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Teaching classroom management - a potential public health intervention?	[ "Mental health", "Behaviour", "Well-being", "Child health in the community", "Classroom management", "Feasibility", "Teacher training", "Mixed methods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Prevalence estimates of any psychiatric disorder for the school-age population are between 3 and 18 per cent (Costello et al., 2005) according to various editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or the International Classification of Diseases, which seems to have increased over the past 50 years (Collishaw et al., 2004; Rutter and Smith, 1995). Conduct disorder, or disruptive or antisocial behaviour that leads to impaired ability to function was the commonest disorder in two large population-based surveys of British schools (5 per cent in both surveys), while nearly half also met diagnostic criteria when followed up three years later (Macdiarmid et al.\nAims: The current study aimed to test the feasibility and acceptability of the TCM programme to teachers and headteachers, and to explore teachers' experience and perceptions of the utility of the TCM approach to their teaching practice and their self-reported well-being at work. More specifically to:\nMethods: Ethical approval was granted by the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry Research Ethics Committee.\nResults: Attendance\nDiscussion: We explored the feasibility of TCM as a public health intervention as preparatory work for a five-year cluster RCT (Ford et al., 2012). TCM aims to hone teachers' skills in pro-active behaviour management and the promotion of children's socio-emotional development. The tentative evidence gained from the current study supports the previous limited literature regarding the impact of TCM applied in isolation, and suggests that TCM may positively impact on teachers' confidence and skills. The evidence also reflects Bandura's (1977) theory of learning as a social process, as the teachers attached great value to the experience of learning within a group and the importance of sharing ideas, thoughts, concerns and practising skills in a supportive environment. The quantitative data tentatively suggest that the course influenced teacher's self-efficacy, which observational studies and theory suggest should translate to improve mental health for both teachers and children. Findings did not differ significantly between the two years, which may suggest that the group leaders' skills were adequate in the first year. However, the small sample size may mean that we lacked power to detect significant differences and the lack of a comparison group means that we cannot tell how response to the quantitative measures might have changed at group level without TCM. The influence of group leader experience and fidelity to the TCM model will be further assessed throughout the definitive trial through the video recording of all sessions and an ongoing supervision and accreditation process. Despite limitations, explored in more depth below, our findings suggest that a large, definitive RCT of TCM as a public mental health intervention is warranted. Some teachers suggested that some of the TCM materials and activities were more suited to Key Stage 1 pupils and were not appropriate for older pupils. The small sample size within the feasibility study meant that it was not possible to compare outcomes between Key Stages 1 and 2 teachers, however, this will be addressed in the large RCT, which will recruit children aged four to nine.\nConclusion: This feasibility study demonstrated that headteachers were interested in accessing TCM and were willing to release teachers to attend the course, and that most teachers reported TCM to be of use in their professional development. Funding has been obtained for a RCT to evaluate TCM in 80 schools in southwest England (STARS; Ford et al., 2012), which will assess effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in relation to child mental health, as well as attainment and teacher mental health. Findings from the qualitative methods used in the feasibility study (teacher focus groups and headteacher telephone interviews) provide a rich seam of contextual information and highlight the importance of social processes on the way in which the intervention is experienced, and these methods will be included as part of a detailed, embedded process evaluation within the main RCT to examine the influence of context on evaluation. The future RCT will address some of the limitations of previous studies by extending the age range of children studied, measuring teacher well-being as well as changes in child behaviour and following up both children and teachers over a longer (30-month) time period. Should TCM prove to positively influence children's mental health, as training teachers potentially influences all children subsequently taught, it would be an ideal public health intervention that would ideally be suited to implementation as a whole-school approach. Given the high prevalence and persistence of serious and sustained antisocial behaviour, and the plethora of adverse outcomes it predicts, TCM could potentially improve the mental health and well-being of a large number of children with positive effects on their developmental trajectory that are likely to profoundly influence their subsequent life trajectory.\nAcknowledgements: This research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. The authors would like to express thanks to the group leaders who facilitated the TCM courses; Kate Beard, Kristin Cain, Malcolm Fletcher, Linda Lardner, Will Pritchard and Bill Wright. The authors also thank Bryony Longdon, Trial Administrator, for the expertise in the collation and organisation of information and formatting of the final proofs. The authors would also like to thank the teachers who participated in the study and contributed the views, and the following schools: Beechwood Primary School, Glen Park Primary School, Great Torrington Bluecoat C of E Infant and Nursery School, Haywards Primary School, Honiton Primary School, Ladysmith Infants School, Oakwood Primary School, Redhills Community Primary School, Shakespeare Primary School, Sidmouth Primary School, St Leonards Primary School, St. Nicholas Primary School, St Pauls RC Primary School, Whitchurch Primary School.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of a classroom management course as a public health intervention. Improved socio-emotional skills may boost children's developmental and academic trajectory, while the costs of behaviour problems are enormous for schools with considerable impact on others' well-being.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 40 teachers attended the Incredible Years (IY) Teacher Classroom Management (TCM) intervention in groups of ten. Afterwards teachers attended focus groups and semi-structured interviews were completed with headteachers to explore whether TCM was feasible, relevant and useful, research processes were acceptable and if it influenced teachers' practice and pupils. Teachers completed standardised questionnaires about their professional self-efficacy, burnout and well-being before and after attendance.\nFindings: In all, 37/40 teachers completed the course. Teachers valued sharing experiences, the support of colleagues in the group and time out to reflect on practice and rehearse new techniques. Most teachers reported that they applied the strategies with good effect in their classrooms. Teachers' questionnaires suggested an improvement in their self-efficacy in relation to classroom management (p=0.03); other scales changed in the predicted direction but did not reach statistical significance.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although preliminary and small, these feasibility study findings suggest that it was worthwhile proceeding to a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT).\nPractical implications: Should the RCT demonstrate effectiveness, then the intervention is an obvious candidate for implementation as a whole school approach.\nOriginality/value: Successful intervention with one teacher potentially benefits every child that they subsequently teach and may increase the inclusion of socio-economically deprived children living in challenging circumstances in mainstream education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Developing a scale for measuring the personality of sport teams	[ "Brand personality", "Sport team personality", "Sport brands", "Brand image", "Brands", "Sports", "Personality measurement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nConceptual framework: The meaning and measurement of brand personality\nResearch method: The purpose of the study is to develop a reliable measure of sport team personality that incorporates the relevant dimensions/traits consumers attribute to their sport teams. In line with the reasoning of Azoulay and Kapferer (2003), sport team personality is considered here as the set of human personality traits that are both applicable and relevant for sport teams. Thus, the conceptualization of sport team personality should be relevant to this type of service because as Harris and Fleming (2005, p. 188) state, services differ in the level of customer/employee interaction and a conceptualization of service personality is \"bound by the type of service under investigation\". The study uses a multi-stage process to develop the research instrument and to refine it with the goal of obtaining a parsimonious and valid scale applicable to a broad spectrum of sport teams.The research includes three stages, each stage building on the previous stage(s). In stage one, a content analysis of the web sites of sport teams was used to generate the items to include in the other two steps of the study. In the second stage, the items were selected based on two imposed rules to avoid researcher's bias. In the last phase, the dimensions of sport team personality were defined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of survey data.Stage 1: web site content analysis\nResults: Sample description\nDiscussion of findings: This paper provides both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, the sport brand personality scale of this research suggests that one reason for the weak findings in the brand personality literature using Aaker's scale may be due to its lack of relevancy and applicability to all product/service categories. The results of an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis suggest that consumers perceive that sport teams have five distinct personality dimensions:1. Competitiveness.2. Prestige.3. Morality.4. Authenticity.5. Credibility.The creation of SPORTEAPE and its confirmatory factor results indicate that this scale is a valid and reliable measure of sport team personality. Specifically, the various measures of overall goodness-of-fit lend sufficient support to deem the findings to be an acceptable representation of the hypothesized construct.The findings confirm Aaker's (1997) assertion that the structure of brand versus human personality is characterized by an asymmetric relationship. However, they also suggest that this asymmetry exists between product/service categories as well. That is, none of the five dimensions of SPORTEAPE resemble either the \"Big Five\" dimensions of human personality or the BPS dimensions. This pattern implies that sport team personality dimensions might operate differently or serve different purposes. These results should be expected given the unique characteristics of sport brands and particularly of sport teams. Specifically, unlike other types of brands or services, the personality of a sport team is a combination of the image of its administration and personnel, the image of the team (players and coaches in and out of the field), and the image of its fans. In other types of services, the interactions between customers and employees usually influence perceptions of the service offering (Schneider and Bowen, 1995) while in sport teams there are several factors affecting perceptions of their personality and consequently their image. Thus, the personality of a sport team is more complex than in other types of services and brands consisting of unique characteristics and requiring a distinct measurement instrument such as SPORTEAPE.Moreover, the dimensions of sport teams identified in this research do not resemble any of the dimensions of other self developed instruments or modified versions of BPS used in sports. Two explanations might be provided for this phenomenon. One reason is that studies measuring sport personalities used as their bases the BPS scale so they did not examine and consequently could not identify new dimensions. The second reason might refer to their methodologies and what actually they captured in their studies. For example the \"Innovation\" dimension identified in Smith et al. (2006) study might not represent a dimension because its factor loading were low (contemporary=0.36, unique=0.45 and imaginative=0.53) and were also loaded in the excitement factor of the BPS scale (e.g. loadings of unique=0.22 and imaginative=0.29). Furthermore, their measurement model was never tested with a confirmatory factor analysis to provide evidence for the proposed dimensions.This configuration advocates that sport team personality dimensions might function differently or serve different goals to consumers. Aaker's brand personality framework captures both inner (sincerity, excitement, and competence) and aspirational (ruggedness and sophistication) associations. SPORTEAPE also encapsulates inner (morality, authenticity) and aspirational associations (competitiveness, prestige, credibility). This is in line with the brand personality research supporting that consumers create expectations about characteristics, performance and benefits of the brand while they tend to associate the brand to their own or ideal self (Fournier, 1998). SPORTEAPE taps dimensions such as prestige and competitiveness that consumers desire but not necessarily have. An explanation of this phenomenon may be the nature and purpose of the sport brands (experiential and symbolic products) that serve social and identification needs to sport consumers. Consumers get involved in sports in order to identify/attach themselves with/to winning, influential, powerful teams. This premise is also consistent with brands developed for prototypical Competitive and Prestigious products where their names (e.g. NIKE means win/triumph and comes from the name of a Greek goddess) advertisements and sponsorships associate with or aim to relate with these dimensions.However, SPORTEAPE appears to encapsulate not only the above associations, but all three functions of symbolic products proposed by Khalil (2000). Khalil (2000) categorized symbolic products according to three characteristics: admiration, respect, and dignity. SPORTEAPE incorporates all three characteristics in its dimensions. Specifically, admiration is reflected through the competitiveness dimension, respect is presented through the prestige and authenticity components, and dignity is expressed through the morality and credibility constructs.Managerial implications\nLimitations and future research recommendations: This study was designed as a preliminary phase of a study investigating sport team personality in a global market. Methodologically, this study combines qualitative and quantitative approaches that measure brand personality as both, the consumers and the firm perceive. Previous studies rely mainly on consumers' perceptions in order to identify and create the initial pool of personality traits whereas at least at the initial stage, this paper takes into account the personality a firm promotes. In the first stage of this endeavor, content analysis was utilized as a research methodology implying that the interpretation of the initial items identified through the sport teams' web sites should be limited to the apparent content observed and not extended to the underlying managerial decisions. Moreover, because the final instrument does not measure the perceptions of sport teams' managers, their assessments may constitute a future research avenue. A future study should measure which dimensions marketing managers of sport teams intend to create, explore who is responsible for the creation of the team personality and what specific actions are used in accomplishing a desired team image. As mentioned above, the personality of a sport team is a complex construct reflecting the administration, the team (players and coaches) and its fans image. The role and the contribution of these three entities in the creation of the sport team personality should be investigated in future research.Another limitation of the present study is that SPORTEAPE's has been tested in two countries (Greece and the UK). Further replications of this research to sport brands (teams/clubs) in other countries would be useful for enhancing the robustness of the scale and increasing its external validity. SPORTEAPE should be tested in other types of sport brands such as sport events (e.g. Olympic Games), sport organizations (e.g. NBA) and sport endorsements. Furthermore, SPORTEAPE should be tested in other products that share similar characteristics with sport teams such as other symbolic and experiential services in order to examine the degree of its applicability.Another future research directive refers to the identification of the antecedents and consequences of a sport team personality. Recently, Mowen and Voss (2008) have proposed among other steps in scale development to test the construct under investigation by using a hierarchical network of antecedents and consequences. In this study, only team involvement was tested as an outcome of sport team personality with encouraging results. However, the sport team personality framework and scale developed here can be utilized to empirically test the antecedents and outcomes of sport team personality. Such an initiative would shed light on theoretical and practical implications while it will further validate SPORTEAPE. Antecedents such as team logo, team mascot, team involvement, and team self expression in conjunction with consequences such as team image, team trust, team attachment, team loyalty, and team satisfaction are recommended in future investigations of sport team personality.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of the study is to develop a reliable measure of sport team personality that incorporates the relevant dimensions/traits consumers attribute to their sport teams.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Initially, content analysis of sport teams' web sites and magazines were used to identify the items of the scale. Following this a survey research method was used to gather data from consumers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on a sample of 301 consumers.\nFindings: - The analyses of the data resulted in a sport team personality scale consisting of five dimensions: competitiveness, prestige, morality, authenticity, and credibility\nPractical implications: - Sport brand managers can use the scale for benchmarking purposes and for examining how their sport teams/brands are perceived by sport consumers in terms of the five dimensions identified in this research.\nOriginality/value: - The study expands the concept of brand personality to sport services and provides insights into the main dimensions of sport brands' personality. This is the first study that develops a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the personality of sport teams.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Female directors and the media: stereotypes of board members	[ "Media", "Stereotypes", "Corporate image", "Women on boards", "Women directors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The question of the media's portrayal of women who sit on boards of directors has received little attention in academic business research. The importance of this portrayal, especially when we talk about women in positions of leadership, is key in forming perceptions of women's role in business, as well as those of corporations.\nWomen on boards and the media: Stereotypes of women in the media\nThe image of women as reinforcing or eliminating barriers to reach board levels: state of the art: There is a body of literature on the subject of women on corporate boards, particularly on the barriers that women face to get to the top positions in companies (Johnson et al., 1996). One of the limits for women is the so-called \"glass ceiling\", a term created by Hymowitz and Schellhardt (1986) in the Wall Street Journal, referring to an invisible but unbreakable obstacle preventing minorities and women from making their way to the top positions in companies, however well qualified they might be. This definition implies a worldwide lack of women in top management positions and, more especially, on boards of directors (Arfken et al., 2004).\nWomen directors and image: a new comprehensive framework for research: Previous research shows that the media play a mediating role in creating stereotypes that influence the decisions and the expected outcomes of women on boards, from their selection to the internal dynamics of the board, as well as the effect on the company's image. However, the media can also play a fundamental role in deconstructing stereotypes, providing a diverse typology of women onto boards, representing different styles and personalities and bringing different characteristics. The selection of these new directors might be very much influenced by media portrayals, which affect existing board members and the stereotypes they already have in their minds.\nConclusions, limitations on further research and policy implications: The theoretical framework described above intends to highlight the role played by image and the media in the way women are selected to senior management positions and the resulting dynamics once they have been selected. In particular, we have looked at the potential effect women's selection could have on corporate image, which is one of the possible reasons for appointing female directors to the board. The main argument of the theoretical framework is the belief that the media can play a crucial mediating role in deconstructing women's stereotypes, but can also create shared frames of reference about the image of women on boards, and therefore can reinforce stereotypical perceptions of women, which can add limitations to the access of women on boards.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the research in this field on the portrayal of women and the effect this has on boards and corporate image, as well as to propose a theoretical framework for further research on the effects of media stereotypes. The theoretical model aims to analyze the media's effect on female board members, and how this helps in the process of changing stereotypes or whether it consolidates existing preconceptions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper reviews the existing literature on the subject and proposes a theoretical model for future research, contributing thus in opening a new line of research in the field of the roles of women on boards.\nFindings: The conclusions reached will have important consequences for the future of women on boards in relation to three fundamental issues: the types of women that join boards of directors, the type of female profile companies search for and the roles women are expected to play on those boards.\nResearch limitations/implications: The theoretical framework developed encourages corporate governance agents, business leaders and institution to reflect on potential gender biases.\nPractical implications: The theoretical framework developed encourages corporate governance agents, business leaders and institutions and media agents to reflect on potential gender biases.\nOriginality/value: An important body of literature already exists showing how the portrayal of women can reinforce or eliminate barriers to access membership of a board of directors. There is also a solid body of literature showing the media's effect on transmitting or changing preconceived ideas about women in business, as well as the potential impact of appointing them - through the influence of different stakeholders - on a company's image. However, there has been little substantial research carried out on the media's effect on gender diversity on boards.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The karma of consumption: role of materialism in the pursuit of life satisfaction	[ "Motivation", "Life satisfaction", "Materialism", "Karma" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Materialism (MAT) has received considerable academic attention because of its influence on consumers' psychological well-being and consumption behaviour (Belk, 1983; Burroughs and Rindfleisch, 2002; Wang, 2016; Xiao and Kim, 2009). The dominant view of MAT focusses on individualism and a self-prioritized lifestyle led by money, possessions and status, which may seemingly conflict with collective and prosocial goals (Awanis et al., 2017). Extant research, in general, shows that the pursuit of MAT can diminish well-being amongst consumers (Burroughs and Rindfleisch, 2002; Dittmar et al., 2014; Ryan and Dziurawiec, 2001).\nTheoretical framework: Social comparison\nStudy 1: Method\nStudy 2: Method\nResults: Moderated mediation analysis\nOverall discussion: India is a vast South Asian country with a massive population of 1.34 billion, and a per capita gross domestic product of US$1963.55[2] in 2017. The country's rising affluence will make it the third-largest consumer market by 2025, with consumer expenditure projected to increase by three times to hit US$4tn (Rapoza, 2017). With rising incomes, multiplying global connections and the influx of new consumer goods, the new middle class across various cities in India has become the most viable market segment for multinational corporations (Upadhya, 2011). They also show a great deal of selfish MAT (Fuller and Narasimhan, 2007; Varma, 1999) and have become a \"consuming class\" (Fernandes, 2006). The current research used two studies (Studies 1 and 2) to understand how Indian consumers have embraced material consumption, especially given India's recent past deprivation and new-found economic SUC. The respondents of both studies reflected the characteristics of the \"new\" Indian middle class in terms of their education, occupation and income level (Fuller and Narasimhan, 2007).\nTheoretical implications: The findings of the current research have significant theoretical and managerial implications. The study contributes to the existing literature on MAT and karmic belief in several ways. Firstly, the limited body of literature available shows that MAT can enhance well-being under certain situations, for example, in cases of prior economic deprivation, in certain Asian economies (Wong et al., 2003; Srivastava et al., 2001; Biswas-Diener and Diener, 2001). The current findings add to this literature and show that MAT can indeed enhance LS for Indians. This is important as MAT is on the rise amongst Indian consumers (Sharma, 2011) and no prior research in India has studied the influence of material values on LS. By doing so, the current work also addresses the need for more research (Chakravarti, 2006; Hill et al., 2012) to study the role of SC and MAT in the context of emerging economies.\nManagerial implications: Besides its theoretical contribution, this research also has significant practical implications. Its findings offer useful insights to the managers about the Indian middle class, especially on individual differences among the consumers in terms of their religious (karmic) beliefs, motivations for material consumption and their LS. The current findings show that karmic belief promotes MAT, which eventually influences LS. Kopalle et al. (2010) show that belief in KA is associated with a long-term orientation in individuals. The notion of KA also puts forward the view that an individual is free to choose what to do in the present or future (King, 1999). Based on the current and previous findings, marketers can influence karmic belief amongst Indian consumers to encourage them to work towards luxury acquisitions. An example would be an innovative long-term finance scheme that allows Indian consumers to work towards luxuries, such as iPhones.\nLimitations and future research: The current study has its limitations. In our study, we found the positive effect of belief in KA and MAT on respondents' well-being and LS. This is contrary to previous findings (Dittmar et al., 2014) that MAT influences LS negatively. However, our work was restricted to the Indian middle class only. Based on the fact that karmic belief is accepted by other cultures (e.g. other Asian countries, Western society), our findings should generally hold. However, it would be interesting to empirically test our model amongst other developing countries (e.g. Thailand) where the vast number of consumers are being created. Future work can also extend our study by looking at people who are living in poverty and are currently at the bottom of the societal pyramid or it could look at the effect of karmic belief in the Western context. It is also possible that the relationship between MAT and LS is non-linear and that beyond a certain point, MAT contributes negatively to LS. This could be investigated by future research. Finally, the current study was based on a single Indian metropolitan city, with this choice mainly driven by convenience. Future work could collect and analyse data from other Indian cities and from people from different social strata to enhance the study's external validity.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine how social comparison (SC) and belief in karma (KA) encourage materialism (MAT) and promote consumers' life satisfaction (LS).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two studies were conducted with Indian middle class consumers to test the basic premises of the current research. The first one used a survey (N = 247), while the second one used an experimental design (N = 206).\nFindings: The survey results showed that SC and belief in KA promoted MAT amongst Indian consumers and further enhanced their LS. Findings from the experiment revealed a novel two-way interaction, in that the KA-MAT relationship was moderated by the underlying motivation for MAT.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research may validate and extend our findings using different samples to increase external validity.\nPractical implications: By explaining the interactive effects of MAT, its underlying motivation and belief in KA, managers will gain a better understanding of why consumers in an emerging market like India purchase conspicuous products.\nOriginality/value: This is the first paper to study how the KA-MAT relationship influences LS amongst consumers in the world's fastest-rising economy. Furthermore, no prior research has reported a boundary condition for the KA-MAT relationship studied here. The findings contribute to an extremely limited body of literature on KA and consumption.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The university press: trends, initiatives and collaborations over the past several years	[ "Cooperation", "Academic libraries", "Scholarly communication", "Open access", "Patron-driven acquisitions", "University presses" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: University presses (UPs) have long been key stakeholders in the scholarly communication process by providing one of the primary means for academic faculty to publish to satisfy their institutions' requirements for promotion and tenure. The rise of the Internet and the increased dependence on digital information resources have caused widespread upheaval in the structure of scholarly publishing and have forced UPs (among other players) to reevaluate their position in a changing information landscape. In this paper, we will discuss the ways in which UPs have chosen to react to these changes with primary focus on the past five years. This will include the highlighting of key developments by UPs, the adoption or reaction to developments in the wider world of scholarly publishing and the formation of partnerships with other stakeholders in the scholarly publishing process.\nSection 1: trends and initiatives: The sustainability of UPs in the rapidly changing world of scholarly publishing is, as noted above, an area of much discussion. Many believe that a significant adjustment to the UPs' business model is needed for them to survive. Mudditt, as quoted in Bartlett (2012), describes the current scholarly publishing environment as one of \"intense transition, challenge, and opportunity\" and notes that the markets served by UPs are rapidly evolving due to technological factors. By establishing a new mission for the UP related specifically to this changing landscape and by developing a strategy based on this mission, Mudditt feels that the UP can become more sustainable by becoming more efficient and economic. A key factor in all this change is embracing the digital future and understanding that it will become necessary for UPs to publish and disseminate information that is more complex than in the past. Dougherty (2010) provides a checklist for reimagining the UP into a more sustainable form and highlights areas such as a better understanding of the needs of its authors, rethinking the editorial process to support the scholarly reputation and economic well-being of the press, incorporating digital publishing workflows into every step of the production process and maintaining a dialog with both host institutions and other stakeholders in scholarly publishing. Presses have also, perhaps because they see their role in both the scholarly publishing process and in their host institution as a central one, failed to emphasize the marketing of their services. By focusing these marketing efforts at host institutions and at research universities, as described in Esposito (2010) and in Salisbury (2012a), UPs may gain back some of the ground lost due to marginalization and may provide users with a more complete understanding of their place in the scholarly publishing process.\nSection 2: UP partnerships: In recent years, UPs have also begun to focus more keenly on the development of partnerships with other UPs and with libraries at their host institutions. Traditionally, UPs sought to be independent of other stakeholders in the information industry; this desire for independence, ingrained into many UP leaders, can make it difficult for partnerships to develop. Such partnerships are necessary if UPs are to survive the current economic difficulties and may become even more vital in the future as shifts in the economic and technological landscape continue to create turmoil in scholarly publishing (Benjamin, 2009b). While UPs have been mostly fiercely independent of outside influences beyond the world of UPs, collaborations between UPs have been fairly common in the past; similar missions and a mutual understanding of the need for autonomy makes such collaborations attractive to those involved. Three projects have provided much of the framework for these collaborations, and all were introduced in 1995:\nConclusion: The future of UPs, and of scholarly publishing, in general, is far from certain. Marginalization by host institutions, economic turmoil both internal and external and widespread upheaval in publishing have created significant problems for UPs. Some UPs have collapsed; some have been sold-off to commercial publishers; and some have been acquired by other UPs. Still more survive, though, and plan to continue to support scholarship both at their institution and in the wider academic community. With this resolve comes the acceptance that the presses must adapt their current business models to cope with these difficulties. Possible solutions fall into two general categories as outlined above, but a few additional trends may be gleaned from the information presented.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine recent trends that have affected university presses (UPs). The increased reliance on digital resources and fiscal constraints within higher education has forced UPs to re-evaluate their position with the scholarly communication system. Responses include an increased focus on partnerships, new forms of publication, changing business models and better meeting customers' needs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors have reviewed publications on UPs from the past five years and added their viewpoints on current and future trends.\nFindings: UPs must adapt to resource scarcity and current trends in scholarly communication to remain viable.\nPractical implications: Both UPs and academic libraries may gain insights on how to meet the needs of researchers and scholars within a changing environment.\nOriginality/value: This paper summarizes and evaluates a broad spectrum of research on UPs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Aracruz Celulose counts on HR when the going gets tough: Locals cast icon of best practice as the villain in 30-year land dispute	[ "Best practice", "Sustainable development", "Human resource management", "Risk assessment", "Stakeholder analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The four words which headline a corporate press release, \"Agreement settles land dispute\", do much to understate what has been a 30-year thorn in the side of a company which, on one hand, was feted with awards for its best practice on sustainability and HR, and on the other engulfed in a bitter and sometimes violent conflict over land ownership with neighboring communities.\nLobbying, demands, invasion, road block, demonstrations and damage: The road to what, it is hoped, will be a binding and lasting settlement of the dispute has been punctuated over the decades with donations of land from the company towards an Indian reservation, government intervention to authorize a larger area, a proposal by the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) for a substantial increase, invasion of company property, extensive damage to a plantation, demonstrations, a roadblock to prevent employees getting to work, attempts to damage the company's reputation both in Brazil and internationally, burning of Aracruz land, a commercial accord with Indians to purchase eucalyptus wood through a forestry-partners program, and lobbying by foreign non-governmental organizations.While some Indians claim they were forcibly evicted, the company's stance is that it has never occupied native Indian lands, nor expelled occupants, and has acquired its lands legally, even producing aerial photographs taken ten years before it began buying land, showing no indigenous villages in the region. For outsiders, however, it has been difficult to know whose word to take.With the agreement, it is now hoped the company can cast off the cloak of villain and concentrate on burnishing its reputation of being an icon of sustainability best practices. But what are the lessons to be learned, perhaps particularly for successful and well-known companies that might become embroiled in highly charged disputes with political ramifications?There are numerous potential HRM contributions to complex situations. First, HR managers can ensure that the firm's talent pool has the requisite leadership skills for future challenges. Second, they can play a role in educating managers, workers and stakeholders so that their mindsets are changing with the times and current realities. HR can play an essential role that not only increases skills but changes workers' basic assumptions and mindsets. Third, HRM can take steps to ward off or ameliorate the effect of societal conflicts and targeting by non-governmental organizations.\nBest practices needed in all areas - especially for firms in the news: Effective, ethical management practices and reasonable, consistent policies protect companies to some degree from negative external perceptions. People are less likely to assume that firms are in the wrong if they have a positive reputation in the community and are more likely to assume that problems can be resolved without resorting to extreme measures.Fourth, HR managers can educate and advocate that HRM best practices with employees and other stakeholders hold equal importance to best practices in internal operations. One of the lessons from the Aracruz case may be that best practices are needed in all areas, especially for firms that receive extensive press coverage.Finally, HR could establish social-performance tools to audit how well the company is doing in terms of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder relations.As for stakeholder theory, which advocates the inclusion of external parties, originally Aracruz may not have treated the indigenous communities as stakeholders since they questioned their legitimate right to the land. Today, however, it would be difficult to ignore their status as legitimate stakeholders, given the lengthy and damaging conflict with them.How \"better\" best practice might have helped in the case of Aracruz Celulose is difficult to imagine. How the scope of its strategic HRM could be expanded to score further sustainability goals is also difficult to define against the background of the decades-old dispute.\nGood to work for, and plenty of quality-of-life programs: In addition to being voted best company to work for, Aracruz won a \"most admired company\" award. It provides thousands of jobs directly and thousands more indirectly, offers quality-of-life programs (smoking, drugs, exercise, job rehabilitation and so on) and health programs, spends millions of dollars on training and professional development, millions more on education, health and helping needy children in the communities where it operates, and donates hatchery fish, bee hives and eucalyptus seedlings to communities and social institutions.It encourages local farmers to plant some of their land with trees and guarantees them a market, contributing not only to its own core business but also to the long-term sustainability of Brazilian forests.Under the land settlement, Aracruz will remove its wood from the disputed area within a year. It will also support the development of the indigenous communities, providing the finance for an ethnic-environmental study to identify the best options for the use of the lands, and develop projects to foster the sustainability of those communities.\nComment: This review is based on \"Aracruz Celulose: best practices icon but still at risk\", by Asbjorn Osland and Joyce S. Osland, who present a case study of a Brazilian pulp company, well-known for its best practices in sustainability and HRM, which has nevertheless faced a long-running, bitter and sometimes violent conflict over land ownership with indigenous communities. The article also includes the most up-to-date information on a settlement to the dispute as described on the company's website (www.aracruz.com).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Illustrates how good HR practices can help when a company becomes engulfed in conflict with neighboring communities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Describes the case of Aracruz Celulose which, while feted with awards for its best practice on sustainability and HR, was involved in a 30-year conflict over land ownership.\nFindings: - Argues that HR managers can: ensure that the firm's talent pool has the requisite leadership skills for future challenges; play a role in educating managers, workers and stakeholders so that their mindsets are changing with the times and current realities; take steps to ward off or ameliorate the effect of societal conflicts and targeting by non-governmental organizations; educate and advocate that HRM best practices with employees and other stakeholders hold equal importance to best practices in internal operations; establish social-performance tools to audit how well the company is doing in terms of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder relations.\nPractical implications: - Reveals that best practice in operational areas under a company's control cannot always protect firms from risks related to wider societal dilemmas.\nOriginality/value: - Cautions against allowing claim and counter-claim to fuel a festering dispute.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Legitimacy theory: Despite its enduring popularity and contribution, time is right for a necessary makeover	[ "Legitimacy theory", "Institutional environment", "Legitimacy", "Social and environmental accounting" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: I was asked by the guest editor of this issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ) - Garry Carnegie - to provide a retrospective/prospective commentary about a Special Issue of AAAJ for which I was the guest editor. Specifically, the Special Issue to be discussed is entitled Social and environmental reporting and its role in maintaining or creating organisational legitimacy. It was published back in 2002 (Vol. 15, No. 3), and consisted of five separate papers. Given that it has been 16 years since this Special Issue was published, and given the subsequent growth in research exploring social and environmental reporting and its linkage to organisational legitimacy, it does now seem timely to provide this commentary.\n2. The 2002 special issue within the broader context of AAAJ: To this point in time, and relying upon data provided by Google Scholar, the 2002 Special Issue is the issue of AAAJ that has attracted the most citations across the life of the journal. Google Scholar is used here as the source of data about citations as other citation-related data sources provide incomplete data. For example, SSCI is not appropriate in this context as AAAJ has only been included within this database since 2014. Further, another potential source of citation data - SCOPUS - only provides data for AAAJ articles published since 2005.\n3. Brief overview of the papers within the Special Issue: 3.1 Craig Deegan, \"The legitimising effect of social and environmental disclosures - a theoretical foundation\"\n4. Contribution of legitimacy theory to the accounting literature: What the papers within the 2002 Special Issue arguably did was to further promote a focus on organisational legitimacy when explaining managers' voluntary reporting decisions, and particularly, reporting decisions as they relate to the disclosure of social and environmental performance information. As reflected by the very high citation rates (already discussed), the papers in the Special Issue clearly resonated with, and captured the interest of, many researchers in accounting many of whom would have been looking for focus for their research and who perhaps were not interested in other research areas, or other research paradigms. This influence would have been further magnified by the fact that AAAJ was, and is, well respected as a place where quality accounting research is both encouraged, and published.