete quality, future research also needs to access an increased and geographically diversified sample size. Notwithstanding these limitations, the research did establish that most A-REITs now publish risk management policies, which contend with corporate governance and reflect community environmental concerns.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop a General Systems Theory (GST) risk management framework and conducts a preliminary investigation into its potential benefits.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A risk management framework with four domains is developed by applying GST to property. Risk management in five listed Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A-REITs) is benchmarked against the GST ideal using public web-sites information. A-REIT volatility-adjusted returns are calculated using Treynor ratios for the year to May 2010. The link between risk management score and entity performance is then investigated.\nFindings: - The GST framework directs attention to risks involving surveillance, capacity and controls. However, as predicted by the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), the study found no link between assessed risk management and volatility-moderated annual returns to May 2010.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The risk scoring was predicated on publicly available data, with limited analysis of financial statements. The sample size was restricted.\nPractical implications: - Successful entities are well governed, focused and innovative. Robust finances allow exploitation of emerging opportunity when business conditions become favourable. Planning and environmental management capabilities are essential.\nOriginality/value: - The paper makes conceptual and practical contributions. Conceptually, it develops a GST risk management framework. Practically, albeit for a handful of entities, the paper illustrates how the GST approach to risk management could be effectively deployed. The paper also outlines a pathway for more refined risk management research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Leadership practices, competitive priorities, and manufacturing group performance
|
[
"Operations management",
"Leadership",
"Manufacturing industries",
"Competitive advantage",
"Strategic manufacturing",
"Unites States of America"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The topic of manufacturers' competitive priorities and leadership was first broached in operations management when Skinner (1969) examined the strategy of two furniture manufacturers: one manufacturing a low-price product line and the other making high-price, high-style furniture. Skinner (1969, p. 141) stated that the two manufacturers would need to develop different policies, personnel, and operations to be able to carry out their strategies successfully. The leadership styles he suggested were: \"much or little involvement in detail, authoritarian or nondirective style, and much or little contact with [the] organization\". Later, Wheelwright (1984, p. 85), building upon Skinner's (1969) framework, commented \"[...] The root cause of many a 'manufacturing crisis' is that a business's manufacturing policies and people - workers, supervisors and managers - have become incompatible with its plant and equipment, or that both have become incompatible with its competitive needs\".Subsequent research in manufacturing strategy underscored the need for aligning strategic decisions in various areas - structural and infrastructural - with the competitive priorities emphasized by a company. For example, Hill (1989), Kleindorfer and Partovi (1990), and Safizadeh et al. (1996) attempted to align the structural decisions, such as technology and process choice, with competitive priorities. On the infrastructural side, Berry and Hill (1992) examined the choice of manufacturing, planning, and control systems, and Kathuria et al. (1999) aligned IT applications with competitive priorities and the process structure.Later, some studies related to human resource management and competitive priorities appeared in the operations management literature. For example, Jayaram et al. (1999) examined the linkage between human resource management practices and four dimensions of manufacturing performance - quality, cost, flexibility, and time. Santos (2000) identified human resource management policies appropriate for each of the four competitive priorities. Ahmad and Schroeder (2003) investigated the impact of seven human resource management practices on an aggregate operational performance measure, and examined whether the use of these practices differed by country or industry.The aforementioned research in operations management is of much importance, but most studies have examined the main, mediating or interaction effects of variables rather than configurations of variables. A configuration denotes \"a multidimensional constellation of conceptually distinct characteristics that commonly occur together\" (Meyer et al., 1993). Configuration models are apt for studying complex, multivariate phenomena in operations management (Bozarth and McDermott, 1998; Boyer et al., 2000). Some relevant configuration studies in operations management have focused on:* competitive orientation and manufacturing performance (Kathuria, 2000);* manufacturing strategies and performance (Devaraj et al., 2001);* entrepreneurial orientation (Jambulingam et al., 2005); and* lean production practices and job characteristics (de Treville and Antonakis, 2006).To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive research has been done where the effects of competitive orientation of manufacturers (configurations) and leadership practices have been simultaneously examined on manufacturing performance.The competitive orientation is a type of configuration and is defined after Kathuria (2000) as the emphasis on a set of competitive priorities (quality, flexibility, delivery, cost). Consistent with Hill's (1989) notion of order-winners and order-qualifiers, each company places a varying degree of emphasis on these priorities as it uses some priorities as order-winners and others as order-qualifiers. The leadership is defined after Yukl (1989) who posits that leaders/managers display all of the 14 behaviors or practices, such as planning, inspiring, networking, etc. but to varying degrees. This study addresses the following research question:RQ1. Does leadership explain incremental variance in predicting manufacturing performance beyond the fixed effects of competitive orientation?\nThe conceptual model: The issue of leadership and strategy has been discussed in the strategic management literature at the corporate and strategic business unit (SBU) level (Gupta and Govindrajan, 1984; Govindrajan, 1989; Thomas et al., 1991). Since the unit of analysis of these studies was a corporation or an SBU, the researchers focused on the characteristics and practices of top executives, and used strategic options, such as low cost and differentiation, as \"trade-offs.\" None of these studies has considered competitive orientation of manufacturers and leadership practices of their manufacturing managers who are instrumental in getting the work done at the plant level.In the organizational sciences literature, Liden and Antonakis (2009, p. 1595) underscore the need to partial out the effects of firm-level factors as well as industry while testing the impact of leadership behavior on organizational outcomes. They further note \"[T]here are still not enough studies that consider (or at least control for) macroeconomic or microeconomic fixed effects [...] that might be correlated with the variables under study (Bluedorn and Jaussi, 2008)\". Given the importance and dearth of leadership studies involving organizational variables as fixed effects, we propose to examine the effect of manufacturing leadership on manufacturing performance beyond the fixed effects of competitive orientation of the focal organization and the industry to which the organization belongs.Competitive orientation, leadership practices, and performance: a conceptual linkage\nHypothesis: A leader continuously evokes motivational responses from followers and modifies their behavior (Burns, 1978). A charismatic or transformational leader, based on his/her behavioral tendencies and personal characteristics, espouses admiration and respect from his/her followers (Waldman and Yammarino, 1999). A transactional leader is able to recognize the needs and desires of his/her followers and attempts to satisfy those by focusing on contingent reward behavior (Burns, 1978; Bass, 1990). Contrary to some early views, it is possible for a leader to be both transformational and transactional (Shamir, 1995; Waldman et al., 1990).The 14 leadership behaviors in Yukl's taxonomy are grouped under three categories, namely relationship-oriented, participative leadership and delegation, and work-oriented practices. Work-oriented behaviors help eliminate or reduce wasted resources, errors, redundant operations, etc. and thereby enhance group performance (Yukl, 2006). Relationship-oriented behaviors help build mutual trust, reduce stress, etc. and thus facilitate group performance (Bass, 1990). Participative behaviors encourage development and application of new ideas, facilitate learning, and thus help enhance team performance (Yukl, 2006). Next, we discuss how each of the 14 practices, generally grouped under the three categories mentioned above, enhances manufacturing performance.The effective leadership of a manufacturing manager helps improve manufacturing performance on many fronts. For example, delegating, i.e. empowering employees to take action and implement decisions helps a company reduce its manufacturing lead time, since the time otherwise spent on seeking approvals is now saved. Sorting out problems quickly at the source (by the employees) should help reduce the cycle time, and thus enable a company to compete on the basis of time (Northey and Southway, 1993; Slater, 1993). This might help improve timeliness of deliveries, quantity produced, productivity, and efficiency. Timely deliveries may, in turn, improve customer satisfaction. Empowered employees also do the \"action planning\" for day-to-day activities. Further, the employees may also be authorized to identify and resolve work-related problems, thus improving accuracy and quality of work.Similarly, when a manager encourages employees to give suggestions for improvement, invites them to participate in decision making, and incorporates their ideas in decisions (i.e. consulting behavior), the employees understand the decision process and its implications better (Lawrence and Smith, 1955; Bass and Shackleton, 1979). The opportunity to participate and shape the decision process helps increase employees' \"ownership\" of the outcome (Howell and Costley, 2001). As a result, the ensuing acceptance and commitment to carry out the decision on part of the employees is likely to enhance group performance (Vroom and Jago, 1988; Bass, 1990).An effective manufacturing manager is likely to judiciously determine the utilization of production personnel, allocate resources according to priorities, and improve coordination to avoid waste - the elements of the planning behavior (Yukl, 1989). To avoid or minimize delays due to work interruptions, a manufacturing manager is likely to identify, analyze, and resolve problems in a timely fashion, i.e. demonstrate problem solving behavior (Yukl, 1989). Also, strict enforcement of rules is considered necessary when the objective is to control product costs (Porter, 1980, 1985). A manufacturing manager can enforce rules and thus control costs, by constant monitoring, i.e. checking the way work progresses (Yukl, 1989).When tasks require a specific set of procedures for successful completion, effective leadership usually results in better group performance (Wofford, 1971; Griffin, 1980; Kahai et al., 1997). This is probably because a clearly defined task structure gives the leader a set of steps to guide the employees more effectively (Howell and Costley, 2001). It is, therefore, logical to infer that the leadership practices, such as planning, problem solving, informing, clarifying, and monitoring would help a manufacturing manager carry out the manufacturing tasks more effectively.An effective manager handles possible variations in delivery schedule, product mix, and product design by gathering information from potential sources, including vendors and customers (networking). Brennesholtz (1996) suggests that manufacturing managers should spend time to understand how salespeople and customers bring uncertainty in the system through varying demand for different products. To cope with changing demands of the customers, managers should encourage cooperation and teamwork among employees (team building). This reasoning for team building behavior is supported by Wofford (1971), who found conflict management to be an important managerial characteristic when a manager faced unstructured and complex tasks. Conflict management is classified as team building behavior under Yukl's (1989) taxonomy. Further, networking plays an important role in manufacturing settings where the ability to handle changes in the product mix and customer delivery schedule, to adjust capacity rapidly, and to introduce new products or new designs quickly is important. It seems plausible that managers, who are good at managing relationships, are likely to be more effective in managing a group that faces variability in output, input, processing requirements, product mix, etc.Dealing with uncertainty on an ongoing basis could lead to frustration among employees, which could be addressed or avoided by generating enthusiasm for work (inspiring), and by being considerate of employee needs (supportive). It appears that a supportive leader helps employees overcome the anxiety often associated with a new complex task (Howell and Costley, 2001). The encouraging and confidence building behavior of such a manager allows employees to more efficiently apply their collective energies toward effective performance (Burke, 1965).Generally, tasks that are complex in nature and require creativity are better performed under relationship-oriented leadership (DuBrin, 1998). Non-routine tasks are best carried out when the manger maintains collegial relationship with employees (Hall, 1962). Developing and mentoring helps foster cooperative relationships that are especially useful when dealing with non-routine and unstructured tasks (Upton, 1994). Expressing appreciation for special effort (recognizing) needed to deal with uncertainty and recommending employees for appropriate rewards (rewarding) are also likely to help improve manufacturing performance when dealing with uncertainty. When employees perform a large variety of tasks, a leader's contingent reward-punishment behavior is likely to enhance performance (Podsakoff et al., 1984).The use of the above-mentioned leadership practices by a manufacturing manager might be influenced by the competitive orientation of the manufacturing unit. For example, it is plausible that a manufacturing firm would hire a manufacturing manager with a particular leadership style, manifested through various leadership practices, in order to pursue a specific competitive strategy evidenced through a varying degree of emphasis placed on different competitive priorities. In other words, managers with a certain leadership style might be considered more suitable for a given competitive orientation. Similarly, it is also reasonable that the emphasis placed on certain competitive priorities, and the resultant competitive orientation, might be germane to the type of industry that a manufacturing firm belongs. Hence, in order to cull out the true effects of leadership on manufacturing performance, we need to statistically control for the potential confounding effects of the competitive orientation and industry type. Thus, we propose:H1. Effective leadership will contribute to manufacturing performance beyond the fixed effects of competitive orientation and industry type.\nMethodology: Sample\nResults and discussion: Competitive orientation\nConclusion and implications: This study illustrates the use of behavioral theory of leadership in the context of managing operations with varying competitive orientations in different industries. The results support our contention that the use of effective leadership is positively associated with performance beyond the fixed effects of organizational variables, such as competitive orientation and industry membership.Theoretical implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of manufacturing leadership in enhancing manufacturing performance for different manufacturing configurations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Survey data collected from three levels of respondents in excess of 480, from 98 manufacturing units in the USA are used to test the study hypothesis using the cluster analysis and regression models.\nFindings: - Effective leadership is positively associated with overall manufacturing performance beyond the fixed effects of organizational variables, such as competitive orientation and industry membership. The manufacturing leadership, however, does not seem to affect customer satisfaction.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper illustrates the use of behavioral theory of leadership in the context of managing operations with varying competitive orientations in different industries. Future research should, however, attempt to match different leadership practices/styles to different competitive orientations, and include employee characteristics, such as subordinates' prior experience, training, or skills that may influence the need for demonstrating the leadership practices differently for different competitive orientations.\nPractical implications: - As manufacturers pursue a combination of priorities, their manufacturing managers need to use a gamut of effective leadership practices, such as planning, delegating, inspiring, etc. Manufacturers may also note that effective manufacturing leadership enhances performance on a host of measures, such as quality, timeliness, efficiency, etc. which are directly influenced by the manufacturing group. For measures, such as customer satisfaction, manufacturing leadership needs to be augmented by managing customer expectations and by being more flexible in accommodating customers' requirements.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first study to deploy multiple respondents to simultaneously examine the effects of competitive orientation and leadership practices on manufacturing performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
SINTO: a regional information partnership in South Yorkshire
|
[
"Document delivery",
"Interlending",
"Libraries"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: SINTO - the information partnership is a consortium of library and information services in the area around Sheffield, South Yorkshire. SINTO exists to develop library and information services in our region through co-operation, workforce development and planning; and to promote information fluency and investment in information. Currently there are about forty members including public libraries and libraries in universities, colleges, schools, government departments, and companies.SINTO achieves its goals through the following activities:* a local inter-library loans system;* an access agreement;* a programme of Continuing Professional Development and training events;* networking;* co-operative planning at an operational and strategic level; and* representation and advocacy.This article will focus on ILL and access, but first will outline the development of SINTO.\nDevelopment of SINTO: In 1932, J.P. Lamb, Chief Librarian, Sheffield City Libraries proposed a scheme for co-coordinating technical and commercial information in the city through the preparation of a Union List of serials and an inter-library loan scheme. The idea was to link together the city library and the technical libraries of the industrial companies in Sheffield. The following year the Scheme for the Interchange of Technical Publications was set up. The name Sheffield Interchange Organisation (SINTO) was adopted in 1955. SINTO was one of the first local ILL schemes and is the oldest such scheme now in existenceIn 1989 a new body, the Board for Library and Information Services in Sheffield (BLISS) was set up to co-ordinate library and information planning in the city. BLISS was one of a number of regional Library and Information Plans (LIPs) which were set up around the country at this time in order to co-ordinate library and information provision. In 1993 SINTO merged with BLISS, to form the Sheffield Information Organisation. The old acronym SINTO was retained and the ILL role of the old SINTO now became the responsibility of the ILL Group within SINTO. In 2003 the organisation was renamed SINTO - the Information Partnership for South Yorkshire and north Derbyshire. Today SINTO is open to members from the Yorkshire and Humberside and East Midlands regions, and anyone can attend our seminars.\nDescription of SINTO: The main principles governing the Scheme are as follows:* Not all SINTO Members opt into this Scheme, but any Member can. However, currently the geographical area covered by the ILL Scheme is South Yorkshire and north Derbyshire, and the SINTO Office would consult with all Members of the ILL Scheme and the SINTO Executive to explore any possible ramifications of expanding this coverage. (26 out of our 41 Members are in the Scheme at present).* The aim of the Scheme is co-operative working and the ILL Scheme does not seek to standardise Members' ILL services and procedures.* Open access and communication are key and the ILL Scheme has a Service Level Agreement. Members also have the opportunity to describe their individual services and contact details in the SINTO Members' ILL Directory.* Members have their own loan and document supply procedures and stationery. If a request is to be made to a fellow SINTO ILL Scheme Member, it must be clearly marked with \"SINTO\".* Some Members make no charges for photocopying or postage, others do make small charges. Any information on charging and invoicing is shown in the SINTO Members' ILL Directory. Any charges are to cover costs only.* The SINTO Office collects annual statistics and produces a report on the performance of the Scheme.* The SINTO Office runs the ILL Group to give ILL Scheme Members a forum for discussion, information exchange, and to review and plan activities and changes.\nSULOS - The Sheffield Union list of serials: Most members list their journal holdings on the Sheffield Union List of Serials (SULOS). This is the periodicals catalogue of the University of Sheffield library with the addition of holdings from other SINTO libraries throughout South Yorkshire and north Derbyshire.\nService level agreement: The SLA has been agreed by all the members of the ILL scheme. It sets out the basic principles of the scheme and details the responsibilities of both the supplier and the requester. This includes a target turnaround time of ten working days for the supply of items and information about charging. As mentioned above, members are not expected to make a charge for the service as such but are entitled to recoup costs.\nSINTO directories: SINTO provides its Members with two Directories each year. The General Networking Directory provides contact details for a contact person at each organisation or each site who can deal with general enquiries from other SINTO organisations. The SINTO ILL Scheme Directory lists contacts specifically for making requests for loans or photocopies through the ILL scheme. Each Directory is available as a Word document or an Access database.\nTrends in document delivery/ILL: When the Scheme for the Interchange of Technical Publications was launched in 1933 the library world was very different. Although the Central Library for Students had been set up in 1916 it did not become the National Central Library until 1931. The National Lending Library for Science and Technology was established at Boston Spa in 1961. In the 1930 s Sheffield had a large number of companies in the steelmaking, engineering and associated industries. Many of these had libraries with small collections of specialist books and journals. Under the auspices of the Business Library at Sheffield City Library the scheme was established to enable the loan of items between these specialist libraries. Later the University of Sheffield and the then Sheffield Polytechnic joined the scheme and provides loans and photocopies from their collections.Since then the number of technical libraries in the area has declined and the national ILL service based at Boston Spa has developed so inevitably the volume of traffic declined. In recent years other factors have come into play (see Table I).There has been a reduction in the amount of document delivery traffic since 1999. The sharp decrease in the last year may be as the result of particular local factors but overall a number of factors can be identified for this decline:* The number of organisations taking part in the scheme has reduced as the number of commercial and industrial libraries has declined. Much of the traffic today is health related material between the Hospital Libraries of the University of Sheffield and other health libraries in the area.* Increasingly the universities now hold material in electronic format and licenses often prohibit the provision of copies of articles from electronic journals to third parties.* Recent changes to copyright legislation means that \"fair dealing\" no longer applies to copying for a commercial purpose. Companies therefore have to pay a copyright fee and the supplying library has to be licensed for this. This acts as a strong disincentive to companies to obtain information that might be of value to them and in most cases it is more convenient to go through a national document delivery services than to use SINTO.* The regional ILL van service which was used by for SINTO ILLs has ceased to operate. Libraries have to use postal services and this increases the costs.* The national document delivery service continues to develop, e.g. with increasing use of electronic delivery.\nThe future for the SINTO ILL service: In a recent survey of SINTO members 55 per cent rated the SINTO ILL service as being valuable or very valuable and a further 31 per cent as of some value. The service continues to provide a low cost alternative for document delivery and as long as there is still some need for the service SINTO is committed to offering it. However, the trend is downwards and there may come a time when the scheme is no longer viable.\nLocal access agreement: Another aspect of providing access to documents and information is the South Yorkshire Access to Libraries for Learning agreement (SYALL). This agreement between public and academic libraries in South Yorkshire allows members of the public access to libraries for reference and study purposes. The scheme was set up in Sheffield in 1996 and expanded to cover all of South Yorkshire in 2001. SYALL is now part of the national Inspire scheme. The agreement was seen as complimenting the ILL scheme. It is aimed at adult learners and provides access to the full range of material available on the shelves of the regions academic libraries. However the problem of material being available only in electronic formats is of increasing concern. Members of the public are often denied access to this material either because of restrictions in the licences or because they do not have access to the computer network of the university. A recent report (Research Information Network, 2006) made a number of recommendations to academic libraries to improve public access to electronic materials. However, as SINTO has pointed out (Clayton, 2007), this should be an issue not just for academic libraries but for a national information policy. Unfortunately, no such policy exists and no one appears to be taking any responsibility for such a policy.It is a paradox that because of the internet access to information has never been easier, but as Michael Gorman and others have warned, access to authoritative information is a problem (Gorman, 2007). Document delivery service and access agreements are ways in which libraries can provide access to such information but the rise of electronic material can act to limit access for individuals who are not associated with a major academic or commercial organisation. The SINTO ILL scheme was launched long before the internet but the principle behind it - the concept that a community benefits from access to \"technical publications\" - is as relevant today as it was in 1932.Further information about SINTO is available at www.sinto.org.uk. Information about SYALL can be found on the Libraryfinder website www.syall.org.ukCarl Clayton has a blog at http://sintoblog.blogspot.com.pitt.idm.oclc.org/\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and operation of the SINTO inter-library loan service, one of the longest-running schemes in existence in the UK.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach is descriptive.\nFindings: - It was found that document supply via SINTO is declining and the reasons for this are identified.\nOriginality/value: - The role of document supply and access agreements in the context of a national information policy are explored.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Communicating value to enhance service visualization
|
[
"Values",
"Advertising"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The services marketing literature has long recognized intangibility, described as \"inaccessible to the senses,\" such that consumers find it difficult to conceptualize services both physically and mentally (Bateson, 1979; Hirschman, 1980). Berry (1980) asserts that consumers face difficulty envisaging service benefits (mental intangibility), and this mental intangible property makes it challenging for consumers to form expectations of service (Tarn, 2005), intensifies the difficulty of evaluation and heightens perceived risk (Laroche et al., 2003).\nLiterature review: Services advertising: designing message content to tangibilize service\nMethodology: Financial services is the service category chosen for examination, because consumers hold the perception that financial services are highly intangible, even compared to traditional service sectors offerings such as hotels and restaurants, dentistry and hairdressing (Bielen and Sempels, 2003; Laroche et al., 2001; McDougall and Snetsinger, 1990). Further, it has been argued that communication strategies are critical for offerings characterized as high on intangibility, compared with those for which there are more tangible elements (Carlson et al., 2002).\nFindings: Favorable model-fit indices indicate acceptance of the proposed conceptualization of MECC and advertising effectiveness for financial services, which builds on respondents' visualization of intangible aspects of financial services, thus aiding their evaluations (Figure 2). Inspection of the modification indices did not reveal substantial cross-loadings between latent constructs. The two higher-order constructs (i.e. MECCFS and MECCSR) in the MECC dimension suggests that respondents expend cognitive efforts directed at each value separately in such way that they were able to make specific connections with the respective value elements. It is also important to note that, at the same time, simultaneous comprehension of both means-end values occurred in the respondents' mind (r = 0.406, p < 0.001) (Figure 2). The MECC components have considerable influence on perceived tangibility (R2 = 0.434), attitude toward the advertisement (R2 = 0.562) and attitude toward the brand (R2 = 0.668), which explain the importance of communicating value to improve service advertising effectiveness.\nDiscussion: This study provides a framework to understand that exposure to relevant visual cues in advertisements leads to higher levels of cognitive connectivity which, in turn, increases the vividness, or perceived tangibility, of a service. Cognitive connectivity is conceptualized to comprise two dimensions - consumers' realization of personal relevance and their ability to complete means-end hierarchical linkages between the adjacent elements - and MECC is a construct captures these two aspects of elaboration. Complete cognitive evaluations of service cues in advertisements improve visualization, which positively affect attitudes toward the advertisement and toward the brand. This conceptualization integrates knowledge of advertising message content that enables consumers to visualize an intangible service (Stafford, 1996; Tripp, 1997) and of advertising content that facilitates means-end chain connections (Gutman and Miaolis, 2003). Further it extends the research into elaboration processes for advertising that facilitate means-end chain connections by also recognizing the role of personal relevance in cognitive connectivity (Graeff, 1997).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine the effects of enhanced visualization of intangible service value through integration of means-end perspectives on advertising effectiveness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Banking advertisements, incorporating message stimuli derived from salient values desired by the financial consumers and designed to assist message elaboration and stimulate personal relevance, were developed to examine the influence of cognitive connectivity on vividness of intangible service benefits and service advertising effectiveness.\nFindings: The findings demonstrate that greater cognitive connectivity positively affects perceived tangibility, attitude toward the advertisement and attitude toward the brand. Additionally, the results indicated that perceived personal relevance has higher influence on envisioning service components, compared to one's ability to connect visual cues to perceived benefits and to immediate end-goals.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study incorporated visual stimuli limited only to financial security and social recognition. Future research should aim to examine the effects of different types of values on consumers' elaboration process and their ability to visualize financial services.\nOriginality/value: This study extends knowledge of the means-end chain by proposing a means-end cognitive connectivity construct which influences the degree that consumers are able to mentally picture intangible service attributes. This study also provides insight that different values have different degree of influence on one's ability to visualize service.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Conceptualizing the distinctiveness of team coaching