\n5. Shortcomings of legitimacy theory: Even though legitimacy theory provides a parsimonious explanation of some important events (thereby likely passing the test of Occam's Razer as discussed earlier), and provides some important (and somewhat alarming) insights as discussed above, it does have some notable weaknesses. This paper will now identify some of the key weaknesses, and then - in the following section - suggest how the weaknesses might be addressed.\n6. So, why do we have these shortcomings in legitimacy theory?: In understanding the reasons for some of the perceived shortcomings of the theory it is useful to consider the history associated with the initial development of legitimacy theory. What effectively happened is that in the 1980s and 1990s the \"early legitimacy theorists\" in the social and environmental accounting area \"borrowed\" various \"parts\" that were needed to develop an explanation for, and predictions of, social and environmental disclosures from institutional theory and particularly from the sociological branch of institutional theory[6]. In taking a minimum of what were considered to be necessary theoretical components, and particularly those components that were restricted to the strategic aspect of institutional theory, this enabled the accounting-based researchers to generate a relatively parsimonious explanation that was also attractive to many other researchers, as has already been discussed[7].\n7. How might we address the shortcomings of legitimacy theory: As noted, many of the insights provided by legitimacy theory, as developed within the social and environmental accounting literature, originated from sources linked to what might typically be known as \"institutional theory\". As also noted, because relatively few insights were \"borrowed\" from institutional theory, and because the constructed theory (legitimacy theory) nevertheless provided predictions which apparently concurred with practice more often than not[9], legitimacy theory was able to provide a parsimonious explanation that was appealing to many researchers. This was good as it helped attract many researchers to an area that had previously been relatively overlooked, and the body of research highlighted that there are justifiable concerns with respect to how managers are strategically disclosing information about organisational social and environmental performance.\n8. Concluding comments: The papers published in the 2002 Special Issue of AAAJ arguably had a significant impact on research that followed. As a result of these highly cited publications in 2002, coupled with various other highly cited publications throughout the social and environmental accounting literature of the time, the study of organisational social and environmental reporting, and the application of legitimacy theory, has \"boomed\" since the early 2000s.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the contributions made to the social and environmental accounting literature by papers that comprised a 2002 Special Issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ) entitled social and environmental reporting and its role in maintaining or creating organisational legitimacy. This paper will also provide insights into the origins of legitimacy theory as used in the social and environmental accounting literature as well as providing reflections about the strengths, and shortcomings, of the theory. Suggestions are made with respect to the ongoing application, and development, of legitimacy theory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: As a commentary, this paper utilises a review of the social and environmental accounting and institutional literature across a number of decades to reveal insights about the development and use of legitimacy theory as a basis to explain social and environmental reporting practices. Citation data are also used to indicate the potential impact that the papers in the 2002 Special Issue had upon subsequent research.\nFindings: This commentary shows that the 2002 Special Issue is the most highly cited issue in the history of AAAJ. It also shows that individually, some of the papers in the Special Issue represent some of the most highly cited papers in the social and environmental accounting literature. The commentary provides arguments to suggest that the development of legitimacy theory is in need of further refinement, and suggests a way in which this refinement might take place.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper is largely based on the opinions of one researcher, and the evidence presented in the paper is selected on the basis that it is deemed sufficient to support the opinions being projected. The paper also relies on citation data as an indicator of \"impact\". The implication of the research is that it identifies a \"way forward\" for the development of theory applicable to the understanding of organisational social and environmental reporting practices.\nOriginality/value: The study provides evidence to show that the 2002 Special Issue was significant within the context of AAAJ, and also within the context of the evolution of the social and environmental accounting literature. The description of the history of the development of legitimacy theory, and of the theory's subsequent application, provides a solid impetus for future refinements to the theory.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Affiliate marketing and its impact on e-commerce	[ "Internet marketing", "Marketing strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nOverview: Affiliate marketing has become a major strategic consideration for all companies participating in e-commerce. The concept has certain technological complexities that have been made simpler through the development of several network companies that facilitate the tracking and settlement of payments between various companies on the internet. The strategy represents the ultimate in genuine pay for performance marketing and, as a result, represents one of the most promising long-term marketing strategies for e-commerce. In this article we will explore the inner workings of affiliate marketing, we will define the affiliate marketing marketplace including some of the participants and we will explore the characteristics of a successful long-term relationship.\nAffiliate marketing overview: Many marketers, even those involved in e-commerce, know little or nothing about affiliate marketing. Some understand the basic concepts - as pure pay for performance marketing. But often the understanding stops there. Let's explore what affiliate marketing is and how it works. To draw a simple comparison, I will remove the complexity of the technology and the internet and use a more traditional marketing tactic to illustrate the concept of affiliate marketing.Imagine that you are a catalog marketer. You have hundreds or thousands of products that you sell. You process customer orders over the telephone and through the mail. You generate customer interest by mailing printed catalogs with pictures, descriptions and prices of the various products you sell. You fund the marketing expenditures that are required to get the customer to pick up the phone and place an order. You bear the risk that the sales and gross profits associated with the orders will exceed the overall marketing expenditures associated with designing, photographing, writing, printing and mailing the catalog.Let's suppose that a potential marketing partner (let's call this partner the affiliate) comes along and offers to help you generate incremental business. The affiliate offers to pay for its own marketing efforts aimed at generating orders for your products. The affiliate will motivate customers to call your customer service number and order these products directly from you. The role the affiliate offers to play involves marketing - nothing else. The affiliate wants one thing in return: a commission on each sale. The affiliate bears the total risk associated with the cost of marketing your products. If the marketing efforts do not work, the affiliate loses money. If the marketing efforts do well, the affiliate makes money. There are no parameters or constraints that define how much or how little money the affiliate can spend or earn. The affiliate seeks unlimited downside and upside potential. For every order the affiliate generates it earns a commission (at a rate defined by you. This is, in essence, affiliate marketing.Let's compare this to traditional advertising. Let's take the example a step further and assume that you sell your products through direct response print advertising in a magazine. You pay the media cost and the advertising development cost. If it does not work, you lose. If it works, you make money. If it does great, you make a lot of money. But in these traditional scenarios, the risk is yours. In the affiliate marketing scenario, the risk is assumed by the affiliate. If one were to translate affiliate marketing into the traditional advertising world, the affiliate would design, place and pay for advertising hoping to sell enough of your products to make money. It is the ultimate pay for performance marketing strategy. It is often described as similar to having a large, independent, purely commissioned sales force.Now that we have illustrated the concept in traditional marketing channels (catalogs and direct response print advertising) lets shift gears and take it into the on-line world. This concept truly exists. Thousands of affiliates build and manage websites or offer access to existing websites to sell the products of thousands of \"advertisers\" (the term advertiser is used to represent the party on the other side of this transaction who seeks to sell the product). Affiliates place a variety of different kinds of ads on their websites (banners, text ads, even product links) that motivate consumers (website visitors) to take an action to review and potentially buy a product or service from the advertiser. When it works, the affiliate gets paid a commission.\nAffiliate marketing and the win-win relationship: When the internet and e-commerce first took off there was a great deal of enthusiasm. There were no rules and there were no proven methods or precedents. There was no value defined for the marketing efforts that take place on-line because there were no benchmarks that proved the value of certain tactics. For instance, it was difficult to define what a banner ad placement should be sold for because there were no benchmark metrics regarding how well a banner ad would perform. It was a function of the type of product or service sold and it was a function of the type of website on which the ad was published. And because of the rapidly changing nature of the marketplace the desire for metrics was rarely adequately satisfied because the target was perpetually moving.Following the early frustration of on-line marketing, in which advertisers paid for impressions, the next generation brought two things: payment for interest (clicks) and e-mail marketing. Neither one delivered on its promise. Clicks proved to be just that. Clicks were clicks and often had nothing to do with sales. E-mail quickly digressed into spam and that promise is unlikely to ever materialize in the ways that on-line marketers hoped and promised in 1998 and 1999.With all of the frustration, many in the marketplace search for true pay for performance marketing. The advertiser wins and is willing to pay when his product is sold. Given the right framework, many affiliates are willing to run ads and/or product promotions on websites knowing that they will earn commissions when successful conversion occurs. Everybody wins. There is motivation and reason to believe that this marketing strategy will live much longer than other on-line marketing strategies and will evolve over time and hold its spot as the most genuine and durable marketing activity for e-commerce companies.\nThe affiliate marketing community: There are thousands of advertisers participating in affiliate marketing programs and there are thousands of affiliates, working for many different advertisers simultaneously, driving incremental traffic and sales in exchange for commission.Most advertiser-affiliate relationships are managed through several major networks. The networks provide the technology to support tracking activities (when an affiliate sends a potential customer to an advertiser's website) and the sales transaction. They also manage the calculation of the commissions and, in most cases, the issuance of the payment(s) to affiliates and the issuance of 1099s to affiliates for payments made. The networks also facilitate the management of application processing (when an affiliate seeks to join an advertiser's affiliate marketing program) and the process of providing access to ads (banners, text links, product data file) to affiliates so they can adequately promote the advertiser's products and services. These networks basically make the process of participation easy for both advertiser and affiliate.There are a number of these network companies in the affiliate marketing space, but some of the largest and most prominent include Linkshare, Commission Junction and Performics. A fourth major player in the space, Be Free, was acquired recently by Commission Junction.These networks boast a number of well-known advertisers in their networks. The list is exhaustive and includes many household names, but some examples are as follows:* Department store/general merchandise retailers: Target, Macy's, Wal-Mart.* Apparel: Jos A. Bank, Sierra Trading Post, Orvis.* Specialty retailers: The Sharper Image, KB Toys, Tweeter, Circuit City, Best Buy, Brookstone, Linens 'n' Things.Affiliates apply to and become members of various advertiser programs and begin to promote the advertiser's goods and services in exchange for commissions of consummated sales. Affiliates do this in a variety of ways. Certain large-scale affiliates (companies like uPromise, My Points, iGive, Net Flip and eBates) have a certain following among a large population of consumers. In many cases the following is linked to added-value that consumers receive for shopping through these sites. In the case of uPromise, consumers receive a percentage of their shopping dollars deposited in an account to pay for future college tuition. In the case of iGive, a portion of the dollars spent may be deposited in an account that is ultimately disbursed to the consumer's non-profit organization of choice.There is a second tier of affiliates that is much larger in number and is comprised of companies that are not well known. These are people and companies who have recognized that this affiliate marketing marketplace represents an opportunity for innovative and entrepreneurial companies to make money on commissions by promoting the products of other companies. These second tier affiliates use a variety of tactics. Some use paid advertising on Google and Overture to drive traffic to their sites. This tactic requires enough optimization and real-time analysis to ensure that the price paid for a click through the advertising networks results in an adequate conversion rate and average commission earning to make it a profitable venture. Other affiliates rely solely on search engine optimization. These affiliates construct websites that have sufficiently interesting content to get an adequate number of natural hits through search sites such as Google and Yahoo! that lead to clicks and sales. This is a much slower path to significant commission earnings but it requires less funding for on-line advertising payments and represents less risk.One emerging trend among advertisers is to make available a \"data feed\" to their affiliates. This data feed is a copy of the advertisers product file, complete with product names, descriptions, prices and photographs. This allows affiliates to construct sites that appear much like an e-commerce site but that directs interested visitors to the advertiser's site (through the appropriate network for tracking) for the actual shopping cart transaction and shipment. In this case, innovative affiliates may enter the e-commerce space without actually having inventory, or the burden of all the operational activities associated with picking and shipping orders, processing returns and settling payments.\nCritical success factors in affiliate marketing: The key to a successful affiliate-advertiser partnership in an affiliate marketing relationship is a positive outcome for both parties. Affiliate marketing by nature represents a potential win-win situation for both parties involved. Advertisers realize the benefit of a purely commissioned sales force and have a marketing cost that is predictable. Affiliates have the opportunity to create a revenue stream without investments in inventory and infrastructure. All that is required is the ability to create websites with adequate appeal to attract enough customers that are interested in the products and services that are sold by the affiliate's advertisers.The win-win can breakdown if the advertiser's value proposition is inadequate. Affiliates conduct their business assuming that each advertiser will generate a return that is somewhat predictable over time. The variables that factor into this predictability are the conversion rate (percentage of time that a customer buys after clicking on an advertiser's link) and the average commission (the average transaction size for a particular advertiser multiplied by the commission percentage). If the value proposition is inadequate for affiliates, it is typically because the advertiser offers a commission percentage that is too low or the conversion rate for customers once they have been directed to the advertiser's website is too low. Low conversion rates occur for a variety of reasons, but at the top of the list are characteristics such as difficulty navigating the site, poor product images (if you can not easily make out the visual characteristics of a product you are less likely to buy it), poor product descriptions and uncompetitive shipping policies (free shipping, even if offered based on a minimum purchase amount, is a key contributor to conversion rate in e-commerce).\nSummary: Affiliate marketing is an emerging marketing strategy in the e-commerce marketplace that appears to have more durable potential than previous on-line marketing activities. It represents something of an open marketplace in which innovative internet marketers can generate revenue by acting as free agent salespeople for thousands on on-line brands. Advertisers achieve the benefit of a predictable marketing cost as a percentage of sales.The key to successful affiliate marketing lies in the construction of a win-win relationship between the advertiser and the affiliate. As more advertisers launch affiliate marketing programmers and more affiliates participate in the marketplace, affiliate marketing is likely to become the principle mainstream marketing strategy for e-commerce businesses in the future.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This article seeks to explore the inner workings of affiliate marketing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Defines the affiliate marketing marketplace including some of the participants and explores the characteristics of a successful long-term relationship.\nFindings: - The key to successful affiliate marketing lies in the construction of a win-win relationship between the advertiser and the affiliate. Affiliate marketing is likely to become the principal mainstream marketing strategy for e-commerce businesses in the future.\nOriginality/value: - Looks at the inner workings of affiliate marketing, defines the affiliate marketing marketplace including some of the participants and explores the characteristics of a successful long-term relationship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Servitization and digitalization in manufacturing: the influence on firm performance	[ "Performance", "Manufacturing firms", "Servitization", "Mediation", "Digitalization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The current economic environment, characterized by globalization, uncertainty and the pressure of competition, has led many manufacturing firms to seek personalized solutions for customers. Thus, achieving greater customer satisfaction involves a shift toward the provision of integrated solutions (Storbacka, 2011; Kohtamaki et al., 2013). This process is referred to in the literature as servitization, which can be understood as the process of increasing value by adding services to products (Vandermerwe and Rada, 1988). Servitization can provide customers with complete product-service systems (Visnjic and Van Looy, 2013).\n2. Conceptual framework: The development of a servitization strategy by firms promotes the adoption of digital technologies because such a strategy requires more information and control in new product-service systems (Eloranta and Turunen, 2016; Coreynen et al., 2017; Frank et al., 2019). Digitalization can be considered an enabler and a driver of servitization.\n3. Theoretical model and hypotheses: The conceptual framework suggests that services incorporated into manufacturing entail the deployment of digital technologies. The framework also suggests that, as servitization becomes more complex, more digital technologies are employed. Finally, the framework suggests that digitalization and servitization contribute to boosting firm performance.\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Sample selection\n5. Results: 5.1 Analysis techniques\n6. Conclusions: 6.1 Theoretical contribution and managerial implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to present a comprehensive framework that integrates the emerging trends of servitization and digitalization in manufacturing. The influence between digitalization and servitization is defined and quantified. Their contribution to firm performance is analyzed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper presents a theoretical model that captures the relationships between the analyzed variables. Drawing on the Spanish Business Strategy Survey, hypothesis testing is conducted using data on 828 Spanish industrial firms. Linear regression models are built to capture the effect of each variable on firm performance and the type of interaction between the variables.\nFindings: Servitization and digitalization are positively related to firm performance. Digitalization positively mediates the relationship between servitization and firm performance. The mediating effect of digitalization contributes to differentiating between the direct and indirect effects of servitization on firm performance.\nPractical implications: The paper provides a useful analysis framework for firms to evaluate servitization and digitalization as success strategies. It is proposed that firms must simultaneously commit to digital transformation and the incorporation of services to create value, especially in business-to-business settings. Servitization and digitalization interact to exert a greater influence on performance.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to the theory on service strategy by providing an analysis model that includes digitalization as a mediator of the relationship between servitization and firm performance. Digitalization may provide a mechanism to unlock the benefits of servitization and thereby enhance firm performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Loyalty programs and a sense of community	[ "Loyalty schemes", "Brand management", "Communities", "Brand loyalty", "Customer satisfaction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: loyalty programs: Since the early 1990s, organizations have been encouraging customer participation in a proliferation of loyalty programs in which consumers are offered incentives in exchange for repeat business (Roehm et al., 2002). Also known as \"frequency programs\" (Kivetz and Simonson, 2002), loyalty programs are designed as a tool for organizations to develop and enhance customer loyalty. By enrolling in organizational-sponsored loyalty programs, customers receive benefits such as monetary discounts, the ability to join customer clubs, organizational newsletters, or prizes. Based on the assumption that loyalty programs result in increased customer loyalty (Dowling and Uncles, 1997; Palmer et al., 2000), organizations have encouraged customers to enroll in sponsored programs. As a result, 70 percent of today's consumers participate in an organization-sponsored loyalty program (Merriman, 2001). However, even though organizations have placed a great deal of importance on improving customer loyalty via loyalty program membership, defection rates among satisfied customers, who are presumed to be a firm's most loyal customers, remain as high as 90 percent (Oliver, 1999).Loyalty programs = customer loyalty?\nStudy purpose and plan: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether members of communal loyalty programs exhibit a stronger loyalty to sponsoring organizations compared to members of non-communal loyalty programs. In doing so, this study bridges the brand community and loyalty program literatures by drawing on McMillian and Chavis' (1986) (also McMillian, 1996) theory of sense of community. Thus far, researchers have applied the theory of a sense of community to explore an individual's sense of being part of a geographically-based community. This study represents a first attempt to apply the theory to an individual's sense of being part of a non-geographic, relational community (Muniz and O'Guinn 2001). The study also investigates loyalty programs sponsored by both manufacturers and service establishments; heeding the call of service experts to further explore loyalty within the context of both services and manufacturers (Grove et al., 2003; Cooley, 2002). These objectives are achieved by addressing two research questions. First, can loyalty programs be differentiated based on whether or not members perceive a sense of community? Second, does this perception of a sense of community impact member loyalty to sponsoring organizations?Q-factor analysis\nLiterature review - sense of community: Many consumer researchers have generated rich, descriptive data that reveal some customers desire to participate in brand communities, represented by communal loyalty programs (McAlexander et al., 2002; Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001; Oliver, 1999; Schouten and McAlexander, 1995). In addition, McAlexander et al. (2002) recently developed a community integration scale that assesses a customer's perceived integration of being within a brand community. Although this research stream is insightful, it does not specifically address the benefits that customers may receive by participating in communal loyalty programs. Thus, a customer's motivation to participate in a communal loyalty program remains unclear.McMillian and Chavis (1986) contend that individuals achieve a sense of community when they obtain four benefits from joining a specific group. These benefits are:1. membership, a feeling of belonging;2. influence, a sense of mattering;3. integration and fulfillment of needs, a feeling that members needs will be met through group membership: and4. shared emotional connections, the commitment and belief that members have shared and will share history, common places, time together, and similar experiences.These four benefits are now discussed in-depth.Communal benefits\nStudy 1: methodology: Q-technique factor analysis is the appropriate methodology for attempting to identify types, or clusters, of people with similar views on a set of statements (McKeown and Thomas, 1988). In this study, \"people\" represent communal and non-communal loyalty program members. The Q-technique is based on a set of procedures whereby participants rank order statements. Typically, a participant orders each statement, from \"most agree\" to \"most disagree\", into a predetermined number of categories and items within each category, representing a normal distribution (Thompson, 2000). The items so arrayed comprise what is termed the Q-sort.Some researchers have criticized the technique due to the forcing procedure. Their point of contention is that participants would not sort the statements into a normally distributed pattern without being prompted to do so (Brown, 1971). To overcome this objection, the participants of this study were permitted to freely sort the statements based on Brown's (1980) recommendations. As a purely statistical matter, Q-sort results tend to be the same regardless of whether or not subjects freely distribute statements according to a forced distribution (Brown, 1971).Q-sort stimuli\nStudy 1: data results: Data from the completed Q sorts were entered into PQMethod 2.11 software (Schmolck and Atkinson, 2002). Following typical Q-sort procedures (Brown, 1980; McKeown and Thomas, 1988), principal components factor analysis was performed, with varimax rotation, to extract factors and to calculate factor loadings. These loadings represent correlation coefficients that express the amount of similarity between an individual Q sort and an extracted factor. In order to consider a rotated factor loading to be statistically significant (p < 0.01), it had to exceed 0.52. This number was obtained from the formula described in Brown (1980, pp. 283-4): (1/2.58(1[?]>N), where N= number of statements in the Q sort. Two factors, accounting for 61 percent of the total variance, emerged. The factors, and their loadings, are illustrated in Table I.Communal vs non-communal factors\nFactor comparisons: Each statement's weighted z-score is presented in order to analyze differences between communal and non-communal loyalty program members. This analysis permits a researcher to analyze low and neutral scores (+1, 0, -1) that, in a comparison to another factor, may reveal important information that distinguishes the factors.Communal loyalty program members, Factor 1, display a stronger sense of exclusivity (1) and a perception of program meaningfulness (4) compared to non-communal loyalty program members, Factor 2 (see Table VI). In addition, communal loyalty program members are somewhat more likely than non-communal members to perceive themselves as members of a loyalty program (3).Interestingly, non-communal loyalty program members perceive that their membership influences their purchase behaviors to a larger extent than communal members (5) (see Table VII). Given the financial discounts associated with non-communal loyalty programs, it is not surprising that statement 5 was one of the most significant statements for Factor 2. After all, the tie that non-communal loyalty program members maintain with their organizations is an economic one.Given the two +4 factor scores for statements 7 and 9, this group of statements indicates an important benefit for communal loyalty program members (see Table VIII). Both factors indicate equal satisfaction with the financial benefits associated with members (8). However, communal loyalty program members enjoy the status (7) and non-financial rewards (9) associated with their programs more so than non-communal loyalty program members.Communal loyalty program members have more shared emotional connections with other members, as compared to non-communal members (10) (see Table IX). However, both factors have positive experiences interacting with sponsoring organizations (11). Thus, communal loyalty program members may be more likely than non-communal members to develop effective bonds with their sponsoring organizations.Table X reveals that communal loyalty program members perceive a stronger sense of community compared to non-communal program members (12, 13). Hence, communal loyalty program members are more likely than non-communal members to perceive that they are part of a non-geographic, relationally-bound community.Table XI reveals that non-communal loyalty program members remain very acceptant of competitor overtures (14, 16). Comparable scores on these two statements for community loyalty program members were either low or neutral. Thus, there is no evidence that communal members would be easily lured by competitors. Yet, the lack of relationship between non-communal loyalty programs and loyalty does not mean that non-communal members will simply cease patronizing sponsoring organizations. Non-communal loyalty program members indicate that the sponsoring organization is an important part of their life; ironically, more so than communal loyalty program members (17, 19). Perhaps, these members patronize their sponsoring organizations due to factors such as location, price, assortment, and operating hours, rather than the opportunity to participate in organizational-sponsored social activities (18).The group of statements in Table XII best clarifies the loyalty outcomes between communal and non-communal loyalty program members. Non-communal loyalty program members display a strong willingness to try products or services from competitors of their sponsoring organizations, in contrast to communal loyalty program members who exhibit some resilience from doing so (24). The extreme -4 score on statement 22, among communal loyalty program members, compared to the -1 score among non-communal members, indicates that the former perceive themselves as being more loyal to their sponsoring organizations compared to the latter. Lastly, while non-communal loyalty program members refute the concept of paying more for products and services in order to buy them from their sponsoring organizations, communal loyalty programs express some willingness to do so (23).Classification schema\nStudy 2 - survey: The Q-sort results from Study 1 were used to develop items for a questionnaire (Aaker et al., 1998). Of the 24 statements that were used in the Q-sort, the results indicated that six statements (3, 8, 11, 15, 19, 20) were consensus statements that did not distinguish between the two factors. The six statements were disqualified. The 18 remaining statements were converted into questionnaire items, which were assessed on a six-point Likert scale anchored by 1 for \"strongly disagree\" and by 6 for \"strongly agree\". Ten of the items represented statements that assess a \"sense of community\" construct and eight of the items represent statements that assess resistance to competition and loyalty (Table XIII).Respondents/validity check\nConclusion: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether members of communal loyalty programs exhibit a stronger loyalty to sponsoring organizations compared to members of non-communal loyalty programs. This goal was achieved in two manners. First, the results of a Q-technique factor analysis demonstrated that members of 20 different loyalty programs, ranging from automobile and motorcycle programs to grocery stores and lodging, could be classified into two types, members of communal and non-communal loyalty programs. This classification schema was based on the extent to which loyalty program members obtain a sense of community from their membership (McMillian and Chavis, 1986). Second, the results of a regression analysis demonstrated that as respondents obtain a sense of community, via their loyalty program membership, they exhibit a stronger loyalty to sponsoring organizations.Managerial and theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Previous research has explored the impact of customer participation in organizational-sponsored loyalty programs on customer loyalty; however, the findings are mixed. Other research, outside the loyalty program literature, reveals that customers who socially interact with other customers, via participation in brand communities, often exhibit an intense loyalty to the sponsoring brands. Proposes to investigate the following questions: \"Can loyalty programs be differentiated based on whether or not members perceive a sense of community?\"; and \"Does a perception of a sense of community impact member loyalty to sponsoring organizations?\"\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Q-technique factor analysis is utilized analyzing statements from loyalty program participants. Principal component factor and cluster analyses confirm a two-tiered classification schema distinguishing loyalty programs based on perceptions of communal benefits. Differences between the two factors are explored. A survey developed from the Q-sort analysis was then administered to 153 loyalty program participants, providing evidence that consumers are more loyal to communal programs.\nFindings: - Loyalty programs can be distinguished based on the sense of community which members perceive. Furthermore, consumers are more loyal to communal programs than to programs that simply use financial incentives. Communal programs elicit stronger emotional connections and participants are significantly less predisposed to competitor switching.\nOriginality/value: - This study integrates the theory of sense of community into the marketing literature, also offering researchers a nine-item, unidimensional scale to measure the construct within the context of loyalty programs. Confusion in the literature regarding the efficacy of loyalty programs is diminished by showing a positive relationship between loyalty and a member's perceptions of community.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Why Fiji is not the "Mauritius" of the Pacific? Lessons for small island nations in the Pacific	[ "Developing countries", "Economic philosophy/theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Many post-colonial countries in the Pacific, Africa and the Indian Ocean started their journey on a positive note, with a vision for shared prosperity. The colonial experiences had left an indelible mark on these societies. Independence for them meant a move away from exploitation and poverty to democracy and economic prosperity.\n2. Institutions matter for economic prosperity: In a recent book \"The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty: Why Nations Fail\", Acemoglu and Robinson (2012) argue that it is not culture, it is not geography and it is not ignorance that determines whether a country is economically successful or unsuccessful. The authors contend that it is the nature of economic and political institutions that determine the level of economic progress that a country achieves. They differentiate between the exclusive and extractive nature of institutions that determine the success and failure of nations.\n3. Comparative economic and political progress of Fiji and Mauritius: Fiji was a British Colony for almost 100 years. It was ceded to Great Britain in 1874 and gained independence peacefully in 1970. It achieved its independence based on a negotiated Constitution which provided a West-Minister style of government. By the time of independence the ethnic composition of Fiji had changed, with people of Indian origin representing about 50 per cent of the population. Like Mauritius, people of Indian origin were brought to Fiji to work on the sugarcane plantations by the British Colonial government[1].\n4. Fiji's economic failure and lessons for small states: Many critics of the comparison between Fiji and Mauritius point out that Mauritius did not have indigenous people and therefore comparison between the two is flawed. This argument ignores the fact that like Fiji, Mauritius is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society and some of the social and political tensions are similar[5]. They also ignore the fact that like Fiji, Mauritius also had a skewed ownership of land and there has always been inequality and difficulty in the availability of land. Furthermore, Mauritius has limited natural resources unlike Fiji but has still transformed it economy in a significant way. While smaller in size in terms of land mass, Mauritius produces more sugar than Fiji.\n5. Way forward for Fiji: Fiji has been at some \"critical junctures\" in its last 42 years of its history. At each of these junctures it had an opportunity to create a better and economically prosperous country. The first critical juncture was the independence from Great Britain in 1970. This was a moment of great triumph for Fiji to chart its own course of progress and prosperity. No matter how flawed the 1970 constitution may have been in hindsight, it did provide a set of viable institutions which should have been strengthened, changed and adapted to the changing global and domestic environment, not thrown out in a coup. In the first decade and a half after independence, Fiji's economic and social progress outpaced countries like Mauritius, Barbados and Botswana. This was, however, disrupted by the 1987 coups.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed comparison between Fiji and Mauritius and points out why Fiji which was better than Mauritius in the mid-1980s has fallen behind.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses recent literature on why countries fail economically and qualitative analysis and statistical evidence where necessary to compare the two countries.\nFindings: During the first decade of independence, Fiji's economy grew at a rate of more than 5 per cent per annum. However, its economic prosperity was disrupted by the military coup in 1987. As a small island nation, Fiji's economic progress has been dismal and this can largely be attributed to the political instability created by the coups. Small island states like Mauritius has had uninterrupted growth rates in the same period and as a result has delivered significant improvement in the quality of life of its people.\nResearch limitations/implications: Fiji could not become the Mauritius of the Pacific and points due to the lack of political stability and inclusive economic and political institutions.\nSocial implications: Fiji could improve the quality of life of its people if it addresses the institutional constraint and it can learn from Mauritius.\nOriginality/value: Comparing Fiji, a small island nation like Mauritius and pointing out clear lessons not only for Fiji but also other small island nations in the Pacific.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The Co-Creation-Wheel: A four-dimensional model of collaborative, interorganisational innovation	[ "HRD", "Co-creation", "Innovation network", "Professional learning", "Collective creativity", "Interorganizational collaboration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: During constant innovation, human resources are of utmost importance. Innovation increasingly requires multidisciplinary and even interorganisational approaches, as single organisations often do not have the human resources to face the challenges of complex innovations. During searches for theoretical concepts that support understanding of innovations in which organisations collaborate, co-creation emerges as a solution.\nPurpose of the study: Based on these 18 factors, this study designs and validates a practical and comprehensive model that guides and reflects co-creation in interorganisational innovation teams. We validate the model by testing it against empirical evidence gathered from a sample of experts who have engaged in interorganisational co-creation of innovation, primarily within university-business collaborations. The validated model that emerged during testing, the (refined) Co-Creation-Wheel, will be generated and we demonstrate its efficacy in applications in several fields.\nLiterature review: For broader grounding, the concept of co-creation will be explored and related to the concept creativity and to the findings from the two empirical studies of Ehlen et al. (2014a, 2014b, 2016; Ehlen, 2015) on collaborative, interorganisational innovation. Also, human resource development (HRD) implications are explored.\nMethods: The approach of this study is a combination of a design and validation research.\nResults of the validation study: Quantitative results of the questionnaire\nGeneral conclusions of the design and validation studies: The function of the dimensions and mechanisms of the Co-Creation-Wheel (RQ1)\nDiscussion: Implications for co-creation practices and first applications of the Co-Creation-Wheel\nConclusion: This design and validation study has resulted in the validated Co-Creation-Wheel. This instrument appears generally useful for innovation and co-creation practices in different sectors and cultures as guiding, reflection and stimulance. It functions as well in big projects as in small teams, in education, health and enterprises. Research is going on and more specific results about the effect of the wheel in practices will be published. More research is needed on the role of HRD regarding stimulating, supporting and sustaining co-creating professionals. HRD should focus on teamwork, shared leadership and training in creative problem-solving, emphasizing the \"social\" aspects of co-creation; moving from a focus on HRD to social resources development.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to design and validate a conceptual and practical model of co-creation. Co-creation, to design collaborative new products, services and processes in contact with users, has become more and more important because organisations increasingly require multidisciplinary collaboration inside and outside the organisation to respond to challenges and create added value.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This is a design and validation study, which uses mixed-methods, a reconstructive design and a semi-structured interview with a questionnaire as validation. The designed model is validated by 14 scholars and practitioners across fields.\nFindings: Designed is a conceptual and practical model, the four-dimensional Co-Creation-Wheel, which contains success factors for co-creation: 12 internal team factors plus 4 external conditions and a core. The validation study of this model, scientifically and as a practical instrument, supported the importance of the components of the model and suggested slight improvements. This resulted in a refinement of the first designed Co-Creation-Wheel.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although restricted usefulness to large-scale structured innovation practices was expected, the instrument has a broader reach. First applications demonstrate that this Co-Creation-Wheel is multifunctional and international. It inspires, supports reflection of collaboration, stimulates interventions to enhance co-creation practices and human resource development (HRD) activities and is able to measure the quality of co-creation elements. Further research on its effects in co-creation practices is necessary, especially on the role of HRD in co-creation..\nOriginality/value: This study is the first to design and validate a multifaceted, holistic conceptual and practical model of co-creation that is easy to use for innovators in practice and is multifunctional.