|
[
"Training",
"Teams",
"Coaching"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Teams are an integral element of effective organisations (Mathieu et al., 2017). Consequently, learning and development needs have shifted from a sole focus on the individual to a focus on enabling the team as a whole to learn and develop in the context of its functions in order to enhance team effectiveness. A vast body of literature has developed examining the efficacy of a range of team-focussed learning and development interventions (see Klein et al., 2009), the newest being team coaching (TC). TC has witnessed a surge in practice as evidenced by the recent rise in the publication of practitioner reports (Worldwide Association of Business Coaches, 2016) and practitioner-oriented text-books (e.g. Hawkins, 2011).\nTeam training, team building and team development: The team learning and development literature generally focusses on three types of intervention: team training, team building and team development. Team training has been argued to be key to enhancing team effectiveness (Hughes et al., 2016) and targets latent teamwork knowledge, skills and/or attitudinal competencies (KSAs) to improve performance (Salas and Cannon-Bowers, 2001). Goldstein and Ford (2002) argued that team training methods are designed to enhance taskwork, teamwork and process improvement skills. Kozlowski and Ilgen (2006) provided clarification, defining team training as a systematic strategy that targets improvement in specific objectives or competencies designed to enhance teamwork.\nTeam coaching: A third of organisations report using TC (Lawrence and Whyte, 2017), the popularity of TC as the newest team learning and development approach appears to be increasing. However, TC remains a poorly understood phenomenon in terms of how it is defined and conceptualised and where the boundaries lie between TC and other team learning and development interventions (Lawrence and Whyte, 2017). One particularly noteworthy contribution is the work of Hackman and Wageman (2005), who provide a theory of TC, defining it as \"direct interaction with a team intended to help members make coordinated and task appropriate use of their collective resources in accomplishing the team's work\" (p. 269). Hackman and Wageman (2005) position TC as an act of leadership, meaning that their theory predicts and explains the impact of coaching functions on team effectiveness when TC is provided by either the team leader or group members. However, it is consistently argued that the coaching provided by an independent coach is conceptually different from the coaching provided by a supervisor or leader (Jones et al., 2016); primarily because the power relationship that exists between line managers and their subordinates is absent in the helping relationship between an independent coach and coachee. We suggest that Hackman and Wageman's (2005) theory of TC is not sufficiently inclusive for capturing the range of TC scenarios that occur in practice. Further, the model is yet to be empirically tested or validated. In the absence of any alternative models or frameworks on TC per se, the field of TC could thus be described as pre-theory.\nMethod: Participants and procedures\nResults: Our results are structured around the three questions in our survey: \"How do you define TC?\", \"How is TC different to one-to-one coaching?\" and \"How is TC different to other team development interventions?\"\nDiscussion: This paper addressed two research questions:\nConclusion: There has been a recent growth in the popularity and practice of TC. Consequently, research in this field is likely to generate a significant impact in terms of informing best practice in the application of TC. Despite this, there has been a lack of clear conceptualization of TC, which has significantly impaired the development of a rigorous theory of TC. Our paper has addressed some of these significant gaps by surveying practitioners involved in the delivery of TC to understand their perspective on this growing methodology in team learning and development. Our findings, when explored in the context of definitions of other team learning and development interventions and the existing TC definitions, have provided greater clarity to the factors that make TC distinct. It is our hope that this paper will stimulate future research that will provide a focussed examination into the efficacy of TC.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Team coaching (TC) is a popular new addition to the team learning and development toolkit. However, the conceptualization of TC and the distinction between TC, team training, team development and team building interventions remains unclear. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors address this significant gap by abductively exploring how TC is conceptualised in practice (n=410). The authors survey practitioners engaged in delivering TC to ask how they would define TC and distinguish it from other team interventions.\nFindings: A thematic analysis of the data reveals eight themes, which can be used to define TC and illustrate areas of overlap and distinctiveness with other team interventions.\nResearch limitations/implications: The absence of a clearly defined construct is hindering the development of a rigorous theory of TC. The contribution of the paper is, therefore, a clear and comprehensive definition of TC, which can be used by researchers and practitioners alike when working within the domain of TC.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides the first systematic exploration of a definition of TC in relation to alternative team interventions. By utilising an abductive approach in the research, the authors are able to capitalise on practitioner experience in this practice-led field.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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A corporate's responsibility to employees during a merger: organizational virtue and employee loyalty
|
[
"Corporate social responsibility",
"Acquisitions and mergers",
"Employees",
"Organizational behaviour"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nMerger and corporate social responsibility: Even during recessionary times companies are being advised that a merger or acquisition is a strategic opportunity, a formula for faster growth (Baghai et al. 2008; Epstein, 2008). This is despite the reality that 70 percent of mergers fail to meet their financial objectives and to enhance shareholder value (e.g. Habeck et al., 2000). Although there are a growing number of studies dealing with different challenges in a merger, the study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in a merger has been limited to legal and economic responsibilities, and pays much more attention to keeping the loyalty of shareholders or consumers. For example, the negative effect of the acquisition of CSR-led brands such as Body Shop or Ben & Jerry's on consumer loyalty is observed when the acquirer is perceived to have little understanding of CSR (Austin and Leonard, 2008).Considering financial and legal responsibilities however did not provide an adequate explanation for why certain mergers succeed and others fail. Indeed, the low success rate of mergers is better related to human resource concerns and attributed to a lack of understanding of the human side of the merger during post merger integration (Buono and Bowditch, 1989, p. 10).Since the ultimate success or failure of a merger depends on the post-merger integration process (Pablo, 1994; Schweizer, 2005), an increasing number of merger studies have looked at internal issues such as organizational culture, organizational fit (Chatterjee et al., 1992) and top employee turnover (Walsh, 1988). More recently, scholars have raised concerns that business ethics is less explored in the merger and acquisitions literature but has been widely studied in the areas of marketing, information management and labor relations (Lin and Wei, 2006). This is despite the notion that the ethicalness of a merger or acquisition should be based not only on meeting financial objectives but also seen as dependent on the effects which the merger will have on all involved stakeholders (Donaldson, 1989; Heffern, 1989).This paper uses a virtue ethics approach to study a merger case in which low organizational virtue, as perceived by employees, led to an internal crisis. The purpose of the study is to explore the differences between employee views of the merged organization held by subgroups, and to explain the impact of the poorly perceived organizational virtue on employees' emotional response to the merged organization including satisfaction, emotional attachment, job security and loyalty.\nOrganizational virtue and employee emotion: Whether or not an organization is seen to be responsible can be evaluated by considering its underpinning ethical stance. There exist three main approaches in business ethics, Kantian, Utilitarian and Virtue Ethics. Utilitarian and Kantian stances share the rationalistic approach in guiding ethical behavior but adopt different principles. The Kantian approach stresses obeying moral principles for human behavior such as \"don't lie\", or \"don't steal\", leaving no place for moral emotions or sentiments. In the context of a merger, the Kantian or duty based approach focuses on legal responsibilities such as job protection, employee rights (Hanly, 1992) in situations where there are lay-offs, redundancies or transfers (Serpa, 1988; Werhane, 1988). Utilitarianism shares rationalism with Kantianism but pays more attention to cost and benefit relationships. The approach is illustrated by the view that there is no such thing as a good company that is not profitable (Minow, 1996). A study of the effect of the ethical conduct of a merger on employee job performance would be one example (Lin and Wei, 2006).There are two distinctive features in virtue ethics that differentiate it from the other approaches; its ability to capture emotion and its concern for the happiness of the self as well as of others. Virtue ethics theory denies that making moral decisions is a matter of calculation or principle-based duties (Hartman, 1998; Stark, 1993). Instead, virtue ethics looks to motivate aspirational values and seeks to answer the question, \"what kind of organization should we be?\"There are six virtue character dimensions that have been validated at the organizational level. They include both moral and non-moral aspects of virtue: integrity, warmth, empathy, zeal, courage conscientiousness, and courage (Chun, 2005). The most frequently mentioned virtue dimension in the merger literature seems to be integrity. Integrity involves normative judgment such as being trustworthy and honest. The level of employee identification can influence institutional trust during post-merger significantly (Maguire and Phillips, 2008). Being honest about its strengths and weaknesses is an important virtue for a company to succeed during a merger (Weston, 1963).The empathy virtue (reassuring, concerned, supportive) is particularly relevant to the sociological and psychological account with an emphasis on mutual feelings and relationships coming from interactions with other people. Within the psychological literature, one of the most comprehensive accounts of empathy and its relation to the moral development of a person is provided by the work of Martin Hoffman (Hoffman, 2000). Hoffman (1981) views empathy as a biologically based disposition for altruistic behavior; one empathizes because the other's situation reminds one of one's own painful experience producing an empathic response. To put it simply, empathy is the ability to \"put oneself in another's shoes\".Trust based on the other's \"care and concern\" is deeper (or less superficial) than trust based primarily on cognitive perceptions of predictable, dependable behavior (McAllister, 1995). \"Warmth\" and \"supportiveness\" have been used interchangeably with the notion of a trusting climate in an organization. The virtue of empathy is one of the most desirable characteristics leaders can display during the merger, a context which requires sensitivity particularly in negotiation (Goleman, 1998).Courage, an important cardinal virtue on the battlefield, is translated into modern business as competence, ambition and achievement orientation (Chun, 2005; Harris, 2001). Resource based theory argues that a merger or acquisition can help a company to access complementary resources to build production competence in a specific area, and moreover to enhance organizational capabilities (Mayer et al., 1995). While the virtue of courage can provide an effective mechanism for maintaining growth or financial success, unlike other virtues, an excessive level of courage can become a vice. Some apparently successful and large multinational companies could be seen as arrogant because of their excessive level of ambition, creating harm to their stakeholders such as the local community in host countries, suppliers and, competitors. Enron for example, who claimed to have developed an innovative business model, would have been seen as courageous at one stage, but no longer.\nCase study: Preliminary research\nDiscussion: Organizational virtue, job security and satisfaction\nContribution and implication: This research shows there were three distinctive groups according to prior merger background in the way employees see their organization from an ethical perspective. However, this study demonstrates a case where employees from an acquirer background had much lower satisfaction and job security level with the merged organization. This finding contradicts the common notion in the existing literature where employees from the acquirer firm have typically more positive views and emotional disposition towards the merged company.Existing literature rarely compares the views held by new joiners with those of existing employees. The research findings suggest that new joiners had much more positive views compared to the employees who carried the emotional baggage from their pre-merger employment stage. While the new joiners are much more satisfied with, and emotionally attached to, and perceived much higher job security than those who had worked through the merger, towards the merged organization, their loyalty or intention to stay with the company in the long term is as weak as that of their colleagues. This research suggests this is because of the two poorly perceived non-obligatory virtues, conscientiousness and warmth which had the highest correlation with employee loyalty.The research approach was an in-depth study of a single merger case, one where emotions were running high. The research was conducted on a relatively small sample but one that was representative of the company due to a high response rate. The study fills a gap in the existing merger literature which is concerned more with legal and economic responsibilities and which has ignored the ethical perspective. Using a virtue ethics approach in assessing employee views and their experience of the merged company, the research found that non-obligatory virtues such as warmth and empathy are the more important in creating a positive employee emotional response to the merged organization.A merged company may show positive figures in their balance sheet and boast about the financial success of the merger, but often ignore responsibilities that are not required by the law and by their shareholders. Companies who do not pay attention to the important role of non-obligatory virtue as demonstrated in this research are not only irresponsible but also will face their employees' suffering from poor morale, dissatisfaction and insecurity, leading to poor employee loyalty and ultimately organizational crisis.The findings have a number of practical implications. Reassuring and engaging employee through an effective communication program during a merger is particularly important when an organization is going though a turbulent time. Uncertainty is more painful than bad news and poor communication creates uncertainty (Larkin and Larkin, 1996, p. 97). In such periods of uncertainty, employees fill any communication voids with rumors that attribute the worst possible motives to those in control. Employees' perceived job insecurity was correlated strongly with organizational virtue as perceived by employees; in particular, whether or not the employees saw the merged firm had the virtues of empathy and warmth.This research also highlights the importance of engaging employees who are in contact with customers on a day-to-day basis during post merger integration. The crisis at Googen-Maris was driven by the high turnover from ex-Googen employees who later became competitors in the same area. The high turnover was driven by a perceived lack of virtue in the organization. Promoting empathy and warmth seem to be the keys to ensuring the emotional attachment and loyalty of key employees during turbulent times.A merger represents a context where one group of stakeholders, shareholders, wish to benefit from a major organizational change. It is tempting to add that their gain might be at the expense of employees who can be disaffected by that same change, as illustrated here. The strength and consequences of those feelings are highlighted by taking a virtue ethics perspective, emphasizing that companies should have a responsibility to their employees, over and above that of pay and conditions. If managers cannot address this aspect of post-merger integration, then it is not surprising that mergers often fail to meet the expectations of investors.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - A company may ignore its non-obligatory responsibilities to employees during a major change such as a merger, leading to their disaffection and feeling of insecurity. The purpose of this paper is to explore how employee views of the merged organization differ by their pre-merger background, and to explain the impact of the poorly perceived organizational virtue on employees' emotional response to the merged organization including satisfaction, emotional attachment, job security and loyalty.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology involved a questionnaire survey of employees from an organization in crisis following a merger due to poor employee morale and high labor turnover.\nFindings: - The two major findings were: first perceptions of organizational empathy, warmth and conscientiousness were strongly correlated with employee loyalty, perceived job security, satisfaction and emotional attachment. Second, company background prior to the merger had a contrary effect to that expected from existing literature; employees from the acquiring companies had more negative feeling towards the merged organization.\nPractical implications: - The research findings highlight the importance of promoting the virtues of empathy and warmth as keys to ensuring the emotional attachment and loyalty of key employees to ensure the long-term success of the merger.\nOriginality/value: - Despite growing interest in applying virtue ethics into business, empirical studies assessing organizational level virtue are rare. This empirical study of the organizational virtue advances, complements, and distinguishes itself from existing studies on merger, by demonstrating the importance of non-obligatory virtues (those beyond legal and economic responsibilities) perceived by employees.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Comparison of efficiency and technology across the banking systems of Vietnam, China and India: A stochastic cost and revenue meta-frontier approach
|
[
"Performance",
"Benchmarking",
"Banking",
"G21",
"O57",
"C33",
"C61"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the global economy, banking systems around the world, especially in emerging countries, have to be integrated into the global financial system by reforming toward liberalization. As a result from liberalizing process, the operating banking environment in emerging countries become more competitive over time, especially between local banks and foreign banks which usually possess superior banking technology and managerial ability. To remain competitive in this rapidly emerging globalized environment, local banks need to not only allocate their resources to where they are most needed and make the best use of existing technologies, but also adopt new banking practices and technology from the more efficient banking industries which have similarities in operating environment.\n2. Literature review: Meta-efficiency, proposed by Battese et al. (2004) and O'Donnell et al. (2008), is a product of country-frontier efficiency and technology gap ratio, and hence it offers international bank efficiency comparison more flexibly than efficiency under country-frontier or common frontier. Studies that apply the meta-frontier framework to compare bank efficiency across countries include Bos and Schmiedel (2003, 2007), Huang et al. (2011), Ben Naceur et al. (2011), Liu and Chen (2012), Huang and Fu (2013), Huang et al. (2015) and Fu et al. (2016).\n3. Methodology: This study uses the SFA under a meta-frontier framework to compare cost and revenue efficiency and production technology among the Vietnamese, Chinese and Indian banking systems. As meta-frontier envelops the three country-frontiers corresponding to the three banking systems, the first subsection presents the formulation of the three individual country-frontiers and the second subsection presents the formulation of meta-frontier. The next subsection explains the distance between the country-frontier and meta-frontier which is called as technology gap. The last subsection briefly describes statistics for data sample.\n4. Empirical results: The first subsection presents the parameter estimates for the stochastic cost and revenue frontier model based on data of separate as well as combined banking systems and the parameter estimates for the meta-frontier. The second subsection measures the meta-cost and revenue efficiency and cost-reducing/revenue-increasing technology of these banking systems. The next subsection assesses the trends of efficiency and technology gap over 1995-2011. The last subsection evaluates efficiency across bank types.\n5. Conclusion and policy implication: Given some similarities in the banking industry and economic condition across Vietnam, China and India, this study estimates and compares the cost and revenue efficiency of banks across these three countries. This study utilizes an unbalanced panel consisting of 30 Vietnamese banks, 69 Chinese banks and 52 Indian banks, with the total of 1,902 observations over the period 1995-2011.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Given some similarities in the banking industry and economic condition across Vietnam, China and India, the purpose of this paper is to estimate and compare the cost and revenue efficiency of banks across these three countries over the period 1995-2011.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study employs the meta-frontier of Battese et al. (2004) and O'Donnell et al. (2008) which envelops the three country-frontiers to measure the cost and revenue efficiency of banks in these three countries.\nFindings: This study finds that Chinese banks adopt the most advanced cost-reducing and revenue-increasing technology when providing banking products to their customers, followed by Indian banks. Indian banks are as cost-efficient as Chinese banks, but more cost-efficient than Vietnamese banks. Indian banks are as revenue-efficient as Vietnamese banks, but less revenue-efficient than Chinese banks. Over the analysis period, banks in the three countries have employed the more advanced technology in reducing costs, and they have become more cost-efficient. Nonetheless, for revenue side, the improvement in revenue efficiency and adopted technology are observed only in Chinese banks. The main source of meta-cost and meta-revenue inefficiency of these banking systems stems from undertaking inferior technology rather than managerial ability. Results from comparison across bank types show that state-owned banks (SOBs) are more cost and revenue-efficient than privately owned banks, with Indian and Chinese SOBs being the most cost- and revenue-efficient, respectively.\nPractical implications: To improve meta-cost efficiency, Chinese and Indian banks would constitute a relevant benchmark for Vietnamese banks, while to improve meta-revenue efficiency, Chinese banks would be considered as a relevant benchmark for Vietnamese and Indian banks.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study which utilizes meta-frontier to compare cost and revenue efficiency and technology across banks in Vietnam, China and India.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Tourism in Niagara: conclusions and solutions
|
[
"Tourism",
"International marketing",
"Hospitality services",
"Canada"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper aims to present a succinct response to the strategic question \"How should Niagara region respond to the key challenges it faces and find solutions to preserve and develop its tourism industry?\" This paper provides a snapshot of the key challenges facing the tourism and hospitality sector in the Niagara region, Canada and the practical solutions to those challenges by integrating conclusions of nine papers. Cumulatively, these nine papers refer to some 216 other publications, articles, reports or web sites. However the key strength and novelty of these nine papers lie in the expert viewpoints based on first-hand relevant experiences of the 22 authors who wrote these papers. Their practical and powerful suggestions should help the Niagara region shape the future direction of its tourism sector. These nine papers have attempted to deal with nine facets of tourism in the Niagara region in Canada, as shown in Figure 1.\nDiscussions: The discussion in this paper is segmented under the nine sub themes identified in Figure 1.1. Stakeholder discussion\nConclusions and solutions: In reviewing the above concepts, viewpoints, and recommendations, ten key suggestions are made below in summary. These suggestions are relevant for the Niagara region as well as any other tourism destination in the world, which envisions healthy and sustainable growth in the future.1. Engage in regular consultation and discussion with all levels of stakeholders from the private sector, public sector and academia. Agree on outcome action points and follow up on the timely implementation.2. Develop long-term tourism master plans with mid-term reviews systems and short-term implementation action agendas based on the above inputs and external viewpoints as well as expertise related to worldwide best practices. The resulting action agendas must address issues such as future consumer-focused product and service development, analysis of skills required to deliver such products and services in the future and resulting human resource development actions.3. Rejuvenate product and service offerings through creative collaborations, strategize with foresight, and implement revolutionary innovations in tourism destination marketing.4. Understand the \"fair market value\" for each hospitality industry position, foster relationships with colleges and universities, encourage mature workers to apply for part-time work and cultivate good relationships with all seasonal employees in dealing with seasonality issues related to human resource management in the hospitality sector.5. Initiate, promote and focus on industry specific applied research related to relevant sub sectors of special interest tourism such as wine and culinary tourism, agro tourism, heritage tourism, adventure tourism, sports tourism, health tourism and eco tourism.6. Generate additional tourist arrivals and income by creating community based festivals and special events using under-utilised facilities. Factors such as local history, natural features, community support, available talent pool, existing attractions, accommodation capacity and available space for special events should be analysed prior to planning such special events.7. Focus on developing visitor attractions, such as gaming and indoor theme parks, which attract year-round high volumes from different segments of tourists to destinations. Such initiatives in Las Vegas over the last half a century and in Dubai during the last decade have generated unprecedented contributions to their economies, employment and the overall desirability of these tourist destinations.8. Invest appropriate funds for crisis management plans and preparedness plans including preventive measures, reactive strategies, impact analysis and assessment tools for destinations as well as all tourism and hospitality sector organizations.9. Think and act \"out side the box\" in binational collaborations and external partnerships with tourism competitors along the borders as well as overseas. In addition to the public sector initiatives, support private sector led informal linkages and semi-official contacts that usually help in promoting binational tourism more effectively.10. Coordinate on ongoing basis with all key facets of tourism, including above listed areas as well as areas such as transportation, travel services, food service industry, meeting and convention industry, to share information and provide support for mutual benefit of all stakeholders. For this purpose, Figure 2 provides a simple model with all key facets of tourism destinations.Finally, it is proposed that the \"Key facets of tourism destination\" model is used as a checklist for any future theme issues on tourism in regions such as Niagara.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to present answers to the strategic question: \"How should Niagara region respond to the key challenges it faces and find solutions to preserve and develop its tourism industry?\" It aims to capture the essence of conclusions of nine papers contributed by 22 Canadian tourism experts to the Worldwide Hospitality And Tourism Themes (WHATT) issue on tourism in the Niagara region, Canada.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach of this paper is to integrate all solutions suggested in these nine papers and to seek a succinct response to the strategic question.\nFindings: - While providing a helicopter view of the key challenges of the tourism and hospitality sector in Niagara region, Canada, this paper proposes implementable solutions to those challenges. Using the 2007 WHATT roundtable discussion as the foundation, this paper addresses the some of the most significant issues affecting the Niagara region related to sustainable tourism development, destination marketing, hospitality industry, wine and culinary tourism, special events, gaming industry, crisis management and binational tourism. In conclusion, ten key suggestions are made for the Niagara region or any other tourism destination in the world, which envisions healthy and sustainable growth.\nOriginality/value: - This paper provides fresh perspectives on many relevant issues by analysing inputs, viewpoints, comments, and suggestions of many regional experts. Readers with interests in the Niagara region or other key tourism destinations around the world would benefit from this paper.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The role of mediation in the resolution of two industrial disputes in Ireland: Towards a theoretical understanding