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Publicly financed education in an endogenous growth model	[ "Development", "Taxation", "Labour market", "Education", "Economic growth" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: A central tenet of education policy in developing countries is that the expansion of school enrolments is desirable, for reasons of social justice, and because economic prosperity is perceived to be fostered by the accumulation of human capital via education[1]. This paper examines the growth effects of human capital investment achieved through publicly-provided, compulsory education, financed from income and consumption taxes. The effects on labour supply of higher tax rates, in addition to general equilibrium effects on wages and prices, are examined.Given the aims of the paper, a number of assumptions need to be adopted which differ from those in the growth literature. Since Lucas (1988, 1990) education has been extensively examined in the context of models in which individuals allocate their time to education within an inter-temporal utility-maximising framework[2]. However, it is not obvious that this framework is the best way to capture education decisions in most developing countries. The theoretical literature on human capital and growth is generally separate from that on fiscal policy and growth. However, any analysis of the growth impact of state-provided education cannot be conducted independently of the financing implications, as dictated by the government budget constraint[3].Section 2 describes the basic structure of the model (with further details regarding dynamics set out in the Appendix). Section 3 examines the effects on equilibrium growth of changes in education policy. Section 4 provides numerical policy simulations to investigate the various policy trade-offs in more detail. Brief conclusions are drawn in Section 5.\n2 The structure of the model: Modelling fiscal and education policy impacts on growth in an LDC context requires several assumptions that differ from those relevant to a more developed country. The majority of individuals who currently receive education in LDCs do so in public primary or secondary schools, frequently within a compulsory education regime. For those individuals not currently receiving education, this is typically because public education is unavailable rather than because families' utility-maximising calculus lead them to choose lower levels of education[4].Governments in LDCs also undertake substantial physical capital investment in the form of infrastructure which may be important for private sector productivity. Indeed, in many LDCs, despite recent market-orientated reforms, substantial commercial and especially investment activity is either undertaken, or controlled at the margin, by government, compared with a typical developed country. The allocation of revenues to public physical capital investment therefore needs to be included in the analysis. However, the model abstracts from private sector investment. This allows the analysis to focus on the issues of primary interest, namely the response of growth to publicly funded and provided human capital investment. It results in a model analogous to Barro (1990) but where output is a function of human capital and public physical capital rather than private and public physical capital. To simplify the exposition, depreciation of human and physical capital is ignored.Unlike Barro (1990) and similar models, labour supply is endogenous. Though choices between income and leisure may seem less relevant in an LDC context, many individuals face choices between income earned in the \"taxed sector\" and income (including subsistence activities) from the \"untaxed sector\" or leisure. In analysing output growth, the present model focuses on labour supplied to the taxed sector and labels all other activities as \"leisure\". In this broader sense, endogenous labour supply choices are relevant in LDCs. Since untaxed activities by an individual involve the application of the same human capital, leisure is modelled, following Mendoza et al. (1997), as \"quality time\", i.e. time augmented by education.It is assumed that individuals maximise their utility within each period, but do not maximise inter-temporally. This reflects both the fact that poor individuals with low levels of education are unlikely to make sophisticated inter-temporal calculations and, since there is no private investment or education in the model, there is little to be gained from adopting an inter-temporal utility maximisation framework[5].2.1 Production and investment\n3 Policy effects on equilibrium growth: The government chooses six fiscal policy parameters: the educational time input, uh, two of the three expenditure proportions, thj (j=k,h,d), and the three proportional tax rates tr, tw, and tc. Changes in the public investment expenditure parameters, thk and thh, both have positive direct effects on equilibrium growth (by initially raising K. and H., respectively) and negative indirect effects via reductions in the relevant factor returns, r or wuq.3.1 Direct and indirect effects\n4 Some policy simulations: This section provides numerical examples to examine the orders of magnitude of alternative fiscal policies, examining both steady-state and transitional responses[19].4.1 A benchmark case\n5 Conclusions: This paper has examined the role of publicly provided and tax-financed human capital accumulation in the context of a general equilibrium endogenous growth model. A key difference from previous models of endogenous human capital accumulation in the Lucas (1988, 1990) tradition is that schooling is compulsory and therefore, exogenous to the representative individual. Consumption and labour supply choices are based on maximisation of a static (single period) utility function. Arguably, these assumptions are more relevant for a developing country seeking to extend compulsory schooling. Education and public physical capital investment are financed from taxes on wage and capital income, and consumption.Direct and indirect effects of increasing both the proportion of time devoted to education, and the proportion of tax revenue used in human capital production, were identified. It was found that, as in the models of Lucas (1988, 1990), Stokey and Rebelo (1995) and Milesi-Ferretti and Roubini (1998), the specification of the human capital production function and the strength of labour supply effects are important for the magnitude of steady-state outcomes. In addition, with an endogenous supply of labour, the proportion of time compulsorily devoted to education acts as a form of distortionary tax on human capital.Numerical analyses found that, for benchmark parameter values, the growth maximising wage tax rate appears to be somewhat higher than those observed in practice, but the growth sacrifice associated with lower tax rates is not large. In the absence of incentives to private accumulation in the model, growth-maximising tax rate predictions should be treated with caution. Nevertheless, the model points to the possibility that, where taxes are used partly to fund growth-enhancing expenditures, growth-maximising tax rates can be quite high, even allowing for strong labour supply responses.Finally it was shown that the model's transitional dynamics have strong convergence properties in response to fiscal policy changes. These arise essentially because the government budget constraint ensures that tax revenues, and public physical and human capital accumulation, are jointly endogenously determined. As a result, any divergences between their rates of growth are temporary. Simulations using plausible labour supply assumptions suggest typical half-lives of around 30-40 years; i.e. similar to empirical regression-based estimates.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to examine the growth effects of human capital investment achieved through publicly-provided, compulsory education, financed from income and consumption taxes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Constructs an endogenous growth model for developing countries, based on human capital accumulation in which education is publicly provided and financed, and schooling is compulsory.\nFindings: - Public investment in human and physical capital are financed from taxes on wage and capital income, and consumption. Semi-reduced forms are obtained to examine the equilibrium growth properties of the model, allowing the steady-state effects of fiscal policy to be derived. The specification of the human capital production function and the strength of labour supply effects are shown to be important for the magnitude of steady-state outcomes. Simulations illustrate the model's steady-state and transitional dynamic properties.\nOriginality/value: - Provides an analysis of the growth impact of state-provided education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Making sense of global key account management (GAM): a case study from Japan	[ "Japan", "Case study", "Global key account management", "Intra-organizational issues", "Strategic implementation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Key account management (KAM) has long been recognized as the practice of targeting key B2B customers by giving them preferential treatment in areas such as marketing, service support and administration (Barrett, 1986). A \"key\" account is one of strategic importance to the supplying firm (Millman and Wilson, 1995). Offerings to these accounts may include product/service adaptations, special pricing terms and senior management involvement (Zupancic, 2008). The adoption of global (key) account management (or GAM) presents further challenges on top of an already demanding national KAM approach. Montgomery et al. (1999, p. 3) define GAM as:\nLiterature review: Before introducing the case study methodology, findings and further discussion, the paper outlines some theoretical frameworks and managerial recommendations relating to KAM, the more focused notion of GAM and the challenges of sales management in Japan.\nMethodology: Given the challenges outlined in the preceding literature review, this study set out to explore GAM adoption by a Japanese B2B firm. Since it was founded in Tokyo over a century ago, the focal firm (hereafter anonymized as \"ChemCorp\") has become a multinational chemical company and one of the largest printing ink suppliers in the world. It employs over 20,000 people, and also supplies color pigments, industrial tapes and synthetic resins. The firm's website describes an \"extensive global network\", with subsidiaries and affiliates in over 60 countries. The site states that ChemCorp is seeking to \"strengthen core businesses\" in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Americas, and is also \"establishing a presence in emerging markets\".\nFindings and analysis: While inter-organizational factors were raised in the interviews and observations, intra-organizational issues appear more salient for how Japanese managers make sense of GAM. The frequency of occurrence within each interview of these themes hardly varies across managers representing product divisions, thereby suggesting that they are company-wide concerns. For some individual themes, however, differences can be observed between some actors' sense-making-related claims, usually depending on whether managers serve Japanese or US- and European-based accounts. Where relevant, these differences will be highlighted below.\nDiscussion: Analysis suggests that ChemCorp is just beginning its journey on the perpetual process of GAM implementation (Davies and Ryals, 2009). Rather than any strategic shift in operations, this Japanese firm takes a rather ad hoc approach with limited evidence of a KAM/GAM orientation. The company is content with some key account managers acceding to their buyers' requests to be treated as global B2B customers worthy of the investment in GAM-level support; but, other product divisions have not made that transition. It appears that key account managers in ChemCorp who serve Japanese-based buying companies rarely use GAM programs due to the fact that these managers lack knowledge of the appropriate frameworks. Moreover, Japanese customers do not often demand GAM from their suppliers. However, key account managers who are responsible for western-based customers often adopt GAM, albeit with uncertain profitability.\nConclusions: There is a preponderance of studies on US and European manifestations of KAM/GAM in the literature, and a presumption of a western orientation toward customer relationship management (Guesalaga and Johnson, 2010; Ramaseshan et al., 2006). Following a case study of a Japanese chemicals supplier who has relationships with organizational buyers worldwide, the main contributions of the research are the disclosures that:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relevance to situated managerial practice of the implementation frameworks contained in the global (key) account management (GAM) literature and to explore what specific GAM-related issues may be faced by key account managers working for an MNC based in Japan.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Following a critical literature review, including a discussion of sales management in Japan, an exploratory case study is conducted of a chemical supplier that claims to be making the transition toward GAM.\nFindings: The findings confirm that intra-organizational contextual and cultural factors appear to influence the adoption of GAM programs by the focal firm. This suggests there is not a \"one size fits all\" strategic pathway to implementing GAM, and that western theoretical perspectives on KAM/GAM do not appear to have permeated the sense-making of some Japanese managers.\nResearch limitations/implications: While the study indicates that the US/European approach to KAM and GAM does not appear to fit well with the Japanese business culture, this conclusion must come with the caveat that this is not necessarily a generalizable case.\nOriginality/value: Much of the prior B2B marketing literature on KAM and GAM has investigated only western firms. This is possibly the first empirical research on GAM in a Japanese company. The paper offers a number of implications for theory and ponders the wisdom of making recommendations from such a culture-bound study.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The Monty Hyams Archive: A new resource for the information history of the late twentieth century	[ "Archives", "History", "Intellectual property", "Derwent Publications", "Montagu Hyams", "Patent information" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper gives an introduction to the Monty Hyams Archive, a newly available resource for the history of the information industry in the late twentieth century.\nMonty Hyams and Derwent Publications: In 1947, Monty Hyams was hired by the Pyrene Company as a Research Chemist and would later take on the role of Patents Manager. Working for the company, he made frequent trips to London to visit the British Patent Office where he would create abstracts for patents pertinent to chemical information. This resulted in the earliest product developed by Monty Hyams, the weekly bulletin \"British Chemical Patents Report\" which began publication in 1948. Derwent Publications Ltd (originally known as Derwent Information Service) began as a modest abstracting and indexing service. Initially operating out of Hyams' house, the name of which gave its name to the company, Derwent grew into a giant of patent information, also offering information services for pharmaceuticals (Bawden and Devon, 1980) and for chemical reactions (Finch, 1986).\nThe Hyams Archive: Definitions of archives are viewed by Williams (2014, pp. 12-17) as falling into one of two categories: exclusive and inclusive. As the terms suggest, exclusive definitions provide a stringent set of criteria for the assurance of authenticity, reliability, and auditability of the information held within the documents. Alternatively, an inclusive archives definition (largely supported by professional organisations) places emphasis on the massive and varied collections of information and data accumulated by organisations according to their operational needs.\nConclusions: That the Monty Hyams Archive is an important resource for the history of information science in the late twentieth century is shown by this initial study of the development of its patent information services. More detailed analysis, particularly focussing on subscriber meeting reports, will yield further insights. Other themes, particularly the development of information technologies for patent information and for chemical information, are also ripe for analysis.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report a new resource for the study of the history of the development of information science and information services in the late twentieth century. The Monty Hyams archives include documents relating to the career of Montagu Hyams (1918-2013), the Founder of Derwent Publications, and an innovator in patents information, chemical and pharmaceutical information, and online information access. The Archive is housed in the Department of Library and Information Science at City, University of London.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The origins and development of the Monty Hyams Archive are described, and its value examined by an initial analysis of the light it sheds on the development of Derwent's World Patents Index.\nFindings: The newly established Hyams Archive allows analysis of previously private and unseen documents, which reveal the fascinating and complex personalities, issues and negotiations which led to the establishment of some of the most significant information sources and access methods of the pre-internet information environment.\nOriginality/value: The Monty Hyams Archive is a new and unique resource for the study of the development of the scientific information environment in the last decades of the twentieth century.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Considerations for collecting Japanese anime for academic libraries	[ "Collection management", "Japanimation", "Academic libraries", "Collection building", "Animation", "Anime", "Collection development in academic libraries" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is strange that a contracted foreign word to Japanese culture becomes the generally accepted word of its world-wide definition. Unlike the Japanese word \"manga\" or \"humorous pictures\" for the country's drawn narrative arts such as graphic novels and comics, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online (Oxford English Dictionary), 2019) the word \"anime\" derived from an abbreviation of the Western word \"animation\" or possibly the word \"animeshon,\" the Japanese pronunciation of the word \"animation\" written in the Japanese hiragana alphabet, an alphabet used to write non-Japanese words (Keeline, 2013). Anime refers specifically to a particular type of animated cartooning style central to Japan.\nConsiderations for collecting Japanese anime: There are two contradictory misconceptions about the contexts of anime. One is that anime are for children with an emphasis on silliness and cuteness (in Japanese \"Ka-wa-ee\") with big-eyed females dressed in frilly shirts, displaying cute gestures (showing the \"V\" with their fingers, partially extended tongues out of adorable lips), sometimes waving magical wands, and accompanied by anthropomorphized animals (Alt and Yoda, 2007; Okazaki and Johnson, 2013). The other is that anime is cartoon pornography with mostly teenage girls in various states of undress, all displaying large bare breasts in action poses with boys that can be interpreted as erotic at the very least (Lamarre, 2006, 2007). Both reasons can be used by selectors to dismiss the value of anime. In actuality, anime runs the gambit of subject matter, from adventure to horror to deep philosophical exercises, and their appropriate level ranges from children, adolescent, teenagers to mature adults. Anime is an animation style derived from Japanese cartoons and does not say anything about the content.\nEschewing the \"Exotic\": There is always a temptation for selectors to add anime because of its \"Asian exoticness\" or its popularity among the casual viewers. While this practice is common for libraries that service primarily the general public, neither reason suffices for an academic library. Like all materials collected in a library, anime is no different and selectors should consider three things in the process.\nBroadening the scope: Anime movies, or narratives in one completed form in time, are not the entire genre. Too often, when someone mentions anime, the directors and writers of movies such as Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, and Isao Takahata are all people discuss. It can be argued that anime first gained international attention with three movies released in 1988: Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (Torani no Totoro) and Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka) and in the decades following, there have been many major anime movies released. However, these anime make up only a small part of what knowledgeable scholars of anime would focused on for study.\nAnother complication. The manga-to-anime connection: If one looks at the most popular and critically acclaimed anime television series, it becomes immediately apparent that most started as serialized published manga. The four previously mentioned amine television shows in this paper were initially published serially in magazines specializing in manga. Tatsuo Yoshida's Speed Racer began publishing in 1966 and became an anime in 1967, and Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy begin publishing in 1952 and became an anime in 1963, Princess Knight began publishing in 1958 and became an anime in 1967, and Kimba the White Lion began publishing in 1950 and became an anime in 1965 (1950/1965). Other more recent anime also began as serialized manga, only to become anime at a later date. Examples are: Death Note with initial serial publication date of 2003 and an amine production date of 2007; Attack on Titans 2009/2013; Fullmetal Alchemist 2001/2003; Naruto 1999/2002; Dragon Ball 1984/1989; One Piece 1997/1999; and Bleach 2004/2006.\nA solution and a problem: The purpose of this paper is not to scare away library selectors or the accountants of a library to dismiss the purchases of anime and manga. Both anime and manga are too ubiquitous and acknowledged as a legitimate area of academic study to be ignored. However, for scholars, there are avenues of opportunity that were unavailable only a few years ago. There are numerous online services, both free and pay-for subscriptions, which offer viewing of anime. Among the more well-known are: Funimation (www.funimation.com) and Crunchyroll (www.crunchyroll.com), two pay-for subscription online service that provides anime, many currently being produced in Japan, dubbed into English or subtitled. These services can provide immediate resources for any scholar interested in anime.\nDealing with sexualized anime: Earlier it was noted that many non-Japanese people have made the incorrect assumption that anime is automatically pornographic (Perper and Cornog, 2015). Yet, like all literature, there are designations concerning the type of anime that selectors should be aware of that could influence their decisions whether or not to purchase such materials.\nConclusions: Anime can provide entertainment for the casual viewer. It also provides a wealth of materials for academic areas of inquiry. For an academic library, it does take the efforts of a fully knowledgeable selector of anime to see beyond only the \"exotic\" value of a singular collection of anime. Like any other materials to be added to enhance the entire academic collection of a library, anime is nothing special by itself. Only when the selector adds anime solely to increase the value the entire library's collection, will the true value of anime be realized.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Too often, academic library selectors of DVDs purchase Japanese animation (anime) for their popularity without any further concern of their important contributions to the combined wealth of researches of an academic library. The purpose of this paper is to offer considerations for an academic selector to ponder before adding this particular type of animation. These considerations do not necessary pertain to the collection development considerations for selectors at public libraries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper will discuss the major problems of actively adding anime to an academic library, the present areas of concern, and will offer warnings and suggestions based on a conceptual framework of anime having true academic value.\nFindings: Anime cannot be chosen independently as if it has any apparently intrinsic value sui generis. Anime must be added concomitantly according to the collection development policies with other resources, especially DVDs, to create a full, rich and useful collection to scholars.\nOriginality/value: Academic studies concerning anime and collection development for academic libraries are usually comprised of only long lists of suggested anime, with no further discussions about its implications to the general worth of an academic library. This paper offers no such lists. Instead, it offers considerations selectors must take into account before investing time and money adding anime to an academic library collection.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Volume-outcome relationship for colorectal cancer in primary care: a prospective cohort study	[ "Primary care", "Care pathways", "Caseload", "Colorectal cancer", "Volume-outcome relationship" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: For many surgical and medical interventions, there is a demonstrable volume-outcome relationship that usually refers to an association between higher caseload and better outcomes, colloquially termed \"practice makes perfect\". For colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment, there is now good evidence that both higher hospital volume (Zhang et al., 2007; Rogers et al., 2006; Wibe et al., 2005; Birkmeyer et al., 2002) and surgeon caseload (Billingsley et al., 2007; Borowski et al., 2007; Hannan et al., 2002; Rogers et al., 2006) improve short- and long-term outcomes from surgery (Archampong et al., 2012). This volume-outcome relationship has been intensely scrutinised in secondary care and in hospitals, but there is little known about such associations in primary care settings. As the outcome and survival from CRC in the UK have been less favourable than other Western European countries (Sant et al., 2003; Wise, 2015), there have been several interventions that aimed to improve earlier detection (Woodrow et al., 2009; Cancer Research UK, 2012), enable speedy referral and investigation in secondary care (National Institute for Clinical Excellence, 2005). Despite these interventions, CRC emergency presentations remain stubbornly high (Mayor, 2012; NHS Information Centre, 2012; Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2014) and recent public attention to missed or delayed cancer diagnoses has led to increased scrutiny of primary care physicians and general practitioners (GP) (BBC News, 2014). Pre-hospital delays is complex and the underlying reasons for including scheduling delays and patient-related factors such as diagnosis fears or symptom trivialisation and delays that can be ascribed to the primary care practitioner (Van Hout et al., 2011; Langenbach et al., 2003; Funch, 1985). In this study, we explore referral pathways and their association with individual GPs, specifically whether a volume-outcome association can be demonstrated in patients with a confirmed CRC diagnosis. Interesting outcomes include emergency presentations, advanced disease stage and overall three-year survival.\nMethodology: Patients\nResults: Patient characteristics\nDiscussion: Early CRC diagnosis and symptom recognition is an important contribution to strategies aimed at improving outcomes. In the UK, excepting the national screening programme for bowel cancer (BCSP) (Woodrow et al., 2009), patients are managed largely in primary care. As most patients are registered with and initially seen by a GP, the primary care physician is to some extent a gate-keeper for patient access to secondary care investigations and management, and controls NHS resource distribution. If practitioners suspect CRC, then several referral options are available:\nConclusions and recommendation: This study has demonstrated an inverse volume-outcome relationship between primary care CRC caseload and the immediate outcomes by which GP practice efficacy may be assessed. The reasons, and indeed whether this is a true association, remain unclear. However, emergency presentations and advanced disease at initial contact with secondary care providers was more common amongst GP patients that contributed CRC cases (at referral). Overall three-year survival was also inversely related to higher GP CRC caseload, but this was largely explained by later and advanced presentation. LV GPs had proportionally more diagnoses made through the two-week rule suspected cancer pathway, with little evidence that this pathway was used indiscriminately. It is unclear whether these initial findings in our patient population are found in other areas, or in healthcare systems other than the UK NHS. We recommend further work both at a population level to analyse primary care service quality regarding patients with suspected cancer, with a view to reducing emergency admissions and missed cancers. However, a name and shame approach is unlikely to be successful, which might further undermine the population's trust in the medical profession. Individual GPs should monitor their practice and identify and address factors amongst their patients that contribute to delayed presentation; i.e., symptom awareness, investigation fears and health issues that may mask CRC symptoms.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Higher caseloads are associated with better outcomes for many conditions treated in secondary and tertiary care settings, including colorectal cancer (CRC). There is little known whether such volume-outcome relationship exist in primary care settings. The purpose of this paper is to examine general practitioner (GP) CRC-specific caseload for possible associations with referral pathways, disease stage and CRC patients' overall survival.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper retrospectively analyses a prospectively maintained CRC database for 2009-2014 in a single district hospital providing bowel cancer screening and tertiary rectal cancer services.\nFindings: Of 1,145 CRC patients, 937 (81.8 per cent) were diagnosed as symptomatic cancers. In total, 210 GPs from 44 practices were stratified according to their CRC caseload over the study period into low volume (LV, 1-4); medium volume (MV, 5-7); and high volume (HV, 8-21 cases). Emergency presentation (LV: 49/287 (17.1 per cent); MV: 75/264 (28.4 per cent); HV: 105/386 (27.2 per cent); p=0.007) and advanced disease at presentation (LV: 84/287 (29.3 per cent); MV: 94/264 (35.6 per cent); HV: 144/386 (37.3 per cent); p=0.034) was more common amongst HV GPs. Three-year mortality risk was significantly higher for HV GPs (MV: (hazard ratio) HR 1.185 (confidence interval=0.897-1.566), p=0.231, and HV: HR 1.366 (CI=1.061-1.759), p=0.016), but adjustment for emergency presentation and advanced disease largely accounted for this difference. There was some evidence that HV GPs used elective cancer pathways less frequently (LV: 166/287 (57.8 per cent); MV: 130/264 (49.2 per cent); HV: 182/386 (47.2 per cent); p=0.007) and more selectively (CRC/referrals: LV: 166/2,743 (6.1 per cent); MV: 130/2,321 (5.6 per cent); HV: 182/2,508 (7.3 per cent); p=0.048).\nOriginality/value: Higher GP CRC caseload in primary care may be associated with advanced disease and poorer survival; more work is required to determine the reasons and to develop targeted intervention at local level to improve elective referral rates.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Older workers' workplace learning in manufacturing industries: subjectivity	[ "Industry", "Employee involvement", "Work organization", "Older workers", "Workplace learning", "Subjectivity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The European Union (EU) considers lifelong learning (LL) pivotal to building a knowledge-driven economy. Continuing vocational education and training is considered a part of LL and refers to the continual learning process of workers to keep their knowledge relevant and workers themselves employable. Despite the definition of learning as formal, non-formal and informal (European-Council, 2011), the EU discourse on LL and adult education overlooks the issue of how workers who engage in work activities are experiencing workplace learning (WPL). Although the EU acknowledges workplace participation and democracy within its industrial policies, it holds back from linking this discourse to that of LL. There is growing literature that suggests that learning occurs through participation in collective activities; however, few studies extend this concept to production strategies and their relevance for learning in the industrial contexts. On the few occasions it does occur, there is a lack of attention to the subjective dimension of working and learning.\nLearning in the CHAT: a single development of people and activities: Approaches based on CHAT are appropriate in shedding light on:\nThe subjective side of activity: People carry out actions within the context of collective and material activities. The way in which they act - the choices they make, the emotions and feelings they show - reveal their subjectivities. Leontiev defines subjectivity as a hierarchy of personal senses of motives (Chaiklin, 2001; Leontiev, 1978; Minick, 1985). For example, two motives could be 'respecting safety rules' and 'producing parts': a worker may consider safety a priority over producing parts because of her concern about health. Another worker may do the opposite, because he attaches a sense of weakness to respecting safety rules. These different hierarchies of the two motives indicate different subjective aspects. Motives are collective and are attached to social meanings. People internalize the motives behind activities and their social meanings, but then personalize them with their own personal senses. These personal senses arise from one's personal relationship with the motive/object of activity, according to their relevance to personal circumstances of life and previous experiences of internalization of other motives. Although Leontiev puts forward that perspective on object-oriented activity and its structure with the aim of exploring the volitive aspects of participation in collective activity, his vision emphasizes the internalization dynamic to the detriment of the opposite movement of externalization and dismisses the subjective moment (Stetsenko, 2005) as a moment of relative autonomy.\nWorking and learning in manufacture in CHAT: In CHAT, only a few studies on learning at work take into account the form of production. Engestrom(1987, 2004) was the first scholar to develop an interest on organizational changes in interconnected activities systems (e.g. the production system and the client system), which he interprets through his theory of expansive learning.\nProduction strategies: a concept to identify different object-oriented activities in the industry: I use the concept of production strategy as an analytic tool to identify motives/objects in organizing economic activity. I conceptualize it as the way to organize the labour process (i.e. work phases) and work organization to comply with the object of the activity.\nThe research methodology: A number of authors have reflected on the fact that there is a link between theoretical approach and the method adopted for the empirical work. My object of inquiry implies a complex interrelation of aspects occurring in industrial activities in which OWs work, and indicates the need to collect information regarding the production, as well as the narratives of the workers about their work and learning experiences. Hence, businesses - and consequently, the OWs working within - are the units of analysis that are most consistent with the theoretical approach adopted here.\nWorking and learning in mass production and flexible specialization: different ways of feeling engaged at work: Company E1 approached the mass production model. It assembled parts on assembly lines. It employed 600 workers. The large majority of workers on the assembly lines were women. I interviewed four female OWs at the assembly line.\nDiscussion of the findings and conclusions: The research found that OWs in Company E2 developed strong motives to engage in their work due to the professional knowledge they accumulated in the relative autonomy of their jobs. A greater sense of motive for engaged working and learning was made easier by the passion these workers had for mechanics, and the fact that professional knowledge was valued by management. In Company E1, professional knowledge was linked to the practical side of assembly, attention to quality and the application of organizational and safety rules. However, this knowledge was not valued neither in the firm nor in the society where this type of job is considered low skilled. Yet the female workers refused to be affected by this view of their job (typically expressed by the term \"the little hands\") and thought that their job was valuable. So they were engaged and tried to improve the workplace as much as they could. They imagined that workplace improvements were possible and were full of anger and hope that some changes had to occur, because it was evident to them that changes were necessary.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to older workers (OWs)' subjective engagement in working and learning in the manufacturing industry. Workplace learning (WPL) literature rarely considers the subjective side of learning from a cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) account.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a CHAT-influenced perspective: learning is a cultural and collective process and a dimension of activity. Subjectivity is conceptualized through the ideas developed by A.N. Leontiev. The design takes the form of multiple embedded case studies, within two companies which approximate two types of production strategies, mass production and flexible specialization. OWs were interviewed about their professional lives.\nFindings: The subjective side of WPL is differentiated by the two types of production strategies. These strategies, together with other life experiences, create different opportunities for the OWs' subjective engagement. Motives for WPL are linked to the needs for learning in the workplace, and to the ideal image that OWs have of their workplace.\nResearch limitations/implications: The theoretical framework requires an interdisciplinary study and leads to conclusive remarks which overcome the boundary of the educational field. More investigation is needed about the gender issue.\nOriginality/value: This paper enlarges the view on WPL for OWs by using the concept of the \"object of activity\" to connect industrial practices and OWs' subjectivities. This concept has been used to explore the motivational aspects of learning in an original way. The findings of this paper will assist policy-makers to better understand WPL and the production strategies implications supported through industrial policies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Accepting the challenge of leadership: a hero's journey	[ "Leadership", "Coaching", "Senior management", "Neurolinguistic programming" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In this article, I will present a powerful coaching intervention that works at the level of identity. It is one that I have used in many situations, from work with private clients to leadership development in international banks.\n1. Hearing a calling: In organisational life this can be a promotion, as in the case of Paul, or even the awareness that one is in the offing.\n2. (Initial) accepting or rejecting the calling: For Paul, the issue is clear: accepting his new calling as a manager. This becomes the end goal of his journey.Note that at this point Dilts's intervention deviates briefly from Campbell's model. For Campbell's hero, accepting the calling comes at the end of the first part of the story - \"Act One\" for the movie maker - after which, they go off and begin their quest. In the intervention, the initial acceptance of the calling is provisional; truly having accepted the calling comes at the end, after having worked through a number of steps that follow. The reason for this is that the intervention is largely about \"mental rehearsal\" of events to come, while the movie maker has the luxury of telling an entire story.Working with Paul, I asked him early on if he accepted the calling of being a manager, at which point he said he did at one level, but then made the comment that he didn't feel it was really \"him\".\n3. Crossing the threshold: This is a definitive action, an external confirmation of the internal choice above: sending that e-mail, having that conversation, signing that contract, etc.Crossing the threshold can be acted out by the coach pretending to be whatever resistance the client feels, and the client actually pushing against him or her and noticing carefully what thoughts come to mind.For Paul, these thoughts were about \"being a nice bloke\". He feared that becoming a manager would somehow make him hard and uncaring, and that people would dislike him as a result.It is not the job of the coach to address these thoughts at this time - just to make sure the client is aware of them and will act on them in the next sections.Sometimes, clients find that they really don't want to take the threshold-crossing action. This must be respected. It is essential that coaches do not steer their clients to take an action when they are not ready. It is the job of a coach - even an executive coach paid by an employer to motivate someone - to \"open a door\", but the job of the client to decide when, or if, they should walk through that door.\n4. Gathering resources and mentors: There is a saying, \"Heroes must make their journeys on their own, but they don't need to make them by themselves\". At this point, the client identifies mentors - individuals, either real or imaginary, who possess the qualities they need to help them on their journey and in their ultimate fight with the \"demon\".Every client will come up with their own \"shopping list\" of qualities, but I often find that they need some version of three basics:1. strength;2. compassion; and3. intelligence.This, interestingly, maps onto the Jungian archetypes of Warrior, Lover and Magician, and also onto that classic story, The Wizard of Oz, where the lion lacked courage, the tin man heart or softness, and the scarecrow intelligence.Clients acquire the resources they need by pretending to be the mentors they have chosen and then (as these figures) mentoring themselves. In the process, each mentor has a physical space in the room, and clients will only stand on that space when \"being\" that mentor and only acquire the resources when, as themselves, standing to face that space and \"hearing\" the mentor's advice.I am often impressed by clients' abilities to spot what they need, to choose good sources for these qualities and to learn from them. At other times, a little guidance can be appropriate: Paul was a little confused at this point, and I pointed out the three archetypes, after which he chose Nelson Mandela (a common choice) for compassion and strength and his father for the sense of humour he felt he would need.\n5. The fight with the demon: In executive coaching, the demon can represent the market, a tough customer, shareholders, a difficult boss, difficult staff, a spouse who in some way doesn't want them to change - whatever seems to arouse real fear in the client.The client, newly armed with resources from their mentors, doesn't battle directly with the demon, as they would in a blockbuster movie. Instead, they take on the perspective of the demon, something they have often been unwilling or unable to do before. The result is often a totally new vision of the demon and what it represents.For Paul, the demon turned out to be his fear of rejection by workmates. When asked to create an image of this to be the demon, he came up with Captain Mainwaring from Dad's Army (a favourite TV show of his Dad's) - a pompous and ridiculed man. At the same time, he realised that he, Paul, was not this sort of person, and could be a manager in his own way.For a film-maker client having trouble with his producer, this adversary shrank to a tiny cigar-chomping mini-demon, much more amusing than scary.In many cases, the demon turns out to have good advice for the client. (Captain Mainwaring simply said, \"You don't have to be like me.\")\n6. Reaching the calling and the voyage home: The client finally moves beyond the demon and takes possession of a space where they have truly accepted the calling. Once the client has fully had a sense of having achieved a \"fantasy outcome\", of having acted out in the process what they need to do out there in the real world, some new understanding and power tends to emerge in them. This is usually when clients report a felt change to their identity. Paul said, \"I just somehow feel different about myself. I feel a little lighter and nothing seems that daunting any more.\" When I looked him in the eye and asked him if this meant that he had now really accepted the calling of being a manager, he said a simple \"Yes\" and smiled.This represents a deep change of \"script\", a sense that the role the person wrote for themselves is no longer necessary and that a new, more resourceful, grown-up self can emerge. Or, as Eric Berne put it, that they can really \"close the old show and put a whole new show on the road\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to describe a powerful coaching intervention for leadership development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is based on the writer's experience as an executive coach working in leadership development.\nFindings: - The Hero's Journey intervention is especially powerful for work at the level of identity, for clients who feel at a deep, personal level that a new (or existing) role is not \"really them\".