|
[
"Ireland",
"Industrial relations",
"Mediation",
"Workplace conflict",
"Alternative dispute resolution",
"Force field analysis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Mediation has become increasingly popular in the Irish industrial relations sphere, as an alternative process for dispute resolution, albeit mainly in the realm of individual/small group disputes. This mirrors developments in the UK (Ridley-Duff and Bennett, 2011) and the USA, where Lipsky and Avgar (2004) refer to the increased use of ADR (including mediation) in employment disputes, as a \"paradigmatic shift\" (p. 176).\nLiterature: Mediation is a conflict resolution process in which a neutral third party(s), with no authority to impose a solution, intervenes to facilitate disputing parties to reach acceptable outcomes. Mediation has become increasingly popular as an alternative to litigation in the resolution of employment disputes. It is essentially an exercise in structured communication, where the mediator uses his/her expertise to open up discussions with a view to reaching agreement. The process of mediation seeks to facilitate a collaborative strategy of conflict resolution by focusing the parties on each others' interests and desired outcomes, as well as their own:\nMethodology and research context: The methodology adopted in this research draws on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with all members of both mediation panels and the lead union representative in each case. A total of eight interviews were conducted, typically of one to two hours duration. Much of the existing research on mediation draws on quantitative data. The use of qualitative methods in this research offers valuable insights from those directly involved in the mediation process.\nDiscussion of findings: This section will begin by applying Wall et al.'s Outcome Determinants to the two cases, taking each determinant in turn, starting with those categorised by Wall et al. as \"restraining\" forces and followed by those categorised as \"driving\" forces. The balance of forces will then be explored and their consequent impact on the resolution of these disputes.\nConclusions and contribution: This type of ad hoc mediation has long been a feature in long-running, apparently intractable, industrial disputes in Ireland. During the Social Partnership era (1987-2008) members of the National Implementation Body made up mediation panels. The model inevitably adopted was a panel of three mediators, one with an employer background, one with a union background, and an independent Chair. Since the dissolution of Social Partnership, these roles have been filled, on an ad hoc basis, by experienced industrial relations experts through a process of informal background discussions.\nGlossary: Equality Tribunal The Equality Tribunal was established under the Irish Employment Equality Act 1998 to provide a statutory framework whereby claims of unlawful discrimination could be mediated and/or investigated in accordance with the provisions of the Act. (www.equalitytribunal.ie)\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of mediation on two long-running collective industrial disputes in Ireland using a theoretical framework established in the literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper presents a detailed qualitative analysis of two disputes. In both cases a panel of mediators was invited to intervene when the established dispute resolution structures and processes had failed and impasse had been prolonged. Each member of the mediation panels, and the lead union representative, was interviewed about their perception of the mediation process and its impact. Interview questions centred around a set of mediation \"Outcome Determinants\" identified by Wall et al. (2001). Following Wall et al.'s proposal, Lewin's (1951) Force Field Analysis theory is applied as a theoretical lens for understanding the subtle impact of mediation in these cases.\nFindings: The empirical evidence suggests that while mediation did not lead directly to settlement, it influenced the resolution of these disputes. The disputes were a-typical in that most collective disputes in Ireland are resolved through established industrial relations structures and processes, either at firm level or through State-funded agents/agencies. However, intractable disputes occur periodically and there is an on-going need of this type of specialised ad hoc mediation. The Wall et al. framework combined with Force Field Analysis theory, provide a theoretical lens through which these disputes can be analysed and understood.\nPractical implications: An understanding of the nuanced impact of mediation is useful for justifying the continuation of this valuable approach. There is also some scope for predicting the likely impact of mediation in advance of engagement or at least allowing the mediators to explore the status of the Outcome Determinants related to a specific case in order to develop a tailored mediation strategy.\nOriginality/value: This paper is unique in that it takes an existing theoretical framework and tests its application in two case disputes. The value of the framework is thus highlighted. Further application of the framework to other dispute scenarios would facilitate its development as a tool of understanding and some limited prediction. Mediation in this type of context has not been formally researched before. Public policy and theoretical implications of the work are highlighted in the concluding section.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Ethics management for the construction industry: A review of ethical decision-making literature
|
[
"Business ethics",
"Ethics management",
"Ethical decision‐making",
"Construction industry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Many theoretically descriptive models in the realm of ethics management have followed since Rest (1984, 1986) first proposed his four-component model for understanding ethical decision-making behaviour. These models have become more sophisticated, contain common elements, and are often built on previous models to explain the rapidly changing business environment and social development. However, to date, there has been a paucity of comprehensive review on ethical decision-making in the construction management literature. There has been no account of theoretical, practical, or empirical development relating to ethical decision-making in industry. This research offers such an account and studies the extant ethical decision-making literature from the 1980s to 2008 in an attempt to provide an overview of what is considered to be the current state of knowledge in ethical decision making, and to analyse the significance for the construction industry. Finally, suggestions for future research are offered.\nManaging ethics: Business organisations do not operate in a social vacuum. Rather, business organisations and society interact (Carroll, 1996). Steiner (1977) argues that business activity reflects the interaction of business with a broader society. Therefore, managing ethics has come to be considered a management discipline, especially since the birth of business ethics and social responsibility movements in the 1960s.Definitions of ethical behaviour\nEthical challenges in the construction industry: The construction industry, its supply chain and associated professional services in the UK contribute 10 per cent of annual gross domestic product (GDP) through some 350,000 firms, employing nearly three million people (CIRIA, 2002). The construction industry in South Africa, which accounts for some 5.1 per cent of GDP, employs one million people (Bowen, Akintola, Robert and Edwards, 2007). In Hong Kong, the construction industry is one of the major employers with 9.2 per cent of the total workforce engaged and accounts for 5.6 per cent of GDP (Construction Industry Review Committee (CIRC), 2001). Though the construction industry is the key driver of economic growth in many countries, the industry faces a long list of ethical challenges related to behaviour including: bid shopping, payment games, lying, unreliable contractors, claims games (e.g. inflated claims, false claims), threats, conflict of interest, collusion, fraud, and professional negligence (Vee and Skitmore, 2003; Fan et al., 2001a, b; FMI and CMAA, 2004; Bowen, Akintola, Robert and Edwards, 2007).In Australia, research on construction industry ethics conducted by Ray et al. (1999), Zarkada-Fraser and Skitmore (2000), May et al. (2001), and Vee and Skitmore (2003) shows that most unethical behaviour in the construction industry takes the forms of unfair conduct, negligence, conflict of interest, collusive tendering, fraud, and bribery. Vee and Skitmore's (2003) study revealed that all the respondents to their survey had witnessed or experienced some degree of unethical behaviour. In the UK, Glass and Simmonds (2007) reported that contractors are perceived as uninvited and unwelcome neighbours in residential communities because people consider the construction industry as being inconsiderate in terms of health, quality of life and the environment. In the USA, through a recent joint questionnaire survey conducted by FMI (FMI and CMAA, 2004) and the Construction Management Association of America, construction practitioners were randomly solicited to give their thoughts on the ethical state of the industry. The survey included a cross section of nearly 300 construction industry practitioners, including owners, architects, engineers, construction managers, general contractors, and subcontractors. Of the respondents, 84 per cent said that they observed unethical behaviour in the past year, while 34 per cent reported that they witnessed \"many, many\" instances of unethical behaviour in the past year (FMI and CMAA, 2004). In South Africa, Bowen, Akintola, Robert and Edwards (2007) reported that there are significant areas of concern regarding ethical standards practised within the South African construction industry. The range of ethical problems there includes collusion, bribery, negligence, fraud, dishonesty, and unfair practices. In Hong Kong, according to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) (ICAC, 2007, p. 9), corruption complaints relating to building management remained at the top, which amounted to 41 per cent of all private complaints. Fan et al. (2001a, b), and Suen et al. (2007) also expressed their concerns at the rising number of corruption cases and ethical scandals in the Hong Kong construction industry.The list of ethical lapses in the construction industry could go on and on. Ethical misconduct has led to the waste of society's resources and has caused significant harm to many individuals (Fan et al., 2001a). At the extreme end of the spectrum, corporate ethical failures have led to injuries or deaths of employees, consumers, or members of the general public (Transparency International, 2005). According to the report (Transparency International, 2005), the scale of corruption is greater in the construction industry than in any other part of the economy. The major point of it all is that the public-at-large is demanding that construction practitioners and organisations act according to high ethical and moral standards.The ethical challenge must be met by organisations if they are concerned about survival and competitiveness. What is needed in today's turbulent construction market is that organisations should ensure their employees know how to deal with ethical issues in their everyday work lives and are thus able to make ethical decisions. Bowen, Akintola, Robert and Edwards (2007) believe decision-making is a basic business management function. Individual construction practitioners' decision making in an organisational context carries a certain extent of ethical implications and consequences to society. Kuncer (1993, p. 38) summarised ethics management in two aspects: to \"alert employees to ethical dimensions of their decisions and actions; and provide them with some broad guidelines for attacking ethical dilemmas\". Thus, an understanding of employees' ethical decision making is important.Ethical decision making\nOverview of descriptive models of ethics decision-making: In essence, the field of business ethics is commonly divided into two realms - normative and descriptive ethics theories in general. Normative ethics theory deals with what the decision makers should believe to be right and wrong, and such concepts as evil and sin, as contrasted to descriptive ethics theory which deals with what the decision makers actually believe to be right and wrong, and holds up as ideals or condemns or punishes in law or politics (Ray et al., 1999; Bartlett, 2003; O'Fallon and Butterfield, 2005).A subset of business ethics research has specifically focused on the development of ethical decision-making. Ethical decision-making models are a subject of long-standing interest to ethics theorists (Whittier et al., 2006). A wide range of ethical decision-making models can be found in the business ethics literature; two in particular dominate the literature. The normative approach models of ethical decision- making arise from normative ethics, while the descriptive approach models are developed from descriptive ethics (O'Fallon and Butterfield, 2005). Fan et al. (2001a) conducted a review on the literature of normative ethical decision-making, thus, the prime interest of this research focuses on the descriptive ethical decision- making models.In the past two decades, a wide range of theoretically descriptive models (Rest, 1984, 1986; Trevino, 1986; Ferrell and Gresham, 1985; Bommer et al., 1987; Stead et al., 1990; Jones, 1991; Brass et al., 1998; Wittmer, 2005) have been developed to identify which variables influence employees' ethical behaviour in an organisational context.Four-component ethical decision-making model\nA critical review of ethical decision-making models: From the 1980s to 2008, many descriptive ethical decision-making models can be found in the literature as discussed in the previous section. In essence, several theories combine to build a picture of how ethical decisions are made. Rest (1984, 1986) bases on Kohlberg's (1969, 1976) CMD theory to describe individual development of morals and ethics; Trevino (1986, Trevino et al., 2006) and Brass et al. (1998) adopt the \"interationist\" and the \"social network\" theory, respectively, addressing the interaction between individual and situational factors or the relationships between the actors involved; Jones (1991) proposes the \"moral intensity\" theory, which argues there are factors within the moral issues to be decided upon that affect the decision itself.Models developed based on CMD theory\nLessons for the construction industry: Variables affect the ethical decision making\nConclusion: Given recurring ethical scandals in the construction and real estate industry, ethics management research is clearly important to the industry and the general public. Researchers have an obligation to tackle important topics and then translate valid research findings into a form that can be applied to make a difference in organisations and industry. In general, this review gives some insight into ethics management research and offers an account of theoretical grounds for studying employees' ethical behaviour in the construction industry context.It is suggested that future research should examine the associations between individuals, organisational, moral intensity variables, and employees' ethical behaviour. Very limited empirical research in this area is found in the industry. More empirical evidences are needed to test the theoretical descriptive models. In addition, future research may also focus on theory development. Thinking beyond existing theories/models is necessary especially with reference to the uniqueness of the construction industry. The extant theoretically descriptive models (Rest, 1984; Jones, 1991; Brass et al., 1998) describe the constructs and forces that actually influence ethical decision-making in organisations, and there is a demand for a prescriptive model that can be used to help managers improve their engagement of the decision-making process.In recent years there has been a steady production of ethics related research in the organisational literature. A subset of this research has specifically focused on the development of ethical decision-making models. Subsequently, several authors and models have gained some level of prominence. These models help explain the relationship between variables and the ethics decisions of employees. Collectively, the principles developed by these models are of great value in clarifying the complexities of ethics decision-making processes in an organisational context. This research reviews the ethics management literature and studies the ethical decision-making research from the 1980s to 2008 in an attempt to identify, draw together, and integrate existing theories with practice. Nonetheless, there have been scarcely any empirical studies designed to investigate the validity of ethical decision-making models in the construction industry. Consequently, as the overall body of ethics related work continues to grow, the gap between theory and practice is expanding. Thus, it is suggested that more empirical studies in the construction industry should be conducted to give more valuable insight to ethics management research.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Managing ethics has come to be considered a management discipline, especially since the birth of business ethics and social responsibility movements in the 1960s. However, there seems to be no comprehensive review and synthesis of ethics management literature in construction. This research aims to address the theory-practice gap by providing a critical review of the ethics decision-making literature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study examines critically the ethics decision-making literature from the 1980s to 2008.\nFindings: - Three research focuses, relating to the construction industry in ethical decision making, are identified: empirical studies on examining the associations between variables (individuals, situational/organisational, moral intensity) and employees' ethical behaviour in construction organisational contexts; continuous application of behavioural science theories to develop an appropriate ethical decision-making model for the industry; and research on group and/or organisational level behaviour ethics.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study identifies, draws together, and integrates existing theories and research, with a particular emphasis on ethical decision-making models, to present the key contributions in the realm of ethics decision making.\nPractical implications: - The paper highlights the role of management (both as an academic discipline and from a practitioner perspective) in bridging this gap.\nOriginality/value: - The research adds value to the literature on ethics management, where limited knowledge exists in the construction industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Happiness among higher education academicians: a demographic analysis
|
[
"Higher education",
"Negative emotions",
"Academicians' performance",
"Happiness index",
"Happiness quotient",
"Workplace happiness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Longman's dictionary (2005, p. 634) defines happiness as \"state of being happy\", means a feeling of gratification, i.e. something is fine or correct, as being satisfied with something, not apprehensive or about being fortunate and doing well. Happiness is generally confused with a form of mood or emotion or satisfaction; also, both these terms are used interchangeably by many authors. Happiness has been termed as positive emotions by various psychologists. Workplace happiness is the result of strategies, principles, rules and regulations made by the top management. It is a general notion amongst employees that if they are successful at their job and completing all their targets well in time, they are happy. But today, the scenario has been reversed. It is important to be happy, which will then help people become a success. There are enormous changes coming in the work environment. Long-established systems, policies, rules and strategies might not be apt for today's generation. For this generation, the meaning of work and work style has also changed. Old customs need revalidation, and new approaches require fast adaptation. It is apparent of one becoming irritating and annoyed after a stretched and chaotic schedule, but this may not even happen if one finds his/her work interesting enough. Getting engaged in work results in high productivity and will automatically generate interest only when employees are feeling happy at work place. Being happy is the key to productivity (Djoen and Hewagamage, 2016), and it has considerable relationship with performance (Michael, 1989). Employers also look forward to a high-performing employee who in turn gives high productivity, to attain organizational goals. To enhance employee productivity, management adopts various strategies like rewards/incentives, direction communication with staff members, top management supports, employee involvement in decision making and so on.\nConceptualization: Happiness is subjective, i.e. a feeling of well-being experienced by an individual, specially featured by the presence of affirmative emotions and the nonappearance of negative emotions. It may be distinct as the experience of recurrent positive effect, infrequent negative effect and, on the whole, a sense of satisfaction with life (McBride, 2010). Happiness at work is closely correlated with greater performance and productivity as well as greater energy, better reviews, faster promotion, higher income, better health and long life. If taken as a whole, the idea of happiness is how much you like what you have or do. Even if two persons have everything equal, they may differ in their happiness, as it depends on how much you actually require, i.e. your expectations may differ.\nLiterature review: Happiness\nObjectives of the study: The objective of this study is to:\nResearch methodology: The research study was conducted on academicians working in various universities (government, private and deemed) and colleges (self-financing or aided) located in and around Delhi/NCR. Convenience purposive sampling method was used to obtain data through self-administered survey questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale, delineating the research purpose and assurance of confidentiality. Respondents were given the liberty of not to give their identifiable information to maintain the anonymity of the responses. The questionnaire included the instruments related to top management support, job satisfaction and work culture. Of 350, 336 duly filled questionnaires were received back via mail or in person. A total of 21 of 336 returned questionnaires were found to be invalid, so, in total, 315 responses were used for further analysis. The study was conducted from January 2018 to February 2019.\nResults and discussion: The sample comprises all categories of academicians including assistant professors, associate professors and professors having minimum qualification required for the appointment on the concerned post. The sample was selected keeping in mind the faculty/student (1:2:3) ratio decided by UGC/AICTE also to provide due and adequate representation to various other variables like age, sex, gender, nature of organization, job nature and department. The various classifications of samples are duly represented in Table II.\nMathematical model and equation to draw the relationship between academicians' performance and happiness using the AMO theory: After exploring the factors influencing higher education academicians' happiness level, the interaction of extracted factors has been used to draw a matrix.\nConclusion and suggestions: The results of the study clearly show that most of the academicians irrespective of their age, experience and designation ranked F7 and F2 of an institute or college as most important happiness factors. The reason for ranking these factors as most important could be because of high family expectations along with student's expectations from their faculty. Because of the increasing use of ICT tools in teaching and training, students and faculty involvement has become of 24/7, which might have become troublesome for faculty members. In comparison to government universities/aided colleges, private college faculties need more upgradation with the latest technological innovations; they have more work pressures, less holidays and no time barrier. Consequently, academicians do not find much time for their families and leisure activities. So, the management should provide them proper facilities, holidays to help them to lead a balanced life. When faculty stays for long hours in the campus, they should be compensated properly so that they should not feel that their jobs are taking a toll on them. Some faculty members look for more sponsored research work to be happy, so whenever management gets a sponsored project, interested faculty members should be given the opportunity to take that project further.\nImplications of the study and scope for further research: This study quantified the qualitative aspects by converting the happiness factors thus obtained in to numerical value through which the degree of performance can be ascertained. So, the research findings can help the management to develop effective strategies for keeping academicians happy, thus leading to quality teaching. The results of the study can be further used to find the ability index, opportunity index of the employees and, ultimately, the entire quantification of performance can be done.\nLimitations: This study has certain limitations, which should be kept in mind while applying the findings. First, this study has been conducted on academicians working in higher education institutes situated in Delhi/NCR, and thus entails a specific socio-cultural environment that may limit the potential level of generalization.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: To deal with highly energetic younger generation patiently, need academicians who can spread happiness while teaching/mentoring are needed. This is possible when an academician himself is a happy person. This paper aims to explore the factors that generate happiness among academicians, studies the impact of demographic variables on academicians' happiness and examines the relationship between academicians' happiness and their performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Convenience purposive sampling method was used to obtain data through self-administered survey questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale, delineating the research purpose and assurance of confidentiality. For data analysis, statistical techniques like mean, percentage method, Levene's test, t-test and analysis of variance were used. To study the relationship between performance and happiness, the attitude, motivation and outcome theory was applied and happiness index was developed.\nFindings: After analyzing the various factors impacting academicians' happiness, this study found that except for work-life balance, research activities and working environment, all other factors are available to academicians according to their ranked importance assigned to them. This study also obtained a happiness index using matrix and has developed an equation which can be applied to find out the relationship between happiness and performance in future.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study has certain limitations, first, this study has been conducted on academicians working in higher education institutes situated in Delhi/NCR and thus entails a specific socio-cultural environment that may limit the potential level of generalization.\nPractical implications: The results of this research might help institutes/higher education bodies to make rules and policies which may further augment academicians' happiness to accomplish their desired goals.\nSocial implications: An academician who is happy, satisfied and motivated can easily deal with today's enthusiastic younger generation and can spread happiness amongst them. so it is very much necessary for an academician to be happy and energetic all the time.\nOriginality/value: This study found the factors impacting higher education academicians' happiness and its impact on their teaching performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Moving in, moving on: liminality practices in project-based work
|
[
"Employee attitudes",
"Qualitative methods",
"Employee relations",
"Employee involvement",
"Flexible labour",
"Labour mobility"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Previous research on projects and project organising is extensive in some areas - for example, project portfolio management (e.g. Muller et al., 2008; Sanchez and Robert, 2010; Cooper et al., 2001; Lycett et al., 2004), the management of projects (e.g. Payne, 1995; Meredith and Mantel, 2011; Allen et al., 1980), and the knowledge transfer within and between projects (e.g. Fong, 2003; Lindkvist, 2005; Lam, 1997; Becker, 2001; Bellini and Canonico, 2008). However, the individual project worker has received comparatively little scholarly attention.\nLiminality in knowledge collectivities: We argue that the project workers addressed in this paper are not members of \"communities of practice\" (Brown and Duguid, 1991) in the traditional sense, with their features of intimacy, endurance, and mutual learning. Instead, due to high mobility, changing circumstances, and the continuous mobility within and across organisations, project-based work to a greater extent resembles the \"knowledge collectivity\". As pointed out by Lindkvist (2005, p. 1189):\nResearch approach and methods: This study is based on in-depth interviews with technical consultants and their managers, all working for Advanced Engineering Ltd (pseudonym, henceforth AE), one of Scandinavia's leading technical consultancies. AE has its head office in Sweden. It currently employs some 1,200 people, of whom more than 80 per cent have a master's degree in engineering or software programming. The company employs consultants within information security, systems security, logistics, systems integration, systems development, and mechanics. AE consultants are typically located at client sites, involved in client projects where they work together with client employees, as well as with people from other technical consultancies or staffing agencies. The typical assignment lasts between one and two years. Even though assignments last for more than a year, they are frequently renegotiated on a quarterly basis. This means that the engineers cannot plan for more than three or four months ahead, resulting in an inherent uncertainty in assignments. Assignments differ in several respects; some focus on a single project, whereas others are more role-centred whereby the consultant assumes a specific role in a regular line organisation, often working with several projects at the same time. Single project assignments are, however, more common. Most of the client projects run for several years and involve complex technology development, but others are shorter, typically task-force assignments of shorter duration. Yet, in all cases, project-based work is an important ingredient of the individual's everyday working life.\nAn inside view of project-based work: On the notion of liminality, the consultants who participated in our study expressed a more or less constant experience of not being \"regular employees\", stating, and emphasising an in-between-position. This leads to a number of consequences; some features of their work are very similar to those of people who are employed by the client, while other features are indeed very different. Additionally, some of the differences are from choice by the consultant, while others are forced upon them. However, the experience and implications of being an inside-outsider differ somewhat between different individuals, and, moreover, often change during the assignments. Below, we will focus on the empirical descriptions of the three liminal occasions from the interviewees' narratives.\nLiminality in mobile project work: In this part of the paper, we summarise the main observations and findings emerging from the study. We take our point of departure in one of the patterns observed in the empirical accounts; the distinction between technical, or task-related, and social situations. This distinction surfaced as important in the interviews, and was also brought up by the managers as key dimensions in the work to satisfy clients and foster motivation among engineers. The mobile project workers seek situations that are both technically and socially comfortable, albeit challenging. This insight might also aid our understanding of liminality. In the context of technical project work, it means that the individual mobile project worker can experience liminality in both technical aspects or in social aspects - the engineers experience both technical and social ambiguity as a result of their work situation.\nConclusions: The study presented here is important as it enhances our understanding of the work-life issues inherent in project-based work and particularly, in project-based work where liminality is a salient feature. Such understanding would also be important to improve the effectiveness of knowledge collectivities - a type of project organisation/team which is gaining popularity in complex problem-solving contexts and many technology-intensive and creative industries. In that respect, we have suggested that the effectiveness of knowledge collectivities and the functioning of knowledge collectivities are associated with the individual qualities to deal with liminality and the appropriate use of various liminality practices. In that respect, this research has argued for the need of more scholarly and managerial attention should be given to the individual level and the linkages between the individual level and the project/team level.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the practices mobile project workers rely upon to deal with their liminal work situation, i.e. a work situation in which they are \"in-between\" and do not have a clear long-term belonging to any specific organisation or project.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study employs a qualitative approach and draws upon in-depth interviews with 24 engineers working for one of Scandinavia's leading technical consultancies. The aim of the qualitative data analysis was to identify a set of commonalities and differences in their experiences and ways of dealing with liminality.\nFindings: The data indicate that mobile project workers experience their liminality in two separate dimensions; one which is primarily technical and task related, and one that is predominantly group related and social. These types of liminality are dealt with either actively, to lower or handle the ambiguity in the situation, or passively when the individual waits for the situation to be dealt with by others. Based on these two dimensions and types, the paper identifies and discusses four kinds of liminality practices.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper demonstrates the importance of focusing on individuals in project-based work, and specifically how they deal with work in-between. The paper shows when and how individuals make use of different liminality practices in their work, and calls for further research on the different skill sets and competencies that are needed to deal with liminality.\nOriginality/value: By identifying four liminality practices applied in situations signified by the experience of being in-between, this study offers an important contribution to the literature on flexible and mobile work conditions. Thus, the paper contributes to the knowledge of threshold-like employment positions that denotes the everyday work situation for an increasing number of individuals engaged in knowledge-intensive and project-based work.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Knowledge exchange systems usage: the importance of content contribution and application in distributed environments
|
[
"Knowledge sharing",
"Knowledge Management",
"Information technology",
"Knowledge transfer",
"Knowledge management systems",
"Knowledge exchange",
"Organisational structure",
"Knowledge contribution",
"Knowledge application",
"Work location",
"Organizational borders"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Knowledge is regarded as one of the most important sources of competitive advantage in modern organisations, and effective leveraging of knowledge resources is therefore a significant condition for organisational success (Watson and Hewett, 2006; Argote and Ingram, 2000; Wang and Noe, 2010). According to Wang and Wang (2012), knowledge exchange is particularly important in emerging distributed organisations, as effectiveness in these organisational settings is highly dependent on how well knowledge is shared between individuals in different units and at different locations. Knowledge exchange across organisational borders is for example fundamental for organisational innovation and improvement (Nooteboom, 2008), like transfer of best practices from one part of an organisation to another (Kankanhalli et al., 2011; Majchrzak et al., 2004).\nTheory and hypotheses: In today\nMethod: In order to test the hypotheses, the study focuses on the gap between codification/storage of content in knowledge exchange systems and reuse of existing content. Based on discussions with representatives from the operator company, use of four different systems aiming at facilitating knowledge exchange, both within and across organisational and geographical borders, was focused on in the study. The systems covered different aspects of daily operations, but all involved exchange of experiences, challenges and solutions. The data applied in the paper were collected as part of a larger research project concerning antecedents and effects of knowledge exchange in distributed interorganisational work environments.\nResults: Table II lists the correlation statistics of the variables included in the study. The first five rows show the correlations between the independent variables and overall knowledge exchange (additive index), while the last three rows show the correlations between knowledge exchange at various levels of distribution and the independent variables. Apart from the correlations between knowledge exchange at different levels of distribution, the strongest correlation is between perceived usefulness of information available in the knowledge exchange systems and formal channels (r=0.41), and multicollinearity between the independent variables is thus not a problem.\nDiscussion: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the gap between contribution and application of system content on the degree of knowledge exchange within and across organisational borders and geographical locations, and explore how other (non-technical) channels may represent substitutes for knowledge exchange systems. The results provide support for all but one of the hypothesised relationships, and show that the effects of the gap between contribution and application on knowledge exchange vary with organisational distribution. That is, knowledge exchange among employees of the same organisation working at the same location is not influenced by a difference between contribution and application of system content, while knowledge exchanges across organisational and geographical borders are negatively influenced by this variable. One possible explanation of these findings is related to the availability of substitute channels (i.e. channels for knowledge exchange that can be applied instead of knowledge exchange systems). When exploring the validity of this explanation, it is found that the usefulness of relational channels for knowledge exchange also varies with organisational distribution (i.e. weakens with increasing organisational distribution). Hence, the findings support the supposition that the gap between contribution and application of system content has a stronger negative effect on knowledge exchange across organisational and physical borders because other channels for knowledge exchange are not (or less) available.\nConclusions: The results of this study show that the importance of efficient usage of knowledge exchange systems increases with increasing organisational distribution as employees located at the same worksite or unit can (to a larger extent) use other channels for exchange of knowledge. The study is based on responses from 2204 employees from nine different organisations focusing on usage of four specific knowledge exchange systems, and therefore represents a robust investigation of the relationships. However, the findings should be interpreted in light of the limitations of the study. It should in this respect first be noticed that use of cross-sectional data limits the degree to which conclusions on causal relationships can be drawn. Use of global indicators of knowledge exchange variables is also a significant limitation resulting in somewhat crude measures. As a consequence, the study does not capture various aspects of knowledge contribution and knowledge application, like type of knowledge that is exchanged. Also, the measures applied assess the respondents\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: For knowledge exchange systems to yield best organizational benefits, it is acknowledged that employees have to both contribute with and apply system content. This may be of particular importance in distributed environments due to limitations in alternative channels for knowledge exchange. This study investigates the effects of the gap between contribution and application on the degree of knowledge exchange within and between organizational borders and work locations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on survey data involving 2204 respondents from a large petroleum operator company and eight of its main contractors.\nFindings: An increase in the gap between contribution and application is accompanied with reduced levels of knowledge exchange between organizational borders and work locations, but has no effects on knowledge exchange between employees of the same organization working at the same location. This is explained by the availability of substitute channels for local knowledge exchange.\nPractical implications: Knowledge exchange systems research and practice have to focus on both knowledge contribution and knowledge application as fundamental processes, and should further consider organizational structure as an important factor.\nOriginality/value: Most research on contribution and application of content in knowledge exchange systems focuses on knowledge exchange within company boundaries. This study systematically investigates the effects of the gap between contribution and application of system content at different levels of organizational distribution, and thus extends existing research by introducing organizational distribution as a conditioning variable for successful knowledge management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Understanding the role of regulatory focus in e-tailing activities
|
[
"E-tailing",
"Purchase intention",
"Word-of-mouth",
"Online product review",
"Prevention focus",
"Promotion focus"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Internet has emerged as an important marketing tool and is now becoming an integral part of a multi-channel strategy for almost all the business firms across the world. Managers find it increasingly important to represent their business on the Internet to get more customers, promote their brands and companies, and - last but not the least - to sell more products or services. On the other hand, with the advent of the Internet, consumers have become more information-rich and knowledgeable about a company's products and services. They use the Internet throughout the stages of their decision-making process - pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase (Grewal et al., 2014). In the pre-purchase stage, consumers often search for information about alternatives and evaluate the various options through the modern media channel Internet. Customers use the Internet to purchase products or services and to share their purchase or post-purchase experiences such as difficulties faced and satisfaction or dissatisfaction with others electronically. These outputs again act as inputs in the pre-purchase stage of decision-making. Thus, customers now have more control over the product and service information because of increased access to word of mouth, customer reviews or customer referrals (Lee, 2012) compared to the traditional ways in which most information came from the marketers.\nTheory background: Regulatory focus\nHypothesis development: The notion of buying goals is the basic to the concept of consumer perceived risk. Apparently, consumers are motivated to purchase products or services to attain some set of buying goals. Some amount of risk is always involved in the purchase. This is because, before purchasing the products or services, the consumers cannot always be certain that their purchase would allow them to achieve their goals. The uncertainty results from factors inherent in the products or services, the brands and the mode of purchase (Cox and Rich, 1964). The amount of risk perceived by the consumers is a function of two general factors - the amount at stake in the purchase decision and the individual's feeling of subjective certainty that she/he will \"win\" or \"lose\" all or some of the amount at stake (Cox and Rich, 1964). The second factor may relate to human personality traits as reflected in the regulatory focus framework - seeking of pleasure and avoidance of pain. Promotion-focused individuals are free to engage in exploratory behaviour, attend freely to relationships among items, think more in terms of abstractions and are better able to understand and evaluate ambiguous stimuli and experiences (Semin et al., 2005). Prevention-focused individuals are more vigilant about an environment perceived as potentially threatening and problematic (Friedman and Forster, 2002). Because of the unique characteristics of e-tailing (such as absence of human interaction physically and share of personal confidential in payment), online shopping environment is always perceived as potentially threatening and problematic (Nepomuceno et al., 2014). Thus, we expect that the promotion-focused individuals, given their risk-taking behaviour, would like to participate more in online purchase compared to the prevention-focused individuals. This leads us to hypothesize that:\nResearch method: Participant and design\nDiscussion: This paper examines how regulatory focus orientations moderate consumer e-tailing behaviour. More specifically, this study examines if the online shopping behaviours of promotion-focused individuals are different from prevention-focused individuals. Based on an extensive literature, we developed five hypotheses that describe the moderating role of regulatory orientations in several e-tailing activities such as purchase intention, product reviews, word-of-mouth communication and sales promotion. A laboratory experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses. The results of this study support H1. That signifies prevention-focused individuals show less purchase intentions than promotion-focused individuals (H1). The results show that prevention-focused individuals engage themselves more in online product review than promotion-focused individuals. These results support H2. The results also support H3 and H4. Thus, we may say that promotion-focused shoppers spread more positive word of mouth than prevention-focused shoppers after encountering a pleasant shopping experience (H3). On the other hand, results of H4 signify that there is no difference in spreading negative word of mouth between promotion-focused individuals and prevention-focused individuals. The results of H1-H4 show that regulatory focus moderates consumer shopping behaviour. This result is consistent with several previous studies (Arnold and Reynolds, 2009). The results of these four hypotheses may be obvious if we look at the risk-taking behaviour of human beings as reflected in regulatory orientations. Because of several factors such as absence of physical human interactions and products, share of personal credentials and technical glitches, online retailing always carries some amount of perceived risk (Nepomuceno et al., 2014). This perceived risk might differ from consumers to consumers, as all human beings are not motivated in same manner and their risk-taking capacity may also vary as described in RFT. RFT has been applied in an in-store retailing context (Das, 2015). However, e-tailing is different from in-store retailing because of the absence of human interaction, products and store atmospherics. Thus, consumer behaviour in an in-store retailing may differ from an e-tailing. Given the enormous potential of online retailing, a study investigating the moderating effects of e-tailing activities was needed for better retail operations. In this regard, arguably, this study may be considered as a first one investigating how the regulatory focus orientations moderate consumers' e-tailing activities such as purchase intentions, word of mouth and product review responses. Hope these new outcomes contribute significantly to the existing knowledge of e-tailing literature.\nManagerial implications: This study has several managerial implications. First, the moderating role of regulatory orientation found in H1, H2 and H3 should serve as a basis of several marketing activities such as market segmentation and positioning. The results of H1, H2 and H3 signify that promotion-focused shoppers differ in e-tailing activities such as purchase intention, online product review and positive word-of-mouth communication from prevention-focused shoppers. The results of H1 show that the prevention-focused shoppers intend to purchase online less than the promotion-focused shoppers. The results of H2 show that the prevention-focused shoppers participate more in online product review than the promotion-focused shoppers. Results also show that the promotion-focused shoppers spread more positive word of mouth after encountering a pleasant online shopping experience than the prevention-focused shoppers (H3). Purchase intention, online product review and word-of-mouth communication affect retail sales (Das, 2014; Floyd et al., 2014; Van den Bulte and Wuyts, 2009). Thus, one can say that both promotion-focused and prevention-focused shoppers are important to enhance the retail sales. However, comparing the results of H1, H2 and H3, one can argue that the promotion-focused shoppers may show more interest towards online shopping than the prevention-focused shoppers. These outcomes will help managers in formulating several marketing strategies such as enhancement of customer database and brand awareness. For example, creating a pleasant shopping experience may lead the promotion-focused shoppers to spread more positive word of mouth that may result in brand awareness and increased customer database. Similarly, the promotion-focused shoppers may purchase more as they intend to shop online more than the prevention-focused shoppers. However, to do so, the managers should understand the characteristics of promotion-focused shoppers. In this context, the characteristics reported in this study (Table I) can be seen as a ready reference. But, how a retail manager will identify his customers as promotion or prevention focus? One possible way can be analysis of existing customer data. Through this analysis, managers may get some idea about who is prevention-focused shopper and who is promotion-focused shopper. For example, based on the results of this study, we may advise that if a shopper participates more in online shopping than others within a particular timeframe, then she/he may be considered a promotion-focused shopper. In addition, retailers may frequently go for an online survey with a regulatory focus questionnaire to understand the regulatory focus of existing and new customers. Then, they can understand the regulatory focus of the customers through median split process as mentioned in the analysis section of this study. Once the managers know who the prevention-focused shoppers are and who the promotion-focused shoppers are and what are their characteristics, it will definitely help them to develop several important marketing strategies such as segmentation, targeting and positioning.\nLimitations and future research: Although the outcomes of this study are interesting, this study has a few limitations. First, the study is limited to Indian young consumers (i.e. students). Although the sample profile contributes significantly in e-tail sales, future research can check the moderating role of regulatory orientations for other samples such as middle age. Second, we conducted the study in a laboratory experimental setup. Future research in a field experimental setup may further strengthen the results of this study. Third, this study considered only few response variables. Thus, future research can consider new response variables such as satisfaction and repurchase intention. Fourth, H5 is not supported in our study context. This might be because of price and promotion sensitivity of Indian customers. Thus, we invite future study from developed countries to recheck H5. The rechecking of the theoretical proposition of H5 is an interesting future research agenda. Finally, demographics could moderate consumer e-tailing behaviour. For example, males may participate more in online shopping than females. We invite future research to verify this claim.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Regulatory focus theory has been studied in an in-store retailing context. Although an in-store retailing differs from an e-tailing in terms of the factors such as absence of products, physical human interactions and store atmospherics, the application of regulatory factors in an e-tailing context is limited. This study aims to examine the moderating role of regulatory focus orientations in consumer e-tailing activities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A laboratory experiment with 297 participants was conducted to test the theoretical propositions. Statistical techniques such as t-test were used to analyse the data.\nFindings: Results show that a consumer online purchase intentions, product review and spreading positive word of mouth vary from promotion-focused individuals to prevention-focused individuals. Results also show that there is no difference in spreading negative word of mouth between promotion-focused and prevention-focused individuals after encountering an unpleasant shopping experience. Finally, results show both the regulatory focus-oriented shoppers are encouraged by sales promotions.\nOriginality/value: Arguably, this is the first study to examine how consumers' regulatory orientations moderate their e-tailing activities. The results of this study have implications for both academicians and managers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers in pharmaceutical research and development
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Pharmaceuticals industry",
"Research and development",
"Case studies",
"Quality",
"Research"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The pharmaceutical industry has been known for its creation of innovative products (Horrobin, 2001). However, the industry's innovative pipeline has dried out over the last decade. The pharmaceutical industry has unique characteristics such as a highly regulatory environment, long development cycles, and a high level of risks and costs in the R&D process. Time from discovery to marketing of a new drug requires on average 8-10 years (Ganguli, 2003). A main focus in the pharmaceutical industry is therefore to reduce time-to-market. In order to stay competitive, companies have focused on other initiatives such as maximizing the potential of existing product portfolios and practicing incremental innovation (Tranter, 2000) with focus on life cycle management and technical solutions particularly reducing time-to-market. This focus has meant that other aspects of this innovative shortage have been overlooked or at least not fully discussed taken into account. One of these aspects is the potential of individuals and their actions and interactions within the R&D organization. The pharmaceutical industry has unique characteristics such as a highly regulatory environment, long development cycles, and a high level of risks and costs in the R&D process. Time from discovery to marketing of a new drug requires on average 8-10 years (Ganguli, 2003).One area where organizations may be able to increase their innovative performance is knowledge sharing created through interactions among individuals. The value of knowledge sharing is also related to the fact that organizational knowledge is a unique asset difficult to imitate (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000; Sapienza and Lombardino, 2006). Knowledge sharing is therefore believed to enhance the creation of knowledge, potentially enabling new innovative products to be developed at greater speed. However, knowledge sharing does not come about easily. Knowledge sharing is strongly dependent on the setting, various personal beliefs, and the actions and practices among the individuals involved. In this perspective, the understanding and acknowledgement of individual diversities in knowledge sharing is fundamental to catalyzing the process within R&D organizations. Therefore uncovering the knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers of different professional groups and learning how they apply to pharmaceutical R&D is important to innovative performance.\n2. Aim: This article explores the knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers in pharmaceutical R&D as experienced by different professional groups, i.e. scientists and laboratory technicians. The research is based on a qualitative, single case study (Yin, 2003) conducted at Novo Nordisk R&D, Denmark.The focus of the empirical analysis is on the project level, because this level provides the primary context for the performance of knowledge creation modes in the organization. In addition, the lack of prior empirical research into the diversity of knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers of different professionals groups in R&D makes findings relevant to R&D managers in the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore this research contributes to the present knowledge gap. The findings are suggested to be highly relevant as knowledge sharing in organizations can contribute reducing time-to-market in pharmaceutical R&D hereby creating competitive advantage.\n3. Knowledge sharing: Knowledge sharing can be conceptualized in various ways ranging from the exploration of new knowledge through renewed combinations of existing knowledge to the exploitation of existing knowledge (Szulanski, 1996; Uzzi and Lancaster, 2003). Knowledge sharing can also be seen as a process of knowledge exchange. It has been argued that the motivation for these different exchanges is related to the expectation of receiving something in return (Fiske, 1991). Grant (1996) also argues that knowledge sharing is about ensuring that existing knowledge is distributed within or across organizational boundaries.A key task for R&D organizations is to ensure that knowledge is captured and shared for the continuous knowledge creation processes (Berends et al., 2006). Different approaches dealing with knowledge sharing exist such as the SECI model (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). The SECI model deals with two knowledge dimensions; tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge, respectively. Knowledge that can be shared easily is referred to as explicit knowledge, while knowledge that is difficult to share is referred to as tacit knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Tacit knowledge is thus inherently difficult to share across organizational units such as departments, functions and groups due to its \"stickiness\". Tacit knowledge is hard to communicate because it is socially embedded and based on personal experiences (Von Hippel, 1994; Nonaka, 1994; Szulanski, 1996; Osterloch and Frey, 2000). Knowledge sharing can positively influence organizational performance through sharing both tacit and explicit knowledge, which emerges into a knowledge creation spiral as proposed by Nonaka and co-worker (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). According to these authors, knowledge is dynamically created through the interaction between individuals, ultimately through the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge. This conceptualization is often referred to as SECI, an acronym specifying four knowledge creation modes: socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995).The elements in the SECI model address core aspects of knowledge. However, the model has not previously been applied in published, empirical studies conducted in pharmaceutical R&D. Different aspects of knowledge is also essential in pharmaceutical R&D, and hence the SECI model has been a central element for the analysis of this present study.Chou discussed the link between knowledge sharing and knowledge creation (Chou, 2005). He argues that three kinds of issues may have an impact on knowledge creation: the individual's ability to absorb and share knowledge, organizational learning mechanisms, and the ability to store and retrieve knowledge. Absorptive capability refers to the individual's ability to utilize available knowledge (Griffith et al., 2003; Cohen and Levinthal, 1990).Published empirical studies dealing with the exploration of knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers in pharmaceutical R&D are scare. The enablers of organizational creativity in pharmaceutical R&D were explored earlier in an empirical study by Sundgren et al. (2005). This study suggested that information sharing and intrinsic motivation were important enablers for organizational creativity. Another empirical study explored the role of knowledge sharing measured as the number of patents in pharmaceutical R&D (Cardinal and Hatfield, 2000). This study showed that industries with more than one R&D laboratory created more patents than others. Furthermore, R&D laboratories close to headquarters, i.e. within 100 miles, did not stimulate patent activity but did enhance new drug productivity. These findings provided evidence that corporate interference in firms was harmful to basic research as represented by patents.In another empirical study, Styhre et al. (2008) demonstrated the positive impact of utilizing a knowledge-sharing facilitator in meetings between clinical research teams in pharmaceutical R&D. By paying careful attention to participants, the facilitator was able to help them create a joint sense of confidence and purpose. Brachos et al. (2007) also studied different factors relevant for transferring knowledge between units (in the pharmaceutical industry among others). Brachos and co-workers found that contextual factors such as trust, motivation, management support and learning were crucial for fostering knowledge transfer. In addition, an empirical study conducted by Schulze and Hoegl (2006) showed the importance of the socialization mode to the concept phase of new product development in several industries, including mechanical equipment, electrical products, medical devices, automotive, and information technologies. Empirical studies conducted in the pharmaceutical industry have found that sharing of tacit knowledge is important for knowledge creation (Cardinal and Hatfield, 2000; Kneller, 2003; Nerkar, 2003; Thompson and Heron, 2006; Chang et al., 2007).3.1 Knowledge-sharing enablers\n4. Methods and data: 4.1 Settings\n5. Analysis: During analysis researcher triangulation was employed. The documentary accounts were listed and ordered in groups, themes were labelled and thereafter concepts appeared. To increase validity concept building was carried out independently by the researchers. The qualitative data were analyzed using meaning condensation: the meanings of the documentary accounts were structured around thematic concepts following identification of relations between concepts (Kvale, 1996), (Christensen et al., 2008). A description of the essence of the documentary accounts was drawn up and given a heading, thus being considered a concept before the final concepts were proposed (Christensen et al., 2008). Phenomenology was selected as the tradition of inquiry for analyzing the data (Kvale, 1996). Analysis within a phenomenological framework attempts to describe the content and structure of the participants' consciousness in order to grasp the qualitative diversity of their experiences and their essential meanings in relation to the phenomenon (Kvale, 1996). The two researchers carried out building of thematic concepts on their own. Figure 1 illustrates the procedure for data production, collection, and analysis.Thematic concepts were combined with the conceptualization of tacit and explicit knowledge as proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995).The concepts that emerged through condensation represent common characteristics of the documentary accounts within each concept. Initially several of the documentary accounts were shown to represent one or more concepts; condensation was limited to one concept per documentary account, however. As a result, some of the concepts may represent a broader perspective than that actually expressed. Furthermore, when similar concepts emerged in both professional groups, they were given the same notation.The validity of the research process was assessed by applying the seven stages as proposed by Kvale (1996):1. theme;2. design;3. interview (adapted for this study);4. transcription;5. analysis;6. validation; and7. reporting.