\nPractical implications: - The tool will make it easier to promote staff within an organisation. It will help people with potential, but who have \"attitude problems\", to accept responsibility. As a formal process, it needs to be carried out by a professional coach or trainer, though the implications of it are of interest to anyone managing others through (or themselves undergoing) a process of personal change.\nOriginality/value: - The process itself is not original to the author, but its use in business coaching is still uncommon. The point of the paper is to stress its ease of use, power and wide range of applications, and to make it more commonly used.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A tale of two images: the quest to create a story-based image indexing system	[ "Indexing", "Image indexing", "Image retrieval", "Semantic image retrieval", "Stories in images" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The prospect of designing a story-based image retrieval system has not received attention from scholars in the image retrieval field. Jorgensen (2003) acknowledged the existence of story elements within some images but remarked that scholars have been reluctant to examine this research area because \"most image indexers have considered addressing interpretive or abstract elements within an image to be beyond the scope of their job\" (p. 251). The process of designing a story-based image indexing system presents a challenge to indexers, not least because humans differ in their educational and cultural backgrounds and in their perceptions, as well as in prior knowledge and beliefs (Berger, 1972, p. 8), thus rendering any attempt to create a consistent system for describing images difficult. Despite this problem, time and retrieval systems have moved on since 2003, and the time might now be right, given the current interest in user-based indexing, the social semantic web, and an emphasis on dialogic approaches to indexing documents, to explore the potential for story-based indexing of non-text documents.\nMeaning and interpretation: The project, and our approach to the nature of meaning and interpretation, is underpinned by Hodge and Kress's (1988) social semiotics, which explores the construction of meaning as a social activity, acknowledging the role of the reader, located in specific material logonomic systems, in \"making meaning\". Where Saussure's semiotics focused on langue, rather than parole, on synchrony rather than diachrony, on paradigms rather than syntagms, and signifiers rather than signified (Hodge and Kress, 1988), social semiotics sees the meaning of the text as being formed from the interplay of polysemic signs and a range of reading positions. This means that interpretation at the point of reception does not necessarily equate to the intended meaning of that text at the time of production. Many writers in the field take the view that interpretation in relation to images is complex, particularly in relation to images that do not necessarily have text to anchor meaning, not least because the production of meaning through interpretation may be subjective (e.g. Burke, 1999; Enser, 1995; Krause, 1988; Shatford, 1986; Shatford-Layne, 1994; Svenonius, 1994).\nImage indexing systems: Eakins (2002) noted that an optimal retrieval system is measured by its capacity to return search results that satisfy users' needs, a principle he acknowledged is difficult to apply to images, unless an understanding of their contents has been established (pp. 5-6). Despite Eakins's (2002) assertion of the difficulty of classifying images, scholars have suggested two possible systems for image retrieval, namely content-based and concept-based image retrieval systems.\nApproaches to the indexing of images: The literature suggests three general indexing approaches. The first approach depends on an expert performing the indexing by consulting a system, often based on some form of controlled vocabulary, designed to enhance the recall and precision of search results (Rowley and Hartley, 2008). Lancaster (as cited in Chowdhury, 2010) favoured the expert-led indexing approach, on the basis of its consistency and the agreement on indexing terms that is likely to result among indexers (p. 156), however, others argue that it is \"expensive and time consuming\" and \"single minded\" (Rafferty and Hidderley, 2007, p. 399). The second approach is one based on authors' interpretation of their work. In a study that tested the authors' capacity to assign rich metadata to their work, Greenberg et al. (2001) found that authors were capable of assigning good terms to their work (p. 43). The current project takes a constructivist view of meaning as being produced in and through the interaction of text and reader. Within this model of interpretation, following Hall's encoding-decoding model, it might be that personal, private meanings attached by readers or viewers can transform the document from the \"preferred\" meaning that might be inscribed within it by the author (Hall, 1973/2001) to other possible meanings.\nUsers and stories of images: Greisdorf and O'Connor (2002b) argued that users can provide rich descriptions of images exceeding what is available in controlled vocabularies systems (p. 383). Such descriptions might enhance indexing exhaustivity and inform indexers' understanding of users' seeking behaviour (O'Connor et al., 1999, p. 682), thereby leading to a narrowing of the semantic gap between the indexer and the user. The importance of user-generated description of images has been documented by Enser et al. (2007), who observed that \"a richly-descriptive caption\" is essential for retrieving images that meet users' needs\" (p. 477). This view is of concern to Jorgensen (2003) who takes the view that users may lack the expertise to assign appropriate terms to images for the purposes of indexing and subsequent retrieval (p. 256).\nAn overview of stories: For Barthes (1970), narrative can be divided into story and discourse, where story refers to the \"chronological account of the observations and experiences being communicated\" (Brophy, 2009, p. 35), while discourse refers to the selection of what is told, its genre and its style. Brophy's model, which draws on Barthes and on Riceour's framework, amongst others, is used to underpin this study's understanding of narrative structure. It seems an appropriate model as it derives from the information science domain. Brophy outlines eight elements that might be considered key to understanding narrative structure. These are: setting, causality, plot, style, character, point of view, narrative presence, and hermeneutic and proairetic codes. In addition, Ingermanson and Economy (2010) suggest including literary devices and themes. For Monteleone (2004), the setting of a story includes five key components: place, time, weather, social conditions, for example social norms, mannerisms and social structure, and mood, meaning the \"tone and the style\" of the story (Monteleone, 2004, p. 95).\nMethodology: This study is in two parts. The first part used interviews to explore users' interpretations of two \"writerly\", high modality images, and to establish the existence of story-telling elements in participants' descriptions. Following this, 26 MSc distance learner students from Aberystwyth University were invited to write stories about the images with a view to testing the Rafferty-Hidderley model in relation to \"writerly\" images.\nResults: Overall, the results of the interview stage indicated the existence of story elements in the participants' descriptions. Data analysis allowed for the development of relevant categories, such as \"setting\", \"character\", and \"plot\", within which the construction of the narratives could be understood.\nDiscussion: In describing the two images, participants provided different narratives, which included themes such as imprisonment by choice, emotional burden, loss of a loved one and seeking answers. The presence of these themes supported Greisdorf and O'Connor's (2002a) findings that users are capable of providing rich descriptions when viewing an image, while existing indexing tools, however, sophisticated, are limited in their ability to capture this richness (p. 7). Even when a description, such as a \"man waiting to be lifted up\" seemed irrational, this type of descriptive narrative revealed that users can complement expert-based and author-based descriptions. It also reinforced the concern of Rafferty and Hidderley (2007) that expert indexing is \"single minded\" (p. 399) because of its inability to capture the myriad detail that users might assign to images.\nReflections on the study: This study explored storytelling in relation to indexing practice. The first part of the study examined a small number of responses in some detail. This investigation established that story-telling plays an important role in how people interpret images, and suggested that incorporating elements of storytelling in to the indexing process might be valuable in relation to indexing exhaustivity. Current tagging practice tends to be in the form of inputting individual terms or short phrases, in other words, it operates mainly on the paradigmatic plane. It may be that operating at the syntagmatic plane - through sentences and stories - would allow us to capture a broader range of interpretations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this conceptual paper is to consider the possibility of designing a story-based image indexing system based on users' descriptions of images. It reports a pilot study which uses users' descriptions of two images.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Eight interviews were undertaken to investigate storytelling in user interpretations of the images. Following this, storytelling was explored as an indexing input method. In all, 26 research subjects were asked to create stories about the images, which were then considered in relation to conventional story elements and in relation to Hidderley and Rafferty's (2005) image modality model.\nFindings: The results of the semi-structured interviews revealed that the majority of interpretations incorporated story elements related to setting, character, plot, literary devices, and themes. The 52 image stories included story elements identified in the first part of the project, and suggested that the image modality model is robust enough to deal with the \"writerly\" images used in this study. In addition, using storytelling as an input method encourages the use of verbs and connotative level responses.\nOriginality/value: User indexing is generally based on paradigmatic approaches to concept analysis and interpretation in the form of tagging; the novelty of the current study is its exploration of syntagmatic approaches to user indexing in the form of storytelling. It is a pilot, proof of concept study, but it is hoped that it might stimulate further interest in syntagmatic approaches to user indexing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Logistical aspects when coping with non-pandemic biological terror attack	[ "Supply chain", "Bioterrorism", "Flexibility versus availability", "Medical response planning", "Anthrax" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The danger posed by biological terrorism, particularly the use of anthrax was dramatically demonstrated in the fall of 2001 when letters containing dry anthrax spores were sent through the US mail system, infecting 22 individuals and leading to five deaths (Inglesby et al., 2002). While considerable attention has been paid to issues such as the dispersal of anthrax plumes, the number of people expected to be infected by these plumes and the need for a rapid medical response, less attention has been paid to the tactical logistical arrangements required to provide a rapid medical response to such an attack (Brookmeyer et al., 2003; Craft et al., 2005; Hupert et al., 2007; Hupert et al., 2009; Wein et al., 2003).\nLiterature review: Models that deal with locating facilities and allocating resources to these facilities exist in both the civilian and military contexts. In the civilian context, the focus is typically on long-term considerations of supply chain management. The benefits of choosing a certain facility are assessed mainly by its long-term operating costs and benefits, not by the initial setup costs, which typically are short-term. This issue has been analyzed extensively in many fields - from warehouses and depots through power stations up to optimal locations of charging stations for electric cars (Barz, Buer and Haasis, 2016; Blelloch and Tangwongsan, 2010; Canel and Khumawala, 2001; Cui, Zhao and Zhang, 2018; Gourdin et al., 2000; Heyns and van Vuuren, 2018; Love et al., 1988; Luo and Yang, 2016; Ravi and Sinha, 2006; Zhang et al., 2018).\nMethodology: Medical treatment\nThe model: This section describes the major concepts and variables in our model. A detailed mathematical formulation is provided in Appendix 1.\nExample 1: a virtual demonstration of the model: Basic data\nExample 2: An anthrax aerosol attack in a major city in the USA: Basic data\nDiscussion and conclusions: This paper examines the time it would take to provide medical treatment for a large urban population in the wake of an airborne anthrax release, and the effect that various parameters have on the total time needed for the logistics to respond to this attack. While our model provides a means for determining the optimal service time, it often requires an unrealistic number of PODs and servers. Fortunately, because of its robustness, near optimal service times can be obtained with more realistic numbers for these parameters. Other variables such as the number of central depots, the local shipping method and the number of forklifts for loading supplies at the local airport have only minor effects on the results. The shipping can be done with small trucks, which are used extensively in everyday life.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the time it would take to provide medical prophylaxis for a large urban population in the wake of an airborne anthrax attack and the effect that various parameters have on the total logistical time.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A mathematical model that evaluates key parameters and suggests alternatives for improvement is formulated. The objective of the model is to minimize the total logistical time required for prophylaxis by balancing three cycles as follows: the loading cycle, the shipping cycle and the service cycle.\nFindings: Applying the model to two representative cases reveals the effect of various parameters on the process. For example, the number of distribution centers and the number of servers in each center are key parameters, whereas the number of central depots and the local shipping method is less important.\nResearch limitations/implications: Various psychological factors such as mass panic are not included in the model.\nOriginality/value: There are few papers analyzing the logistical response to an anthrax attack, and most focus mainly on the strategic level. The study deals with the tactical logistical level. The authors focus on the distribution process of prophylaxis and other medical supplies during the crisis, analyze it and identify the parameters that influence the time between the detection of the attack and the provision of effective medical treatment to the exposed population.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Fashion product display: An experiment with Mockshop investigating colour, visual texture, and style coordination	[ "Colour", "Display", "Merchandising", "Mockshop", "Style coordination", "Visual texture", "Fashion", "Consumer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The importance of product display to retailing was recognised as early as 1869, as indicated by the trade publication Display World, which later evolved into the popular Visual Merchandising and Store Design (VMSD, 2012). Product display constitutes the essence of visual merchandising - an important but understudied field in store environment research. In fact, for a time visual merchandising was simply referred to as \"display\" (Bell and Ternus, 2006). Product display is important because it communicates important information about a store's image, product offerings, fashion stance, price range, and market position (Ogle and Schofield-Tomschin, 2002). Displays inform, educate, entertain, and persuade shoppers (Pegler, 2012). Shoppers are susceptible to impressions and information they acquire in stores (Underhill, 1999), thus displays can directly influence a shopper's decision making process in a store. Especially in an information era rife with advertising clutter, consumers have become more sceptical than ever before of marketing efforts, which makes what is happening on the selling floor increasingly important (Underhill, 1999). Empirical studies (e.g. Ballantine et al., 2010) have also demonstrated the dominance of product display features among all other identified atmospheric cues in a store.\nTheoretical framework, literature review and research hypotheses: The S-O-R model of consumer behaviour (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974) in environmental psychology was an appropriate framework to use to investigate the impact of product display on shopper response. Simply put, this model posits that environmental stimuli (S) lead to emotional or cognitive reactions in consumers (O) that, in turn, shape their responses (R). The S is various elements of the physical atmosphere (also referred to as external factors, see Bagozzi, 1986) that provoke, motivate, or influence a consumer (Sherman et al., 1997). The O refers to internal processes and structures intervening between S and R and consists of perceptual, physiological, feeling, and thinking activities within individuals or organisms (Bagozzi, 1986). This conceptualisation stresses that the effect of a stimulus on consumer response is mediated by the consumer's internal state. The R represents the final outcomes, the final reactions of the consumer including psychological reactions such as attitudes or decisions or behavioural reactions such as purchasing (Bagozzi, 1986).\nMethod: Data collection procedure and sample\nResults: Sample characteristics\nDiscussion and conclusions: The main purpose of our study was to investigate the effect of three fashion product display methods (dominant by colour, visual texture, and style coordination) on consumers' emotional, cognitive, and behavioural responses. Retailers are interested in methods to shape a consumer's spending once that consumer has entered into their selling space. One major contribution of our research is the finding that subjects spent more in a store environment where the items were coordinated by style as compared to the other selling environments. Further, our data suggests that the style coordination store is preferred because it is easy to shop for outfits and easy to browse in. This finding is in line with those of Kerfoot et al. (2003) and Yoo and Kim (2009) who suggested that providing coordinated outfits in displays are preferred because they assist consumers in envisioning outfits and in assembling outfits.\nLimitations and future research: In this research more than half of the subjects were retail merchandising students and they may be more sensitive to visual merchandising and display than ordinary consumers of this age group. Subjects were spending virtual money for their purchases and not real money or their own money, which might affect the dependent variable - the amount of money spent. Although, virtual stores are a very close simulation of real stores, the visual impact might still be different from shopping in a real store, where other sensory cues (e.g. crowding) are present. And perceived only visually, certain elements of texture such as resiliency, weight, and density might be difficult to discern and thus may have affected the results related to visual texture. As an alternative, researchers might be able to partner with actual store owners to test the effects of merchandise display type on consumer decision making, along with other variables that might have important influences on consumers, such as music, store interiors, and social factors. Future researchers could also address such questions as whether style coordination as a display design is more or less important depending on selling environment (e.g. stores, online, catalogue), or whether there are types of consumers for whom a style coordination merchandising approach would not be effective or categories of merchandise where sales are best when items are not coordinated.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of three virtual fashion stores using product display methods dominant by colour, visual texture and style coordination on consumers' retailer interest, retail pleasure, perception of merchandise quality, patronage intention, and purchase behaviour to provide empirically tested, actionable product display methods to visual merchandising researchers and practitioners.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors used mixed methods for this exploratory study, combining experimental and focus group methods to gather data. For the experiment, data were collected via a between-subjects design reflecting manipulation of three variables (i.e. colour, style coordination, visual texture). After the experiment, participants completed a self-administered online questionnaire. A segment of the participants also participated in focus group discussions of the virtual stores.\nFindings: Participants who shopped in the style coordination store spent significantly more money than those who shopped in colour or visual texture stores. Participants who shopped in the colour store experienced significantly more retail pleasure and showed significantly higher patronage intention than those who shopped in the visual texture and style coordination stores; and they showed more retailer interest than subjects in the visual texture store. Retail pleasure and interest were found to mediate the link between methods of product display and patronage intention. Participants' fashion involvement moderated the relationship between fashion product display methods and retail interest.\nOriginality/value: This research is one of the first to create three virtual stores featuring product display methods dominant by colour, visual texture, and style coordination using 3D technology - a Mockshop software package. The effect of these different display methods on shoppers' reactions and responses was tested, which provided actionable results for visual merchandising practitioners, not only in the physical but also in the virtual store environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Intellectual capital-based innovation planning: empirical studies using wiNK model	[ "Innovation", "Intellectual capital", "Complexity theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Innovation has been identified as the driving force for value creation (Schumpeter, 1976) and future survival of an organization (Terziovski, 2007). Peter Drucker (1985, p. 25) defined Innovation as \"the specific instrument of entrepreneurship [...] the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.\" There is a growing awareness that competitive advantage and sustainability is directly linked to the learning and innovation capabilities of organizations. As distinguished from invention, innovation is systemic. Developing systemic innovation capability is the key element of growth in enterprises. Firms and organizations compete on the underlying capabilities that make the products and services sustainable. Innovation can be brought about in an organization and be embedded in the business process, management philosophy and culture of the organization, as an asset that an organization can cultivate and manage.\n2. The complexity of IC and the wiNK model: Existing studies of IC lay a foundation for understanding what can be done to help an organization to generate higher innovation capability with IC. However, only recently attempts have been made to integrate IC elements and study their interdependencies. For example, Bratianu (2013) presented a dynamic IC model with integrators based on interdependence and synergy. One need to ask the question: with the organization's current IC on hand, what can be done? On which dimension of IC shall the organization focus for improvement to gain maximum return? Not only an organization may not be able to build up all dimensions of IC, but also not necessarily be beneficial to do so, as some of the requirements may be contradictory. This brings in the consideration of complex systems.\n3. A two-stage IC planning tool for innovation: The proposed two-stage IC planning tool includes a descriptive study of the present status with statistical and regression analysis and a prescriptive study with the use of simulation and the wiNK model.\n4. Implementation of IC planning using wiNK in ICT organizations: An empirical study of the proposed IC planning tool using wiNK with a Canadian telecom company was reported by Fan and Lee (2012). The planning tool was applied to two groups of an R\n5. Conclusion: 5.1. Brief summary of the paper's findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Innovation is essential for business growth that cannot be created by financial investment alone but with intellectual capital (IC). IC management is critical for the organization, yet many firms do not have proper strategies. The purpose of this paper is to present an effective planning model that enables organizations to raise their innovation capability through strategic IC management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Two R\nFindings: This paper demonstrated that the wiNK model is an easy-to-use prescriptive tool using IC to optimize innovation performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The IC state of an organization is dynamic and changing. Regular IC examinations are necessary to track its changes.\nPractical implications: This IC-based model can be applied individually without benchmarking with other organizations. The IC location map can be documented as an organization DNA profile for the organization. The tracking of the continuous and dynamic changes is beneficial to the organization and its stakeholders. It can be served as both planning and evaluation tools.\nOriginality/value: This study offers a systemic approach to the interdisciplinary study of organizational behavior and innovation with a pioneering use of an IC framework. It contributes to the field of innovation management with a new attempt of its kind to integrate management research and mathematical simulation model.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The mission statement: organisational culture perspective	[ "Network analysis", "Organizational culture", "Slovenia", "Mission statement", "Content text analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: For more than 30 years mission statement serves as a common corporate reporting tool (Stallworth Williams, 2008). It describes and communicates the overriding purpose to all the stakeholders of an organisation (Kemp and Dwyer, 2003). An organisation's \"credo\", \"philosophy\", \"core values\", \"reason for being\", \"image creator\", or \"a distinctive factor\" are frequently used concepts that describe the importance and the value of a mission statement for an organisation (Dermol and Breznik, 2012). The described roles of the mission statement lead to its connection with organisational culture (OC). We can identify two streams of literature that directly or indirectly address the interrelatedness of a mission statement and OC. The first one describes and explains the mission and the OC as strategic tools and as important elements of strategic management with the aim to identify \"what works\" and \"what should be changed\" to improve the organisational performance. The second stream of the literature is an extension of the first one and it connects the concepts of OC and strategic statements with the processes of organisation's identity creation and identity articulation (Ledoux, 2005). In this case, the focus is on the mission statement role in building the identity and image of an organisation (Klemm et al., 1991), in deciphering the underlying OC from defined mission statement (Swales and Rogers, 1995), in the process of mission statement formulation and communication (Mullane, 2002), and in the determinants of employees' \"sense of mission\" (Campbell and Yeung, 1991). The aim of the second stream is to identify \"how\" the organisation's \"philosophy\" and \"core values\" should be defined and communicated to achieve an impact on organisational performance.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Mission statement: its strategic and cultural perspective\n3. Research methodology: The research was based on mixed method approach. The identification of missions' content dimensions was performed through quantitative content analysis followed by the interviews with managers to more deeply investigate the organisations' mission statements. As Caracelli and Greene (1993) stated, following the \"complementarity purpose\", we \"enhance, illustrate, or clarify\" the results of the first survey with the results of the second.\n4. Results and discussion: 4.1 The content analysis of mission statements\n5. Conclusions: A detailed content analysis revealed five mission statements' content dimensions among Slovenian organisations: concern for stakeholders, orientation toward stability, orientation toward cooperation and innovation, orientation toward development and growth, and customer orientation. Mission statements incorporate values and cultural value dimensions, as defined by Quinn (1989) and Van Muijen et al. (1999), but our study clearly shows also the differences, especially those related to the internal orientation of an organisation. They are described in OC literature as rules orientation (structure and control) and support orientation (employees) (Van Muijen et al., 1999). Mission statements inform not only internal but also the external audience (Brown and Yoshioka, 2003). This is clearly presented by the identified factor, i.e., mission statement dimension of concern for stakeholders. This dimension includes the desired behavioural standards such as concern, care, and responsibility, and it is aimed not only at employees but all stakeholders. As a formal organisation's statement the mission statement does not inform about the organisation's focuses on internal regulation, formalisation, work procedures, and authority, but on elements of business stability, such as: \"training\", \"adjustment\", \"needs\", and \"professionalism\". Network analysis identifies five central elements of mission statements: \"people\", \"provide\", \"development\", \"customers\", and \"environment\". The message sent by Slovenian organisations to their internal and external audience can be therefore summarized as follows: providing what the customers need, through people, and with the orientation toward development and environmental responsiveness. The conclusion can be made that analysed mission statements incorporate the espoused or declared values of organisations that communicate what it is important in the conduct of a business, but mainly from the perspective of the top managers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of mission statement contents and its function in guiding employee's behaviour from the organisational culture (OC) perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research is based on a mixed method approach. The quantitative content analysis of mission statements was performed on a sample of 222 Slovenian companies. Mission statement's keywords were analysed with exploratory factor analysis. Advanced network analytic approaches such as PathFinder algorithm were utilised to obtain better understanding of interrelatedness of underlying mission components. Three interviews with the top managers were performed as well.\nFindings: The mission statement content analysis identified five associated organisations' orientations: concern for stakeholders, orientation towards stability, orientation towards cooperation and innovation, and development and growth. The interviews confirm missions' role in communicating the espoused or declared OC, although different approaches to achieve employees' commitment to the organisation's mission can be identified in regard to the size of the organisation.\nOriginality/value: The cultural approach to the analysis of mission statements confirms that the mission statements incorporate basic contents of OC. The methodology applied gives new possibilities in the research of OC perspective of strategic statements.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Taking a bite out of Apple: Jailbreaking and the confluence of brand loyalty, consumer resistance and the co-creation of value	[ "Qualitative research", "Brand loyalty", "Consumer empowerment", "Brand co-creation", "Anti-Branding", "Consumer resistance", "Jailbreaking" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction, background, literature review and context: In 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne started Apple. Initially focussing on personal computers and operating systems (Apple in the 1970s and Mac 1980s), the company diversified into laptops, PDA's and networking solutions in the 1990s. Apple gained popularity as consumers saw it as an innovative alternative in a conformist industry. In line with this ideology, the company used, a now infamous, advertisement in 1984 to launch the Mac. The ad depicts Apple as a heroine liberating humanity from a future where the \"overlord\" (IBM) has removed all aspects of individuality. Coupled with the tagline of \"Think Different\", Apple provided consumers with an expressive output and the Mac brand became a status symbol of individuality and empowerment. Whilst Apple continues to portray themselves as a cutting-edge, revolutionary liberator, in 2016, three decades later, some individuals detect a disconcerting change in Apple. With the release of the iPhone, some 20 million users (Freeman, 2009; Greenberg, 2013; Perez, 2013) feel that Apple has become the overlord they were trying to defeat.\nMethod: To answer the research questions: what are the motivations driving resistance of a much adored brand such as Apple; and can jailbreaking teach us anything new about brand loyalty, co-creation of value and consumer resistance, we conducted an unobtrusive \"observational netnography\" (Kozinets, 2010), which could more accurately be described as a qualitative content analysis of the online jailbreaking discourse (Langer and Beckman, 2005).\nFindings: Although most hacktivists are jailbreakers, not all jailbreakers are hacktivists. Thus, to fully answer the first research question posed by this study (What are the motivations driving resistance of a much adored brand such as Apple?), the first section of our findings will discuss the main reasons motivating loyal consumers to defy Apple and jailbreak their iDevices. The second section will explore motivations of hacktivists, the individuals and groups who create and release exploits to the public for free, for jailbirds to liberate their devices.\nDiscussion: confluence of concepts: The majority of academic work dealing with cultural appropriation (McCracken, 1986) do so from the consumer's perspective; that is, these works argue that consumers appropriate the symbolic meanings of brands and products to construct their self-identity. A growing number of studies have also established the idea of a consumer-resistant identity, whereby consumers are able to construct their self-concepts through anti-consumption and consumer resistance (Dobscha, 1998; Kozinets and Handelman 2006; Cherrier, 2009; Lee et al., 2009). Other scholarly works have also looked at corporate appropriation (co-optation) of consumer and subcultural trends for the purposes of creating new offerings (Thompson and Coskuner-Balli, 2007).\nConclusion and future research: This research explored the iPhone jailbreaking phenomenon; we show that whilst remaining loyal to Apple, jailbreakers still resist Apple for a number of reasons. For some users, the functional and/or self-expressive aspects that they gain through jailbreaking are the main motivation. Other jailbreakers, and hacktivists in particular, are ideologically motivated in their actions; for them, jailbreaking is all about \"fighting the good fight\" and resisting the hegemonic entity which Apple has become, at least in their eyes.\nList of terms: App Store: The centralised store where iDevice users are able to download new applications. This store is operated by Apple who takes a percentage of profits and dictates what applications are available to users.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomena of Apple iPhone jailbreaking, a novel scenario where a company actively oppresses and discourages the co-creation of value and customisation of its products by loyal consumers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper conducted a qualitative content and thematic analysis of online jailbreaker discourse to understand the motivations and reasons driving consumers to resist a brand to which they remain extremely loyal.\nFindings: Three themes explain jailbreaker motivations: enhanced experience, individual right of self-expression and anti-hegemony. Further two themes explain the differing motivations driving hacktivists to create the \"exploits\" that are subsequently used by jailbreakers (liberating the masses; status and notoriety). Finally, an integrative conceptual model is provided to showcase how disparate theories of consumer behaviour are synthesised during this novel phenomena.\nOriginality/value: In contrast to previous work, the consumer activists featured in this paper are devoted to the brand and product they are resisting. Rather than switching to an alternative brand, these jailbreakers and hacktivists remain loyal to the product in a genuine effort to help the brand. Even more interesting is the brand actively oppressing these loyal consumers' attempts to modify and, in some cases, improve their products. Overall, this paper highlights the contradictory relationship between Apple and some of its consumers and demonstrates how brand loyalty, dissatisfaction, resistance/activism and co-creation can co-exist within the same consumer-brand relationship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Prevention of gynecological cancers: the affecting factors and knowledge levels of Turkish women	[ "Gynecological cancers", "Prevention", "Knowledge", "Turkish women" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide and was estimated to be responsible for approximately 9.6m deaths in 2018. According to a World Health Organization report, approximately one out of six people in the world die due to cancer and 70% of these losses occur in low- and middle-income countries [1]. Turkish Statistical Institute data show that one out of every five deaths in Turkey is due to cancer. Each year in Turkey, around 148,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed with a reported case of 91,800 cancer-related deaths. It is predicted that 80% of cancer deaths will be seen in low- and middle-income countries by 2025 [2]. Gynecological cancers are a significant global public health problem [3, 4]. In Turkey, the top 10 cancer-driven deaths among women are gynecological cancer deaths (ovarian cancer is ranked sixth; endometrial cancer is ranked fourth; cervical cancer is ranked nineth) [5-9].The negative effects of gynecological cancers on women's health are multi-dimensional. Diagnosis and treatment procedures applied in gynecological cancers, fear of a cancer diagnosis as well as problems in other organ cancers, complex, long, invasive and combined treatments, stress and complication risk due to treatment process, problems related to body image, sexual identity and reproductive ability negatively affect the quality of life of the woman, her partner and her family. Gynecological cancers also reduce female fertility and the quality of any sex life. They affect family and social life and cause psychosocial health problems [9-12]. As with many cancer types, gynecological cancers are preventable and treatable diseases when an early diagnosis is made. However, when looking at the available research conducted on gynecological cancers, it shows women do not always benefit from an early diagnosis due to a number of factors (economic problems, insufficient access to health services, fear of suffering from pain, shame and beliefs that will invade privacy) [13-16].Another very important factor is the lack of any or much knowledge about this type of cancer. Health professionals have a vital role to play in increasing the knowledge levels of women regarding gynecological cancers. On this point, the first thing to be done should be to determine the current knowledge level of any women with possible cancer symptoms [17-20]. Determining the current level of knowledge of women about cancer will contribute to the realization of any educational plans in a realistic and useful way and will help with the structure of educational content according to the actual needs of the women involved with cancer issues. Raising the level of knowledge contributes to raising awareness and eliminates risk factors. In this way, the health of both women and society, in general, can be improved [5, 7, 21, 22]. The aim of this research study was to determine the affecting factors and knowledge level of women in relation to gynecological cancer prevention. The data obtained in the study may be used in the assessment of intercultural differences and the enrichment of the literature on the topic.\nMethodology: Study design and sample\nResults: Sociodemographic characteristics of the women\nDiscussion: Health education plays an important role in the primary prevention of gynecological cancers. Before starting any form of health education, it is essential to determine the current knowledge level of the target group. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge level of Turkish women related to prevention from gynecological cancers and their attitudes toward prevention.We determined in this study that the GCPIS total mean score of women was below the mean value (m = 16.22 +- 8.21; min: 0, max: 35). Many researchers have shown that women's knowledge levels are not sufficient to protect them against gynecological cancers [24-27]. According to one study, most women have heard of cervical, ovarian and uterine cancer, but they do not know much about vaginal and vulva cancers [28]. Another study demonstrated that the level of knowledge of the participants about gynecologic cancers was insufficient (34%) [24]. Lockwood-Rayermann demonstrated that 15% of women did not know the symptoms of ovarian cancer and their awareness of risk factors was poor [25]. Results of the study by Lyimo and Beran indicated that less than one-fourth (22.6%) of participants had cervical cancer screening; more than half of the participants (n = 211, 59.6%) had a low level of knowledge about cervical cancers and prevention and less than one-fourth (n = 68, 19.2%) had a high enough level of knowledge [26].Women's knowledge abilities and levels are closely related to age, education level, marital status, place of residence, distance to health institutions and socioeconomic factors [27, 29, 30]. The results of this study have suggested that women aged between 35 and 49 years have a higher mean knowledge point than those in the 18-34 age group. Several researchers reported that screening rates were lower in young women aged between 20 and 29 years and in older women over 60 years [29, 30]. The results of this study have suggested that those with a high school or above education level had a higher mean knowledge point than those with a secondary or lower education level. There are many studies to confirm that there is a significant relationship between a women's knowledge level, education and age and knowing and applying cancer screening to prevent gynecological cancer [31, 32]. The increase in the education levels of women can be considered as a factor that helps increase the utilization of screening services [29]. However, it is not possible to claim that highly educated women will be screened for certain. In this study, no statistically significant difference was found between regular pap-smear testing and marital status [33]. Narayana et al. demonstrated that adequate knowledge and a positive attitude were associated with seven sociodemographic characteristics: age, residence area, marital status, parity, level of education, occupation and monthly income. Women aged between 30 and 39 years mostly had adequate levels of knowledge and a positive attitude in relation to other age groups. Moreover, women residing in rural areas, who had a college or university level of education, were healthcare workers and had a household income in excess of 20,000 INR practiced regular prevention methods with p < 0.05 [27]. Lyimo and Beran indicated that the likelihood of screening was almost four times as high if they resided 2 to 5 km from a facility that provides cervical cancer screening services compared to those who lived further away [26]. Another study demonstrated that single and widowed women were less likely to be screened than married women [29]. However, some researchers have shown that single women are more likely to take pap-smear screening than a married woman [30].Women's knowledge abilities and levels are closely related to age, education level, marital status, place of residence, distance to health institutions and socioeconomic factors [27, 29, 30]. The results of this study have suggested that women aged between 35 and 49 years have a higher mean knowledge point than those in the 18-34 age group. Several researchers reported that screening rates were lower in young women aged between 20 and 29 years and in older women over 60 years [29, 30]. The results of this study have suggested that those with a high school or above education level had a higher mean knowledge point than those with a secondary or lower education level. There are many studies to confirm that there is a significant relationship between a women's knowledge level, education and age and knowing and applying cancer screening to prevent gynecological cancer [31, 32]. The increase in the education levels of women can be considered as a factor that helps increase the utilization of screening services [29]. However, it is not possible to claim that highly educated women will be screened for certain. In this study, no statistically significant difference was found between regular pap-smear testing and marital status [33]. Narayana et al. demonstrated that adequate knowledge and a positive attitude were associated with seven sociodemographic characteristics: age, residence area, marital status, parity, level of education, occupation and monthly income. Women aged between 30 and 39 years mostly had adequate levels of knowledge and a positive attitude in relation to other age groups. Moreover, women residing in rural areas, who had a college or university level of education, were healthcare workers and had a household income in excess of 20,000 INR practiced regular prevention methods with p < 0.05 [27]. Lyimo and Beran indicated that the likelihood of screening was almost four times as high if they resided 2 to 5 km from a facility that provides cervical cancer screening services compared to those who lived further away [26]. Another study demonstrated that single and widowed women were less likely to be screened than married women [29]. However, some researchers have shown that single women are more likely to take pap-smear screening than a married woman [30].Our study found that approximately 4% of the women interviewed performed regular self-vulva examination; of all the women, 23.6% of them had regular pap-smear tests and that the women who had regular screening had a higher knowledge mean score than those who did not participate in a screening. The increase in the age and education levels of women increases the rate of taking the pap-smear test [13]. Lyimo and Beran indicated that women with the highest level of knowledge on the prevention of cervical cancer are nine times more likely to be screened than women with low levels of knowledge [26]. Moreover, Hawkins demonstrated that approximately two-thirds of women think that the pap-smear test can be used in the screening of vaginal and ovarian cancer and sexually transmitted diseases [34]. Another researcher reported that 87.4% of women stated that they had not heard of cervical cancer; all women stated that they had not heard of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine and 85% stated that they did not know about screening programs [32]. Inadequate information and poor awareness make the effective use of screening programs for gynecological cancers difficulty. In our study, the mean knowledge score about gynecological cancers in women who defined their economic status as \"good\" was found to be high. Another research paper reported that women in the 18-34 age group and whose education and income levels were low had lower knowledge levels of cancers [34]. A good economic situation can be considered as a factor that facilitates access to information resources.Approximately half of the women (51.6%) thought that some gynecological cancer types are hereditary. Several researchers indicated that in cases of cancer history in the women's families, women thought it is a risk factor for breast, endometrium, cervix and ovarian cancers. In our study, 28.8% of women thought that the use of oral contraceptives increased the risk of ovarian cancer. Similarly, one study reported that 26.4% of postmenopausal women stated that oral contraceptives are a risk factor for ovarian cancer. In this study, approximately two-thirds of women did not know that HPV is a risk factor for gynecologic cancers. Similarly, several researchers reported that women's knowledge about the relationship between HPV and cervical cancer was insufficient [33, 35].