\n6. Results: In the following, the dominant knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers identified for the two professional groups are highlighted before the findings are integrated and contrasted. Four dominating concepts of knowledge sharing enablers and barriers were identified for each of these professional groupings. The group \"other\" covered data where no similarities to other documentary accounts could be proposed. In Figures 2 and 3 the results are listed in order of dominance with the most prevalent concept presented first, illustrated as different sizes of circle. The concept \"other\" combined single documentary accounts where similarities to other documentary accounts could not be proposed. The documentary accounts are presented in Tables II-V. Five documentary accounts are presented in each concept where possible.6.1 Knowledge-sharing enablers - scientists and laboratory technicians\n7. Discussion: 7.1 Main findings\n8. Conclusions and implications: The results of the present study are based on a single case study and have relevant managerial implications. This study adds to the understanding of knowledge sharing between different professional groups working in pharmaceutical R&D. The findings have implications for both theory and practice.Over the course of the research process, it became evident that tacit organizational knowledge had become explicit. Important knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers were present in the organization. This study showed that R&D professionals have experienced different views and practices for engaging in knowledge-sharing, which reveals that enabling knowledge sharing is multi-faceted and that one standard for R&D professionals does not exist. The identified knowledge-sharing enablers recognized the use of tacit knowledge. Synergism was identified for the enablers and the existence of barriers with oppositional influence on these enablers was clear. Implementing the synergistic enablers therefore helps increase the knowledge-sharing practices and minimize the identified barriers. Physical proximity to colleagues was an important factor for the identified knowledge-sharing enablers.The results of this research have practical relevance. First, managers should be aware of the diversity of the professionals, such as their different views and practices regarding knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers. The awareness and acknowledgement of these diversities can positively influence knowledge sharing in R&D and hence the new knowledge creation processes. Second, managers should focus on the value of the synergism of knowledge-sharing enablers and the oppositional influence of the barriers that cause knowledge-sharing practices to fail. Third, due to the social embedding of tacit knowledge, managers should consider the location of their R&D employees. All these issues contribute to the time a company spends on the development cycle. Focusing on knowledge-sharing activities in pharmaceutical R&D may potentially reduce time to market. The SECI model was found to have some limitations as the model does not include the actions of employees and their inter-unit relationships. However, the SECI model inspired the data analysis and was utilized for the conceptualization of tacit and explicit knowledge.There are limitations to how far empirical findings can be generalized. Further research should be conducted to investigate how knowledge-sharing practices are related to knowledge creation processes during the development of new drug products. Moreover, studies should be carried out in other settings. A multiple case study in pharmaceutical R&D could contribute to wider generalization of the findings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Because selling innovative products is crucial to its livelihood, the pharmaceutical industry has a fundamental need to share knowledge to stimulate the process of knowledge creation. This study seeks to explore knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers in pharmaceutical R&D.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A case study was carried out in a pharmaceutical company in Denmark. R&D professionals were asked to identify organizational enablers and barriers to knowledge sharing. Their accounts were processed as text during workshops. Data were condensed thematically. The analysis was combined with the conceptualization of tacit and explicit knowledge as proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi.\nFindings: - The research shows that R&D professionals have different views and practices regarding engaging in knowledge sharing. This reveals that knowledge sharing is multi-faceted and that one standard for R&D professionals does not exist. The enablers identified recognized the use of tacit knowledge. The existence of enablers and barriers with oppositional influence on knowledge-sharing practices is evident. Furthermore, synergy is identified in the knowledge-sharing enablers provided that the settings fostering personal closeness to colleagues are stimulated. Physical proximity to colleagues therefore has obvious influence on knowledge-sharing practices.\nResearch limitations/implications: - This study was based on a single case study. The extent to which the findings can be generalized to other industries is unknown.\nPractical implications: - The findings have implications for R&D managers who must be aware of these professional diversities in order to enhance knowledge-sharing practices. Attention should also be given to the synergies hidden in knowledge-sharing enablers.\nOriginality/value: - Focused implementation of enablers will increase knowledge-sharing practices and minimize barriers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Coaching relationship in executive coaching: a Malaysian study
|
[
"Leadership development",
"Malaysia",
"Coaching",
"Human resources development"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Executive coaching has become an integral tool for practitioners in the fields of training and performance improvement as well as a viable leadership development strategy (CIPD, 2009; Coutu and Kauffman, 2009; de Haan et al., 2010; Fraser, 2011) and serves to overcome individual and organizational performance challenges (American Management Association, 2008; Sanders and Thiagarajan, 2001). As reported by Zenger and Stinnett (2006) as well as Chinsky (2007), coaching has become popular and integrated as part of many leadership development programmes in the diverse array of industries, such as banking, airline, telecommunication, technology and food service. Many have argued that organizations are recognizing the value of individually-tailored developmental opportunities for their most integral employees, and that competition for highly skilled and competent managers has encouraged organizations to seek developmental opportunities for their employees in performance improvement as well as specific skill building (Griffin, 2006; Jarvis, 2004; Kets de Vries and Korotov, 2007; Niemes, 2002; Ozkan, 2008).\nReview of literature: A review of both empirical and non-empirical literature on executive coaching indicates that there are several papers investigated the importance of coaching relationship with coaching outcomes (Ladyshewsky, 2010; Mavor et al., 2010; O'Broin and Palmer, 2010) For instance, Baron and Morin (2009, 2012) reported that coaching relationship was significant related to coaching outcome in a leadership development program at a manufacturing company. Quality coaching relationship, empathic understanding and positive expectations were also found important in a research done by de Haan et al. (2011). However, little research was directly addressed the characteristics of a quality coaching relationship. These characteristics include rapport (Boyce et al., 2010; Bush, 2004), mutual trust (Becker, 2007; Boyce et al., 2010) commitment (Boyce et al., 2010; Gregory et al., 2008) and the need of a good match fit between coach and coachee (Boyce et al., 2010; Hall et al., 1999). Nevertheless, most of these studies were conceptual (Boyce et al., 2010) and had methodological shortcomings (Hall et al., 1999; Kappenberg, 2008).\nResearch methodology: This study used quantitative approach as major approach, i.e. a predefined framework was developed from literature and used survey as main data collection method to test the relationship between four relationship characteristics and coaching effectiveness. The setting was non-contrived field study in a natural environment where work proceeds as normal with no interference by the researcher (Sekaran and Bougie, 2009). The survey design was cross-sectional whereby data are gathered once during a particular timeframe (Creswell, 2003), over a period of six to nine months (June 2012-March 2013).\nAnalysis and results: Respondents' profile\nDiscussion: The main results of the multiple regressions demonstrate that both rapport and commitment significantly influence coaching effectiveness. Building and maintaining a strong rapport is always the very first step in the coaching engagement (Boyce et al., 2010; Feldman and Lankau, 2005). Rapport helps to reduce the differences between them and building on similarities (Boyce et al., 2010; Gyllensten and Palmer, 2007). This is important as coachees normally would have doubts and anxiety feelings about working with the coach (Bluckert, 2005). It is always conceivable that good connection can emerge from cool beginnings. This in turn may produce a different, more positive reaction in the coach and hence the coaching effectiveness.\nImplications of findings: This study contributes to the existing knowledge base in two ways. First, by drawing on a Malaysian sample, this study addresses the glaring under representation of samples from developing countries in the literature on executive coaching. Second, this study is considered timely judging from the fact that executive coaching has become an increasingly important leadership development program in this competitive business world.\nConclusion and limitation: In conclusion, this paper has attempted to fill a gap in the literature on the topic of the quality relationship with effectiveness of executive coaching from the perspective of coachee. To foster quality coaching relationship that are positive towards effectiveness of attainment coaching objective, strong rapport between coach and coachee as well as full commitment and engagement from coachee must be established. This reminds management to focus more on the pre-coaching stage to increase the quality of relationship before moving into the coaching engagement. Although the results of this study are insightful, our conclusions are tempered by shortcomings that are worth addressing in future work. First our study was based on 172 coachees and thus the generalizability of these findings is limited. Second, there were only four factors being investigated in this study. There are other coaching process (such as tools, techniques, process) likely influence coaching effectiveness and need to be investigated systematically. Obviously, more research in this area is warranted. Future research can focus on those factors that may negatively influence the relationship as well as exploring the differences between coaching in international context vs local companies to see the impact of culture on coaching.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In order to bridge the gap and provide organizations with practical assistance in dealing with the effectiveness of executive coaching. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between coaching relationship which constitutes of rapport, trust, commitment and match with coaching effectiveness in Malaysia using a quantitative research method.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on the extensive review of the current literature, rapport, trust, commitment and coach-coachee match with coaching effectiveness are investigated through questionnaire. Objective-driven model which focuses on the extent to which coaching objectives have been met, is used to measure the effectiveness of executive coaching.\nFindings: The main results of the multiple regressions demonstrate that both rapport and commitment significantly influence coaching effectiveness. These findings provide a basis for developing a quality relationship to advance the executive coaching and HRM research literature.\nPractical implications: The practical implication of this study could be useful for HCM managers, who want to enhance leadership capabilities through executive coaching engagement that support their organizations performance.\nOriginality/value: This Malaysian study will build upon the existing knowledge by investigating the factors contributing to quality coaching relationship from the coachee's viewpoint.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Event innovation induced corporate branding
|
[
"Corporate image",
"Corporate branding",
"Spillover effects",
"Event innovation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With analogous and often easily substitutable products and services, tourism and hospitality practitioners are striving to seek innovative solutions to constantly differentiate their businesses from those of their competitors and entice customer re-patronage. As \"seeking for novelty\" is one key motivation of travel and leisure (Assaker et al., 2011), building an innovative corporate image plays a prominent role in maintaining a company's competitiveness and sustainable development (Enz, 2012). Of a range of viable solutions to create novel tourist experiences, event innovation has drawn increased attention from both academics and practitioners. Not only are special events leveraged to lure more customers, they have also become a noticeable marketing solution to conjure up a favorable brand image and garner growing reputation (Deng and Li, 2014). However, the innovative potential for service industries remained unexplored until recently (Hjalager, 2010), leaving a paucity of studies on innovation in an event setting and its immense influence on corporate-level marketing.\n2. Literature review and hypothesis: 2.1 Innovations in tourism and hospitality industry\n3. Hypothesis development: 3.1 Innovation and perceived value\n4. Methodology: 4.1 The house of dancing water\n5. Results: 5.1 Sample profile\n6. Discussion and conclusions: 6.1 Conclusions\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to empirically investigate how event innovation may induce desirable corporate branding.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey yielded 280 complete responses from tourists who had attended an event in Macau. Structural equation modeling was used to test the innovation-corporate loyalty framework through perceived event value and corporate image, with a multi-group comparison to examine differences between first-time and repeat customers.\nFindings: The results indicate that innovation is not only the key to value enhancement of the event but also an efficacious instrument of branding the parent company and building corporate loyalty; only product-related innovation has a significant impact on event value; both functional and emotional values induce a more favorable corporate image; and event-induced corporate branding is more effective in securing repeat business than attracting new clientele.\nPractical implications: The findings help hospitality operators and event planners to leverage innovative events for corporate branding and cater to different customer segments by providing distinct marketing strategies.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding event management and corporate branding and sheds light on future research to explore the initiative and benefit of pushing forward event innovation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Impact of caregiver overnight stay on postoperative outcomes
|
[
"Evidence-based practice",
"Patient safety",
"Continuous quality improvement",
"Health and safety",
"Effectiveness",
"Clinical effectiveness"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent years, focus on enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathways has led to demonstrated improvements in many surgical outcome measures, including length of stay (LOS), early complications and patient satisfaction (Ljungqvist et al., 2017; Roulin et al., 2013; Abola et al., 2018). Through advances in minimally invasive techniques and protocolized recovery pathways, many surgical interventions once performed on an inpatient basis have been increasingly performed in ambulatory surgery centers.\nMethods: Study population\nResults: Among patients treated at the center, 57 percent (n=2,462; 95% CI: 55 percent, 58 percent) had a caregiver present during their overnight stay. Patients were more likely to have a caregiver present overnight if they were younger, had breast rather than gynecologic surgery or had lower ASA scores. Differences between groups were small but highly significant. Median age of patients with an overnight caregiver was 56 years (interquartile range (IQR) 45, 64) and 58 (IQR 48, 66) for those without (p<0.001). The difference in median age between patients with and without caregiver stay was only 2 years (p<0.0001). Presence of overnight caregivers ranged from 49 percent of gynecologic oncology surgery patients to 74 percent of plastic surgery patients. Table I lists patient characteristics stratified by presence or absence of an overnight caregiver.\nDiscussion: This study sought to examine the hypothesis that encouraging patient-designated caregivers to remain in the room overnight with the patient would improve patient recovery and increase caregiver confidence in managing postoperative care. The expectation was that patients who had a caregiver stay with them overnight would experience fewer early postoperative complications and meet discharge criteria sooner than those patients who did not have a caregiver with them throughout their early recovery process. This study showed that patients with a caregiver present overnight had a trivially shorter LOS (by 18 min) and earlier discharge time (by 12 min) compared to those without an overnight caregiver. While these differences were statistically significant, the 18- and 12-min advantages unlikely had a measurable clinical impact on the center. Regardless, timely discharges are important, and any interventions that result in earlier patient discharge and higher quality post-discharge recovery are encouraging.\nConclusions: Although no major differences in clinical outcomes were observed, the presence of an overnight caregiver contributed to patients' decreased LOS, earlier discharge times and decreased rates of transfer from ambulatory to inpatient setting. Additionally, caregivers likely provided psychosocial benefit and contributed positively to successful patient education and patient satisfaction. Further studies on the structured integration of caregivers into the recovery process of patients are warranted, to discern the impact of patient-designated caregivers in a variety of clinical settings, as well as the impact on caregivers themselves. With increased adoption of minimally invasive surgical techniques and enhanced recovery pathways, more research is needed to look at all factors that may impact ambulatory discharge and early postoperative complications. Further studies in less-heavily resourced centers, as well as studies on the caregiver impact on patient education and satisfaction, are recommended.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of having a patient-designated caregiver remain overnight with ambulatory extended recovery patients on early postoperative clinical outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing surgery requiring overnight stay in a highly resourced free-standing oncology ambulatory surgery center. Postoperative outcomes in patients who had caregivers stay with them overnight were compared with outcomes in those who did not. All other care was standardized. Primary outcomes were postoperative length of stay, hospital readmission rates, urgent care center (UCC) visits within 30 days and perioperative complication rates.\nFindings: Among patients staying overnight, 2,462 (57 percent) were accompanied by overnight caregivers. In this group, time to discharge was significantly lower. Readmissions (though rare) were slightly higher, though the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.059). No difference in early (<30 day) complications or UCC visits was noted. Presence of a caregiver overnight was not associated with important differences in outcomes, though further research in a less well-structured environment is likely to show a more robust benefit. Caregivers are still recommended to stay overnight if that is their preference as no harm was identified.\nOriginality/value: This study is unique in its evaluation of the clinical impact of having a caregiver stay overnight with ambulatory surgery patients. Little research has focused on the direct impact of the caregiver on patient outcomes, especially in the ambulatory setting. With increased adoption of minimally invasive surgical techniques and enhanced recovery pathways, a larger number of patients are eligible for short-stay ambulatory surgery. Factors that impact discharge and early postoperative complications are important.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Patient-perceived hospital service quality: an empirical assessment
|
[
"India",
"Validity",
"Reliability",
"Hospital service quality",
"Scale assessment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Healthcare is considered a \"credence\" good - an offering that consumers will never be able to evaluate owing to deficient medical knowledge (Bloom and Reeve, 1990). Additionally, conceptualizing and measuring service quality in a healthcare setting is more important and simultaneously more complex (Taner and Antony, 2006). However, researchers need to come up with ways to measure healthcare service quality, because unless we measure we cannot manage and improve healthcare services (Lohr, 2015). The literature indicates that there is a variability and confusion in how quality is conceptualized and operationalized (Sower et al., 2001). Many researchers attempt to define and conceptualize hospital service quality (HSQ). Pai and Chary (2013), for example, show that the Parasuraman et al.'s (1985, 1988) SERVQUAL/modified SERVQUAL questionnaire is conventionally practiced in healthcare. They also pointed out the studies where SERVQUAL items have not loaded onto respective dimensions highlighting a five-component structure that is lacking, suggesting that a new questionnaire needs developing. New instruments, designed for healthcare setting: PRIVHEALTHQUAL (Ramsaran-Fowdar, 2008) for private and PubHosQual (Aagja and Garg, 2010) for public settings, have emerged. Studies adopting these instruments are scarce because these scales are hospital specific and not a general scale that measures HSQ in any hospital context. An instrument that could measure HSQ in any hospital settings has gained importance. Pai and Chary (2016) proposed their conceptual framework for measuring HSQ using nine dimensions. Their framework, unlike other instruments such as SERVQUAL (Parasuraman et al., 1988), PRIVHEALTHQUAL (Ramsaran-Fowdar, 2008) and PubHosQual (Aagja and Garg, 2010) has an additional dimension (relationship) in line with the researchers such as Carman (1990) and Reynoso and Moore (1995), who suggested adding service-specific dimensions to SERVQUAL, there exists no empirical studies to support or refute their conceptual framework. As there are no research studies that used Pai and Chary's (2016) framework, our purpose is to empirically appraise this framework and address the gaps in literature.\nObjectives: We conducted our study with the objective to test the Pai and Chary's (2016) conceptual framework's validity and reliability. We also aim to assess HSQ through nine dimensions: healthscape, personnel, hospital image; trustworthiness, clinical care process, communication, relationship, personalization and administrative procedures.\nStructured questionnaire: The questionnaire included:\nData collection: Data were collected among three types of hospitals - teaching, corporate and public in Karnataka. India has 29 states and seven union territories (Ashok, 2014), and every state has a specific language. Although English is one of the communicating languages in India Kannada is Karnataka's local language. Hence, the questionnaires were in Kannada and translated into the Malayalam language as few hospitals had Malayalam-speaking patients in significant numbers owing to hospital's proximity to another state (Kerala), where the official language is Malayalam. Consequently, questionnaires were administered in three languages: English, Kannada and Malayalam. There are several studies in which the questionnaire was administered in different languages specific to the country studied, e.g., English and Maltese (Camilleri and O'Callaghan, 1998); English and Arabic (Jabnoun and Chakar, 2003); English and Turkish (Kara et al., 2005); English and Guajarati (Aagja and Garg, 2010); and English and Bengali (Akter et al., 2008). The Kannada/Malayalam versions were created through careful translation and back-translation techniques (Candell and Hulin, 1987; McGorr, 2000). First, the questionnaire was translated into Kannada/Malayalam and then the Kannada/Malayalam items were back-translated into English by a bilingual expert to ensure that the original content was kept intact. In translating the scale items into Kannada/Malayalam, Malinowski's (1935) four-step translation technique was implemented:\nDiscussion: Appraising reliability and validity tests\nConclusion: Our objective was twofold; first to evaluate the reliability and validity of Pai and Chary's (2016) conceptual framework and second to evaluate their proposed nine-dimension structure for measuring patient-perceived HSQ. Our study provides empirical evidence that the scale developed to measure HSQ is reliable and valid. We show that the nine dimensions predict HSQ.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to appraise Pai and Chary's (2016) conceptual framework for measuring patient-perceived hospital service quality (HSQ).\nDesign/methodology/approach: A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from teaching, public and corporate hospital patients. Several tests were conducted to assess the instrument's reliability and validity. Pai and Chary's (2016) nine dimensions for measuring HSQ were examined in this paper.\nFindings: The tests confirm that Pai and Chary's (2016) conceptual framework is reliable and valid. The study also establishes that the nine dimensions measure HSQ.\nPractical implications: The framework empowers managers to assess service quality in any hospital settings, corporate, public and teaching, using an approach that is superior to the existing HSQ scales.\nOriginality/value: This paper helps researchers and practitioners to assess HSQ from patient perspectives in any hospital setting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Implementing quality initiatives in healthcare organizations: drivers and challenges
|
[
"Quality",
"Accreditation",
"Six Sigma",
"Healthcare",
"Lean",
"EFQM"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Healthcare managers are feeling the competitive pressure to deliver high quality healthcare services at low cost. Healthcare professionals are focusing on learning new ways to provide services at lower costs and higher performance levels. In theory, all quality initiatives (QIs) work well, since they are structured to resolve problems, maximise efficiency and minimise poor performance;, e.g. Six Sigma is a powerful systematic approach; its Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control improves performance and minimises operational costs in various industries (Heuvel et al., 2005; Mehmet et al., 2007; Chakrabarty and Tan, 2007). In many organisations, however, staff struggle with QI implementation (Shortell et al., 1995; Ovretveit, 2000; Nembhard, 2012). Greene et al. (2008) declared that most healthcare providers benefit financially from using QIs. Huerta et al. (2008), reviewing 27 articles, revealed a direct relationship between hospital quality and performance. In contrast, many authors reveal several issues when applying QIs in healthcare organisations. Some are actually doubtful that QIs can work at all; after studying four healthcare organisations and consulting 52 teams, Nembhard (2012) concluded that QIs in healthcare organisations do not always improve healthcare performance but it is the teams working in those organisations that hold the keys to effective performance. Similar findings were reported by Ovretveit (2000) and Shortell et al. (1995). The key questions answered in this research, therefore, are:\nMethodology: This work has a dual approach: a literature review on how QIs are used in hospitals and analyses drivers and challenges facing their implementation; based on the literature, design a questionnaire to be answered by 60 representatives working in 18 hospitals. After comparing both approaches, a framework is designed to reveal a new implementation method with high chances of success.\nLiterature review: The review focused on all articles and case studies covering healthcare QI implementation. The search only considered the literature held in English language databases after 1990 covering implementation success and failure. Alexander et al. (2007) studied how various quality methods are applied and concluded, regardless of methods, success is related to internal factors. Leggat et al. (2010) declared that prior to QI implementation; managers should focus on enhancing employee skills; especially nurses. Castle and Lin (2010) showed how adopting a quality policy is important and that poor quality leads to the deterioration of many organisational aspects. To test QI quality and performance, Grol (2001) studied several initiatives claimed to provide solutions to patient care problems: evidence-based medicine (EBM); total quality management; self-assessment; and accreditation. Grol's article summarised the debate about achieving such initiatives and declared that none is superior, but combining these methods might better serve the healthcare industry.\nQuality initiatives questionnaire: The literature reveals different success levels experienced within organisations when implementing QIs owing to various factors, so a structured questionnaire, answered by 60 representatives working in 18 hospitals, was used to highlight QI drivers and challenges. The questionnaire included 13 items and was answered by nurses, administrators, physicians and managers.\nDiscussion: The literature demonstrates many implementation success and failures with varying reasons. Key factors affecting results include internal factors like employee morale and empowerment, management support and involvement, and training the implementation team (Alexander et al., 2007). Other factors are related to the QI: difficulty (Chakrabarty and Tan, 2007); its general nature and that most initiatives are not designed originally for healthcare, rather for the manufacturing sector (Gomez et al., 2011). Physicians are considered key contributors to successful implementation (Carman et al., 2010), but they are not typical employees. Although they are key assets to any healthcare organisation and they may not be inclined to believe in QIs. Since physicians have more power in healthcare organisations than other employees then managers have to promote QIs among physicians. Nurses and other staff seem to answer similarly, while physicians have different quality-views, which confirm the literature (Yasin et al., 1998). Furthermore, the physician standard deviations reveal more scatter than seen in other groups. This may indicate disagreement, but it may be caused by the small physician sample (n=11). Questionnaire results mostly agree with the literature, but also show that physicians can become an asset to any QI once they are well informed and trained. Since questionnaire analysis revealed that physicians think about quality differently, managers should spend more effort training physicians on QIs and when possible get them involved in the implementation process. Analysis showed nurses are an asset in healthcare organisation. Consequently, hospital quality professionals should focus on this group and use nurses more (Leggat et al., 2010). This study reveals how managers and physicians are seen by others as possible obstacles. This is an important point for service owners and leaders. The most important thing to draw from questionnaire results is that all challenges can be mitigated or eliminated and healthcare professionals can successfully implement QIs as in manufacturing facilities. The proposed framework in this research is a step in that direction. Table III summarises the drivers and challenges to implementing QIs in healthcare organisations according to the questionnaire results.\nProposed framework: Results reveal how some challenges and drivers control the QI fate in hospitals. Based on Table III, a framework was created to guarantee implementation success. Figure 1 shows a practical implementation framework:\nConclusions and future work: While QIs seem to succeed in the manufacturing and service sectors, they are not always successful in healthcare organisations. The literature review and the questionnaire survey revealed many implementation drivers and challenges. Both approaches agreed on the effect of most factors including: internal such as leadership commitment and involvement; empowering and training nurses and quality personnel; quality culture; and employee morale. Both also agreed on other factors like the QI's nature and complexity, implementation, understanding the new initiative, its selection and how it suits the organisation. Further analysis revealed the physicians' unique perceptions. The questionnaire also revealed that trained physicians are an asset to implementation; therefore extra efforts are needed to include physicians in the team, since they can either help or hinder. The literature review and questionnaire results agreed that nurses seem to be valuable asset to implementation; therefore involving this group in any QI is needed. When attempting to apply QIs, one should realise that healthcare organisations are unique in many ways; i.e. structure, employees and customers. Extra efforts are needed to educate managers and staff members on new QIs before implementation. Managers should follow a systematic implementation approach to guarantee success. Realising the successful drivers and barriers may furnish managers with efficient decision making process to ensure better results when applying any QI. Future work can focus on this study's methods; questionnaire results and conclusions can be validated in different countries and different cultures. The framework was written in a general format and was based on questionnaire results. Future work may challenge this framework and evaluate it under different conditions. Future research may also compare nurse and physician mind-sets regarding QIs.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Various quality initiatives seem to have successful implementation in some healthcare organizations yet fail in others. This paper sets out to study the literature trying to understand drivers and challenges facing quality initiatives implementation in healthcare organizations then compare findings from literature with those of a structured questionnaire answered by 60 representatives from 18 hospitals. Finally it proposes a framework that mitigates challenges and utilizes drivers to ensure best implementation results.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Literature regarding implementing various quality initiatives in the healthcare sector was reviewed. Representatives from several healthcare organizations were surveyed. Results from both approaches are compared to highlight the key challenges and drivers facing implementers.\nFindings: This research reveals that internal factors related to leadership and employees greatly affect quality initiative success or failure. Design and relevance play a major role in successful implementation.\nPractical implications: This research offers healthcare professionals greater success when implementing certain quality initiatives by taking success/failure factors into consideration. A general framework for successful implementation in the healthcare sector is provided.\nOriginality/value: This article uncovers reasons behind success or failure in a comprehensive and practical way. It also explores how most popular quality initiatives are applied in hospitals.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Individualising maintenance management: a proposed framework and case study
|
[
"Ireland",
"Ceramics and glass technology",
"Operations and production management",
"Maintenance",
"Maintenance concept development",
"Framework",
"Value driven maintenance planning",
"Reliability centred maintenance",
"Total productive maintenance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The role that an effective maintenance framework plays in any organisation has increased dramatically in recent times as the importance of maintaining competitiveness in a globalised market is continuously reinforced. Ones perspective of the maintenance function will invariably alter depending upon ones interaction with the enterprise. More often than not, these views are diametrically opposed. The benefits of having a maintenance framework that supports the overarching objectives of the enterprise are tangible. However, maintenance concepts vary from organisation to organisation. There is no one-fits-all solution and the literature published around generic commercial frameworks such as reliability-centred maintenance (RCM), total productive maintenance (TPM), business-centred maintenance (BCM), etc. are often complex and specific to one particular industry. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that maintenance-intense organisations are now turning away from the traditional frameworks in search of a more contemporary form of maintenance management.In essence, a maintenance concept can be defined as a \"set of various maintenance interventions and the general structure in which these interventions are foreseen\" (Waeyenbergh and Pintelon, 2002, 2004). To develop a maintenance concept, the company must first review its operation (Marquez and Gupta, 2006) and ask itself some deep reaching questions including:* Is our change mentality strong enough to enable us to overcome experience-based protectionism and to take advantage of opportunities offered by enhancements in software and information and communications technology?* Can we incorporate the pre-available expertise within our organisation?* Is the will to change strong enough within the upper echelons of management?The aims of the current research are to:(1) review the work done previously in the area of maintenance concept development and to challenge the legitimism of resource intensive non-generic pre-existing framework concepts;(2) to discuss the complexities in developing a contemporary individualised maintenance strategy;(3) propose a framework to guide an organisation through the individualisation of a maintenance framework from beginning to end; and(4) to implement the proposed framework in a large maintenance intense enterprise and to validate its effectiveness.\n2. Review of maintenance concepts and frameworks: A maintenance concept generally consists of a process and a framework, which are the supporting structures needed to manage the maintenance function in an organisation (Marquez and Gupta, 2006) and cumulatively lead to the overall maintenance plan. Maintenance policies can be divided into five distinct categories: use-based maintenance (UBM), condition-based maintenance (CBM), failure-based maintenance (FBM), design-out maintenance and detection-based maintenance (Vasseur and Llory, 1999). When a certain situation pertains within the context of the overall maintenance plan, the local maintenance policy will be enacted, i.e. FBM or CBM, etc. Subsequently, maintenance frameworks incorporate the broader aspects of the business context where finance, operations management and human resource management are combined (Marquez and Gupta, 2006). Some of the more common concepts have been discussed in detail by Waeyenbergh and Pintelon (2002, 2004). More recent developments are outlined in Sections 2.1-2.4.2.1 Waeyenbergh and Pintelon approach - Centre for Industrial Management (CIB)\n3. Difficulties in framework and individual conceptualisation: Creating an individual maintenance strategy is fraught with complexities and difficulties. These difficulties are compounded by a distinct lack of self-belief in the practitioner's own abilities and a general lack of regard for both the tacit and explicit knowledge amassed through experience-based learning situations. This leads to the first difficulty in the individualised maintenance concept development process, lack of respect for the practitioner.The second difficulty is intrinsically linked to the first difficulty, and that is a lack of respect for experience-based knowledge within the organisation. The difficulty with experience-based knowledge is that it oftentimes contains little or no structure, especially in pre-existing organisations. Information may not be written down and this leads to protectionism amongst the staff. Experience is often recorded in the form of a \"sentiment\" (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). It is almost impossible to computerise, or create a database for sentiment and here within lies the problem of adopting an off the shelf framework; such frameworks assume that this knowledge is in a compressed form and readily accessible by all members of the maintenance staff, when in actual fact, the opposite is true. This leads to the third difficulty, experience-based protectionism. People are less likely to submit information or experience-based skills and knowledge if they feel that by doing so they jeopardise their future employment. Hipkin and De Cock (2000) outlined and ranked a series of barriers to conceptual maintenance framework development. They ranked fourth, fear of change, as one of the most inhabiting factors to implementing a maintenance system. Fear can manifest itself in many forms and is often used as an excuse to remain with the status quo, much to the detriment of the process. The fifth difficulty, lack of management support, can be partially attributed to fear and partially attribute to poor leadership/motivational skills. The lack of management support may also be attributed to the sixth difficulty, the overall cost of the change initiative. Cost reduction may be the motivational reason for change but may also ironically contribute to the eventual downfall of the development. In a recent study by Alsyouf (2009), cost effectiveness was cited as the highest incentive for adopting a maintenance strategy in Swedish industries. Traditionally, maintenance was viewed with distain by management accountants and seen as a drain on the bottom line, but with the introduction of the concept of value in maintenance, the true role of effective maintenance is slowly being recognised. This revolution is somewhat hindered by the fact that maintenance as a management strategy is somewhat underdeveloped when compared to other management disciplines such as operations management (Wireman, 1990; Jonsson, 1999; McKone et al., 2001).The seventh stumbling block of the note is the lack of plant/process knowledge. The introduction of highly automated production lines and processing plants coupled with the reduction in maintenance inventories has led to a knowledge deficiency, which in turn has rendered the maintenance function more difficult, and in some cases, impossible. The integrated nature of the equipment and the limitations of computer controls have also made it more difficult to diagnose faults and to solve equipment failures (Buchanan and Besant, 1985). With a general lack of plant/process knowledge amongst staff members, the pressure inevitably will be increased on the staff member/members who have developed proficiencies in a particular area. The issue becomes more complex when that specific area is of critical importance to the overall process. Some of the commercial maintenance frameworks, especially TPM, call for a team approach where each team member is personally responsible for the health of their equipment and sub-process/process. In reality, difficulties such as language barriers and training difficulties which result in a low level of operator knowledge, only compound the underlying problem in the first instance.Difficulties (eighth) arise amongst the staff and may manifest itself in the form of scepticism and/or low morale for the change initiative. In some instances, this may be predicated upon previously failed attempts to overhaul the maintenance department/function and may present itself as an unwillingness to change and adopt new procedures. Again, the unwillingness to change may be compounded by the fact that there are inadequate procedures in place and there is no appetite to adopt the newly proposed maintenance procedures. An assessment of the difficulties facing individualised maintenance concept/framework development is presented in Figure 1.\n4. Individualised maintenance framework development model: This section outlines the details of a proposed nine-step framework for developing/implementing an individualised maintenance management strategy. The work draws on the authors previously gained experiences in various maintenance intense organisations and upon work by other authors in the field of contemporary maintenance management strategies.Step 1: focus on the positives and define your position (goals)\n5. Case study: Introduction\n6. Conclusions: The nine-step individualised maintenance framework described in the current research was considered to be a success primarily due to the commitment from all the relevant stakeholders, although getting the relevant parties to subscribe to the concept at the beginning of the process proved difficult. Market forces will inevitably force more companies to focus on the function that maintenance plays within their organisation and the individualisation route offers companies a viable alternative to the commercially available frameworks. Unfortunately, the science of maintenance management lags behind that of its counterparts and it may be some time before a fully optimised solution is developed. However, the research has shown that a modular approach in conjunction with the utilisation of pre-existing knowledge; a innate knowledge of one's own process; clearly identified limitations, constraints and expectations; and the use of e-maintenance technology within the boundary of an agreed framework can combine to offer tangible savings within the maintenance sphere.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to review the advancements made in the area of contemporary maintenance management individualisation, to identify the difficulties in strategy design and to document the implementation of such a strategy in a maintenance intense organisation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A contemporary nine-step framework for designing and implementing an individualised maintenance strategy is proposed. Individualising your maintenance strategy offers tangible benefits compared to the commercially available generic models, although the research highlights complexities in its conception and integration.\nFindings: - The proposed nine-step framework was successfully integrated in a maintenance intense organisation and it had an immediate effect on all agreed performance indicators, from failure rates to overall maintenance costs.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The work to date in this field falls short of a complete solution and while the current research illustrates the viability of such an approach, much more work is required in the area of optimisation within each of the iterative nine steps.\nOriginality/value: - This research is of interest to maintenance managers and front-line maintenance practitioners. This framework is predicated upon practical experiences gathered by the authors within varying maintenance intense organisations and fully referenced published work by other authors.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Overcoming the symbolic violence of orthodox accounting practice: an intellectual capital perspective
|
[
"Social Capital",
"Intellectual capital",
"Practice theory",
"Bourdieu",
"Symbolic violence"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: After more than 30 years of research (Guthrie et al., 2012), the debate on whether intellectual capital (IC) accounting is a legitimate, mainstream practice continues (Dumay, 2014). Ho and Taylor (2014, p. 78) summarise this sentiment in IC's leading academic journal, the Journal of Intellectual Capital:The question of recognition and measurement of the financial consequences to firms of their investments in IC has been a long-standing debate among accounting standards setters, practitioners and researchers.\n2. Linking IC to Bourdieu's theory of practice: According to Petty and Guthrie (2000), early IC research had two distinct stages. The first stage helped develop a discourse about the importance of IC in creating competitive advantage, including identifying types of capital. The second stage expanded this typology to establish IC research as a legitimate undertaking (Petty and Guthrie, 2000, pp. 155-156; Mouritsen and Larsen, 2005). Thus, over two decades, from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, research into IC accounting defined and established IC's measures and frameworks (Chatzkel, 2004; Sveiby, 2010), and provided some limited insights into IC practice. Mouritsen (2006, p. 820), in particular, theorises that IC research is problematic because researchers view IC as the application of a pre-set idea, rather than investigating how IC works and what is involved in transforming organisations and society. This critique can be found in other business-focussed literature, an example being accountability practices where, as Shenkin and Coulson (2007, p. 300) identify, \"for a constructive element to emerge from the existing critique, it must be constituted by practices that challenge the very meaning of information\".\n3. Research site and methodology: Lands and the IC journey: At the time of the authors' research, Lands (a pseudonym) was an Australian public sector entity employing more than 2,000 people, under the remit of the State Minister for Planning. Lands was created in 2009, following the formation of 13 separate super agency clusters from existing government departments. As a result, Lands inherited several bodies dealing with managing and developing land assets in the state. Over the prior decade, Lands faced public sector reforms resulting in the creation of GBEs. By July 2010, Lands had successfully converted all functions into GBE structures, and consequently relied on the revenue generated from selling services.\n4. Accounting for IC and its impact on practice: This section provides a narrative of each of the different phases of implementing IC accounting at Lands. In every good story, there is conflict, or as Bourdieu (1977) puts it, \"a universe of discourse or argument\". In this narrative, IC practice is the protagonist, attempting to overcome the orthodoxy of ingrained accounting practices at Lands. The valiant defenders of orthodoxy are confronted with the heterodoxy of an alternate way of accounting for organisational resources and knowledge. Who wins in the end, or is there even a winner?\n5. Discussion: Knowledge society is not clear about the effects and value of knowledge. Rather, knowledge has become a problem, an unruly resource, which has to be managed(Mouritsen and Roslender, 2009, p. 801).As identified by Nash (2003), structures such as financial accounting frameworks create dispositions that cause people to act in particular ways, and enable both individual and collective action by actors and researchers within fields of interest. Bourdieu (1977, p. 167) further explains that:When the conditions of existence of which the members of a group are the product are very little differentiated, the dispositions which each of them exercises in his practice are confirmed and hence reinforced both by the practice of other members of the group and also by the institution which constitute collective thought as much as they express it, such as language, myth and art.\n6. Conclusion: This paper presented a narrative about how IC, as an accounting innovation, was introduced into one public sector organisation. The authors observe that how IC accounting needed the sustained support of the DG of Lands and its symbolic capital to oppose the orthodoxy of financial accounting practice and ensure its use in practice.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: While intellectual capital (IC) accounting research has concentrated on private enterprise, it is also germane to the public sector given pressures to create government business enterprises. However, despite the impetus for change, IC accounting is not a widespread practice in any sector. To understand the paradox, the purpose of this paper is to present a longitudinal narrative of IC accounting practice at an Australian public sector organisation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Bourdieu's theory of practice is adopted in a single longitudinal case study to examine orthodox and heterodox accounting processes along with the resultant \"field of opinion\" created by IC discourse.\nFindings: For an innovation such as IC accounting to be utilised, the social capital associated with it must be able to overcome the symbolic violence of orthodox financial accounting practices. In essence, IC exists alongside accounting and does not replace it. However, not all actors learn about and adopt IC in the same way. Therefore, organisations cannot learn if the actors themselves cannot see how IC should not replace accounting but exists alongside it.\nPractical implications: On reflection, the study supports a conclusion that IC should not be viewed as a heretical accounting practice. Rather, it serves discrete purposes that can be utilised by academics and practitioners to achieve particular ends rather than viewed as an alternative form of accounting.\nOriginality/value: With increasing awareness of accounting of the importance of intangible resources in the \"new economy\", this study emphasises the teleological aims of IC as a complementary accounting technology.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Performance evaluation of knowledge management among hospital employees
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Balanced scorecard",
"Taiwan"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Up to 70 per cent of organizations are not successful in implementing established strategies and goals (Charan and Colvin, 1999). The reasons are not because they did no have a strategy or the quality of the strategy is not good but because the organization did not have through enough execution to carry out the strategy. The medical industry is a highly knowledge-intensive industry that could establish a learning organization, implement KM and establish competitive edges. The hospital operation strategy could have good effects because subordinates will follow the example set by their boss. The research background is that under a global budget system responding to the changes in the medical environment, hospital policy-makers must maintain flexibility in policy adjustments to get the operation right. The motivation of this research was to understand employees, policy-makers and service organizations three sections of the connection. Using mixed methodology, we explored the status of KM and the satisfaction of subordinates from top to bottom levels using knowledge performance. This exploratory research used both qualitative and quantitative methods at a regional hospital to study the following questions:1. What are the KM characteristics that the policy-makers expect to see in their subordinates?2. Do the subordinates agree with the KM characteristics expected by their policy-makers?3. Is there a difference between the levels of cognition and demand for KM factors and the activities of KM enablers expected by the hospital organization?4. What factors do the policy-makers expect in employee knowledge and attitudes toward the work factor. What are cognition and personal KM factors predict the activities of KM enablers using the hospital organization factor?The paper is organized into four sections. The next section is the literature review. The third section presents the methodology followed by the analyses and results. The final section presents the conclusions.\nLiterature review: The following subsections provide a brief review of the relevant literature of the operational environment of medical industry in Taiwan, KM, performance evaluation (PE) and balance scorecard (BSC).An overview of the operational environment of medical industry\nMethodology: Research design\nResults: The results of qualitative research\nConclusion: Under national health insurance and health policy changing environment, only excellent service functions, efficient service process and masterly medical skills can establish a long-term, steady relationship between a hospital and its patients. KM strategy had significant affects on medical quality and continued operation procedure improvement. Facing external environmental changes hospitals must introduce KM to grasp the key points of continuous improvement. Using operation procedure analysis, hospitals can strengthen customer value activities, reduce inefficient operations and boost the relationship between the hospital and its patients. The enhancement of employee professional capability will be helpful to the development of innovation activities and increase operation efficiency. Through the above-mentioned research design and methods, the following research results are presented:1. The policy-makers expect the subordinates work in hospital brave in taking new responsibilities and comply with hospital operation norms. Though in-depth interview, the policy makers expect subordinates to be \"brave in taking on new responsibilities and not always trying to find excuses in their work\". Employees are expected to \"comply with hospital operation norms\". The medical industry emphasizes giving patients qualified, convenient service. Therefore, brave in taking on new responsibilities and complying with hospital operation norms are the most important expectations from policy-makers.2. The KM cognitions and demands for subordinates are close to the expectations of policy-makers. In the descriptive statistics results, the highest agree and mean score topic is \"entertain the spirit of lifelong learning\", the higher agree and mean scores topic is \"I am willing to share knowledge with others\". The subordinates agree with the idea of life-long learning and active learning. The organization should create a smooth communication channel for subordinates to share knowledge and experiences. Moreover, the subordinates will have the right working attitude toward the hospital business goal of continuity.3. The policy-makers should emphasize on KM as a powerful and positive assets. According to the result of Pearson correlation analysis, \"environment of organization\" has a positive relationship with \"financial.\" The policy-makers should strengthen in taking the idea of KM is an important assets in an organization. The organization should build a model of knowledge learning and create a knowledge sharing and integrated organizational culture that will have a positive effect on organizational finance.4. The understanding of KM influences organizational performance evaluation. From the stepwise regression analysis result on cognitions and demands of personal KM factor \"understanding of KM\" can positively predict four dependents, financial, customer, internal business processes and learning and growth. The financial, customer, internal business process and learning and growth dependents provide a method for evaluating organizational performance in BSC. Therefore, the policy-makers should strengthen subordinates' knowledge planning, acquisition, learning, integration and creation to anticipate positive organization performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to investigate the cognition of knowledge management (KM) among hospital employees and the relationship between KM and the KM enabler activities (financial, customer, internal business processes, learning and growth) in a regional hospital in Taiwan.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Both qualitative and quantitative research were used in this study. The instrument was conducted using in-depth interviews of three policy-makers as participants. The quantitative data were collected from a regional hospital in the Northern part of Taiwan with a 77 percent effective response rate (n=154).\nFindings: - The findings in this paper indicate that the cognition and demand for KM in subordinates is close to the expectations of policy-makers. The policy-makers expect subordinates working in the hospital to be brave in taking on new responsibilities and complying with hospital operation norms. KM is emphasized as a powerful and positive asset. Moreover, understanding KM predicts good performance in an organization.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The findings in this paper can be generalized to other regional hospitals. The findings may be applied to a wider population.\nPractical implications: - This study can provide insights into the perceptions and cognitions of workers in a hospital about KM and the activities of KM enablers. The responses and perceptions observed in the interviews in this study, as well as the quantitative research results could be useful to other hospitals and individuals who engage KM as a new management trend.\nOriginality/value: - This study suggested KM guidelines for policy-makers who are experienced managers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Achieving service quality and students loyalty through intimacy and trust of employees of universities: A test case of Kenyan universities
|
[
"Trust",
"Service quality",
"Student loyalty",