\nConclusion: It is extremely important for women to be informed about gynecological cancers for both prevention and for overall health improvement. Health professionals should inform women about gynecological cancers by using their training and counseling roles during screening and routine examinations. Training programs that increase the level of knowledge about gynecological cancers and lead changes in behavior should be expanded within public health services.\nLimitations: This study was conducted on a group of Turkish women and cannot be generalized to other cultures. However, this study gives us an idea of the level of knowledge of Turkish women regarding gynecological cancers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Gynecological cancers are preventable and treatable diseases in case of early diagnosis. However, lack of knowledge is one of the factors preventing women from benefiting from early diagnosis. Increasing women's knowledge of gynecological cancers contributes to improving the health of both women and the community. The purpose of this research study was to determine the affecting factors and knowledge level of Turkish women-related gynecological cancer prevention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study and was carried out at a state hospital's outpatient clinic between May and June 2019. The sampling included 496 women who are not diagnosed with gynecological cancer in the individual or in the family. Data were collected using the personal information form and Gynecological Cancer Prevention Information Scale (GCPIS). Data were evaluated using the SPSS 22.0 software program. Frequencies, mean and standard deviation were used for the descriptive variables. For the data that met the parametric conditions, those with two groups were analyzed using independent samples t-tests and those with more than two groups were analyzed using F-test.\nFindings: In this study, the GCPIS total mean score of women was found 16.22 +- 8.21 (min: 0, max: 35). A statistically significant difference was found between the women's level of knowledge according to the age group of the participants, education level, economic status perception, regular pap-smear test, regular vulva examination and getting information about prevention from gynecologic cancers (p < 0.05).\nResearch limitations/implications: This study was conducted on a group of Turkish women and cannot be generalized to other cultures.\nPractical implications: This study can be beneficial for determining the Turkish women's knowledge levels about gynecological cancers of women and for providing data for health education programs planning to be created.\nSocial implications: The data of this study can be used to improve women's knowledge and examination skills of gynecological cancers. Thus, the quality of life of women can be improved.\nOriginality/value: Healthcare professionals can play vital roles in presenting needed knowledge about gynecological cancers and raising awareness in women. It is extremely important for women to be informed about gynecological cancers for prevention of gynecological cancers and health improvement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Review and assessment of the causes of deficiencies in design documents for large construction projects	[ "Client", "Design management", "Design documents’ deficiencies", "Design errors", "Team composition" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Estimated to be worth more than a $3.9 trillion annually, the world of construction is an enterprise of colossal proportion (Alzara et al., 2016). It is evident that with such large sums of money at stake, efficiency is crucial. It is therefore understandable that the completion of a project within the originally specified time, budget, and quality are viewed as key indicators of a successful project (Assaf and Al-Hejji, 2006; Ameh et al., 2010). In practice, however, given the highly complex, ever-changing character of the construction process (Banaitiene and Banaitis, 2012), such standards tend to be elusive (Ameh et al., 2010; Hwang et al., 2009). More specifically, the construction process is subject to a multitude of variables that may impede its progress. Such variables encompass the performance of the various construction parties, the supply of resources, and environmental factors to name a few (Arain et al., 2006). With respect to the performance of parties, design professionals play a significant role in influencing the successful development of the project. For example, poorly prepared design documents cause construction inefficiencies, increase the likelihood of litigations, and raise costs (Tilley and Barton, 1997). Poorly prepared documents also lead to inaccuracies in estimates (Laryea, 2011), opening the door to opportunism (Laryea, 2011). Specifically, contractors who notice poor design will apply contingencies to their estimates to compensate for any potential future expenses. For example, in De Neufville and King's (1991) study, the quality of design was one of the most frequently chosen project-risk factor by the contractors. In addition, contractors aware of issues in documents will choose not to divulge such defects at the bidding stage, with the intent of raising claims during the construction stages (Laryea, 2011). At the extreme end, design errors can even precipitate failures (Palaneeswaran et al., 2007).\nResearch methodology: The following activities were conducted toward achieving the objectives of the research:\nPrevious studies: Design deficiency consists of an error or omission which leads to the construction of a facility that fails to achieve its intended goal (Bubshait et al., 1998). The presence of design deficiency has been widely accepted as a sign of dysfunctional organizational and managerial practices in construction. Past studies (Al-Far, 2005; Love et al., 2006, 2008; Palaneeswaran et al., 2007; Laryea, 2011) have, at varying degrees, explored the subject of DDDs' causation.\nCauses contributing to DDDs: Based on the survey of the literature, a total of 20 causes of DDDs were considered. Interviews were also conducted with a sample of five professionals in the building construction industry to confirm the relevance of the identified causes of DDDs. The interviewees included an architect, two civil engineers, a mechanical engineer, as well as an electrical engineer. These professionals had a minimum of five years of experience in the construction industry in various types of projects, ranging from residential, commercial to institutional projects.\nAssessment of the causes of DDDs: The authors opted to use a recognized research methodology adopted in several studies (Assaf et al., 2013, 2015; Hassanain et al., 2014a, b; Sha'ar et al., 2017). The identified 20 causes for DDDs have undergone 10 initial quality checks through the interviews, and then pilot-testing, before being assessed by the domain specialists. The participants were asked to assess the causes of DDDs. Once the responses were received the following formula (Dominowski, 1980) was used to assign a significance index for each cause:\nFindings and analysis: Table I presents the 20 identified causes categorized under their respective groups, along with their significance index, significance level, in-group ranking, overall ranking, mean, and standard deviation. The significance index was computed to determine the in-group and overall ranking of each of the identified causes of DDDs. The in-group ranking was used to assess the relative significance of a given cause, with respect to other causes under the same category. These computations have facilitated the identification of the causes that had the most significant role in each organization (i.e. design firms and owners). The overall ranking was used to assess the relative significance of a given cause, with respect to all the identified causes, regardless of the category. This facilitated the identification of the parties most responsible for the causes of DDDs.\nDiscussion: In light of considering all the causes, the top most important cause contributing to DDDs was \"assigning design tasks to designers who lack work experience\" (76 percent). It worth mentioning that the result obtained for this could be attributed to consultants' desire to further increase their profit margins, and not because of falling under financial pressure. The next top causes were \"team members' communication skills\" (75 percent), \"the level and quality of the design professional's education\" (74 percent), \"cross-disciplinary coordination\" (74 percent), \"effective design team\" (70 percent), and \"lack of knowledge transfer mechanism\" (70 percent).\nConclusions and recommendations: This paper explored the key causes of DDDs in large construction projects based in Saudi Arabia. In total, 20 causes were identified from the literature. These causes were divided into four groups, namely, \"causes pertaining to staff at the design office,\" \"causes pertaining to the composition of the design team,\" \"causes pertaining to the design management of the project,\" and \"causes pertaining to the client's involvement in the project.\" The causes that share a common theme were clustered together in one group. The 10 professionals (through interviews as well as pilot-testing) who reviewed them were in agreement of the classification of the 20 causes under their respective groups. None of the identified causes were ranked lower than significant (i.e. obtaining a significance index of less than 62.5 percent). The six most significant causes, in a descending order of significance, were \"assigning design tasks to designers who lack work experience\" (76 percent), \"team members' communication skills\" (75 percent), \"the level and quality of the design professional's education\" (74 percent), \"cross-disciplinary coordination\" (74 percent), \"effective design team\" (70 percent), and \"lack of knowledge transfer mechanism\" (70 percent).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Design documents' deficiencies (DDDs) are a major issue that plagues the construction industry in many countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the major causes of DDDs in a fast expanding economy, where errors can translate to an adverse impact on the economy. This paper aims to identify and assess the causes of DDDs for large construction projects from the consultants' perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 20 causes of DDDs were shortlisted through an extensive literature survey. In total, 37 consultants based in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia participated in the study. The respondents were requested to provide their opinion with respect to the relative importance of the identified causes. The result of their responses was then used to rank the causes.\nFindings: Based on their significance indices, the most significant causes of DDDs were \"assigning design tasks to designers who lack work experience,\" \"team members' communication skills,\" \"the level and quality of the design professional's education,\" \"cross-disciplinary coordination,\" \"effective design team,\" and \"lack of knowledge transfer mechanism.\"\nPractical implications: Recommendations were provided to mitigate the issues of DDDs. It is envisioned that through a better understanding of the major causes of DDDs, design firms will be better positioned to recognize DDDs' causes and establish appropriate measures for reducing their occurrence. The findings of this paper are beneficial to all project stakeholders, including design firms, clients, contractors, and end users.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the literature by providing an assessment of the various causes of DDDs in the context of a rapidly expanding economy, where any inefficiency can lead to massive losses to the economy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Popham becomes the people's champion: Hairdressing firm benefits from high levels of employee retention	[ "United Kingdom", "Small and medium‐size enterprises", "Investors in People", "Retention", "Awards", "Empowerment", "Internal communications", "Training" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A UK business man has proved his father wrong - by demonstrating that successful firms can make money without being mean to their staff.\nPrinciples embedded in the organization: John Telfer, managing director of Inspiring Business Performance Ltd (IBP), which is responsible for delivering the Investor in People standard across London and the south of England, said:\"Popham is an excellent example of how Investor in People can really make a difference when the principles are embedded into an organization early on. Popham has proved itself to be among the top 1 percent of Investor in People-recognized organizations in the country; I hope its success will encourage others in the industry, as well as other companies in London and the south of England, to achieve their business goals through the framework.\"David and Shirley Popham pay a decent basic wage, enabling their staff to secure mortgages, and then commission is earned on top. They also insist that all staff take a lunch hour, which Shirley Popham believes improves their quality of delivery and makes them stand out from their competitors.Meetings are held every four weeks with the shops' managers and assistant managers to discuss personal and professional development. A full staff meeting is then held the following day, where any issues can be discussed freely. Staff agree that they are involved in identifying their learning and development needs and that their needs are linked to the requirements of their role - for example, cutting and coloring.Shirley Popham continued:\"We feel it is important not to let problems build up, and find that talking about what is happening in the company can really boost staff morale. Everyone feels involved and gets to know the ethos of Popham very quickly.\"Among the issues raised at the meetings are individuals' development needs and performance targets. Annual appraisals are used for knowledge sharing with colleagues and coaching from directors, while staff are actively encouraged to contribute ideas on a day-to-day basis.\"We have plans to expand so we need our managers and anyone joining the company to be well aware of what we stand for,\" said Shirley Popham. \"We encourage in-house training, which covers everything from housekeeping to technical skills. We have found this to be more successful for us than National Vocational Qualifications as staff are learning what the job really entails.\"\nIndividual targets for staff members: Popham has a well-developed business plan and individual targets for all members of staff, to which people have contributed and can relate. Directors and managers share a strong commitment to training and development, and to ensuring that this development takes place and that people believe the commitment.There is a flexible approach to the delivery of learning and development, which takes into account factors such as working patterns and people's preferred learning styles. Staff believe that development activities are readily accessible, regardless of their individual circumstances.Popham uses training methods such as: workshops on styles, cutting and coloring; external training programs, attendance at exhibitions and conferences; videos; and observation.During the Investor in People assessment, employees commented that the organization had a caring, compassionate, open and honest culture, and felt that they had ready access to help and support when they needed it. They also stated that constructive feedback is welcomed.The assessor also found that the business has an empowering and highly supportive approach to people management which is consistent with its business ethos, goals and values. All employees interviewed during the Investor in People process believed that their managers were supportive and trusted them to do their job.\nHigh levels of employee satisfaction: All the staff at Popham experience high levels of job satisfaction, partly because they feel part of something worthwhile. Shirley and David Popham thank employees personally for their contribution to the success of the business, even hosting the Christmas party at their own house.\"I think some people in our industry would say that undertaking Investor in People is too expensive, both in terms of the actual cost and the time it takes,\" Shirley Popham concluded. \"However, we have found it really makes a difference to our levels of staff retention, which obviously provides us with a cost saving. It also makes for a happier workplace and we are now looking forward to sharing our experiences with other companies.\"\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest Editor, wrote this article. To find out more about IBP and Investor in People, visit www.ibp.uk.com or e-mail info@ibp.uk.com\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe how hairdressing company, Popham, has become an Investor in People champion and the benefits that have flowed from this.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper explains the background to the Investor in People award and the policies that Popham has adopted to achieve this, in particular in the areas of staff consultation and employee development.\nFindings: - To prevent any problems from developing into major issues, the 17-employee firm holds regular meetings with employees. Annual appraisals are used for knowledge sharing with colleagues and coaching from directors, while staff are actively encouraged to contribute ideas on a day-to-day basis.\nPractical implications: - Popham has a well-developed business plan and individual targets for all members of staff, to which people have contributed and can relate. Directors and managers share a strong commitment to training and development. Reveals that the 17-employee company, operating in a sector that traditionally has high employee turnover, has lost only one member of staff in the last ten years.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides an example of successful human-resource management policies in a UK small business.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Partners and plagiarisers: dualities in consultants' influence on organisational change projects	[ "Partnership", "Dualities", "Plagiarism", "Management consultants", "Organizational change projects", "Organizational politics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Management consultants have a major influence on how managers lead organisational change projects, but the value of their contribution remains a subject of debate (Fincham, 1999; Greiner and Ennsfellner, 2010; Sturdy, 1997). Nikolova and Devinney (2012) contrast the functionalist perspective, that consultants provide real help either through their specialised knowledge or their ability to facilitate joint learning with their clients, with the critical perspective, that consultants rather create the impression that their services have value through advocacy of ephemeral management fashions. Irrespective of the perspective adopted, there can be no doubt that management consultancy is a business with its own particular management requirements (Kipping and Clark, 2012). This paper draws upon a review of the management consultancy literature, alongside insights from the organisational change management literature (Al-Haddad and Kotnour, 2015; By, 2005; By et al., 2016), to assess how the interplay between the business imperatives of consultancy firms and the requirements for successful organisational change affect the ways in which consultants influence organisational change projects.\nPartnering with clients to shape their change leadership team: Drawing on Burns' (1978) work on leadership, Burke and Litwin (1992) characterise leadership as the central, transformational factor in managing an organisation's response to its environment. Burke and Litwin initially developed their model of organisational change through reflection on their own management consultancy experience, justifying it subsequently by reference to academic theory and empirical evidence, so their model reflects consultants' perceptions of the centrality of leadership as well as academic theorising. The senior managers leading an organisational change project will inevitably be the clients of the management consultants who are appointed to assist with it (Schein, 1997). Thus, identifying the clients for an organisational change project, and any roles of consultants in doing so, is a central issue. The scope and heterogeneity of the client group for management consultancy services in a large corporation can mean that identifying who the clients are can be an ambiguous and complex process. Schein (1997, pp. 202-203) identifies a range of different categories of client, including the initial \"contact clients\", \"intermediate clients\" who are subsequently involved, \"primary clients\" who are responsible for solving the problem at issue, \"unwitting clients\" who may be affected by the project but are not aware of it, \"indirect clients\" who know they will be affected but are not known to the consultants, and \"ultimate clients\" who have interests as stakeholders. Alvesson et al. (2009) point out that a variety of different people may perform client roles during the lifetime of a long-running project; that managers who are opposed to an organisational change project and may be adversely affected by it might be regarded as among the ultimate clients; and that coalitions may be formed among client groups in the organisation, with different coalitions engaging in political conflict with each other.\nPartnering with clients to gain acceptance of ideas for change: In order for managers to accept consultants as their strategic partners, they need to be convinced that they are \"on their side\", both when those managers engage in the politics of pursuing their organisations' business objectives, and potentially also when they engage in the politics that affect their personal ambitions and careers. Organisational change is a political process, involving the legitimisation of new ideas and the delegitimisation of old ones (Pettigrew, 2012). Kotter (1995, p. 61) recommends \"forming a powerful coalition\" as a key step in accumulating the necessary political power in an organisation to drive forward change. Consultants may be active in identifying the dominant influencers in a client organisation, and in engaging in political struggles in support of those influencers' agenda for change (Gluckler and Ambruster, 2003). Managers for their part may make use of consultants to assist them in legitimising their own ideas among their colleagues while delegitimising others, and they may engage in opposing coalitions of clients and consultants, each pursuing their own organisational objectives (Alvesson et al., 2009; Sturdy et al., 2009). Clients may expect their consultants to help them to form a favourable impression of themselves in the minds of their colleagues in internal events (Nikolova et al., 2015). Werr and Styhre (2003) observe that managers sometimes face tensions between using consultants to help advance their own careers and using them to achieve wider objectives for the benefit of their organisations. Whether managers like particular consultants, and their personal chemistry with them, influences their willingness to give them repeat business, and liking and personal chemistry may be affected by the consultants' willingness to support their personal agenda (Chelliah and Davis, 2010; Nikolova et al., 2015).\nPlagiarising established industry practices in defining the content of change: Achtenhagen et al. (2003) point out that one measure of organisational innovation is the extent to which ideas that are being implemented are novel within a particular organisation, so consultants who plagiarise the ideas of other participants in their client's industry, rather than introducing ideas that break wholly new ground, may still be helping their client to innovate. An organisational change project that is focussed on alignment with established \"best practice\", therefore, may well satisfy the client's appetite for innovation at the same time as it facilitates leverage for the consultancy firm, by allowing scope for reuse of the industry knowledge that the firm has collected and stored in its knowledge management systems (Hansen et al., 1999).\nPlagiarising established methods in facilitating the process of change: If consultancy firms plagiarise standard change management methods and use step-by-step guidance and standard tools and techniques for addressing particular issues, which they have developed through previous projects, they can deploy less experienced, and therefore less costly, consultants than would otherwise be required (Heusinkveld and Visscher, 2012; O'Mahoney and Markham, 2013; Werr et al., 1997). Molloy and Whittington (2005) comment on consultancy practices in customising standard change management methods, so as to make them better adapted to clients' particular circumstances and more acceptable to them, including flexible adaptation of standard project management methods whose over-rigorous application can provoke resistance among clients. Management consultancy firms' knowledge management systems provide a repository of methods, tools and techniques that give ready access to standardised approaches to doing consultancy work, but the codified knowledge contained in these systems is complemented by the tacit, experience-based knowledge of individual consultants (Hansen et al., 1999; Werr and Stjernberg, 2003). Werr and Stjernberg (2003) discuss a case study of the use of a knowledge management system by Ernst & Young in Sweden. This system contains a large number of standard methods and tools for use by consultants, for example in undertaking business process reengineering projects. In addition to these overarching method documents the system holds a repository of individual cases of completed projects, which consultants may draw upon in adapting the detailed application of those methods to match particular client situations. Werr and Stjernberg (2003, p. 890) quote a consultant as saying that \"I see the method more as a thought model, with certain recurring steps and basic building blocks one can learn. Once learned, you can build more freely with them\". Thus, consultancy firms' knowledge infrastructure provides consultants not only with access to standard methods, but also with resources that facilitate customisation of those methods to suit particular client situations and expectations. Van Nistelrooij et al. (2007) report that consultants predominantly perceive organisational change as coming about as a result of people's own learning and sense-making, implying a need for flexible, non-standard methods that draw upon the expertise of experienced consultants in order to match a client organisation's particular circumstances, but they find that consultants' predominant practice is actually to use traditional forms of intervention, drawing upon standardised project management methods, involving sequential processes of planning and implementation in approaching organisational change projects. Sturdy et al. (2009) observe that, while facilitating the learning of client staff may be a declared aim of a management consultancy project, consultants are liable to deprioritise this aim in response to pressures to complete project tasks within agreed timescales and budgets.\nConclusion: The literature from the past 30 years shows that consultants have substantial influence on organisational change projects. The extent to which - and the way in which - they exert influence, however, depends in part on the interaction between the requirements for successful organisational change and the business imperatives facing consultants, in particular those related to client relationship management and leverage. Clients will only accept consultants as strategic partners with a licence to influence the membership and ways of working of the change leadership team, and the political processes whereby some ideas affecting organisational change are legitimised and others delegitimised, in the presence of strong relationships between consultants and senior managers. Consultants will only accept contracts to support organisational change projects if the degree of leverage that they permit, based on the available opportunities for institutionalised plagiarism, is consistent with their business model and will produce acceptable financial returns.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay between the requirements for successful organisational change and the imperatives faced by management consultancy firms in running successful businesses, and how this interplay affects the ways in which management consultants influence organisational change projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper reviews literature on management consultancy and organisational change over the past 30 years to identify insights into this issue.\nFindings: The paper shows that business imperatives faced by management consultancy firms affect the ways in which consultants influence organisational change projects. It shows how management consultants aspire to form strategic partnerships with their clients in order to win profitable business, and to plagiarise established organising practices and change management methods in defining their services in order to manage their costs. It illustrates how these aspirations give rise to a number of dualities that consultants face in undertaking organisational change projects.\nOriginality/value: Only limited research has been carried out into the ways in which the business imperatives of management consultancy firms interact with the requirements for successful organisational change in shaping the influence that management consultants have on organisational change projects. This paper demonstrates the significance of this issue and suggests directions for future research into it.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Productivity, quality and relationship marketing in service operations: A revisit in a new service paradigm	[ "Hospitality", "Productivity", "Relationship marketing", "Service quality", "Services marketing", "Service logic" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Is a 16-year-old article worth reading? My answer is yes-and no. When research and the development of knowledge are cumulative, incremental improvements can be made. However, research is only partially cumulative, and at intervals innovation and events in society cause major discontinuities. The most recent major discontinuity is triggered by information technology (IT). When my article was published in 1998, mobile communication, the Internet and email had begun to spread, but now they are integral parts of our daily routine. They have been followed by social media and Google and others are in the making. In Gummesson (1998), IT was only mentioned in passing. By understanding history - even if it only covers a few decades - one can avoid re-inventing the wheel and avoid repeating previous mistakes. When I read the article today I find that its themes are highly topical; service and the phenomena quality, productivity and profitability (QP&P) have not yet been satisfactorily explained. They are of course affected by specific developments like IT but they are also affected by many other things.\nChanges in service research through three paradigms: Paradigm 1\nConcluding comments: In summary, I have drawn the following conclusions from the 1998 article, based on Paradigm 2, and where it agrees or disagrees with the current Paradigm 3. I am happy to say that most of what was originally said has become part of the new logic of service; the recommendations at the end of the article hold. However, it is essential when you read an article that you make sure that it still has validity. Well-known author names and being published in a so called \"top journal\" offer no guarantees. The article brought up many of the issues that have been further developed in Paradigm 3 and still need developing. Among them are:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This article aims to look at the evolution of service management and marketing through three paradigms, the latest prescribing a new logic of service, to comment on a previously published article (Gummesson, 1998) on productivity, quality and relationship marketing in service operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The article takes the form of a critical review on productivity, quality and relationship marketing in service operations.\nFindings: The article suggests that practitioners and scholars in the hospitality field should pay close attention to the new logic of service.\nResearch limitations/implications: The analysis of the 1998 article shows that many of the essential issues are still valid but others need to be amended or dropped. When the original article is cited, it is imperative that researchers consider this.\nOriginality/value: This article shows that the new service logic, Paradigm 3, offers a synthesis of the best of earlier research and discards what is no longer or never was viable. It is a new theory on a higher level but it has an open code and keeps developing. Scholars in the hospitality field are invited to make contributions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mapping the values and culture in Chinese public sectors: an exploratory study	[ "Cultural value", "Tri-axial model", "Chinese civil servants", "Chinese culture" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Culture, as the mechanism shaping people's mind (Hofstede, 1993), has long been a topic of public concern. Culture in public sector is unique and crucial to productivity and effectiveness. Cultural values perceived and shared among public employees represent hidden motivators and unconscious behaviors. Recent developments on public concerns provide new prominence to culture-related theory development and empirical research. One is the \"global public management revolution\" (Kett, 2005), which aims to search for higher levels of productivity, service orientation, and accountability. Another is the shift from \"economic development only\" concern to \"economic development and social management\". A third development is the increasing attention to the merits of bureaucracy as an institution and normative order (Olsen, 2006). The fourth development is the attention of rebuilding national culture that could drive new value both for the government and the people. The interaction of these developments helps account for the need of exploring new comprehensive cultural model in public sectors.\nMethodology: Sampling and procedure\nResults: Findings of the proportion analysis\nDiscussion: This study introduced a comprehensive model of culture into Chinese public settings, and explored the meaning and importance of the cultural values, and tried to link these values to organizational outcome variables. The findings of the study have several important theoretical and practical implications. First, by introducing the tri-axial model as a basic framework into the study of cultural values in public sector, we extended Chinese culture research by clarifying the meaning of cultural values in Chinese settings. As many researchers argued, values systems are the motivators that drive the behavior of individuals, organizations and society (Dolan et al., 2008). Further, culture are ascribed a central role in determining the fit between individuals and the employment organization. Not many empirical studies have examined the basic cultural values in Chinese public sectors. Fewer studies, if any, have tried to develop a unique framework to explore the basic concepts and dimensions of cultural values in Chinese public sector. Dolan and his colleagues developed the tri-axial model, and argued that the model is universal and the sum of the three axes, namely emotional-developmental values, ethical-social values, and economic-pragmatic values, from the model could cover 100 percent of the universe so-called culture (Dolan et al., 2008). With this Chinese sample, we found evidence supporting the argument of the representativeness of the three axes. According to the findings, almost all the values fall into the three axes, which agrees with Dolan et al. (2008)'s assumption that is all personal and organizational values can be used as a proxy situated along one of these axes.\nLimitations and future research: Several limitations of this research should be noted. First, in a huge country like China, one can draw only very tentative conclusions based on two organizations (Jackson and Bak, 1998). China comprises 9.6 million square kilometers with huge differences between north and south, between coastal and inland regions, between country and urban areas, and between Beijing and the rest of China. What pertains in one area may not be the case in another. Therefore, much more research is needed if we are to develop a solid understanding of the basic values within public sectors. Second, we collected data twice and used different means, but analyzed the combined data, which could be problematic. Third, we only collected data from civil servants. More data is needed from other types of public sector, such as schools, hospitals, and state-owned companies and NGOs. Fourth, we used self-report to measure in-role performance, which could lead to inaccurate results of regression. In future study, we ought to collect data from more than one type of organizations, and examine the difference of choice on cultural values. Future studies could start with stronger hypotheses and examine more relationship between values and outcome variables.\nConclusion: Testing with Chinese samples, the tri-axial model appears to address some of the important limitations of previous models that were summarized before. We successfully grouped all the cultural values into three pre-defined axes. The most important values are identified. The findings suggest that Chinese civil servants pay much attention on emotional-developmental type of cultural values. Ethic-related culture needs to be emphasized more on culture building behaviors both at the organizational level and at the national level.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The exploratory study introduced the tri-axial model as a basic framework of cultural value to Chinese public sectors. The study tries to display value mapping of the Chinese public sectors and to examine the relationship between the identified values with organizational outcome variables, which is normally characteristic of an exploratory research. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: 404 civil servants were asked to classify 62 cultural values into three axes, emotional, economical and ethical, and to attain the importance of the 62 values.\nFindings: Five cultural values including happiness, belonging, harmony, achievement, and efficiency are identified to be the most important values in Chinese public sectors. Harmony and achievement were found to affect organizational outcome variables.\nResearch limitations/implications: Sample size is relatively small, and more cultural differences have been neglected within Chinese culture. And the paper collected data twice and used different means, but analyzed the combined data, which could be problematic.\nPractical implications: The findings suggest that Chinese civil servants pay much attention on emotional-developmental type of cultural values. Ethic-related culture needs to be emphasized more on culture building behaviors both at the organizational level and at the national level.\nOriginality/value: This is the first time the tri-axial model was introduced into Chinese culture. Testing with Chinese samples, the tri-axial model appears to address some of the important limitations of previous models that were summarized before. The paper successfully grouped all the cultural values into three pre-defined axes. The most important values are identified.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Model construction of engagement and outcomes in consumers food life: Evidence from chain stores customer	[ "Satisfaction", "Loyalty", "Food-related lifestyle", "Chain store", "Food-related personality traits" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Rapid change in customer preferences and markets' competition has reformed marketing landscapes in the last couple of decades (Thakur, 2016; Abdul Jalil et al., 2016). Markets are segmented based on lifestyle and are combined with themes of attitudes, beliefs and personalities (Goetzke and Spiller, 2014). In fact, lifestyle refers to patterns of behavior or consumption, reflecting people's choice and is closely related to consumers' actions and behaviors (Choi, 2016; Hur et al., 2010). Marketers therefore should benefit from conceptualizing lifestyles to understand and predict changes in behavior or purchasing patterns (Anic et al., 2014; Hur et al., 2010; Lawson and Todd, 2002).\nLiterature review: Food-related lifestyle\nHypothesis development: Food-related lifestyle\nConceptual framework: The conceptual research model is based on theoretical relationships among a number of factors that have been identified as an important research issue. This theory flows by studying the research background, definitions and issues such as research and theoretical foundations in the realm of logic (Khanalizadeh et al., 2010).\nMethodology: In terms of objective, this study is practical, and in terms of methods of data collection, it is a descriptive survey research, in kinds of the correlation since it seeks relationships between latent and observed variables together and evaluating the fitness and approximation degree of the model and, in particular, is based on the structural equation model (SEM).\nResults: Descriptive statistics\nDiscussion: The current study was undertaken in a relevant context of food consumption behaviors. It approached this issue with the food-related and FRPTs instrument for analyzing satisfaction and loyalty of chain store costumers. Research on food purchase behavior in Iran is scarce; one possible reason is the complexity of measuring food purchase patterns by the new emerging cultural values of consumption, coupled with the existence of different subcultures, many of which have a long heritage and great significance in the Iran society. Another reason is the fast developing economy that is the cause and consequence of considerable social-cultural preferences which is driven by media, cultural and legal contexts and is actually shaped by products, global corporate interests and lifestyle. Included among these features is the transformation of food consumption as a result of many pressures in the food marketing environment. Also, the consumer's view to well-being depends on their demographic and country characteristics; in fact, an individual's consumption lifestyle is defined by a disposition or cognitive style that shapes unique patterns of consumer behavior that are shared in classifiable social groups and even could lead to none-consumption behaviors such as rituals of fasting among Muslims (Leong et al., 2016; Kashif, 2017).