"Intimacy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The subject of customer loyalty has been well researched in the service industry, and yet remains of grave interest in the academic research community as well as managers of services (for more detail commentary, see du Toit and Burns, 2016; EY, 2017; McMullan and Gilmore, 2008; Werner and Kumar, 2002). Ruiz et al. (2016) urged researchers to introduce fairly new constructs in testing loyalty since constructs like trust, satisfaction have extensively been researched. Quite recently, researchers (de Waal and van der Heijden, 2016) examined the behaviours of employees which predict intimacy and then lead to customer loyalty. They argued that for organisations to achieve their objectives, it is very essential that employees understand how important the customer is to the organisation since the organisation ceases to exist if there are no customers. They identified behavioural factors such as service quality (SQLTY) and trust (TRUS) as some of the factors if employees display towards customers could lead to intimacy (INTIMACY) and subsequently lead to customer loyalty (for more commentary on this, see de Waal and van der Heijden, 2016). Generally, intimacy can be interpreted from a different context; however, in our study, intimacy represents the bonding between students and staff based on their desire to mutually achieve academic excellence. In this study, the customer is herein referred to as student and that student loyalty means the loyalty of the students during and after graduation from the university (see Helgesen and Nesset, 2007). Building on the recommendations of de Waal and van der Heijden (2016), this study filled the gap by quantitatively testing these behavioural factors mentioned earlier by examining the effect of behavioural factors of university staff service quality (SQLTY) and trust (TRUS) on students' intimacy (INTIMACY) and students' loyalty (STLOY). The study further investigated the effect of direct and indirect mediation between SQLTY, TRUS and INTIMACY on STLOY. See Figure 1 for the various constructs and the relationship tested by the study.\nStudent loyalty: an overview: The study acknowledges the extensiveness of studies carried out on customer loyalty, in general, that still remains an issue of huge interest to the academic community as well as marketing practitioners and managers alike (e.g. see Caruana, 2002; du Toit and Burns, 2016; EY, 2017; McMullan and Gilmore, 2008; Werner and Kumar, 2002). The construct customer loyalty, amongst several definitions in the literature, is stated to be \"the strength of the relationship between an individual's relative attitude and repeat patronage\" (see Dick and Basu, 1994, p. 99). From a practitioner's point of view, loyalty can be captured broadly as \"the willingness of someone - a customer, an employee, a friend - to make an investment or personal sacrifice in other to strengthen a relationship\" (Reichheld, 2003). A study by Alhosani et al. (2017) and Singh (2014) shows that when employees of schools create the necessary friendly environment for students, students' performance is enhanced, and this study also believes that when the same is done by employees of universities, a good relationship can be established with students, which will further result in intimacy and student's loyalty. The literature on student's loyalty has also received fairly some research from the academic community (e.g. see Rojas-Mendez et al., 2009; Lee and Anantharaman, 2015). However, the extensiveness of research in the area of student loyalty is not the same when it comes to loyalty in general. As of now, we are yet to see a generally acceptable definition from the scholars of student loyalty. As cited in the work of Lee and Anantharaman (2015, p. 106), student loyalty is defined as \"psychological attachment to their universities founded upon their feelings of identification and affiliation (Verhoef et al., 2002), which is manifested as behavioral and attitudinal commitment toward an institution\" (Tinto, 1993), and significantly influenced by the school climates (Dagnew, 2014; Kythreotis et al., 2010). Previous research works on students loyalty document several factors such as satisfaction, trust, service quality and commitment (for more details, see Rojas-Mendez et al., 2009; Lee and Anantharaman, 2015) as some of the factors predicting students loyalty. However, in the customer loyalty literature, it has been identified by de Waal and van der Heijden (2016) that behavioural factors such service quality need to be understood by employees since such factors lead to intimacy and subsequently leads to customer loyalty. Though the study of de Waal and van der Heijden (2016) was applied to one media organisation in the Netherlands, the trust of this study is to examine how intimacy and trust behaviours exhibited by university staffs towards students could lead to service quality and students loyalty in universities in Kenya. Since staff behaviours have an impact on the university climate, MacNeil et al. (2009) suggested that university authorities should focus on improving the university's climate to obtain better relationships with staff and students in order to enhance the students' academic achievements and loyalty. In addition, researchers like Al Matrooshi and Singh (2016) observed that the competencies of leadership also play an important role in increasing employees' performance in an organisation such as universities.\nProposed conceptual framework and research hypotheses: Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002), Yim et al. (2008), Dixon et al. (2010), Bugel (2010), Mechinda and Patterson (2011), Lloyd and Luk (2011) and de Waal and van der Heijden (2016) studied several behavioural factors that employees of services should exhibit towards customers for loyalty to manifest. This is because employees are constantly dealing with customers on a daily basis and therefore any negative behaviour they exhibit could have negative consequences on the customer. That is why it is important employees exhibit behaviours which will increase intimacy and loyalty among their customers. Based on the extant literature and the conceptual framework (see, Figure 1), the following testable direct and indirect mediations are developed.\nConceptual framework: The conceptual framework of the study is developed based on the extant literature with various testable constructs.\nResearch design: Survey and data\nDiscussion of results: The study was based on examining behaviours that university employees should demonstrate towards students which will lead to intimacy and then eventually students' loyalty to the universities in Kenya. The analysis was based on the interrelations among behaviours towards students. The premise of this study is the analysis of the effect of interrelations among SQLTY, TRUS and INTIMACY on STLOY. To start with the study, direct relations were examined, namely H1a-H1d. In addition, the study also looked at the effect of the indirect mediation between SQLTY, TRUS and INTIMACY on STLOY (for more details, see Table VIII). The study succinctly discussed the empirical findings.\nManagerial implications of the study: This research emphasises the need for administrators of universities and higher educational institutions to better appreciate students' loyalty and behaviours of employees, which when display will lead to intimacy and eventually student loyalty. For instance, that INTIMACY is a strong predictor of STLOY provides a valuable guidance to administrators to devote resource and time to train their staff on customer service. This will enable them display behaviours which will lead to INTIMACY and STLOY any time they encounter students in their service delivery. The starting point of student loyalty (STLOY) is employee training. Newly recruited and existing staffs need to be properly trained and motivated on how to handle and respond to students. In the academic scholarship, there are various roles that employee training and motivation play in an organisations success and student loyalty. Having said that, equipping staff at all levels with proper training on how to skilfully treat students and handle very aggressive or fault-finding students is important. Finally, it is expected that administrators of universities will be able to develop a proper understanding of the role that INTIMACY as well as strong STLOY play when it comes to the implementation of STLOY strategies.\nTheoretical contributions: The study contributes to theory by testing fairly new constructs, i.e. service quality (SQLTY), trust (TRUS), intimacy (INTIMACY) and (STLOY) of students in the university sector from a developing countries perspective. These fairly new constructs could be further developed into a model for achieving students' loyalty which remains underexposed in the student loyalty literature. The study could also be the foundational grounds for future research by scholars to examine how to achieve students' loyalty from different countries perspective.\nConclusion, limitations and future research: The study has extended the frontier of knowledge and understanding in the areas of employees' behaviour towards students' loyalty and loyalty as a whole. Notwithstanding, there are some limitations to the present analysis. Although the empirical data used for the research were relatively large, they were collected from students in only one university. Hence, the findings cannot be generalised to the entity of universities in Kenya and elsewhere. These limitations suggest the need for further study in Kenya and elsewhere in the world. The further study using a mixed approach, i.e. qualitative and quantitative approach, could be helpful or qualitative approach could also be worth researching. Further, behavioural factors of employees such as empathy, trust and courtesy (cf. de Waal and van der Heijden, 2016) could be combined with the behavioural factors examined to assess students' loyalty.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of employees' behavioural factors in increasing students' loyalty. It specifically examines the direct and indirect mediations between employees' service quality, trust and intimacy. The focus is on the effects of constructs of service quality (SQLTY), trust (TRUS) and intimacy (INTIMACY) on student loyalty (STLOY).\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study depended on a positivist research paradigm. A total of 800 structured questionnaires were administered. However, 743 were retrieved and coded for the final analysis. The analytical tool used in this study is the ADANCO 2.0.1 software and in terms of statistical processing, the PLS-SEM technique was utilised.\nFindings: The findings on direct relationships reveal that INTIMACY is a strong predictor of STLOY, whereas service quality (SQLTY) is a predictor of trust (TRUS). The effect of indirect mediation between service quality (SQLTY), trust (TRUS) and intimacy (INTIMACY) on STLOY was not confirmed.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study like any academic work has limitations. Despite these limitations, this study offers theoretical as well as practical value for the research community and administrators of universities and higher educational administrators as a whole.\nPractical implications: The study emphasises the critical need for administrators of higher educational institutions to understand that the behaviours of their employees during the service encounter significantly affect intimacy and student loyalty.\nOriginality/value: The present study is unique because it quantitatively examined how the above-mentioned behavioural factors of employees lead to INTIMACY and STLOY. The use of a university for the research helped to develop a much better explanation of some of the salient considerations for STLOY. The value of this work rests in the complex quantitative relationships studied.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The use of the multiple knapsack problem in strategic management of a private Polish university: Case study
|
[
"University management",
"Generalized assignment problem",
"Multiple knapsack problem",
"Portfolio planning methods"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Universities today, both state-owned and private ones, have to use management methods like any other company. Otherwise, they risk disappearing from the market. They have to have a well thought of strategy, they have to analyze the current situation and current trends on the market, they have to try to satisfy their customers (above all students) as well as other stakeholders with the services they offer, with their programs (PhD, Master, Bachelor), courses, departments, research units, projects, etc.\n2. The strategic management in higher education: Changes in the educational services market require university managers to use new approaches and concepts to manage and formulate strategies that take into account the externalities of the institution as well as its internal organizational potential. With the rapid internationalization, universities are now facing fiercer competition around the globe and are obliged to a greater accountability to society. (Han and Zhong, 2015)\n3. Portfolio planning methods: In the literature, there are many portfolio planning methods. Such methods not only specify organizations (universities may be among them) current and future market position but also help organizations to assess options of actions in individual market sectors. Portfolio methods make it possible to assess the directions of development of organizations, in particular concerning products, services, technologies or organizational units. Such analysis is a good basis for strategic planning. In the literature the following matrix methods are known: Boston Consulting Group (BCG), General Electric (GE), Arthur D. Little (ADL), Hofer's and Schendl's matrix or Ansoff's matrix. They are discussed below.\n4. Model using generalized assignment problem in portfolio analysis: The above mentioned methods help to evaluate the product/services portfolio of organizations on the basis of two criteria (more criteria would also be possible). In practice, it does not happen that all the evaluated objects are assessed with a high mark in terms of all the criteria. Thus, the organization managers are not completely satisfied with the position of usually most of the units they manage (products, services, organizational units, etc.). Therefore, on the basis of the assessment, strategic decisions are taken, which consist of either accepting the non-ideal position of the object being evaluated or taking steps to change its position. However, both types of decisions are linked to a cost. Also, the \"good\" market sectors do not have an infinite capacity and when the capacity is used up (also by other organizations on the market), even incurring a very high cost would not open the market sector for a product or service.\n5. Portfolio planning methods based on the generalized assignment method for universities: In this section, we will propose one of many possible concretizations of the model formulated in the previous section in the context of university management. Other concretizations might be based directly on models presented in Section 2 or there may be other created ones, where other items and other sectors would be defined.\n6. Case study: Here we will give concrete values for the case study and the results of the application of the model at a selected university. It was a small private university in Poland, with seven departments and about 1,500 students.\n7. Conclusions: In the paper, the application of portfolio strategic position analysis methods combined with the multiple knapsack problem to the analysis of the current strategic position and its improvement possibilities of a university is proposed.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In the literature, there are many methods that can be helpful in strategic management of universities. Some of them are related to the aspect of sustainability, in terms of balancing the level of fulfillment of different, often conflicting objectives, which must be considered when building strategies. These methods include product/service portfolio ones. However, their use is often intuitive and detached from the quantitative aspects of management. The purpose of this paper is to present a proposal of the modification of the portfolio methods through the use of one of discrete optimization problems, namely, the multiple knapsack problem. The proposal is applied to a selected university. The results are presented and discussed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research methodology consists in a conceptual work: combining non-quantitative portfolio methods used in strategic management and the quantitative multiple knapsack problem. The analogy is established between a market sector (capacity) and a knapsack (capacity), a university department value and an object value, the university improvement budget and a knapsack, an object cost and an improvement measure cost. Then, the case study is used to conduct an initial validation of the proposed approach.\nFindings: A quantitative model for strategic management of university as a whole or university departments is proposed. It allows to plan and control the application of improvement measures, allowing the university units to take on a better position in the educational market. It has been initially applied to a small university.\nResearch limitations/implications: The model requires much more real-world case studies. Also, it will usually be difficult to establish the cost of running individual university units as well as the cost of corrective measures. The capacity of knapsacks - here of market sectors - will also be difficult to calculate. The method to be used here is activity-based costing, but it will not solve all the problems immediately, as its practical application is difficult.\nPractical implications: The proposed model will allow to plan and evaluate strategic changes of university as a whole and its units' position using quantitative values and to consider various strategic scenarios.\nSocial implications: In order to establish the data necessary to construct the model, various stakeholders will have to cooperate (the university promotion department, the accounting representatives, the student and industry representatives etc.), probably for the first time. Such cooperation will improve the university position even if the model itself will not be able to be applied immediately.\nOriginality/value: The link between portfolio methods and a quantitative optimization method for university management purposes has been established in the paper for the first time in the literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The drivers of economic growth in South Asia: evidence from a dynamic system GMM approach
|
[
"Economic growth",
"Energy consumption",
"Remittance inflow",
"Gross capital formation",
"Government expenditure",
"FDI",
"Inflation",
"GMM approach",
"Panel data",
"South Asia",
"O47",
"O53",
"C33"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Economic growth, an increase in real gross domestic product (GDP) over time, is a necessary condition for a country's overall social and economic development. In fact, it is the most powerful tool for creating jobs, reducing poverty and improving the standard of living through improved health status and educational attainment. Economic growth is vital especially in developing countries/regions where the unemployment rate is high and poverty is still widespread. It is evident from the previous cross-country studies that an increase in the average income by 10 per cent reduces the poverty rate in a country by 20-30 per cent approximately (Adams, 2003). Therefore, rapid and continuous economic growth is considered as the single most important factor to reduce poverty.\n2. Literature review: To explore the growth factors the researchers in the past have used both theory and empirical research. The neoclassical growth theory and endogenous growth theories are the notable theoretical frameworks on which most of the empirical studies are based on (Chirwa and Odhiambo, 2016). According to the Solow (1956) economic growth theory, physical capital accumulation is the main factor for economic growth in the short run, but in the long-run, technological advancement is also necessary. The human capital stock is also added later on as one of the key factors of economic growth to complement physical capital According to endogenous growth theory, the productivity factors (e.g. technological growth) are the main determinants of economic growth (Grossman and Helpman, 1991). Fischer (1992) also argued that factors that affect the efficiency of savings and investment also play an important role in the growth process of a country. These factors include macroeconomic stability, political and economic governance and social infrastructure, etc.\n3. Data and variable selection: The study used heterogeneous panel data approach for the empirical estimation of the regression model. The annual data of five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) have been collected from the World Development Indicators (World Bank, 2017d) published by the World Bank for the period of 1975-2016[1]. In the noted database, the inflation (CPI) data of Bangladesh were not available for the period of 1975-1985. Therefore, the inflation data of Bangladesh have been collected from the published source of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The variable GDP, gross capital formation (GCF), government consumption expenditure are measured in constant 2010 US dollars; inflation is measured as the annual percentage change in consumer price index.\n4. Method: Based on the theoretical and empirical literature review and selected variables, we design the following equations for estimation:(1)\n5. Results and discussions: The results of both static and dynamic estimations are reported in Table III. We find that an increase in energy consumption (InEnergy) has statistically significant and positive impacts on the economic growth. In addition, the empirical findings also showed that the economic growth in the South Asian countries is positively and significantly related to the GCF (GCFgr) and inflow of remittance (Rem_%GDP). Their associations are confirmed by both the static and dynamic estimation results. The extent of the effect of energy use on the economic growth is much higher than that of the other two significant variables. The findings show that a 1 per cent increase in the energy consumption leads to the economic growth by approximately 3 per cent in South Asia.\n6. Conclusion: The study examines the influence of energy consumption, GCF, remittance inflow, international trade, FDI and government final consumption expenditure on the economic growth of selected South Asian countries where panel data for the period of 1975 to 2016 are used. In the analysis, both static (PCSE) and dynamic (one step system GMM) panel estimation techniques have been employed. The robustness of the findings was confirmed as both the static and dynamic approaches indicated identical results. According to the estimated results, energy consumption has a positive and significant effect on the economic growth of South Asian countries, and the extent of the effect of this variable is enormous. Moreover, GCF and increasing inflow of remittance are also the key drivers of growth. However, international trade, FDI and government consumption expenditure are not found significant to explain the economic development in South Asia.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the drivers of economic growth in South Asia region for the period of 1975-2016 using the World Bank data.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Panel corrected standard error (static estimation) approach and one-step system generalised method of moments (dynamic estimation) approach are used.\nFindings: Both the static and dynamic estimations indicate that energy use, gross capital formation and remittances are the main drivers of economic growth in South Asian countries. The effects of all these variables are positive and significant. The extent of the effect of energy use is much higher than that of other two variables on the economic growth. A 1 per cent increase in the growth of energy consumption can expedite the gross domestic product growth by approximately 3 per cent in South Asia. However, the key variables, such as trade, government expenditure and foreign direct investment demonstrate no significant effect.\nOriginality/value: The current research is original in the sense that it investigated the issue with a new data set using improved econometric techniques. Moreover, in South Asia as a whole, this kind of study is totally absent, particularly with panel data of a large number of years. Furthermore, this study has taken into account the problem of heterogeneity and the biases created by cross-section dependence, which were mostly absent in previous studies. Therefore, the findings of this research are new contributions to the existing literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Does corporate governance structures promote shareholders or stakeholders value maximization? Evidence from African banks
|
[
"Africa",
"Corporate governance",
"Stakeholder theory",
"Bank profitability",
"Shareholder theory"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Corporate governance involves a set of relationships between a company's management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders. Corporate governance also provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set and the means through which those objectives are determined (OECD, 2004; Shleifer and Vishny, 1997). It also involves monitoring performance of firms. This means that corporate governance has emerged as a critical mechanism for accelerating firm performance and economic growth (Aggarwal et al., 2011; Stafsudd, 2009; Jadhav and Katti, 2012; Hasan et al., 2014). Corporate governance structures in prior studies are evidently represented as CEO duality, board size, board gender, audit committee independence and nonexecutive members on the board. Given the potential of corporate governance promoting economic growth and firm performance, many studies have explored these benefits associated with it at the national and firm levels (La Porta et al., 2000; Hasan et al., 2014). Studies including Shleifer and Wolfenzon (2002), Abdullah (2004) argued that effective or strong corporate governance structures form a corporate atmosphere that discourages corporate insiders or managers from pursuing their own value, alleviates the risk of mismanagement or negligence and hence enhances firm value or performance. In effect, in the presence of effective corporate governance structures, corporate insiders have a disincentive to pursue their own opportunistic interest, as these good corporate structures serve as a deterrent or disciplinary measure that guides the corporate dealings to maximize firm value (Eisenberg et al., 1998; Epps and Cereola, 2008; Judge et al., 2003). This suggests that some corporate governance structures promote firm performance.\n2. Literature review: Until recently, corporate governance thrived on the shareholder theory. However, in recent times, the stakeholder theory has emerged as another theoretical perspective to corporate governance. These two theoretical perspectives to corporate governance argue from diverse angles.\n3. Data and methodology: The data for this study are panel gathered from Bankscope and World Development Indicators databases. The data cover 270 banks in 29 countries in Africa from 2006 to 2011. Brooks (2008) asserted that the panel data technique reports more convincing results than the time series and cross-sectional techniques because the panel technique exploits the advantages of the time series and cross-sectional data and at the same time corrects for the disadvantages of the two estimation techniques, respectively. Also, using the panel data has the ability to control for omitted variables and bank-specific effects. It also allows for both long- and short-run effects, which helps to overcome the shortcomings of the cross-sectional and time series estimation techniques (Wooldridge, 2009). The universal form of a panel data model is stated as:\n4. Variables definition and selection: Following finance literature (Ross, 2008), we measure return on equity (ROE) as net profit scaled by total equity and return on assets (ROA) as earnings before interest and tax scaled by total assets. In corporate finance and accounting, ROE represents the value of shareholders which captures the agency perspective, whereas ROA represents the stakeholders' perspective. These two are our dependent variables.\n5. Estimation technique: The study uses the Prais-Winsten (PW) generalized least squares (GLS) estimation technique given the problems of autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity in the ordinary least squares (OLS) and random effect (RE) GLS estimates. Prais and Winsten (1954) suggested that PW linear regression provides room for correcting serially correlated residuals and heteroskedastic estimates. The Prais-Winsten GLS estimation is used for a number of reasons. First, the PW model provides the opportunity to control for autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity. Second, the PW approach is more effective in dealing with serial correlation, especially when the serial correlation is closer to one. Third, the PW method affords the opportunity to suppress the constant (in a panel data form) for efficient estimates unlike the GLS fixed effect (FE) regression. Finally, the asymptotic results suggest that the feasible PW estimator is the best estimator in most applied situations (Judge et al., 1985). The study further estimates OLS and RE estimation techniques for consistency of estimates.\n6. Robustness and diagnostic checks: To check whether the results are robust, we use several strategies and techniques to ensure consistent, efficient and unbiased estimates. The study tests for assumptions that need to be met for a regression analysis. The tests conducted include normality, multicollinearity, acceptability, heteroscedascity and autocorrelation. First, using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test with null hypothesis of no normal distribution, the test rejects the null hypothesis of no normal distribution for all variables (Table III). This leads to the conclusion that the variables are normally distributed. The study estimates the models using OLS at the initial stage (Models 5 and 6). However, given the problem of heteroscedasticity within the OLS models, the study further estimates the RE (Models 3 and 4). Second, using the mean, maximum and minimum values, there is no evidence of outliers which have the potential to bias the results. Third, using the Pearson's correlation matrix (Table IV), the study screens for multicollinearity among the variables and found no evidence of multicollinearity (following Kennedy, 2008). The RE was estimated ahead of the FE because of the fact that controlling for within effect under the FE estimation technique was difficult as most of the proxies for corporate governance did not change or vary over the period of study, hence dropping all the corporate governance variables in the FE model even after controlling for year effects (see Appendix). However, there was still evidence of heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation in the RE models estimated (Table V). Hence, to ensure that our models are fit for generalization and robust coefficients, we adopt the GLS Prais-Winsten estimation technique (Models 1 and 2), which gives us the opportunity to resolve the problem of heteroscedastic and autocorrelation. Thus, the study discusses and relies on the estimates from the PW in Models 1 and 2. The coefficients are generally consistent across the models indicating the fitness of the models. The F test and the R2 are all indications that the model is fit and sound for generalization (Table V).\n7. Results and discussions: Table VI shows estimates of how corporate governance structures promote shareholder and stakeholder value using different estimation models (PW, RE and OLS. As discussed in the previous section, although different estimation models are used, the PW estimates (Models 1 and 2) are the preferred models because econometric problems such as heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation are controlled for, unlike the estimates from the RE and OLS models. Hence, the discussion is focused on Model 1 and Model 2. While Model 1 represents shareholder value, Model 2 represents stakeholder value in banks in Africa. CEO duality is negatively and significantly related to shareholder (Model 1) and stakeholder (Model 2) values. That is, banks that have their CEOs being the board chairman are likely to experience a reduction in bank profitability. This indicates that weak corporate governance does not promote stakeholder value in banks in Africa. This finding is in line with prior studies that argued that good corporate governance promotes firm performance (Shleifer and Wolfenzon, 2002).\n8. Conclusion and policy recommendations: Improving firm performance and ultimately maximizing shareholder value have remained dominant and core to most financial studies and discussions. Several strategies including good corporate governance have emerged as mechanisms for improving firm performance and ultimately maximizing shareholder value. The discussions on how corporate governance affects firm performance have mostly remained in the domain of shareholder theoretical framework. However, given the less discussed effect of corporate governance in the stakeholder theoretical framework, this study attempts to identify which corporate governance structures promotes or protects stakeholders and shareholders value maximization. To do this, the study represents shareholder value with ROE, while representing stakeholder value with ROA.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between corporate governance structures and stakeholder and shareholder value maximization perspectives in 267 African banks from 2006 to 2011.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors used the Prais-Winsten ordinary least squares and random effect regression models to explore this relationship to ensure consistency and efficiency in results. The data for this study were collected from Bankscope.\nFindings: The results of this study show that corporate governance structures such as CEO duality, nonexecutive members and extreme large board size lead to a reduction in both shareholder and stakeholder value maximization. However, audit independence and board size also promote both shareholder and stakeholder value maximization. Although gender diversity promotes profit maximization, it was not significant in any of the models estimated. The results further suggest that the same corporate governance structures promote and detract shareholder and stakeholder value maximization in Africa although the effect of corporate governance structures was weightier on shareholder value maximization confirming the agency theory.\nPractical implications: From these findings, bank management must pursue the institution of good corporate governance structures and avoid weak corporate governance structures to promote shareholder and stakeholder value maximization. Also equity holders may have to pay particular attention to corporate governance structures because they benefit the most from the institution of good corporate governance structures.\nOriginality/value: This study explores and compares how corporate governance structures promote shareholder and stakeholder value maximization separately in African banks. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first of such studies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Service employees' fit, work-family conflict, and work engagement