\nLimitations and future research directions: The current study may have limitations due to its new and complex exploratory nature. This study introduced a new research direction aimed at understanding satisfaction and loyalty effective factors despite numerous chain stores customers with diverse motives and interests include chain stores. Conducted in the setting of a general food consumer without considering special foods category could be another limitation. However, other important factors may have been missed which future studies could cover aforementioned limitations and add a new domain that covers those aspects of FRL and FRPTs that are linked to customer satisfaction and loyalty. Since the customer behavior in consumption choices is an unconscious and cognitive process, future research to enhance the validity of results with different methods is suggested.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of food-related lifestyle (FRL) and food-related personality traits (FRPTs) on customer satisfaction and loyalty so that sufficient evidence for forming a new pattern of predictors of customer satisfaction and loyalty can be explored.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research method in this study was the descriptive type and was based on the goal of the applied research methods. Data were collected from 384 sample group consumers of chain stores in the city of Tehran. The hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).\nFindings: Final results of study showed the significant effects of FRL and FRPT on satisfaction and loyalty of consumers. This indicates that aforementioned variables can create customer satisfaction and loyalty toward food. The research conceptual model was confirmed with goodness of fit.\nResearch limitations/implications: First, the sample consisted of customers who use a wide range of food despite diverse motives and interests. While knowing that costumers' specific traits about food would have provided a more detailed and comprehensive understanding, conducting research in a set of general food consumer without considering special foods category could be a limitation. Second, and more importantly, since the customer behavior in consumption choices is an unconscious and cognitive process, other factors and domain that are linked to customer satisfaction and loyalty would have been missed.\nPractical implications: This study shows that understanding the behavioral aspects of food consumption can help food producing companies to adjust their production and specially to foresee changes. Marketers are advised to investigate customer traits to promote customer satisfaction and loyalty effectively. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge in food marketing.\nOriginality/value: The present study offers a unique and valuable insight into a customer's behavior and deepens customer satisfaction and loyalty by incorporating FRL, food neophobia scale and food involvement scale as independent variables to contribute knowledge in the context of food marketing, and throws some light upon the predictive power of mentioned variables on customer behaviors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Prognostic analysis of defects in manufacturing	[ "Manufacturing", "Analytics", "Defects", "Data mining" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The manufacturing industry has become more and more complex, involving a variety of sub-sectors across the supply chain. Drastic changes in consumer markets over the last decades have increased the pressure on production businesses. The main challenges are to speed up the introduction of new products to the market and to meet customer demand; thus inefficient production processes have an adverse impact on maintaining competitive advantages. The key performance measures are to increase yield, to maintain the quality of products, and to reduce the cost of operations.\nBrief literature review: Advanced analytics through data mining approaches has been used successfully to identify intrinsic patterns in data and interpret them into useful information within a particular context. Data mining incorporates both statistical and analytical techniques to effectively and efficiently understand and use data (Jackson, 2002; Turban et al., 2011). Business analytics has been applied in many fields across all industries, from customer relationship management, behavioral profiling, healthcare, and genome analysis to supply chains (Davenport, 2006; Harding et al., 2006). Many high-technology companies such as Toshiba and Dell take an integrated approach to analytics in their business to improve yield management and to ensure that the right products are being manufactured at the right time (Davenport, 2006). Numerous studies have examined the implementation of data mining in different areas in manufacturing such as production processes, quality improvement, fault detection, optimization of manufacturing yield, material requirement planning, and preventive machine maintenance (Chi et al., 2009; Choudhary et al., 2009; Harding et al., 2006; Kusiak, 2006). Particularly in fault detection, data mining is used to identify patterns of defects, factors influencing the failure of processes, types of defects, and error rates in manufacturing (Harding et al., 2006).\nMethodology: We follow the Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM) methodology as a guide in structuring the data mining project for diagnosing defects in the semiconductor industry. The CRISP-DM methodology breaks down data mining projects into six phases: business understanding, data understanding, data preparation, modeling, evaluation, and deployment (Shearer, 2000; Wirth and Hipp, 2000).\nDefect prediction-based data mining approach: This section explains three alternatives for diagnosing defects. The first alterative utilizes a control chart to identify the sources of variation and the patterns of defects. The second alternative considers the costs associated with defects in the predictive models. The third alternative focusses on partitioning WIPs into four groups based on defect prediction scores (very low, low, high, and very high risk) so that priority can be given to WIPs in the very high risk of defect group.\nAnalysis of results and discussion: Alternative no. 1: control chart and defect prediction\nManagerial implications: Identification of sources of defects is always critical in manufacturing industries. The proposed predictive models utilize data mining techniques to detect both defects and abnormalities in operations. The first task is to collect relevant data from the production process so that shop-floor analysts can examine what has happened from the historical data to better detect any problems in the process and then encourage corrective action and preventive care for the factors that are possible root causes of defects and abnormalities. The input data should include attributes related to staff, processes and machines, and parts and components. The proposed model is neither complex nor time consuming but rather very efficient and cost effective in helping analysts understand the behavior of the process.\nConclusion: The need for predictive analytics to analyze ample data for timely decision making in manufacturing is apparent. This study offers three alternatives for diagnosing the problems of defective WIPs in shop-floor operations. The first alternative utilizes control charts to classify WIPs into sub-groups so that any causes of defects or any signs of non-random patterns can be further analyzed. The second alternative considers costs associated with defects as a part of the data mining project. The third alternative focusses on defect prediction scores and how preventive measures for the potential causes of defects reduce the predictive risk score, especially in the pre-defect groups. Defects and non-random patterns result from many factors, such as a change in operations, shop-floor operators, raw materials, machines, or production lines. The key findings from these three alternatives are noted so that any corrective action and preventive maintenance related to those factors can be regularly evaluated and monitored, helping reduce the defect rate in the shop-floor operations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Since works-in-process (WIPs) are highly vulnerable to defects because of the variety and complexity of manufacturing processes, the purpose of this paper is to describe how to utilize existing analytics techniques to reduce defects, improve production processes, and reduce the cost of operations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three alternatives for diagnosing causes of defects and variations in the production process are presented in order to answer the following research question: \"What are the most important factors to be included in prognostic analysis to prevent defects?\"\nFindings: The key findings for the proposed alternatives help explain the characteristics of defects that have a great impact on manufacturing yield and the quality of products. Consequently, any corrective action and preventive maintenance addressing the common causes of defects and variations in the process can be regularly evaluated and monitored.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although the focus of this study is on improving shop-floor operations by reducing defects, further experimentation with business analytics in other areas such as machine utilization and maintenance, process control, and safety evaluation remains to be done.\nPractical implications: This study has been validated with several scenarios in a manufacturing company, and the results demonstrate the practical validity of the approach, which is equally applicable to other manufacturing sub-sectors.\nOriginality/value: This study is different from the others by providing alternatives for diagnosing the root causes of defects. Control charts, costs of defects, and clustering-based defect prediction scores are utilized to reduce defects. Additionally, the key contribution of this study is to demonstrate different methods for understanding WIP behaviors and identifying any irregularities in the production process.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Drivers of snack foods impulse buying behaviour among young consumers	[ "Impulse buying", "Consumer behaviour", "Choice factors", "Young people", "Market segmentation", "Cafeterias", "Snack foods", "Young consumers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Impulsive buying behaviour is an important phenomenon in the context of retail business and marketing (Verplanken and Sato, 2011). According to Abrahams (1997), Smith (1996) and Luo (2005), this type of buying behaviour comes to be responsible for 62 per cent of supermarket sales and as much as 80 per cent of purchases in some product categories. Some authors even suggest that, in general it is possible to assign a higher percentage of purchases to impulse buying behaviour than to planned behaviour (Cobb and Hoyer, 1986; Sfiligoj, 1996).\nThe impulsive buying behaviour: Impulse buying is considered a constant and unique aspect of consumers' lifestyle (Parboteeah, 2005) and an interesting psychological phenomenon (Verplanken and Herabadi, 2001), having received great attention in recent years by the academic community, partly because of the contradiction between what people say and what they often do (Lai, 2010; Gutierrez, 2004).\nExternal motivators of impulsive buying: As stated, several studies suggest that impulsive purchasing resulted from the association of an unplanned purchasing to the exposure to a stimulus inside the store (Piron, 1991; Stern, 1962). External motivators of impulsive buying are specific stimuli associated with marketing related variables and with shopping environment. Kalla and Arora (2011) reviewed the impulse buying literature and identified eleven external motivators of impulse buying. These were connected to the visual stimulation of the consumer in the store, the shopping format and environment, the ambient and social context and credit card ownership.\nMethodology: Research design\nData analysis: The analysis was conducted through a four-stage process. Initially, in the first stage, the demographic profile of respondents was analysed. In the second stage factor analysis was used to identify the factors that influence the buying behaviour of snack foods. In the third stage cluster analysis was used to identify groups of consumers using the factors (titled \"buying orientations\") identified in the second stage. Finally, we proceed to perform a discriminant analysis in order to validate the results. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS) version 18.0 was used to perform the data analysis.\nDiscussion and conclusions: The majority of research on impulsive buying was conducted within the food retailing environment (e.g. supermarkets and hypermarkets), yet impulse buying behaviour is not an exclusive phenomenon of this type of retail stores and the products they sell. Typically impulsive buying behaviour can happen in every selling environment, with any product and at any time.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This article aims to examine the influence of marketing-controlled external motivators of impulse buying behaviour of snack foods in cafeterias among young students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was used to ask a sample of 200 young consumers about their impulse buying behaviour in cafeterias. The resulting data were submitted to an in-depth four-stage quantitative analysis.\nFindings: The results show that there is not a unique profile of impulse buying behaviour and that young consumers can be effectively segmented in five groups according to their impulsive buying behaviour of snack foods using the eight factors revealed in the exploratory factor analysis. A new segment of health/nutrition-conscientious impulsive consumers was uncovered and characterized.\nResearch limitations/implications: The major constraints of this study are the use of a non-probability convenience sampling design and sample size. Future studies should include other products and a more heterogeneous sample. The study represents a good starting point for further debate on impulsive buying behaviour.\nPractical implications: Most of the research done in this area has focused on the supermarket environment, neglecting other types of retail store. Companies could benefit from the current study as it provides them with information that can be used to improve their marketing strategies directed towards this specific market. Additionally, the findings can also help the development of public health policies better tailored to prevent overweight and obesity associated with snack food consumption.\nOriginality/value: The study extends the current body of knowledge by examining the applicability and relevance of external motivators of impulse buying behaviour to a significantly different retail environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Direct selling in the wine sector: lessons from cellars in Italy's Apulia region	[ "Direct sales", "Cellars", "Logit regression analysis", "South-East Italy region" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the last years, actions towards agri-food market restructuring are more and more increasing: then nowadays creating different distribution channels is a core issue in the agricultural sector. Although more gradually than in other EU countries, the direct sales in Italy is experiencing an expansion as results of the producers capacity to strengthen the dealings with their customers, responding to their authenticity and freshness expectations (D'Amico et al., 2014a). Afterwards, the competitive scenario in the wine sector is quickly changing ought to the presence of new competitors by new world countries.\n2. Theoretical background: The terribly small margins in farming context is a more and more an important issue to be considered: for example, US farmers spend a total of $185 billion annually on inputs (seeds, chemicals, supplies, etc.) and in response they sell only $210 billion worth of outputs (Memishi, 2001 cited in Jang and Klein, 2011). Furthermore, wineries' margins are threatened by high inflation deriving from the international crisis of the last years. In addition, higher buyers' concentration in foreign markets implies wineries' reduced bargaining power (Brevet et al., 2014). For overcoming this issue, many studies are dealing with innovative answers. The Italian wine sector has addressed and faced world economic and financial crisis by focusing on a diversified demand oriented towards the quality, the sustainability and the marketing strategies (Crescimanno and Galati, 2014; Bresciani et al., 2016). Indeed, the scenarios identified by some scholars (Jang and Klein, 2011) highlight farmers are trying to establish local direct sales, farmers' markets, roadside stands and other direct sales operations in addition to cooperative forms so that they can sell quality products to regional grocery chains. For example, in Italy, 67 per cent of consumers did purchase directly from producers at least once in the previous year with an increasing trend of 11 per cent per year (Censis and Coldiretti, 2010). Short supply chain and direct sales conceptually represent the same way and strategy of farmers. Figure 1 shows and summarizes advantages of the direct sale of farm and food products: lower cost/price, higher trust between producer and consumer, spreading greater info about the products, higher safety due to selling of healthy seasonal products, improving cultural identity and last but non least major incomes. Purchasing local foods can support and improve local rural economies since production practices seem to be perceived more environmentally sustainable. Then, direct sale and short food supply chain can be functional for valorizing the endogenous resources of rural areas, for increasing the net income of farmers and for overcoming obstacles in commercializing products on a retail basis due to low production scale and legal requirements (Tudisca et al., 2015; Dill et al., 2014; Renting et al., 2003; Wubben et al., 2013). Some authors (Sgroi et al., 2014) show through a telephone survey to Sicily region wineries how direct sales can represent a growing chance for farms and whole rural community, leading to better economic performances, increased investments and to a creation of new job opportunities; sustainability, convenience and local development play a key role in the intention that drives short chains' shopping preferences. Several advantages can also be traced with respect to the large-scale distribution that are a lower price of consumer products owing to the deletion of the costs linked to the intermediation and distribution step and so a fairer compensation to producers (Lanfranchi and Giannetto, 2015). In addition, with a shorter supply chain it is possible the removal of many intermediaries which can cause environmental costs and a better possibility of purchasing healthy, biological and seasonal products (Lanfranchi and Giannetto, 2015; Platania et al., 2015; Renko, 2014). Indeed, the short supply chain promote a better traceability of products, the \"relocalization\" of production-consumption systems and the logistic optimization processes, in line with the principles of sustainability (Fabbrizzi et al., 2014; Allegra et al., 2014) so improving the ability to receive major information relative to product origin and safety (Moustier and Loc Nguyen, 2010).\n3. Methodology: 3.1. The case study\n4. Results and discussions: 4.1. Results\n5. Conclusions, implications, limitations and further research: 5.1. Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Buying process directly from producers is an expanding trend in advanced economies; then direct sales can be considered a crucial driver in wine sector in order to cope with global challenges and achieve a competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if management aspects and marketing innovation propensity could have an important role in choosing direct sale tool.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative analysis in Apulia region (Italy) was carried out. Data have been collected through a face to face and web-based exploratory survey submitted to a sample of 280 cellars participating in an Integrated Projects of Food Chains. A logit regression model was run in the research design.\nFindings: Findings showed that most of interviewed wineries, mainly characterized by agricultural production and direct approach to customers, are more likely inclined to direct sales choice.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample size could be expanded (e.g. to include farms from other regions or not belonging to an integrated projects).\nPractical implications: Managerial implications give insight on the role of direct sales as an opportunity to obtain aggregated value for agri-products and to increase bargaining power of farmers.\nSocial implications: Food direct sales could have the important task of straightening the social proximity between rural and urban stakeholders, increasing trust and connection between producers and consumers.\nOriginality/value: This paper can shed some light on this topic, since direct food sales across regions is less investigated than direct marketing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
E-fulfillment performance evaluation for an e-tailer: a DANP approach	[ "Decision making", "Performance evaluation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The e-commerce boom in recent times has been possible due to increasing penetration of the internet (Yu et al., 2011). In India, only 26 percent of the total population uses the internet; this figure is expected to rise only due to the extensive use of smartphones, enabling internet penetration even in the rural areas. Analysts forecast that internet use would surpass 635m by 2025. The USA and China also witnessed this sudden upsurge of e-commerce in 2013, evident from $150bn revenue generated from e-commerce activities in these countries. E-tailing is one of the segments of e-commerce, consisting of online retail and online marketplaces, with a market valuation of about $16.07bn in 2016, and projected to reach $52.30bn by 2022 (Statista, 2017). E-tailing implies the offering of items and administrations to clients through the internet without restrictions of time and geography (Ahn et al., 2005). These research insights and statistics point to a surge in the expected growth of online sales in India; additionally, this growing market has led to intense competition among the different e-tailers (IBEF, 2017). The e-tailing services in terms of business proposition are not just a platform for promoting products and services but also serve as a revenue-generating mechanism by attracting more customers. Thus, in order to sustain and be profitable simultaneously, e-tailers have to focus on customer satisfaction (Parasuraman et al., 2005) through the e-fulfillment process. E-fulfillment is defined in terms of a series of processes including: order capturing, order processing, picking and packing, shipping, after-sales operations and return handling (Pyke et al., 2001). The e-fulfillment process starts when a consumer purchases a product online, and ends when the product is finally delivered to the customer at his/her home/office. Isac (2014) stated that \"E-fulfillment is the service through which an operator takes all order fulfillment process in the name of an online store, from storage, taking orders, packing, and delivery or website management based on cloud systems management, reporting, and track orders.\" Thus, based on this definition of e-fulfillment in the literature, this study goes onto define e-fulfillment as a series of processes, consisting of the following sub-processes: customization strategies, website quality (WQ), distribution strategies, last mile delivery (LMD) and return management (Jain et al., 2015; Isac, 2014; Agatz et al., 2008). Further, in the e-tailing context, there is growing literature that explains customer satisfaction and revenue management (Collier and Bienstock, 2006; Meziane and Kasiran, 2008; Netessine et al., 2006; Wang and Lin, 2009). Discussions in the literature revolve more on the service criteria and quality management, but there is also a need to assess or evaluate the performance of e-fulfillment of an e-tailer, which effectively is a crucial antecedent for customer satisfaction. However, many e-tailers are unable to achieve total customer satisfaction, and thereby suffer losses; to resolve this plaguing challenge, e-tailers need to assess their performance on a regular basis to know their pain areas. Earlier studies gaged the e-tailers' performance in terms of WQ; thus, all evaluation frameworks considered a website's design to be the prime evaluation area. It is to be noted that this evaluation criterion was restricted only to information systems (IS), marketing and/or a combination of both; nevertheless, there is a need to also consider operations related criterion. Moreover, most of the existing frameworks or models were restricted for educational websites, banking websites, tourism, hotel and airline; effectively, there was no evaluation framework for e-tailers. Thus, this lacuna called for developing a framework to evaluate the e-fulfillment performance for an e-tailer to know important performance aspects and to take necessary actions. Many scholars in the past have empirically investigated the importance of performance criteria in determining customer satisfaction, loyalty vis-a-vis the success of an e-tailing firm (Muylle et al., 2004; Ranganathan and Ganapathy, 2002; Zviran et al., 2006; Ghandour et al., 2011; Ramanathan, 2012). All these studies were primarily based on the customer reviews, ratings and feedbacks; as it is the customer who has availed of service; it is up to him/her to share opinions/views on the perception of service delivery, the prime basis to evaluate and assess e-fulfillment performance.\n2. Literature review: Previous research on performance evaluation or assessment of e-commerce was divided into two: overall e-commerce performance evaluation; and performance evaluation of website only. Performance assessment requires a combination of efficiency and effectiveness; while efficiency may be defined in terms of output per input, effectiveness is defined by a website's usability (in the context of e-tailing) (Gupta, 2014). Literature pertaining to these areas is explained in the following section.\n3. E-fulfillment performance evaluation framework: The e-fulfillment performance evaluation framework is shown in Figure 1; as depicted, the framework consists of the following phases: identification of goal; identification of performance class and performance aspects; and evaluation of e-fulfillment performance.\n4. Solution methodology: The aim of this study is to develop an e-fulfillment performance evaluation framework and provide important performance aspects, which could improve its performance. In order to do this, the study proposes DEMATEL-based ANP (DANP), a hybrid MCDM technique. Figure 2 represents the complete solution procedure of a hybrid MCDM technique. In this section, we report the solution methodology to evaluate e-fulfillment performance of an e-tailer.\n5. Results and discussion: The proposed hybrid MCDM is applied to evaluate the e-fulfillment performance of an e-tailer. Results of the proposed hybrid MCDM are elaborated in this section.\n6. Conclusion: E-tailing is having an impressive growth in recent times due to the increasing penetration of the internet. It is an integral part of e-commerce, consisting of online retail and online marketplace. Today, the competition among e-tailers is stiff and tough because of the growing market and the prospects of humongous growth. Apart from selling products online, e-tailers also seek to gain revenue by attracting more customers. E-fulfillment therefore is vital for an e-tailer because it provides products and service to the customer, and also enhances customer satisfaction. The e-fulfillment performance evaluation is thereby mandatory to achieve customer satisfaction, yielding in turn more profit to the e-tailer.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: E-fulfillment has a significant role to play within e-tailing, which provides products to a customer, comprising primarily of five components: website quality, customization strategy, distribution strategy, last mile delivery and return management. The purpose of this paper is to provide an e-fulfillment performance evaluation framework for an e-tailer, considering the different performance aspects of information systems (IS), marketing and operations for e-tailers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Since quite a few performance aspects (i.e. IS, marketing system and operations) need to be factored in while evaluating the e-fulfillment performance, it may be considered as a complex multi-criteria decision-making problem. This study used decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) based analytic network process (DANP) to investigate the relationship between performance class and performance aspects, and calculated their weights. These designated weights of performance aspects help managers to find the important aspects needing improvement. The understanding of the interrelationship among the performance aspects enables managers to improve the efficiency of an e-tailing system.\nFindings: This study provides the e-fulfillment performance evaluation framework to find the important aspects requiring improvement. The results of this study reveal that the important performance aspects of e-fulfillment performance are return policy, pickup method, innovativeness, assortment type, assortment width, trust (privacy and security) and promised delivery date.\nPractical implications: This e-fulfillment performance evaluation could be used by an e-tailer to assess the e-fulfillment performance, and identify areas of improvement.\nOriginality/value: This study makes a contribution to the present body of knowledge by considering operations related performance aspects except the IS and marketing to evaluate the e-fulfillment performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Marketing professors: paths and perspectives	[ "Marketing", "Academic staff", "Teaching", "Career development", "Brazil" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The traditional role of the professors encompasses three primary domains: teaching, research and service (support at department, college or university, profession, or community levels). The allocation of activities within the core triad itself is not consistent from one institution to the next, with some colleges focusing primarily on teaching, some on research, and some on service, and some evenly balanced (Rapert et al., 2002). Bowen (2005, p. 634) asserts that \"... good teaching is a requisite - gone are the days when someone could be a poor teacher and a good researcher\". He adds that the point of differentiation is research, the most visible part and that helps the reputation of academic program. Research is often favoured over teaching (Albers-Miller et al., 2001) and according to Garvin (1991, p. 7) \"the 'publish or perish' mentality has been identified with the loss of prestige of teaching and with a lack of concern with students\". On the other hand, Kelley et al. (1998) forecasting marketing education in the twenty-first century note that there will be a greater struggle to balance teaching and research in the face of more pressure for teaching and service. Additionally, Rapert et al. (2002) argue that most business professors offer their considerable skills to clients outside the standard core of responsibilities, engaging in consulting projects, training activities, personal business ventures, outside teaching, expert witness engagements and contract/grant researches. Teaching appears to be the primary beneficiary once that these experiences are the answer to criticism that professors need more real-world experience. The debate has being long and Ferrell (1995) believes that conflict between teaching and research will intensify in the near future.The concern with marketing teaching started back in the earliest days of this discipline, having stood out in the marketing literature of the time. The Journal of Marketing, for instance, published since 1936, included in its early volumes several papers with thoughts and practices used at that time to teach marketing. Accounts of the earliest marketing professors show that in this field, research and teaching went hand in hand (Hagerty, 1936). Specific marketing education periodicals appeared recently - Journal of Marketing Education first publication was in 1979 and the others like Marketing Education Review in 1991; Journal of Marketing for Higher Education in 1992; International Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education in 2001 and International Journal of Marketing Education in 2001 (Lehmann, 2005). If there are considerable studies approaching marketing education the same is not true when the subject is a marketing professors. The literature on this issue showed that few papers touched upon the particular concern of getting to know and understand marketing professors.Thus, this study intends to understand marketing professors assessing their career paths, the reasons, and motivations underlying their professional choice, their points of view on the practices they employ, and their problems and difficulties, as well as the solutions they have found during the course of their professional development.\nBeing a teacher: profile and characteristics: Becoming a college educator is sometimes being seen as an alternative career. This has serious implications: being a professor by choice is quite different from \"turning into\" a professor.It is clear that the professor is playing a social role and that one can, therefore, refer to it as a form of role playing. One of the teaching faculty's main functions concerns its influence upon students, inspiring them and motivating them to study, whether by changing their perceptions and beliefs on a given theme, based on reflections developed thanks to new information transmitted and/or by reviewing existing knowledge (Timpson and Bendel-Simso, 2003, p. 21).For Brookfield (1996), the ideal professor should be a cross between a talk-show host (in terms of humanistic empathy), news reporter (in terms of critical, penetrating and perceptive questioning), and comedian (in terms of a sharp but contextually appropriate sense of humour). This definition also conveys the idea of the professor as an actor. Sawyer (2004, p. 12) recognizes that the metaphor of acting emphasizes aspects such as presentation, transmission, voice, movement and pace. However, this can become a problem because it suggests a solo performance of the professor, the students becoming no more than passive spectators. The proposed alternative is to regard teaching as an improvised act, as this view integrates the traditional metaphors of the professor as actor, decision-maker and facilitator.According to Sawyer (2004, p. 18), the realization that creative teaching consists of improvisation reveals that:... professors are creative professionals, who need to have not only an understanding of pedagogical content, but performing skills as well - the ability to effectively facilitate a group improvisation with the students.Another facet added to the teaching role is reflection (Schon, 1987), which shows how professionals solve problems effectively when they reflect on new and unexpected situations, putting into practice solutions devised thanks to these reflections.\nField research: The field research has an exploratory and qualitative nature. The data collection consisted of individual in-depth interviews and the procedures used for conducting the work and analysing the data was the Grounded Theory. Grounded Theory was devised for developing theories, concepts, hypothesis and proposals on the basis of data systematically collected, and analysed, rather than on assumptions, other research, or pre-exiting theoretical systems (Taylor and Bogdan, 1998, p. 137; Goulding, 2002, p. 42). It is based on a series of clearly defined procedures designed to ensure that the conclusions and therefore the ensuing theory are true to the systematically collected and analysed data (Strauss and Corbin, 1998, p. 12).Although its purpose is to build theories, its use does not have to be limited to those researchers that have this research purpose in mind. For Strauss and Corbin (1998, p. 288) \"the researcher may use some but not all of the procedures for satisfying the objectives of research\". To choose interviewees, two aspects are taken into account: interviewee profile and the number of interviews. In this type of study, the choice of respondents must comply with different criteria from those normally employed to define a quantitative research sample. According to typical Grounded Theory procedures, the process of selecting informants (called theoretical sampling) must be carried out, first, to provide a maximum of information with the greatest variability possible, then, to make the process of constant comparison with other sources of information viable (other interviews, literature, etc.). So the researcher may combine codes and define categories and concepts; and finally, verify the understanding of the categories and present this together with the core theory developed. In this study, the choice of interviewees complied with the criteria of personal acquaintanceship with the researchers and referrals from other professors.Ten marketing professors were interviewed, with different levels of experience (ranging from 1 to over 20 years), in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (Brazil). All academic degree levels (undergraduate, executive programs, master's and doctorates degrees) were contemplated, although not all the professors interviewed taught in programs of all these levels.The interviews lasted 40-180 min and were conducted between 9 December 2003 and 7 December 2004, resulting in roughly 16 h of tapes and slightly more than 200 transcribed pages.The interview process began with guidelines that included a series of items and questions for which it seemed interesting to get responses from the interviewees. They were based on bibliographic references, along with authors' experience as professors in the field.Questions asked were related to the reasons for deciding being a professor; their career paths; role as a professor; preparation/planning for the class; class performance and teaching methods; important issues to teach in marketing; their updateness regarding technologies and marketing subject; readings habits; reflections on students, professors and courses evaluations; relationship with students; perspectives; and advices for the beginners.As the interviews advanced, the original guidelines were slightly adjusted. This process of fine-tuning was also discussed by Strauss (1987, pp. 271-2) as something natural and inherent to the developing maturity of the researcher himself. For Goode and Hatt (1952, p. 239), such flexibility \"allows the interviewer to express a question in such a way as to make it easier for the informant to understand it\". In the open coding process the ATLAS.ti version 5.0 software was used. 317 codes were obtained specifically relating to the themes discussed in the next section 'results and discussion'.The theoretical basis used to interpret results was symbolic interactionism, which means observing and extending behaviour from the participants' point of view and learning about their world, their interpretations of themselves in the context of certain interactions and the dynamic properties of the interactions. For Denzin (2001, p. 119), interpreting is \"the attempt to explain meanings\", which is precisely what this study intended.\nResults and discussion: This part presents the results from the field research collected by personal interviews. The objective of this work is to analyse how professors evaluate their job, including the assessment of their career paths, reasons for their professional choice, their practices, problems and solutions. Therefore, the discussion is divided in five blocks:1. paths and meaning of teaching;2. being born a teacher versus becoming a teacher;3. classroom performance relating to professors' character;4. classroom performance relating to teaching methods and tools; and5. technology in the classroom.The reasoning is taken from the interviews and literature.Paths and meaning of teaching\nFinal thoughts: Good teachers and the effectiveness of teaching have been studied ever since Plato described how Socrates taught by asking questions (Beishuizen et al., 2001) but the discussion is far from reaching an end. Most of universities hire professors to teach but evaluate them as researchers relegating teaching assessment mainly to the students. Aiming to know the point of view of professors about their job, focusing on teaching, this work approaches marketing instructors considering their professional development path, teaching activity and their performance.Many of this study's findings on teaching can be regarded as applying to university teaching in general, though certain points may be more specific to marketing teaching. The main findings of this study on the interaction between professors and teaching, are:* A great diversity of professional career paths, with some people discovering quite early in life that they want to teach and have a vocation for it, whereas others choose a teaching career in more advanced stages of their professional development. The latter may hold a teaching career in parallel with another one for a while, choosing to convert it into their main activity at some point in time, for a variety of reasons.* A quest for satisfaction and pleasure coupled with the relative freedom and stress reduction that the teaching profession offers in comparison with the life of an executive.* An ongoing search for novelties, challenges and different opportunities for realizing one's potential.Understanding professors' point of view education can raise some ideas about how to improve classroom performance, and institutions can offer better conditions to their necessities in class, research, or service and consequently enhance the results.Like all research, no matter how well prepared and carefully conducted, this study has its limitations, namely: its exploratory and non-conclusive nature (the findings presented herein cannot be regarded as applicable to all situations); the choice of questions asked (in that different questions might reveal other approaches, enriching the findings or leading them in a different direction); time and budget limitations (the decision on the number of interviewees was taken also taking these elements into account); and cultural aspect where the field research was taken can affect the outcome.This research can give basis for future and more conclusive studies by crossing and comparing information, for instance, professor's performance with:* teaching methods;* the fact of being a teacher by choice or of turning into a teacher; and* psychographic profile.Understanding the student point of view might also bring new reflections and complement this work.To end this study Chonko's (2003, p. 12) citation is very appropriate \"if any of us hopes to achieve excellence we must have a passion for our students, for learning, for communication knowledge, for research\", as well as, Millers's (1987, p. 31) \"each generations of teachers needs to rediscover its own trusts about teaching\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The objective of this paper is to study how marketing professors see their job. How they assess their career paths, the reasons, and motivations underlying their professional choice, their points of view on the practices they employ, and their problems and difficulties, as well as the solutions they have found during the course of their professional development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This study is exploratory and qualitative. Grounded theory technique was employed to collect and analyse the data.\nFindings: - There is a substantial diversity of professional paths and a quest for satisfaction and pleasure associated with the relative freedom and lower stress of the teaching profession, as compared to executive life.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The exploratory and non-conclusive nature hinder the findings to be generalised and the wideness of the problem making the analysis broad but not deep.\nPractical implications: - Understand marketing professors and raise some ideas about how to improve teaching performance.\nOriginality/value: - The work should be of interest to academics, professors and educational organizations seeking to improve marketing teaching and learning.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Constructing audit society in the virtual world: the case of the online reviewer	[ "Assurance", "Web 2.0", "Internet", "Amazon", "Audit society", "User reviews" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The virtual world offers accounting scholars a new and growing research vista. Some important contributions in this arena have already been made. For example, a special issue of Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal as early as 2006 was devoted to the theme of accounting in Cyberspace. An important theme from this scholarship was the power of the internet as a means of disseminating accounting information (Gallhofer and Haslam, 2006). The virtual world is also, as Gallhofer et al. (2006) have persuasively argued, a useful forum in which counter accounts can be disseminated. This is particularly the case with the advent of Web 2.0 sites, the popular term for internet sites that encompass the technological advances that enable the user to become an active participant in generating content. Recognizing this phenomenon, recent accounting scholarship has highlighted the potential of the virtual world as a research site. For example, MacKenzie et al. (2013) argue that studies of the virtual world can inform our understanding of what constitutes as accountability, while Lowe et al. (2012) suggest that the internet provides us with a fascinating forum for witnessing new forms of accountability.\n2. The expanding scope of audit logics: At a superficial level, the topics of Amazon and auditing are not obviously linked. What, after all, have the musings of random reviewers on a consumer website got to do with the practices of audit? This depends on one's perception of the boundaries of audit and what the phenomenon of an audit explosion means for the territorial scope of scholarly accounting research. Certainly Power (1997, p. 4) ascribes to a belief in audit's broad scope and one which is not \"restricted to financial matters alone\". Such a notion of auditability is already obvious in the diverse array of checks and quality controls that are labelled as audit, particularly within the domain of the public sector. Both Power (2003) and Pentland (2000) have remarked upon the expanding nature of audit practices into new territories and call for further empirical research to discover the array of activities that are increasingly falling under the label of audit. More recently, drawing on Miller's (1998) thesis that the margins of accounting are being constantly redrawn, Power (2011, p. 324) observes how financial audit operates within a \"larger field of evaluation, inspection and assurance elements which are fluid at the margins\".