|
[
"Work engagement",
"Romania",
"Work-family conflict",
"Life satisfaction",
"Person-job fit"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In today's competitive milieu, many service companies are discovering the critical role of frontline employees (FLEs) in service delivery process. However, FLEs often experience work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC) which are the two stressors in the work-family nexus (Choi and Kim, 2012; Karatepe, 2013a). WFC refers to \"a form of interrole conflict in which the general demands of, time devoted to, and strain created by the job interfere with performing family-related responsibilities\" and FWC refers to \"a form of interrole conflict in which the general demands of, time devoted to and strain created by the family interfere with performing work-related responsibilities\" (Netemeyer et al., 1996, p. 401). If FLEs are unable to balance work (family) and family (work) responsibilities, they cannot be engaged in their work and display dissatisfaction with life in general. It appears that management has to consider the importance of fit between employees' abilities and demands of a job (Edwards, 1991).\n2. Research model and hypotheses: 2.1 Research model\n3. Method: 3.1 Sample and procedure\n4. Results: 4.1 Assessment of psychometric properties of the measures\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Evaluation of findings and contribution to current knowledge\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Using person-job fit, congruence and conservation of resources theories as the theoretical underpinnings, the purpose of this study is to propose and test a research model that investigates work-family conflict and family-work conflict as mediators of the impact of person-job fit on work engagement. The model also examines the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between conflicts in the work-family interface and life satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data gathered from frontline hotel employees two weeks apart in three waves in Romania were utilized to assess the abovementioned relationships via structural equation modeling.\nFindings: Two directions of conflict act as partial mediators between person-job fit and work engagement. Work engagement fully mediates the relationship between work-family conflict and life satisfaction, while it functions as a partial mediator of the effect of family-work conflict on life satisfaction.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to current knowledge by investigating the interrelationships of person-job fit, two directions of conflict, work engagement and life satisfaction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Reviving the ubuntu spirit in landscapes of practice: evidence from deep within the forest
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Workplace",
"Responsibility",
"Connectedness",
"Humanism",
"Thriving"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Contemporary being is framed and marred by commodification and individualism according to many scholars (e.g. Zizek, 2014; Furedi, 2006, 2010). Walk around any large city and you will see advert, upon advert, upon advert, targeting individuals, with commodified items or experiences which aspire to make the individual feel better. Adverts for family health insurance do not target the collective family unit - they target and appeal to the concerns, values, or feelings of the purchaser to act as a responsible individual towards their family. You can walk past a faith establishment and find how they have been commodified - \"Church for Hire!\" (see Wall and Perrin, 2015, p. 16). You can visit a consumer choice website which generates Best Buy reviews of mobile phones, microwaves, or vacuum cleaners, and even browse Best Buy care home facilities, Best Buy birthing facilities, and Best Buy education. All aspects of life have been commodified towards the enhancement of the individual. The basic elements of life are now commodified: we buy soil from garden centres (earth), we buy fans (wind) for when we are too hot, we buy bottled mineral drinks (water) when we are thirsty, and we buy the earth's natural gases for when we want heat for cooking (fire).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a humanistic perspective on practice and prompts us to think about some of the implications for a more connected perspective on work and learning.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper takes literary and metaphoric approach to discussion to evoke and engage the audience. It uses the primary device of the thriving of forests to prompt reflection.\nFindings: This paper prioritises concepts of sustainability and responsibility and aims to prompt the reader in thinking about connectedness in relation to their own life and work.\nOriginality/value: This paper attempts to challenge an overly economic concept of work and learning, and offers an alternative humanistic metaphor to evoke and engage the reader. It values and encourages an experimental form of writing.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Value added intellectual coefficient (VAIC): a critical analysis
|
[
"Validity of intellectual capital measures",
"Value added intellectual coefficient",
"Measurement of company efficiency",
"Intellectual capital",
"Finland",
"Financial management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Background and aims: Intellectual capital (IC) is a relatively recent line of research that has received increasing scholarly interest with the continuing growth and development of the global knowledge economy. Several IC models have been developed in an attempt to operationalize the essence, function and benefits of IC. These models and tools for the assessment and measurement of IC are ultimately motivated by the drive to improve overall business performance in the knowledge economy. The methodological challenge in developing these models is to find ways in which to reliably identify IC and its economic impact, and on the other hand to find out how IC can be optimized with a view to boosting economic growth.Most of the work to date has been based on qualitative research and the building of theoretical models. Empirical measurements of the economic impacts of IC, on the other hand, still remain quite scarce. The most important among the latter contributions to the ongoing debate are the methods developed by Ante Pulic (2000) (VAIC[1]); Thomas A. Stewart (1997) (CIV[2]), Baruch Lev (2001 and 2003) (IDE[3] and OC[4]) and Carol Corrado, Charles Hulten and Daniel Sichel (Corrado et al., 2004) (CHS[5]).Intellectual capital is a complex issue that is relatively difficult to conceptualize, define and measure research into intellectual capital has multiplied over the past two decades, and the content and significance of the concept have received much discussion in the research literature. On a microeconomic level, \"intellectual capital\" refers to the sources of non-physical (added) value for a company or organization: human capital (e.g. skills, experience, training etc.), relational capital (e.g. customer and stakeholder relations, brands, agreements) and structural capital (e.g. company culture, working environment, systems, immaterial rights). By now there is fairly broad agreement about the structure and scope of intellectual capital, and the research literature generally reflects the same distinction of intellectual capital between human capital, structural capital and relational capital. This taxonomical understanding of intellectual capital was first presented by Karl-Erik Sveiby in the mid-1980s and further developed by Edvinsson and Malone (1997), Sullivan (1998), Edvinsson (2005) and Andriessen and Stam (2004). On a macroeconomic level, research into intellectual capital began just after the turn of the millennium, and the measurement methods it used were mainly based on the categorization presented by Edvinsson and Malone and on the indicators developed based on that categorization (e.g. Bontis, 2004; Andriessen and Stam, 2004, 2005). Several models based on the formation of company value have likewise been applied in macroeconomic research (see for example Unpan, 2003; EIS, 2006, 2007; EU, 2004, 2005, 2006a, b; OECD, 2006; WEF, 2006, 2007; Pulic, 2000, 2003; Van der Zahn et al., 2004).In this paper we focus on value added intellectual capital coefficient (VAIC) method developed by professor Ante Pulic (2000, 2003, 2005)[6]. The purpose of this study is to analyse the validity of the VAIC method as an indicator of intellectual capital. What does it indicate about a company's intellectual capital and the creation of value based on it? Does it provide information about a company that financial indicators do not? In our analyses we also test the hypothesis that Pulic has put forward: The present market value of a company can be estimated on the basis of that company's VAIC value. According to the hypothesis VAIC correlates with a company's stock market value or more generally with its economic performance as measured by return on assets (ROA) or returns on investments (ROI).This article proceeds as follows: Section 2 describes the VAIC method based on the calculation formulae it uses, and analyses what the method actually measures. It also looks closely at how intellectual capital is understood in the method, and how it differs from the definitions generally accepted in research literature. In section 3 we set out to test whether VAIC correlates with a company's market value. The most recent tests of this kind were performed in the early 2000s (see, e.g. Samiloglu, 2006 and Appuhami, 2007), and therefore it is interesting to see how the changes in economic drivers during the past decade may have affected the results. The material for our analysis consists of the 2006-2008 financial statement data for 125 listed Finnish companies. In addition we explore in more detail the reasons for the earlier contradictory results.\n2. Value added intellectual coefficient (VAIC): 2.1 VAIC model\n3. Testing the hypothesis: Pulic (2000) has put forward the following hypothesis: The present market value of a company can be estimated on the basis of that company's VAIC value. According to the hypothesis VAIC correlates with a company's stock market value or more generally with its economic performance as measured by return on assets (ROA) or returns on investments (ROI) (Clarke et al., 2010).We begin with a description of the empirical results reported by Pulic (2000), and then move on to compare the results with other applications of VAIC and some of the criticisms presented of the hypothesis. Next, we report our own application of the VAIC method in which we analyse the performance of companies listed on the Helsinki stock exchange from 2006 to 2008 (125 companies in all) and from 2004 to 2008 (94 companies in all)[9] and compare our results with those of Pulic and others. Finally, we offer our assessment of the accuracy of the hypothesis and present our evidence-based arguments for that assessment.The thinking underlying the hypothesis is that the difference between book value and market value depends on the company's intellectual capital, and therefore its value can be estimated by using VAIC. Furthermore if the company's market value is considerably higher than its value as calculated by VAIC, then the company is overvalued. It is worth noting that if this hypothesis is true, VAIC could be used both for purposes of evaluating the value of intellectual capital and the company's feasible market value, for instance in connection with company acquisitions.The hypothesis is based on empirical findings alone; and is not originally supported by any theoretical reasoning. The empirical basis consists of results found by applying VAIC on 27 randomly selected FTSE 250 companies[10] from 1992 to 1998/1999 and where it was found that these companies' market values correlated with their VAIC scores. The association is postulated in general terms without transparent statistical analyses of the findings.The hypothesis is based on the following reasoning (Pulic, 2000, p. 39):As the results of our empirical analysis have been confirmed by relevant statistical analysis, which had shown a high degree of correlation between the market value and the efficiency of resources, it seems logical to go a step further and conclude that this relationship could also function vice versa. This means that we should be able to calculate the approximate MV (Market Value, addition by the authors) for any company via the VAIC(tm) coefficient. The following formula is used for calculation: Equation 4 All elements][11] are known except the rc (the relation coefficient). How do we define this unknown element? In all the examples we have shown a smaller or bigger gap between the trends of MV and VAIC(tm) could be noticed. The relation coefficient (rc) functions as a neutralizer for this gap. ... The divergences from the real market value moves between 0.1 - 15%. Most of the difference depends on the value of rc: the more precise the definition of this coefficient the higher the prognostic ability.According to the hypothesis VAIC also correlates with a company's economic performance more generally as measured by return on assets (ROA) or returns on investments (ROI). In both cases higher VAIC scores correlate positively with the effectiveness by which management uses the company's value creation potential. This, in turn, is reflected in increasing market value and returns on investments.The hypothesis can thus be divided into two separate hypotheses focusing on the linkage between VAIC to economic performance and market value:H1. AIC has a positive connection to company market values (MV).H2. VAIC has a positive connection to company economic performance as measured by general capital efficiency measures (e.g. ROA, ROI or ROE).3.1 Earlier research\n4. Conclusions: In his paper \"MVA and VAICTM analysis of randomly selected companies from FTSE 250\" (Pulic, 2000), Pulic puts forward his hypothesis that VAIC can be used to calculate an expected, approximate market value of a company. Our results do not lend support to this hypothesis. On a component level we detected a weak correlation between capital employed efficiency and the market value to book value ratio. However, in the context of VAIC calculations this is more a tautology than a genuine result, since it is self-evident that capital employed efficiency as a capital efficiency measure correlates positively to a company's market value behaviour. In cases where a correlation cannot be found, it is hard to find a reason for that since the other components are not clear and transparent enough. The main reasons behind the confusion and lack of consistency in VAIC results are as follows:* Confusion of capitalized and cash flow entities in the calculation of structural capital. Capitalized and cash flow entities are two different categories that behave in fundamentally different ways. Value added is a dynamic entity with several internal components that vary on a daily basis. Capitalized entities are more stable and static and are slower to change. The main reasons for the contradictory results of VAIC may have to do with the volatility of value added. Value added is a central element in the VAIC formula and therefore makes it unstable. This is why the time interval of VAIC measurement also affects the results.* Misuse of intellectual capital concepts. It is virtually impossible to see what exactly it is that VAIC measures. The use of IC concepts is confusing, and those concepts add nothing to standard efficiency measures. In this study we demonstrated that VAIC can be de facto implemented solely by using the concepts of labour and capital intensity and real labour productivity. Expressed in this way, VAIC becomes transparent and more readily understandable, and applied in this manner the results probably become more stable and the deviations become easier to explain.Furthermore our analysis has shown that the weak positive correlation between VAIC and company performance can be reduced to the definition of VAIC and its direct connection to:* real labour productivity; and* returns on capital assets in general.No linkages to IC concepts are needed or adequate. Finally, based on our analysis we argue that VAIC involves a yet unsettled conception of IC capitalization via its components of human and structural capital.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this study is to analyse the validity of the value added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) method as an indicator of intellectual capital.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper describes VAIC through its calculation formulae and aims to establish what exactly it is that the method measures. It also looks in detail at how intellectual capital is understood in the method, and discusses its conceptual confusions. Furthermore, the paper tests the hypothesis according to which VAIC correlates with a company's stock market value, and reflects the contradictory results of earlier studies.\nFindings: - The analyses show, first, that VAIC indicates the efficiency of the company's labour and capital investments, and has nothing to do with intellectual capital. Furthermore, the calculation method uses overlapping variables and has other serious validity problems. Second, the results do not lend support to the hypothesis that VAIC correlates with a company's stock market value. The main reasons behind the lack of consistency in earlier VAIC results lie in the confusion of capitalized and cash flow entities in the calculation of structural capital and in the misuse of intellectual capital concepts.\nPractical implications: - The analyses show that VAIC is an invalid measure of intellectual capital.\nOriginality/value: - The result is important since the method has been widely used in micro and macro level analyses, but this is the first time it has been put to rigorous scientific analysis.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Predicting leadership: The assessment center's extended role
|
[
"Assessment centres",
"Leadership",
"Management development",
"Equal opportunities",
"Trust",
"Organizational change"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Successful hospitality managers don't just talk about change, they live it. Every day, high performing organizations and the people who develop them experience novel and unpredictable events. Look around at well-respected senior executives, at young, fast-tracked managers, and at the brightest and most promising hospitality students. You'll find that they all respond effectively in a dynamic organizational environment. In addition, two other competencies have been found to characterize tomorrow's high performers - the ability to establish trust in work environments, and the behaviors and sensitivities required to manage effectively in a multinational workplace.\nLeadership competency clusters: The phrase \"competency cluster\" is used to indicate a set of competencies - knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes-that, when applied appropriately, result in desired outcomes. The first cluster of significance to leadership effectiveness is the ability to respond to change. While part of change management involves planning, the change process itself is guided by individuals who identify dilemmas, make decisions, and take actions during the transition period. Hennessy (1998), for instance, found that a leader's behavior significantly influences the effectiveness of the change management. A robust stream of research has documented the importance of the leader's role in the change process (Isaac-Henry and Painter, 1991; Stewart and Kringas, 2003; Buchanan et al., 1999; Conger et al., 1999).Recent studies have also established the importance of trust to leadership success (Simons, 2002a, 2002a; Zaheer et al., 1998; Barney and Hansen, 1995; Herzog, 2001). Trusted leaders inspire a shared vision and motivate employees to collective action. Trust has been identified as central to building essential relationships and gaining employee commitment (Becerra and Gupta, 2003; Butler and Cantrell, 1994). In fact, in a recent Wall Street Journal article (Hymowitz, 2004) the author argued that the measure of a great leader is whether employees will follow him or her. Such loyalty, the author proposes, is the result of having developed strong bonds of trust. Other researchers agree, noting that trust provides one of the only genuine sustainable competitive advantages in today's dynamic business environment (Srikonda, 2000; Maccoby, 1997; Rousseau et al., 1998).Finally, there is no question that organizations are becoming more multinational and workforces more diverse (D'Annunzio-Green, 1997; Kauser and Shaw, 2001; Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1999). Consequently, those in leadership positions have in common the need to manage across cultures whether at the individual, team, unit, or corporate level. Increasingly, leadership success will depend on the ability to maintain agile cultures and to build trust in diverse hospitality environments.Given the importance of these competency clusters, those responsible for preparing human resources must seek the most effective means of identifying and developing the next generation of leaders.\nBackground on the assessment center method: According to one well-accepted definition (Gatewood and Feild, 1987, p. 471), an assessment center is a method of evaluating individuals' knowledge and skills using a series of exercises or activities designed to elicit a range of responses. Starting with a thorough job analysis, key competencies are identified. Then, activities are developed that are intended to elicit the behaviors deemed most crucial for job success. Evaluators, referred to as assessors, are trained to observe, appraise, and record participants' performance during these exercises using structured feedback forms. Results of standardized tests are often used to supplement assessors' observations. After a day or more of activities, assessors meet to develop a consensus evaluation of each participant on the specific dimensions of concern before sharing their evaluations with the assessee. Frequently, a specific plan for professional development is also suggested. Through this process, an individual's current competencies and future potential can be assessed in a reliable and controlled manner as assessors observe participants leading discussions, solving problems, and performing other typical managerial tasks (Carr, 1995; Appelbaum et al., 1998; Karren, 2001; Hough and Oswald, 2000).The assessment center concept is not new. In fact, the US Office of Strategic Services used assessment centers during World War II for the selection of secret intelligence agents and propaganda experts for foreign assignments (Thornton and Byham, 1982). In 1989, the International Personnel Management Association published a document called Guidelines and Ethical Considerations for Assessment Center Operations. These guidelines were up-dated in 2000 and endorsed by the 28th International Congress on Assessment Center Methods (Joiner, 2000, 2002).Research on the value and validity of assessment center s began in the late 1960s. Accumulated literature has clearly established the value of center activities in evaluating a wide range of pre-determined knowledge and skills. Such studies have been reviewed periodically (Huck, 1977; Klimoski and Strickland, 1977; Jansen and Stoop, 2001; Winter, 1995; Tziner, 1990; Spychalski et al., 1997); the majority of researchers subsequently have concluded that the assessment center method has a sufficiently high criterion-related validity to be considered a reliable indicator of an individual's future performance.Examples of assessment center experiences and the various competencies assessed can be found in both business and management education (Brownell and Chung, 2001; Rowe, 1994; York, 1995). Accounts of center effectiveness as a selection and development process have been reported in a wide range of arenas such as global sales (Cook and Herche, 1992), finance (Tziner, 1990), health care (McDaniel, 1995), law enforcement (Cosner and Baumgart, 2000; Bromley, 1995), the military (Thomas et al., 2001) and hospitality (Littlefield, 1995; Berger, 1985; Berger, 1985), among others.The potential of assessment centers to provide valuable insights into participants' performance, however, extends beyond the information traditionally gained by observing specific behaviors to evaluate the mastery level of a particular skill. When systematically developed with clear outcomes in mind, collective judgments about a much broader and more complex level of assessee performance can be attained. The focus of this paper is on the use of assessment center s to make informed judgments about three such critical and overarching leadership competencies.\nExtended applications of the assessment center method: In studies conducted to determine the validity of assessment center measures (Lievens, 2001a, 2001b; Kudisch et al., 1997; Lievens and Conway, 2001; Arthur et al., 2000), several researchers noted that there were particularly high inter-correlations among assessment dimensions. This discovery suggests that an individual's (assessee's) behaviors might be clustered into fewer and broader dimensions with little decrease in assessment validity (Arthur et al., 2003; Jones and Whitmore, 1995). In other words, assessors in the past have focused on single behaviors such as eye contact, probing questions, or message organization and have used these indicators to make judgments about traditional managerial skills such as presentational speaking or discussion leading. Now, however, there appears to be support for making broader and equally as reliable judgments about the more complex performance dimensions of facilitating change, developing trust, and managing diversity. Effectiveness in each of these dimensions requires a cluster of knowledge, skills, and attitudes.In addition, research findings confirm that assessors who focus on fewer clearly defined performance dimensions are able to classify the behaviors they observe more accurately (Gaugler and Thornton, 1989; Sagie and Magnezy, 1997). A high degree of accuracy leads to greater convergent validity; that is, assessors' evaluations are more closely aligned. This is a desirable outcome, as feedback to assessees is more meaningful when assessors are in agreement regarding the nature of development needs. Consensus regarding judgments about the highest performing participants is also a sign of a strong and healthy organizational culture.Responsiveness to change\nThe process of assessment center development: The process of developing an assessment center to accomplish the three goals just described is similar to that used when more traditional outcomes are targeted. The process begins by clearly defining desired outcomes. Creating an assessment experience that leads to informed decisions regarding an individual's responsiveness to change, ability to establish trust, and intercultural effectiveness may seem a daunting task. Given the importance of these goals, however, an assessment center appears to be the most appropriate selection and development tool.Step 1: Collect relevant data\nAssessment center limitations: Assessment centers, for all of their obvious benefits, are not without limitations. While the author has participated in the design and development of center s created to address the three broad competences discussed here, there has been no formal longitudinal study to gauge the impact and accuracy of these interventions. Both participants and assessors express support and confidence in assessment center results. And, while numerous assessees have gone on to assume senior leadership positions, no evidence has been gathered to prove that the assessment center and subsequent development feedback directly contributed to their career development.In addition, a number of authors have reviewed the potential problems associated with the validity of assessment center results. Problems readily arise if the center is poorly designed, if the link between organizational values and assessment activities is weak, or if assessors are untrained. In addition, the self-fulfilling prophecy may affect supervisors' subsequent perceptions of a previous assessee's performance and increase the chances that she will be viewed more positively than her peers. Similar concerns center on employees' perceptions of equity if the selection process is random or unclear.An assessment center is also costly, requiring resources not only in development costs but also in the time of senior executives, who spend a minimum of two to three days involved in center activities. Such participation, as expensive as it may be, is invaluable, given the powerful impact the input from these executives has on the career development of future organizational leaders.\nConclusion: As continuous change becomes the norm, effective leaders will be those who can deal with the unexpected, who can adapt to new and complex situations, and who can create a promising future by fostering environments of trust and inclusiveness. Assessment centers have been used for several decades to evaluate management skills. Their extended application in assessing the three critical and multi-faceted leadership competencies discussed in this paper, however, makes them an even more distinctive and valuable organizational practice.How will you know whether or not an employee will respond appropriately when confronted with future dilemmas? How can you distinguish those who have the potential to develop into trusted leaders who can work effectively in a global industry? Increasingly, successful organizations are turning to assessment centers as a reliable and highly individualized way to meet future challenges by identifying the employees who will lead them there.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Predicting leadership demonstrates how assessment centers can be designed to meet the extended goals of assessing three broad-based and particularly critical indicators of hospitality leadership effectiveness: the ability to respond to change, the ability to foster trust, and the ability to create inclusive work environments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A literature review reveals the most critical hospitality leadership needs in times of rapid and continuous change, and supports the assessment center approach as a means of judging key leadership competencies. The steps involved in developing a center to assess three particularly critical leadership competencies are outlined and challenges noted.\nFindings: - The assessment center is shown to be a valuable means of both assessing and predicting leadership talent beyond the scope normally associated with this method.\nPractical implications: - Assessment center methods can be extended to accomplish the organization's most important goal - preparing for, and responding to, future leadership requirements.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is of value to both academic and practitioner readers interested in leadership development. It provides a rationale and practical guide for assessment center design and implementation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
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