\n3. Audit society: There are very few examples of research within the field of accounting that have had a reach and influence beyond the immediate domain of the discipline. However, the work of LSE academic Michael Power is one of those rare exceptions. His thoughts have enjoyed much success within the broad social sciences (Hopwood, 2009) and indeed, it is possible to posit that the term \"audit society\" (Power, 1997) has effectively entered common parlance. The core tenet of Power's thesis is that we are increasingly witnessing an extension of the tentacles of audit into ever new territories, effectively creating an \"audit explosion\" (Power, 1994) that enrols domains as diverse as health, education and the environment. In each of these arenas, an \"explosion of checking\" (Power, 1997, p. 3) has erupted such that a variety of forms of audit is appearing. This \"logic of auditability\" (Power, 1996, p. 289) is clearly visible in the form of bodies such as the National Audit Office, and in the ideals of administrative reforms inherent in New Public Management (Hood, 1991). With the decline in traditional modes of power and influence, it seems that audit and the verification it enables, has become the favoured source of legitimacy (Power, 1997). Certainly, notions of trust, comfort, and risk have all played a role in creating the phenomenon of audit as answer to contemporary woes. After all, audit provides that essential degree of comfort when trust is absent or risk present. As Power (1997, p. 123) aptly observes auditing has the \"character of a certain kind of organisational script whose dramaturgical essence is the production of comfort\".\n4. The rise of the online user review: The influence of social media in everyday life, and how popular culture not only informs the content of such sites, but is in turn shaped by that content, is increasingly recognized (Hansen, 2010). As Beer and Burrows (2013, p. 48) observe: \"Popular culture is at the centre of the transformations that have facilitated the accumulation of digital data\". Websites such as Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook are prominent symbols of popular culture. Not surprisingly, such sites are increasingly attracting the attention of popular culture theorists (Nunes, 2011; Harrison, 2010; Chanan, 2012).\n5. Methodology: As noted at the outset of the paper, the virtual world offers the accounting scholar an exciting new research horizon. Indeed, for the social science researcher more generally, the internet provides a rich data set (Jones, 1999; Lee et al., 2008), and one which has the advantage of being accessible on a continuous basis (Mann and Stewart, 2000). It has facilitated new ways of gathering data (Rasmussen, 2008), and this is not limited to the web survey (Dillman, 2007) or the opinion mining of the marketer (Pang and Lee, 2008). Rather, the internet also offers a novel means by which human behaviour within the virtual world can be observed (Hewson and Laurent, 2008). In this regard, the study of blogs, online forums, and user review sites constitutes a form of virtual ethnography (Hine, 2000). The term \"netnography\" has emerged to capture this new and burgeoning methodological approach:\n6. Constructing audit society in the virtual world: the case of Amazon: Before considering the case of Amazon through the theoretical lens of Power (1996), it is useful to provide an overview of the functional aspects of the Amazon site. Quite simply, for every book or product it sells, Amazon offers site users the facility to read the reviews of other consumers of the item, and in turn write their own review[2]. Reviewers can also provide feedback on the reliability of the sellers of products, but this paper will concentrate on the product-related reviews only. Amazon actively encourage users to review the products they host as this is a key feature of the site. As they say:Amazon wants your opinions to be heard. We want customers to get the information they need to make smart buying choices, and we'd love to have your help doing that [...] We encourage you to share your opinions, both favorable and unfavorable[3].\n7. User reviews, audit society, and the transmogrification of audit: This paper argues that a powerful and pervasive version of audit society is at work within Amazon. All the characteristics which Power (1997) argues constitute the ingredients of audit are present in the Amazon user review: a demand for the product's quality to be checked, a separation between seller and reviewer, a gathering of evidence and an expression of opinion. User reviews can be viewed as an example of a verification process in action where users are charged with checking out the truthfulness of the blurb in a product's specifications. The reviews can be considered as an illustration of what Power (1994) terms a first-order verificatory activity. Amazon reviewers are engaging with the product at first hand, dealing directly with issues such as reliability and service and then reporting upon their experiences virtually. Prospective consumers can deliberate upon the book or product's quality by reading each consumer's unique personal experiences with the book or product. The intimate and localized nature of this verification process is something which Power (1994) suggests may inform the future of auditing. Interestingly, his vision for the future of audit could easily be used to describe the user review process at work within Amazon:We may need to rehabilitate trust at the level of first-order performance [...] In doing so we need to reposition audit as a local and facilitative practice, rather than one that is remote and disciplinary [...] This will require a broad shift in control philosophy: from long distance, low trust, quantitative, disciplinary and ex-post forms of verification by private experts to local, high trust, qualitative, enabling, real time forms of dialogue with peers(Power, 1994, p. 40).\n8. Conclusion: Recent years have witnessed the explosion of Web 2.0 platforms hosting a myriad array of online communities, virtual forums, and blogs. User generated content now saturates social media. In particular, the user review has come to play an increasingly important role in electronic commerce decisions. The slogan \"as chosen by you\" has become an almost ubiquitous marketing tool as sellers attempt to link their product to user generated preferences. The Amazon electronic retailer is a prominent example of a website that thrives on user reviews and in which electronic word-of-mouth communications coalesce to construct ratings of book or product quality.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Online user reviews have increasingly become a popular means by which the lay person can both procure advice and offer personal opinions. Amazon, the electronic retail giant, is a prominent example of a site which hosts such user generated content; the opinions of its repository of reviewers have become an important source of assurance provision. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that Amazon provides an example of how audit logics have entered new spaces. In Amazon, the author witnesses the construction of auditability in the virtual world. This may explain the popularity and authority seemingly enjoyed by user reviews.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper uses the methodological approach of netnography (Kozinets, 2002). This new methodology has emerged in order to undertake ethnographic research within virtual communities. Applying this methodology to the case of Amazon involved becoming familiar with the operational features of the site and analysing its textual discourse.\nFindings: The paper identifies in Amazon, Power's (1996) three examples of how auditability is invoked: through rhetorics of measurability, auditable systems of control, and reliance on experts. The paper therefore argues that online user reviews are reflective of the extension of audit society into the virtual world.\nOriginality/value: The paper explores the possibilities of the virtual world for accounting research, a world which is an increasingly prominent feature of popular culture. In addition, the paper responds to recent calls to examine the processes of assurance provision beyond the traditional domain of financial audit.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of guaranteed bailout assistance on bank loan overstatement: The Mexican financial crisis of the late 1990s and early 2000s	[ "Banks", "Bailout assistance", "Bank loan overstatement", "Financial crisis", "International financial reporting standards" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the late twentieth century, the globalization of capital flows led to the spread of financial crises in emerging country capital markets. The first was the Mexican financial crisis of 1994-1995. This crisis was followed by the East Asian crisis of the late 1990s, which involved nations such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and South Korea. The Asian crisis was followed by crises in Russia (1998) and some Latin American countries (Argentina 2001, Ecuador 1999). More recent crises have occurred in developed regions of the world (e.g. the recent US subprime crisis and the European financial crisis). While each of these crises had unique origins, they also experienced five commonalities, which were especially prevalent in the emerging markets Mishkin (1999, 2006).\n2. A basic model of BA and loan overstatement: 2.1. Model context: the concept of SBC\n3. Loan overstatement from a binomial option perspective: In the model setting described above, at t=1, the bank has the option of either: stating a poor loan accurately, relinquishing the underlying asset, and collecting the liquidation value (L); or, overstating the loan, refinancing the asset and collecting either the value of the asset (R\n4. The role of BA in providing Mexican banks with the option to overstate loans: In the model developed above, the prospect of receiving BA provides banks with an incentive to overstate loans. This incentive is based on an option value which provides the bank with an expected (future) return to overstating loans and refinancing poor projects which is higher than the return that the bank may receive today by reporting non-performing loans accurately and liquidating loans on poor projects. This incentive may be removed by deducting the \"correct\" option price from any guaranteed BA. In order to relate these concepts to an actual financial crisis, they are applied to the Mexican financial crisis of the late 1990s and early 2000s.\n5. Conclusion and policy implications: In recent years, nations throughout the world have experienced financial crisis. In some of these cases, guarantees of BA and poor financial reporting standards for bank loan accounting contributed to the onset and magnitude of these crises. In this paper we have represented the relationship between BA and the loan overstatement as a simple binomial option to report a loan accurately and receive the liquidation value or continue to overstate loans and eventually receive BA.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight how the basic binomial option pricing model (BOPM) might be used by regulators to help formulate rules, prior to financial crisis, that help prevent loan overstatement by banks in emerging market economies undergoing financial crises.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper draws on the theory of soft budget constraints (SBC) to construct a simple model in which banks overstate loans to minimize losses. The model is used to illustrate how guarantees of bailout assistance (BA) (to banks) by crisis stricken countries' financial authorities may encourage banks to overstate loans and delay the implementation of IFRS for loan valuation. However, the model also illustrates how promises of BA may be depicted as binomial put options which provide banks with the option of either: reporting loan values on poor projects accurately and receiving the loans' liquidation values; or, overstating loans and receiving the guaranteed BA. An illustration is also provided of how authorities may use this representation to help minimize bank loan overstatement in periods of financial crisis. In order to provide an illustration of how the option value of binomial assistance may evolve during a financial crisis, the model is generalized to the Mexican financial crisis of the late 1990s. During this period, Mexican authorities' guarantees of BA to the nation's largest banks encouraged those institutions to overstate loans and delay the implementation of (previously adopted) international \"best practices\" based loan valuation standards.\nFindings: Application of the model to the Mexican financial crisis provides evidence that, in spite of Mexico's \"official\" 1997 adoption of international \"best accounting practices\" for banks, \"iron clad\" guarantees of BA by the country's financial authorities to Mexico's largest banks provided those institutions with an incentive to knowingly overstate loans in the late 1990s and early 2000s.\nResearch limitations/implications: The model is compared against only one country in which the BA was directly infused into banks' loan portfolios. Thus, as conceived, it is directly applicable to crisis countries in which the bailout took this form. However, the many quantitative variations of SBC models as well as recent studies which have applied the binomial model to other forms of bailout (e.g. direct purchases of bank shares by authorities) suggest that the model could be modified to accommodate different bailout scenarios.\nPractical implications: The model and application show that guaranteed BA can be viewed as a put option and that ex-ante regulatory policies based on the correct valuation of the BA as a binomial option might prevent banks from overstating loans.\nSocial implications: Use of the binomial or similar approaches to valuing BA may help regulators to determine the level of BA that will not encourage banks to overstate the value of their loans.\nOriginality/value: Recent research has used the BOPM to value, on an ex-post basis, the BA which appears on the balance sheet of institutions which have been rescued. However, little research has advocated the use of this type of model to help prevent, on an ex-ante basis, the overstatement of loans on poor projects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Factors affecting principals' adoption of and satisfaction with market-driven externally developed reforms	[ "Satisfaction", "Externally developed reforms (EDRs)", "Market-driven reforms", "Opportunities and threats", "Organization policy adoption", "School principals" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Over the past two decades, the role of the school principal has evolved and become more complex and demanding than ever. As marketization and privatization have gained momentum, school principals in Western countries have sought innovative solutions to cope with the growing competition among schools. Principals have promoted education reforms through market-based mechanisms (Rigby, 2014) and have adopted competition-based externally developed reforms (EDRs) and programmes (Datnow, 2000; Lubienski, 2005). Adopting EDRs is thus a widespread administrative strategy for achieving competitive advantage, innovation, and efficiency, even if it sometimes emphasizes symbolic management of the school's image rather than substantive changes to educational processes (Lubienski, 2005).\nMethod: Participants\nResults: A preliminary analysis indicated no significant difference in means on the basis of sector or sex, and both samples show similar variable-correlations patterns. Consequently, relational and regression analyses were performed on the entire principal population as a single unit of analysis, using SPSS v.21.\nDiscussion and implications: This study explored the motives, opportunities, and threats associated with the adoption of EDRs through the eyes of Israeli school principals, and how these factors, combined with background variables, account for principals' satisfaction with EDRs' implementation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the motives, opportunities, and threats associated with the adoption of market-driven externally developed reforms (EDRs) as well as how these motivator factors, combined with background variables, account for school principals' satisfaction with EDR adoption.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Principals from 208 Israeli schools (grades 1-9) completed anonymous self-report questionnaires about the factors motivating their decision to implement EDRs and their satisfaction with these reform programmes in their schools. Validity and reliability tests, bivariate correlations and Pearson tests, paired t-tests, and a step-by-step multiple regression analysis were performed to examine the associations between the independent variables (individual and institutional variables, and motives, opportunities, and threats), and principals' satisfaction with aspects of the EDRs.\nFindings: Participants reported opportunities in the areas of pedagogy, learning excellence, teacher growth, and school climate. Threats were moderate-low and related to school faculty resistance, principals' dependence on stakeholders, and difficulties in implementing EDRs. Of the political and the pedagogic motives, the latter was the sole motive associated with principals' satisfaction with the EDRs. Findings fit within Herzberg's two-factor theory and Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory.\nOriginality/value: Studies on the factors motivating adoption of EDRs are scarce; this is the first to explore motivators' effects on principals' satisfaction. It is likely to help principals and decision makers in educational institutions construe the varied factors that affect the adoption of EDRs from senior officials' viewpoints. Understanding these factors is highly important to the field worldwide because of the growing need to adopt EDRs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Learning and teaching 24/7: daily internet usage patterns at nine Australian universities	[ "Internet", "Education", "Universities", "Australia" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The dramatic rise in the usage and popularity of the internet in the past decade, with the number of households connected to the internet increasing from 6 per cent in 1996 to 53 per cent in 2003, has been fuelled by its usefulness to a wide range of sectors of the community (see Spennemann, 2006). The education sector has been an early adopter world-wide, continually pushing the capabilities of the network and it applications.Over time, the internet has moved from an exclusive environment populated by technophiles and \"geeks\" to a mainstream communications and information delivery tool. Concomitant with this mainstreaming, the internet became a tool suitable to support the various activities of universities, ranging from research to teaching and more mundane administrative tasks. Today, academic life without access to the internet is hardly imaginable. On-line data repositories, library catalogues, journals and news services, student and financial administration systems (in intranets) as well as on-line supported or solely on-line conducted teaching have become ubiquitous, as has digital communication with fellow researchers, staff and students.Because the internet has become such a ubiquitous and all pervasive communications tool, it is worthwhile to investigate how exactly the internet fits into the daily life of staff and students at academic institutions. There is substantial rhetoric that the 24/7 availability of the internet, i.e. every hour of every day, allows students and academics to study and research independent of normal working hours (see Gorman, 2003).But does reality bear out the rhetoric? Understanding the factors that play a role in shaping internet usage allows academics and administrators to develop systems that meet student needs and cater for students study habits.This paper will investigate the internet use of Australian academics, students and administrative staff in nine Australian universities during the run of an average day. To assess this, we will consider the diurnal nature of general internet usage in Australia, address the daily average internet use at various Australian universities, and consider to what extent the usage profile says about the student profile and student study habits.\nDiurnal patterns in internet use in Australia: Life in Australia today, like life in the rest of the industrial world, is defined by the social clock: by the hours of work, leisure and sleep. On average, Australians are being paid for a 37.5-40 hours work week with 7.5 to 8 hours a day (ABS, 2004). In reality, however, a greater number of Australians work longer hours, as both paid and unpaid over-time (ABS, 2004; Drago et al., 2004). Concomitantly, usage of infrastructure related to or use by work, such as telephones and the road network, reflect the work hours to a large degree while leisure activities, such as watching television fall outside work hours (see Spennemann, 2006).The internet today is being used both a communications tool and a general entertainment system. Thus we can expect that human activity patterns play a role in its usage.The standard against which all daily internet usage curves can be compared is the internationally applicable national web usage standard as calculated by Spennemann (2005). This standard is based on average number of dial up calls made through ten exchanges, five on the western seaboard of the United States and five on the eastern seaboard of Australia. Figure 1 shows just how similar the Australian and US averages are, with the Australian web users showing a slightly higher usage in the hours between 16:00 and 21:00.Web usage is high at the start of the work day and then peaks at the end of the work period, with another slight peak by 7 p.m., presumably after the dinner period, representing those who come on-line in the evening (Figure 1).\nInternet usage and academia: A number of studies deal with internet access and usage by universities (see Fleck and McQueen, 1999), noting that access to facilities is of concern (see Ballantyne, 1998). Elsewhere a study of sessional, weekly and diurnal patterns of computer lab use at one institution (Charles Sturt University) has shown that the labs under utilised (Spennemann et al., n.d. (a)) that constructive solutions for the apparent idle time could be found (Atkinson et al., 2005; Cornforth et al., in press). The earlier study (Spennemann et al., n.d. (a), (b)) found that students utilise the computer labs mainly during the term period (87 per cent) and further more that that 90 per cent of the utilisation occurred between Monday and Thursday. Moreover, it was found that the majority of the observed usage derives from a small number of users, with over 80 per cent of students using the laboratories less than once per week during terms (Spennemann et al., 2005).Some research looks at IT behaviour of academic staff (Applebee et al., 1996; 1998), but this mainly focuses on the nature of internet use (e.g. www vs e-mail etc.), at the level of confidence in computer and internet use (see Spennemann and Atkinson, 2002a) as well as the capabilities of student populations and their use of e-mail programs (see Spennemann, 1997; Spennemann and Atkinson, 2003), web-browsers (see Spennemann & Atkinson, n.d.); and data management practices (see Spennemann and Atkinson, 2002b).A problem with some of these studies are both aspects of scale, e.g. bench-marking studies of single university populations, and, in particular, the date of the sample. The rapid development and diffusion of information technology in most aspects of professional life, as well as the phenomenal growth of material published on the www, means that the observations of older studies can not be easily compared to modern studies unless they are time series studies.As the technical capabilities of the web-browsers has increased, academia soon conceptualized the use of the technology for educational purposes (see Spennemann, 1999; Sims et al., 2002), developing on-line administrative systems (see McClelland, 2001); on-line instruction tools; readings and course materials (see Spennemann, 1995; Atkinson et al., 1997; Shannon and Doube, 2003), tests (Chandler, 2004; Williamson, 2004); communications systems between staff, students and administrators (Burr and Smith, 2003b); computer conferencing (Deluca, 2002) as well as discussion tools for in virtual classrooms (Burr and Smith, 2003a; Burr and Spennemann, 2004). The development of on-line message boards and list servers into interactive forums allowed universities to break the divide between face-to-face and distance education students in the same cohort (Spennemann et al., 2005). These forums allow continuous threaded discussion of topics to occur, but unlike on-line chat rooms, do so in an asynchronous mode. Thus students can log into the forums and interact with the lecturer and the other students at the time of their choosing, be it during the day, from home or from work, or in after-work hours (Burr and Spennemann, 2004).It had been argued that on-line learning and the 24/7 availability of these services frees students from the tyranny of time tables and physical presence on campus (see Spennemann, 1999; Gorman, 2003). The question to be posited, then, is whether this is just rhetoric by university administrators eager to \"roll-out\" technological solutions, or whether this in fact occurs. Human activity pattern analysis can answer this question.\nMethodology: The logs of standard web servers do not lend themselves to the human activity pattern analysis as intended in this paper, as they reflect a combination of both local/national web traffic and international traffic (see Spennemann, 2005). As the nature and origin of each server call cannot be ascertained even with extensive \"cleaning\" of the server log files, other avenues need to be found. Proxy servers provide the solution. Proxy servers are servers that sit between a client's web browser and a target server. They intercept all requests to the target server to see if they can fulfil the requests themselves (from pages stored in a temporary cache). If not, they forward the request to the target server. Because users need to authenticate themselves in the university computer system in order to access facilities, and because outgoing requests are logged in the proxy server log, the proxy server log accurately measures the network activity of the users.Datamining proxy servers\nAnalysis of university proxy servers: Academic life is comprised of three discrete subpopulations: university administrators, academics (teachers/researchers), and students. The former are general staff whose on-campus presence and utilisation of facilities is normally limited to the standard working hours with the flexi-time shoulder periods. Academic staff enjoy more freedom in their usage of working time.Students, on the other hand, fall into two categories, on-campus students, who attend lectures during the day and who utilise existing resources, such as libraries and computer centres/laboratories while on campus; and distance education studies, who study via self study packages with varied levels of on-line support by means of materials, study modules and internet discussion forums.Figure 2 plots the hourly usage of all proxy servers of Australian universities in the sample. The curves clearly cluster into three groups of institutions. These will be examined separately. The hourly usage curve for group 1 (Figure 3) shows a very low utilisation between 02:00 and 08:00 and a steep rise thereafter, peaking at 14:00, with a steep drop until 19:00, thereafter trailing off to 02:00. Almost 82 per cent of all usage occurs during the standard working hours and flexi-time period between 08:00 to 18:00. The difference with the Australian web standard curve is striking (Figure 3). Unlike the curves for phone usage or the usage of government websites (Spennemann, 2006), the hourly curve of group 1 shows no dip in usage during the lunch hour. Quite the opposite is the case: it can almost be surmised that staff and students use the lunch break to \"surf\" the web.The usage of group 2, comprised of USQ and JCU, both Queensland institutions, also shows a low utilisation between 02:00 and 08:00 and a steep rise thereafter, again peaking at 14:00, and a drop until 19:00 (Figure 4). Thereafter usage trails off to 02:00, more slowly than group 1. Among group 2, 72 per cent of the usage occurs during standard working hours and flexi-time period. Again, the difference to the Australian web standard curve is striking.The third group has only one member, CSU. The usage of the CSU proxy server also shows a low utilisation between 02:00 and 08:00 and a rise thereafter, peaking at noon. But from then onwards, the usage stays more or less stable with a light rise between 16:00 and 17:00, followed by a drop until 19:00. It displays a remarkably flat plateau until 22:00, when it drops off to 02:00 (Figure 5). Among CSU users, usage during the working hours and flexi-time period is only 60 per cent. A comparison with the Australian web standard curve shows a generally similar curve, but offset by two hours. The curves also show a change in peaks. While CSU has a slightly developed peak in the morning, the general web curve has a slightly developed peak in the afternoons and evenings.\nPotential factors influencing the proxy usage: What are the underlying factors that cause the three different usage curves to develop? While the proxy logs give a good representation of the overall relevant use, they suffer from the limitation that all sub-communities are commingled (academics/general staff/students; on-campus/distance education/multi-modal; male/female) (see Table I). However, a number of factors can be surmised, such as mode of study, gender, percentage of staff, age and access to campus computing facilities. These will be considered in turn.Mode of study\nImplications: The analysis of the proxy usage of nine Australian universities has shown that the vast majority of usage in the Victorian and South Australian universities in the sample is limited to office hours with 81 per cent of all usage occurring during the standard working hours and flexi-time period between 08:00 and 18:00 (72 per cent between 09:00 and 17:00). The percentages are slightly lower for the Queensland institutions tested (72 per cent/62 per cent). The latter figures appear to be due to the longer day-light hours in Queensland with a concomitant higher usage in the hours bracketing the normal working hours.After deregulation of the Australian education sector in 1987 many universities are offering degrees through both traditional face-to-face and distance education options with increased components of on-line delivery. While the notion of a 24/7 delivery of services to students is being promoted by university administrators, the data do not seem to support it - or at least university facilities are not being utilised by students in any significant amount after hours. This interpretation of the proxy data presented in this paper is confirmed by observations of computer laboratory use (Spennemann et al., 2005; n.d.(a)) as well as the use of on-line discussion forums (Burr and Spennemann, 2004). This may well be due to the fact that students in metropolitan and regional settings have alternative opportunities of accessing services, the case of Charles Sturt University, a regional and rural institution providing on-campus and distance education differs. At that university, a substantial proportion students seem to be accessing the proxy server after hours.A comparison with other curves suggests that the variation in user behaviour is one of study patterns, with CSU students working longer, and making better use of the resources provided by the university servers. Future qualitative research into student's attitudes needs to elucidate what that is the case.The analysis of proxy sever logs is a powerful too to examine the on-line usage pattern of students. While it may not always provide ready answers, the pattern provide a tool to investigate how students utilise the technologies made available. This paper is just a start.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to look at the usage of the internet by students, academics and university administrators as part of their normal working day. It investigates whether access to computer facilities and the mode of study have any influence, or whether other factors need to be considered when providing services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - To assess this, the paper considers the diurnal nature of general internet usage in Australia, addresses the daily average internet use at various Australian universities, and considers how much the usage profile says about the student profile and student study habits.\nFindings: - Web usage is high at the start of the work day and then peaks at the end of the work period, with another slight peak by 7 p.m., presumably after the dinner period, representing those who come on-line in the evening.\nOriginality/value: - The analysis of the proxy usage of nine Australian universities has shown that the vast majority of usage in the Victorian and South Australian universities in the sample is limited to office hours with 81 per cent of all usage occurring during the standard working hours and flexi-time period between 08:00 and 18:00 (72 per cent between 09:00 and 17:00).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Modularizing specialized hospital services: Constraining characteristics, enabling activities and outcomes	[ "Service operations", "Healthcare", "Modularity" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Specialized healthcare services consist of secondary- and tertiary-level healthcare provided by medical professionals in hospital outpatient and inpatient units. The problems in this large and growing area are widespread and well-known: increased demand due to an aging population and developing diagnostics, cost inflation of treatment technologies, and concurrent over- and under-treatment. The healthcare sector faces major challenges to improve population health and patients' experiences and simultaneously reduce costs (Berwick et al., 2008). Patients demand more of a voice and care that is better tailored to their individual preferences. At the same time, the supply side in hospitals is fragmented into increasingly narrow specialties. Two megatrends collide: the demand for increasing service volumes, and the demand for customization.\n2. Theoretical background: 2.1 Main principles and aims of modularity\n3. Methods: The exploratory, inductive case study method is selected because it allows the gathering of a full range of evidence within the specialized hospital care context (Yin, 2003). Purposive samples are useful for case studies that aim to build theory, as theory development does not require statistically representative samples of the studied population (Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007). The comparative case analysis method, using two contrasting or polar cases, is effective for discovering characteristics that are pertinent in specific conditions (Voss et al., 2002). This study compares two contrasting cases to identify differences between the service architecture of a traditional or un-modularized hospital unit and that of a modularized hospital unit, enablers and constraints related to the design and use of modularity, and the outcomes of modularization. The study plan was approved by the hospital's Coordinating Ethics Committee.\n4. Modularizing specialized hospital services - empirical findings from the university hospital: The interview findings advancing the theory were categorized into service architecture, enablers and constraints of modularization, and outcomes of modularization. Enablers refer to factors and conditions that influence the studied outcome favorably or even as prerequisites, and constraints refer to factors and conditions that prevent or hinder modularization. The choice of terminology is deliberate, because, in a case study with a limited number of cases, a single variable cannot be controlled to the extent that distinguishing prerequisites from enablers would be possible. The term \"outcome,\" in this paper, thus refers to the outcomes associated with the redesign of the service architecture based on modularization principles. Table II demonstrates the categories of first-level observations from the data and how these were categorized into the second-level concepts, following the principles of inductive theory building (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Eisenhardt, 1989). In addition, a set of first-level observations were found to be common to both service architectures and thus could not be considered as design aspects exclusive to modularity. These are reported as excluded first-level observations in Table II. The enablers, constraints, outcomes, and excluded observation categories are numbered in Table II, and the following Results section refers to these numbers.\n5. Discussion: This study describes the process of modularizing the service architecture of a specialized hospital unit. The analysis identified six activities used to design the modular service architecture in the case study unit, the positive and the negative outcomes of the modularization, and explained how specific characteristics of specialized hospital services constrain modularization and its outcomes. By combining the above findings, the study developed a framework and formed five effect-chains expressed as five propositions to enhance understanding of the application of modularity in specialized hospital services.\n6. Conclusions: This is the first comprehensive study exploring the application of service modularity in specialized hospital services. Through a comparative case study of a modular and a traditional unit in a university hospital, a framework was developed that describes design activities, outcomes, and constraining characteristics of modularization. The framework and the five propositions that depict the relation between service characteristics, design activities, and outcomes may help healthcare managers to define their objectives and activities in modularization processes in order to gain sustainable value in service delivery. The study described an organization that has been able to apply modularity, demonstrating how conceptualizations of divided work tasks, modularized organizational processes, and focused integration through interfaces (Baldwin and Clark, 1997) enable the application of modularity. The study described how modular service architecture can be used in specialized hospital services by identifying a service phase that can be decoupled from the rest of the service production without disrupting overall service production. Moreover, the study identified that some outcomes of modularization facilitate service production whereas others create challenges.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Modularity promises to relieve problems of complexity in service systems. However, limited evidence exists of its application in specialized hospital services. The purpose of this paper is to identify enablers, constraints, and outcomes of modularization in specialized hospital services.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A qualitative comparative study of a hematology unit with modular service architecture and an oncology unit with integral service architecture in a university hospital is performed to analyze the service architectures, enablers and constraints of modularization, and outcomes.\nFindings: A framework and five propositions combining the characteristics of specialized hospital services, enabling activities, and outcomes of modularization were developed. Modular service architecture was developed through limiting the number of treatment components, reorganizing production of standardized components into a separate service unit, and standardizing communication and scheduling in interfaces. Modularization increased service efficiency but diluted ownership of services, decreased customization, and diminished informal communication. This is explained by the specific characteristics of the services: fragmented service delivery, professional autonomy, hierarchy, information asymmetry, and requirement to treat all.\nResearch limitations/implications: Modularization can increase efficiency in specialized hospital services. However, specific characteristics of specialized care may challenge its application and limit its outcomes.\nPractical implications: The study identifies enabling activities and constraints that hospital managers should take into account when developing modular service systems.\nOriginality/value: This is the first empirical study exploring the enablers, constraints, and outcomes of modularization in specialized hospital services. The study complements literature on service modularity with reference to specialized hospital services.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Correlating service touch-point preferences with engagement parameters	[ "Customer engagement", "Touch‐points", "Multivariate methods", "Multivariate analysis", "Customer relations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: 1.1 \"Service\"\n2 Rationale and research motive: The mobile phone has been described as one of the most radiative communications appliances ever invented (Coghill, 2001, p. 28). As a communications tool, mobile phones play a considerable role in facilitating the development and maintenance of everyday human relationships and interaction (Grandhi and Jones, 2010), with up to 92 per cent of mobile phone users suggesting that mobile phones play a critical role in their day-to-day lives (Carphone Warehouse, 2006). Chen and Katz (2009) allude to the fact that the role of the mobile phone in daily life is both representational and symbolic (in effect, socially prominent). At this juncture, we highlight two studies of interest. The first, by Karjaluoto et al. (2005), was based on data obtained from a combined methodology including focus groups and questionnaire survey of 275 Finnish students. They found that touch-point preference was substantially subjective and emotionally driven (literature also indicates that the service interface is also highly influenced by emotions, see Ethier et al. (2008)). The second study of interest is that of Looney et al. (2008) who sought to utilise both the theory of self-efficacy (an individual's perception of their ability to undertake a series of actions that will accomplish a specific task) and the theory of outcome expectation (an individual's expectation that once specific activities have been carried out, a desired consequence will happen) to explain consumer choice of specific service touch-point. Their study however focuses specifically on technology mediated service touch-points.\n3 Research methodology: 3.1 The questionnaire\n4 Analysis of the data: 4.1 Categorical principal components analysis\n5 Results: 5.1 Overall component structure\n6 Discussion of the findings: Our study set out to identify, in the first place, what critical customer engagement parameters impact on mobile phone customer touch-point preferences, and second, what impact the intensity of firm-customer engagement has on mobile phone customer touch-point preferences. The results of our study indicate the importance of four key parameters (\"satisfaction\", \"loyalty/advocacy\", \"recruitment/retention\" and \"customer loss\"). The second stage of our study focused on identifying possible differences in these key parameters measured against the intensity of firm-customer engagement. We found across the entire sample that the level of satisfactory firm-customer engagement increased proportionately as the level of personal contact increased.The first finding should not be a surprise in light of earlier studies (Karemaker, 2005; Looney et al., 2008; Pieterson and Dijk van, 2007) which argue that engagement choice is primarily determined by habit which can be a construct of both \"satisfaction\" and \"loyalty/advocacy\" (Wallace et al., 2004; Woisetschlager et al., 2011). The implication is that customers do not necessarily decide on service touch-points following an extensive and elaborate decision-making process, but are likely to arrive at such a choice based on their perceived convenience (Ojiako et al., n.d.), and the nature of the contact (for example, whether high-contact or otherwise, see Goldstein (2003) and Yee et al. (2011)). Clearly, as we have shown, our findings resonate with the earlier study by Looney et al. (2008), in that both studies utilise a student sample to examine touch-points. The second finding supports the establishment of a conceptual relationship between service touch-points scholarship and customer loyalty within the customer experience management research agenda. Certainly, scholarship in service operations management (Bitran et al., 2008; Xue et al., 2007) perhaps points out that such an extension may be justified because core firm competitive advantage will not reside solely on the ability of firms to deliver services to their customers. Competitive advantage will only be guaranteed by, amongst other factors, the ability of firms to deliver world class service in addition to engaging in a form that ensures the development of long-lasting relationships with customers. Although we have been able to address the two research questions, a lingering question remains unanswered; in effect, for firms still not able to ensure appropriate engagement with their customers, \"what do they do differently?\" We argue that firms need a change of mind-set, thus radically departing from the way their engagement with customers had been traditionally perceived, designed and created.What is therefore required in order to create a coherent story of touch-points is seamless articulation of the relationship experience within a practical framework. The authors identify that the developing of such a framework requires the systematic articulation of all conceivable encounters between the customer and the service provider as an area of future study. For example, such an understanding ensures that firms are able to appropriately allocate resources to individual customers (Kumar et al., 2010), thus ensuring that service operations matrices are optimised. It is clear from the subjective and personal introspections explored that firms face serious challenges in meeting contact expectations of a diverse customer base. The inability of firms to address this challenge can result in uncertainty, and the risk that any future developed framework may not actually enhance the customers' perceptions of their relationships with vendors. The limitation of developing a concise touch-point framework is that it may be difficult to strike a balance between the four components, especially based on perspectives emerging from a more diverse customer base than was sampled as part of this study. If not managed carefully, this may result in integration problems during relationship articulation and design. Successful articulation of relationship components also poses additional problems because customer profiles are fluid, meaning that original assumption's about customers and the perceptions of their experiences can become obsolete in a short space of time.The authors still believe that firms must continue to expend effort in developing a clear understanding of the constituent elements of the relationship they have with their customers because of the implications of an unpredictable competitive market. The \"fight\" to gain and retain customers will become even more intense between firms. Targeting particular customers will become even harder as more firms invest additional resources into this area. Overall, the impact of a disappointing relationship can be devastating for firms that do not recognise the importance of customer encounters, however brief and in whatever form these encounters take. Unfortunately, a number of businesses appear to be making the same mistakes. For example, contemporary discussions of customer relationship management (CRM), to some extent, appear to occur mainly at the discursive level; in some cases bearing no relation to the economic realities the everyday customer faces. This explains why a large number of firms still appear to maintain faith in \"systems\" and continue to invest substantial financial resources in CRM technology. As has been shown in literature (Judd, 2003; Stershic, 2001), relationship marketing experience differentiators remain heavily oriented towards the people, rather than the technology dimension factors. Software and technology may indeed support the experiences that customers are exposed to during encounters with firms; however, no matter how pervasive the technology is, it is still unable to understand the subjective nuances that influence the way customers perceive their encounters with firms.\n7 Conclusion: The firm-customer relationship, which has been recognised as a major area of interest in service management literature (Xue et al., 2007) and the larger umbrella area of scholarship in CRM, draws its philosophical base from relationship marketing theory (Gronroos, 2011). Relationship marketing focuses on the creation, nurturing and maintenance of strong, mutually beneficial and enduring relationships between firms and their customers (Buttle, 2001). Over the last few years, a number of factors have impacted on CRM application. These include the emergence of the knowledgeable customer, characterised as having higher expectations (Day et al., 2004; Schneider and Bowen, 1999). Another factor that may need to be considered is technology (Avlonitis and Panagopoulos, 2005). Advances in technology functionality have led to increases in the use of self-service technologies (Makarem et al., 2009). According to scholars (Payne, 2005; Payne and Frow, 2004), explorations of CRM may be conducted from three perspectives:1. technology solutions;2. integrated customer technology solutions; and3. managing customer relationships.In this paper, the authors have examined CRM from the third prism. For this reason, the authors focus on gaining an understanding of the touch-points utilised by service-providing firms that seek to create, nurture and maintain intensely strong, mutually beneficial, enduring relationships with their customers. To facilitate the gaining of this knowledge, the authors aimed to gain a detailed understanding of customers and their preferences.Studies (Kumar et al., 2010; van Doorn et al., 2010; Verhoef et al., 2010) suggest that retaining customers through service engagement is crucial to firm survival. Based on earlier works by van Doorn et al. (2010), we conceive service engagement as a period of time during which a firm and its customers directly interact in an \"exchange\". This engagement requires a rethink of the firm-customer framework, with customers no longer being perceived as exogenous to the service firm (Bijmolt et al., 2010). Instead, what is required is an endogenous customer (Bijmolt et al., 2010; Roth and Menor, 2003) who is more active in co-creating their service engagement experiences alongside the provider/supplier. Service engagement will also include the co-definition, creation and \"living\" of the service experience. Delivered through a number of interfaces, leveraging firm-customer engagement through an understanding of how service touch-points influence customer loyalty is important, not only because of an increased demand by customers for personalised interactions, but also because the retention of the customer is shown to be reliant upon a number of factors such as service quality, relationship quality, and overall customer satisfaction with the level and quality of their engagement with the service firm.Our study has highlighted the crucial role of customer touch-points in the articulation of CRM; our findings suggest that customer satisfaction and loyalty levels are positively affected by the touch-points used by customers. In conclusion, the study infers that different touch-points deliver varying levels of customer experience which impacts customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Future research may do well then to seek to develop a more comprehensive and generalised framework in which can be applied on a broad scale to many industry vendors and firms. It is important to recognise that although the existence of these multiple touch-points was recognised in literature, we did not account for this in the questionnaire. We felt that for the purpose of the hypothesised relationships, a respondent may have found it difficult to answer the five satisfaction questions when forced to think of more than one touch-point. This suggests that the questionnaire could be developed for use in future research in order to avoid the confusion of participants and the possibility of low reliability in some results.The choice of the UK mobile industry for our study was made primarily because of not only its competitive nature, but because of its characteristic as an industry that utilises multiple touch-points to interact with its customers. Customer loyalty is also another factor. Although service is provided based on contracts established with its customers, customers hold the choice to terminate at any point. In effect, the UK mobile industry is an industry with a customer retention rate highly dependent on the customer's preference. This implies that for future research it could be more informative to researchers to include relationship length and the different factors that could be more important to newer customers as opposed to those who have been with a service provider for a period of years. This could provide essential insight into the development of what a customer expects or conceptualises as value throughout the relationship life cycle. Such an approach also creates an opportunity for further studies on the correlation between emergent variables. Such studies will for example help provide managers with empirically supported recommendations that will optimise managerial decisions on articulating service experiences.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to contribute to extant research which emphasises the need for service suppliers to be able to leverage firm-customer relationships through an understanding of the correlation between service touch-points and engagement parameters.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors utilised multivariate methods (CATPCA and Pro-fit) to analyse the data. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 238 respondents, sampled through the social networking site, \"Facebook\".\nFindings: - It was found from the analysis of data that within the context of customer engagement, four critical parameters (\"satisfaction\", \"loyalty/advocacy\", \"recruitment/retention\" and \"customer losses\") impact on customer touch-points.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study is characterised by two limitations. The first is that the respondents' simultaneous utilisation of multiple touch-points was not accounted for in the study. Second, the authors acknowledge that the narrow demographic spread of the respondents is a possible limitation of the study.\nOriginality/value: - The study findings are grounded in empirical findings which is a departure from traditional scholarship on customer touch-points which has been based on case observations and anecdotal evidence.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Danish libraries in WorldCat - and ordering facilities to ten Danish libraries	[ "Interlending", "Online catalogues", "Denmark", "International cooperation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Danish libraries have made an agreement with OCLC[1] on extended cooperation. The National Union Catalogue is now uploaded to WorldCat; most Danish libraries use WorldCat as a source for copy cataloguing, and ten Danish research libraries are now presenting their holdings for international ILL. We look upon this national cooperation as an important step towards a broader and more committed international cooperation.Danish research libraries have been using OCLC's WorldCat for ILL purposes for over 20 years. The catalogue aims for global coverage, and thus it seems a natural step to promote Danish libraries and to make the Danish cultural heritage available globally via WorldCat.Danish libraries are recognized for their efficiency and high performance based on cooperation between all types of libraries. We have a long tradition and experience in cooperation nationally, within the Nordic countries, and also internationally; thus it seems a natural development to exploit the possibilities within WorldCat.In this article we present the library structure of Denmark and the terms of future cooperation we have agreed with OCLC/WorldCat.\nThe agreement: The agreement with OCLC was signed in December 2008 by the Danish Bibliographic Center (DBC)[2], which manages the national union catalogue, the national bibliography, supplementary cataloguing, and the technical infrastructure for ILL and the exchange of catalogue records. The DBC takes care of the interaction between Danish libraries and WorldCat.The preparations and coordination within the development project were and are managed by the Danish WorldCat Steering Committee. The development project has been funded by Denmark's Electronic Research Library (DEFF) and DBC, and has been organized in several sub-projects. The Steering Committee consists of Leif Andresen, Danish Agency for Libraries and Media[3] (Chair), Helle Brink, State and University Library, Aarhus[4] (Project Leader, DEFF) and Per Mogens Petersen (Project Leader, DBC).\nLibrary structure in Denmark: Denmark has a population of 5.2 million inhabitants and is one of the Nordic countries, together with Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.Since 2007 Denmark has had 98 municipalities in six regions, as shown in Figure 1.Denmark contains The Royal Library in Copenhagen, The State and University Library in Aarhus (Jutland) together with 98 public library systems, of which six are regional public libraries, ten big research libraries, about 40 university libraries, about 250 small research libraries and a number of high-school libraries.The Ministry of Culture signs the laws on library practice and they are realized by the Danish Agency for Libraries and Media.Denmark has a legal deposit law, which requires two copies of all printed material to be sent to The Royal Library in Copenhagen and the State and University Library in Aarhus.The legal deposit law includes Danish printed music, recorded music, newspapers, TV and radio broadcastings and, since 2005, a net archive for Danish net pages.\nThe Danish Union Catalogue: All holdings of all Danish libraries are registered in DanBib together with the Danish Union Catalogue, amounting to about 17 million records. The DanBib catalogue has three different sites:1. Netpunkt.dk - professional access for libraries/librarians (web);2. Zpunkt - access computer-to-computer using Z39.50; and3. Bibliotek.dk - end-user access, which is free for all (web) and also available in English.For the end user in Denmark there is free access for end-user initiated ILL, electronic document delivery for some articles directly into their mailbox (from the State and University Library) and to online music through Netmusik (two million records of music) and selected films.DanBib, bibliotek.dk and the Danish ILL system is described at an informational web site with many technical details (Danish Bibliographic Center, 2010) and in earlier articles in Interlending & Document Supply (Larsen, 2007; Petersen and Lose, 2006; Petersen et al., 2009).\nDanish delivery service: To support these facilities an interlibrary delivery service now covers all libraries in Denmark with public access and is supported by local delivery services within the university campuses. The delivery service is paid for partly by the individual library and partly by the Danish government - through the library authorities.The figures for the Danish Library Delivery service are 2.1 million interlibrary loans within Denmark in 2009. A new project is examining the possibilities of extending the delivery service to cover Sweden and Norway.\nThe Danish libraries and OCLC/WorldCat: Danish libraries have been customers of WorldCat/OCLC for 25 years, as subscribers to databases through FirstSearch and as subscribers to the ILL module.WorldCat did contain some Danish holding before this agreement. About 13 years ago journal titles from several Nordic research libraries (NOSP) were exported, but never maintained. One Danish library - The National Library of Education - has uploaded their full holdings since 2005 and the library's experience as lender in the WorldCat environment has been an important contribution to the existing agreement for all Danish libraries.With the new agreement of exporting all Danish records and ten research libraries as new lenders in the ILL environment, we have been lending materials since January 2010. The State and University Library in Aarhus has agreed to lend all Danish printed material and the other libraries will lend from their full collections.Since January we have received about 3,500 international requests, of which about 2,200 were fulfilled. The fulfillment rate is increasing rapidly as the old NOSP records are deleted and the current Danish records can be \"trusted\".\nProject: Danish libraries in WorldCat: As noted above Danish research libraries have been using WorldCat/OCLC ILL services for many years. The explosive expansion of this catalogue both in numbers and in languages made it seem sensible to look at it for the re-use of records for copy cataloguing. We also thought that this would be a more cost effective alternative to cataloguing our own materials and using Deutsches Bibliographie and BNB from the British Library.To explore this alternative The Library Authority set up a steering group in 2007 with representatives from the Danish Bibliographic Centre and The State and University Library to test the facilities in WorldCat and propose further actions in five areas of WorldCat functionality:1. export of records;2. adjust Danish library register to WorldCat Registry;3. test the copy cataloguing facilities within both public and research libraries;4. test a translation from the Danish classification system to Dewey; and5. establish a network among Danish libraries for exchanging experiences and taking advantage of the library tools developed by OCLC (e.g. Collection Analysis).The first project was funded by Denmark's Electronic Research Library (DEFF) and was completed by December 2008 with an agreement between the Danish Bibliographic Center and OCLC on exporting all Danish records into WorldCat.Copy-cataloguing\nActual developments within the organization of OCLC: OCLC has reorganized members of OCLC globally. Denmark and Europe are now members of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), which is one of three regions within OCLC.We have just attended the first EMEA member meeting in Leiden, Holland, in February this year and to our surprise observed that Denmark is among the top four in the region as borrowers within WorldCat, only France, South Africa and UK have higher figures for borrowing (see Table I)Denmark is third in the region as a lender due to requests for articles from the NOSP records. We have been lenders for over ten years, but as part of the agreement these old NOSP records have now been deleted.When the new update of journals from library.dk has been uploaded we expect the figures for lending to increase again. We handled requests from the NOSP records for free, whereas within the new agreement we will charge $US10 for a copy. From January 2010 we charge $20 for a loan and if the requesting library is not part of the IFM (OCLC's fee management system), we also charge $15 for an invoice.\nAccess to Danish libraries through WorldCat: four scenarios: Access for end users from WorldCat to the Danish national union catalogue is via the Danish end-user interface library.dk, and for professional requests via the OCLC ILL module.We decided on this approach in order to show the portal for the Danish libraries and on the first \"page\" welcome the user and make recommendations for further steps - either if you are a library user or an end user.Libraries with subscription\nPerspectives for international cooperation: Libraries worldwide are under pressure to deliver more services for less money. One of the answers to this challenge is making our work more effective. For international cooperation in ILL this means establishing:* better sources of information - for example a growing WorldCat; and* more effective tools for the administration of ILLs (the OCLC framework includes an effective tool for payment, i.e. IFM, described below).Every library must find its own role as requester and supplier of ILLs. Every country must find its own model for national and international cooperation. With this presentation of the Danish structure and models for cooperation with WorldCat we hope to inspire other countries to increase international interaction on the basis of common solutions to ILL, copy cataloging and the exchange of records and holdings information.Different models for ILL payment\nConclusion: international cooperation in a global scale: We have now run in the project and refined the records and now feel that we have constructed a national solution for an international agreement which gives us the opportunity to develop cooperation in stages to fulfill users' requests within Danish libraries. We may conclude that a national strategy on the library structure, the library IT structure as well as the national cooperation has worked well to fulfill our needs and wishes. The agreement between Danish libraries and OCLC contains promising solutions for developing international cooperation on a global scale.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to present the Danish agreement with OCLC's WorldCat and the perspectives for international cooperation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper describes the Danish ILL cooperation, the project and WorldCat as a case study of international cooperation which will increase the effectiveness of the international ILL service.\nFindings: - Cooperation with an international organization works better when coordinated nationally.\nOriginality/value: - The Danish agreement with OCLC covers both main activities: ILL and cataloguing - creation and use of bibliographic data.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Corrosion loop development of oil and gas piping system based on machine learning and group technology method	[ "Inspection", "K-means", "Machine learning", "Risk-based inspection", "Risk assessment", "Asset integrity management", "Lean maintenance", "Predictive maintenance", "Piping system", "Corrosion loop" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Equipment used in oil and gas production and processing system is exposed to various degradation mechanisms (e.g. corrosion, cracking, fatigue, erosion, etc.). Consequently, their technical integrity degrades during their operational lifetime. The inability to control degradation mechanisms may cause failure (e.g. leakages, ruptures, bursts, etc.) that yields significant impact on the personnel, environment and financial of the organization (Singh and Pokhrel, 2018). Regular inspection is normally performed to understand the current operational conditions of the equipment. By understanding the equipment current conditions, any circumstances that pose significant hazards to the technical integrity of the assets can be mitigated by carrying out the necessary maintenance, modification or replacement (Ratnayake, 2015; Vinod et al., 2014). However, comprehensive inspection for all equipment in the system is not financially feasible due to the high cost of performing inspection. Prescriptive/time-based inspection used to be the industry standard for developing the inspection plan for individual equipment (Schroder and Kauer, 2004). In recent years, prescriptive inspection planning has been replaced by risk-based inspection (RBI) planning, which emphasizes on inspecting equipment that possesses the most risk to the system (Shishesaz et al., 2013).\n2. RBI assessment and corrosion loop development: RBI assessment is a methodology to achieve cost-effective inspection plan and to ensure compliance of regulatory and corporate requirements. RBI prioritizes equipment inspection based on the equipment risk level, which allows organization to focus inspection effort on highrisk equipment and prevents overinspection of low-risk items (Chang et al., 2005). Risk in RBI is defined as the product of probability of failure (PoF) and consequence of failure (CoF). PoF is evaluated based on the variables that influence failure rate of the equipment, such as type of degradation mechanism, degradation rate, operational conditions, equipment design, previous inspection effectiveness and results, and equipment age. CoF is assessed based the factors that impact the magnitude of hazards in the event of hydrocarbon release, such as the type of substance contained in the equipment and process conditions. RBI considers four categories of consequence effect: personnel safety and health impact, environmental impact, production losses and facility repair costs (API, 2016). A typical RBI methodology is shown in Figure 1.\n3. Algorithm development: This section discusses the elements that construct the corrosion loop development algorithm. This section comprises of three main parts. The first part (Section 3.1) provides an overview of key methods that construct the corrosion loop development algorithm (i.e. non-hierarchical classification model and k-means clustering). The second part (Section 3.2) discusses the concept of boundary feature and requirement, which are the foundational features of the algorithm to cluster a set of individual piping into corrosion loops. The third part (Section 3.3) discusses the corrosion loop development algorithm and its corresponding pseudocode.\n4. Case study: A case study is provided to demonstrate the functionality and performance of the corrosion loop development algorithm on an actual piping data set. In this case study, a MacBook Pro (16GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 memory, 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 256 GB of flash storage, and macOS 10.14 as the operating system) with Python 3.7 (with the necessary packages such as NumPy, Pandas and Scikit-learn (Pedregosa et al., 2011)) and Jupyter Notebook are used to implement the corrosion loop development algorithm and input the data set into the algorithm. The construction of the algorithm is described in Section 3.3. A piping data set of an offshore petroleum production and processing platform is used in this case study. The detailed description of the data set is given in Section 4.1. The selection of boundary features and requirements for the algorithm is given in Section 4.2. In order to evaluate the ability of the corrosion loop development algorithm to perform its intended function, a set of indices are constructed as described in Section 4.3.\n5. Results and discussion: 5.1 Boundary requirement verification index evaluation\n6. Conclusion and practical implications: This paper aims to reduce the amount of time and output variability of corrosion loop development process by utilizing k-means clustering and non-hierarchical classification method. An algorithm is constructed based on these two techniques. Python and Jupyter Notebook are used as the tools for constructing the algorithm. A case study from the corrosion loop development of an offshore petroleum production and processing platform is provided to demonstrate the approach. Verification is performed to ensure that the algorithm can produce outputs that fulfill the pre-defined conditions stated in the task guideline. The outputs generated by the algorithm and manual work (i.e. work performed by the engineer) are compared. It is evident that the algorithm is able to produce outputs with lower variability than the manual work. A workflow analysis is conducted to examine the changes in the workflow of a corrosion loops development after the implementation of the algorithm. The inclusion of the algorithm into the workflow enables the simplification of the overall corrosion loop development process by giving away the repetitive part to be performed by the algorithm. The algorithm also allows more convenient modifications and revisions if there are any changes regarding the corrosion loop boundary requirements. Overall, the algorithm based on k-means clustering and non-hierarchical classification model has the potential to generate a \"leaner\" corrosion loop development process by reducing the required engineering man-hours and outputs variability. Although the algorithm allows a part of corrosion loop development workflow to be automated, it is still deemed as necessary to allow the incorporation of engineer's expertise, experience and intuition into the algorithm outputs in order to capture tacit knowledge and to refine insights generated by the algorithm intelligence.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Corrosion loop development is an integral part of the risk-based inspection (RBI) methodology. The corrosion loop approach allows a group of piping to be analyzed simultaneously, thus reducing non-value adding activities by eliminating repetitive degradation mechanism assessment for piping with similar operational and design characteristics. However, the development of the corrosion loop requires rigorous process that involves a considerable amount of engineering man-hours. Moreover, corrosion loop development process is a type of knowledge-intensive work that involves engineering judgement and intuition, causing the output to have high variability. The purpose of this paper is to reduce the amount of time and output variability of corrosion loop development process by utilizing machine learning and group technology method.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To achieve the research objectives, k-means clustering and non-hierarchical classification model are utilized to construct an algorithm that allows automation and a more effective and efficient corrosion loop development process. A case study is provided to demonstrate the functionality and performance of the corrosion loop development algorithm on an actual piping data set.\nFindings: The results show that corrosion loops generated by the algorithm have lower variability and higher coherence than corrosion loops produced by manual work. Additionally, the utilization of the algorithm simplifies the corrosion loop development workflow, which potentially reduces the amount of time required to complete the development. The application of corrosion loop development algorithm is expected to generate a \"leaner\" overall RBI assessment process.\nResearch limitations/implications: Although the algorithm allows a part of corrosion loop development workflow to be automated, it is still deemed as necessary to allow the incorporation of the engineer's expertise, experience and intuition into the algorithm outputs in order to capture tacit knowledge and refine insights generated by the algorithm intelligence.\nPractical implications: This study shows that the advancement of Big Data analytics and artificial intelligence can promote the substitution of machines for human labors to conduct highly complex tasks requiring high qualifications and cognitive skills, including inspection and maintenance management area.\nOriginality/value: This paper discusses the novel way of developing a corrosion loop. The development of corrosion loop is an integral part of the RBI methodology, but it has less attention among scholars in inspection and maintenance-related subjects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Benchmarking the international compulsory education performance of 65 countries and economies: Findings from PISA 2006, 2009, and 2012	[ "Science", "PISA", "Reading", "Mathematics", "Compulsory education performance", "Performance benchmarking", "Performance gap" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) measured 15-year-olds' performance in mathematics, reading, and science in all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and more than 30 non-OECD countries and economies (OECD, 2014b). PISA was \"an ongoing program that offers insights for education policy and practice, and that helps monitor trends in students' acquisition of knowledge and skills across countries and in different demographic subgroups within each country\"; PISA provided \"not only an accurate indicator of students' abilities to participate fully in society after compulsory school, but also a powerful tool that countries and economies can use to fine-tune their education policies\"; since the first assessment in 2000, PISA \"has become the world's premier yardstick for evaluating the quality, equity and efficiency of school systems\" (OECD, 2014b, pp. 3, 4, 24).\n2. Research methods: In this section, we present methods for identifying performance benchmarks (Section 2.1) and determining performance gaps in comparison with benchmarks (Section 2.2).\n3. Benchmarking international compulsory education performance: In this section, we use the methods presented in Section 2 to benchmark international compulsory education performance based on the assessment results of three PISA cycles: identifying benchmarks (Section 3.1) and determining performance gaps (Section 3.2).\n4. Discussion: Our benchmarking study based on the assessment results of three PISA cycles provides a number of social and practical implications as well as research contributions.\n5. Conclusion: In this paper, we have benchmarked the compulsory education performance of 65 countries and economies on the basis of their assessment results of PISA 2006, 2009, and 2012 in two steps. First, we have identified six top-performing countries and economies (i.e. Top-6) as performance benchmarks. Each of Top-6 had comparatively exceptional performance in all three assessment subjects (i.e. mathematics, reading, and science), which were the primary performance indicators in the PISA reports. Second, we have discovered numerous performance gaps on ten performance measures for individual countries and economies in comparison with Top-6. These performance measures include the aforementioned three primary ones as well as the percentage of top-performing students in all three subjects, the percentage of lowest-performing students in each of three subjects, and the gender score difference in each of three subjects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) measured 15-year-olds' performance in mathematics, reading, and science. The purpose of this paper is to use the assessment results of PISA 2006, 2009, and 2012 to benchmark the compulsory education performance of 65 countries and economies with emphasis on two benchmarking steps: identifying benchmarks and determining performance gaps.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use a multi-criterion and multi-period performance categorization method to identify a group of best performers as benchmarks. Then, the authors use two-sample t-tests to detect against benchmarks whether each country or economy has significant performance gaps on individual performance measures.\nFindings: Based on the mean scores of three assessment subjects in PISA 2006, 2009, and 2012, six best performers (Top-6) are identified from 65 participating countries and economies. In comparison with Top-6's weighted averages, performance gaps are found for most countries and economies on the mean score of each subject, the percentage of top-performing students in all three subjects, and the percentage of lowest-performing students in each subject.\nOriginality/value: For compulsory education systems around the world, this paper provides an original categorization of performance based on the results of three PISA cycles, and provides new insights for countries and economies to prioritize improvement efforts to increase average performance, pursue excellence, and tackle low performance. For benchmarking applications involving multi-criterion and multi-period data, this paper presents a novel method of using statistical control charts to identify benchmarks and then using two-sample t-tests to determine performance gaps on individual performance measures.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
GWLM-NARX: Grey Wolf Levenberg-Marquardt-based neural network for rainfall prediction	[ "Neural network", "GWO", "Grey Wolf Optimizer", "Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm", "NARX model", "Rainfall prediction" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Rainfall is the major rigorous phenomena in a climate system, which has a direct influence on ecosystems, agriculture and water resource management. The deep rainfall causes floods, mudslides, landslides and other natural disasters. The rainfall-induced disasters lead to severe losses and damage to both infrastructure and life. In the Indian economy, agriculture is the backbone, and most of the agriculture depends on the rainfall (Hirani and Mishra, 2016). Rainfall prediction is a problem, which requires to be solved to minimize or avoid losses of life and properties. Moreover, rainfall prediction (Ramu et al., 2017; Yu et al., 2015) possesses considerable significance in the modelling of the runoff that brings the management of the water resources. The severity of the rainfall is predicted based on the accurate and quantitative prediction, and moreover, it enables to forecast the flash flooding in addition to the details of the hydrologic interests. The prediction of the rainfall is significantly needed in the areas that are subjected to the flash flooding and in these places, the prediction accuracy depends on the frequency of the rainfall in that particular area, and the prediction could be made in advance (Altunkaynak and Nigussie, 2015). Accurate rainfall prediction (Mohammad et al., 2017a, b; Shah et al., 2017a, b) is the major concern in most of the countries. Thus, accurate rainfall prediction plays a beneficial role in designing the policies, planning and final decisions, and above all, it assures a sustainable functioning of water resource systems (Cramer et al., 2017; Wadoux et al., 2017; Kashiwao et al., 2017; Adil et al., 2017; Mohammad et al., 2017a, b).\n2. Motivation: 2.1 Literature survey\n3. Proposed method of rainfall prediction using the proposed GWLM-NARX model: The main aim of the paper is to develop a rainfall prediction system that operates adaptively using the NARX neural network. The input weather data may contain the details of the rainfall in any particular locations, either year-wise or month-wise. The weather data are given as the input to the rainfall prediction model for forecasting the rainfall automatically. The adaptive model employed for predicting the rainfall is the NARX neural network that operates based on the error found between the predicted output and the ground data. Based on the error, the weights of the NARX model is tuned using the proposed GWLM algorithm. For the adaptive prediction, the weather data of the previous time series are referred. Figure 1 shows the time series prediction of the rainfall. Let us consider the weather data denoted as, D that carries the information of the rain in a particular area month-wise.\n4. Results and discussion: The section presents the results and discussion of the proposed method of rainfall prediction, and the comparative analysis is depicted in this section to deliberate the effectiveness of the proposed method.\n5. Conclusion: Rainfall prediction is the need of the hour as rainfall prediction gives full assurance to the worth living condition in a particular area/country. The rainfall prediction is activated adaptively using the proposed GWLM-based NARX model that uses the past records of the rainfall data to predict the future. The rainfall prediction is required so as to plan the schedules and get rid of the huge damage that occurs in the future due to the extreme rainfall. The NARX model predicts the future using the past records of the rainfall during the previous years, months, or any terms adaptively with better recognition accuracy. The analysis using two databases enable a better understanding of the proposed rainfall detection methods and prove the effectiveness of the proposed prediction method. The effectiveness of the proposed method is enhanced, and the accuracy is found to be better compared with the other existing methods and the MSE and PRD of the proposed method are found to be around 0.0093 and 0.207.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Weather forecasting is the trending topic around the world as it is the way to predict the threats posed by extreme rainfall conditions that lead to damage the human life and properties. These issues can be managed only when the occurrence of the worse weather is predicted in advance, and sufficient warnings can be executed in time. Thus, keeping in mind the importance of the rainfall prediction system, the purpose of this paper is to propose an effective rainfall prediction model using the nonlinear auto-regressive with external input (NARX) model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper proposes a rainfall prediction model using the time-series prediction that is enabled using the NARX model. The time-series prediction ensures the effective prediction of the rainfall in a particular area or the locality based on the rainfall data in the previous term or month or year. The proposed NARX model serves as an adaptive prediction model, for which the rainfall data of the previous period is the input, and the optimal computation is based on the proposed algorithm. The adaptive prediction using the proposed algorithm is exhibited in the NARX, and the proposed algorithm is developed based on the Grey Wolf Optimization and the Levenberg-Marqueret (LM) algorithm. The proposed algorithm inherits the advantages of both the algorithms with better computational time and accuracy.\nFindings: The analysis using two databases enables the better understanding of the proposed rainfall detection methods and proves the effectiveness of the proposed prediction method. The effectiveness of the proposed method is enhanced and the accuracy is found to be better compared with the other existing methods and the mean square error and percentage root mean square difference of the proposed method are found to be around 0.0093 and 0.207.\nOriginality/value: The rainfall prediction is enabled adaptively using the proposed Grey Wolf Levenberg-Marquardt (GWLM)-based NARX, wherein an algorithm, named GWLM, is proposed by the integration of Grey Wolf Optimizer and LM algorithm.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
30 years of Chinese educational management: achievements, characteristics and problems	[ "Educational management", "Disciplinary construction", "Reform and opening up" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nI. The main achievements of 30 years' Chinese educational management: Since 1950s to 1970s, there's no independent curriculum on educational management in Chinese higher education institutions, even in normal universities, only some knowledge about educational management (mainly school management) in curriculum of education. In 1960s and 1970s, due to the instability of politics and society, the educational management in China was at a standstill, let alone the research and development. In mid and late 1970s, some researchers in Beijing Normal University, East China Normal University and Central China Normal University translated some works on educational management from Japan, UK and Soviet Union and wrote some manuscripts on educational administration and school management, at the same time, some curriculums on school management and educational administration were set up in normal universities. In spite of this, there is still no systematic research on both theoretical and practical issues of educational management. The educational management in China did not flourish until the reform and opening up in China after the start and reconstruction in the late of 1970s to 1980s and the exploration and development in the mid of 1990s and early twenty-first century. In 30 years, the main achievements of educational management in China are as follows.\nII. The main characteristics of 30 years' Chinese educational management: 2.1 For research purpose, emphasizing both the theory of Chinese educational management and the practice of Chinese educational reform\nIII. The main problems of 30 years' Chinese educational management: 3.1 The relationships among disciplines should be clarified\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the achievements of Chinese educational management in the past 30 years, conclude the characteristics of Chinese educational management and indicate the problems of Chinese educational management and the countermeasures.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper reviews the research of educational management in China in the past 30 years from four aspects: research purpose, research methods, research contents and disciplinary system.\nFindings: The paper sums up the main achievements, the main characteristics and the main problems of Chinese educational management in the past 30 years. It suggests that the disciplinary relationship should be further clarified; the role of disciplinary research accomplishments has to be further developed and the specialization level in disciplinary research needs to be further improved.\nPractical implications: This paper indicates the direction for the construction of Chinese educational management in the future: to further clarify the relationship among related disciplines; to put the role of the research results into full play; to further improve the specialization level of disciplinary research.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the construction of Chinese educational management both theoretically and practically.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Media richness and information acquisition in internet recruitment	[ "Internet", "Recruitment", "Organizational culture", "Media richness", "Person-organization fit", "Organizational knowledge", "Virtual work", "Mental workload", "Recruitment media", "Online recruiting" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A primary purpose of organizational recruitment is to convey information about an organization to job seekers (e.g. Allen et al., 2007; Dineen et al., 2007; Stone et al., 2005; Walker et al., 2009). Attraction is one of the most commonly used outcome variables in recruitment research (Chapman et al., 2005); although it is important that organizations are able to attract prospective applicants, it is even more important that those who decide to apply are actually appropriate for the organization and the job. Stone et al. (2005) argue that organizations should only adopt new e-recruiting technologies if they can increase the number of successful job placements. When recruiting potential applicants, organizations must communicate a variety of information to job seekers, ranging from ambiguous cues about the organization's values to more objective information, like minimum qualifications. Both types of information are important in recruitment because they provide a realistic preview of the firm. Reviewing this information allows job seekers to learn about the organization's brand identity to determine their fit with the job and organization (Stone et al., 2005).\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: Media richness theory\nMethod: Participants\nResults: The descriptive statistics, overall and by condition, are shown in Table III. The correlations among the study variables are shown in Table IV. First, we conducted a manipulation check for presence, which showed that presence was higher in the VW conditions (M=3.51, SD=1.04) than in the web site conditions (M=3.29, SD=0.91; Cohen's d=0.23, t=-2.33, p=0.02). A manipulation check for symbolism showed that symbolism was higher in the VW conditions (M=3.55, SD=0.79) than in the web site conditions (M=3.32, SD=0.86; Cohen's d=0.28, t=-2.93, p=0.004). We also tested for mean differences between job seekers and nonjob seekers on all of the study variables. We found no significant differences, suggesting that the inclusion of participants who were not currently seeking employment is appropriate.\nDiscussion: Effective information acquisition is a crucial aspect of recruitment. Information about an organization's culture is an important factor in job seekers' PO fit assessments (e.g. Cable and Judge, 1996), and factual information about job openings allow candidates to determine whether or not they are qualified for a position (e.g. Dineen et al., 2007). Past research has shown that media may differ in how well they convey different types of information. Many organizations have begun using rich media in recruitment, but little is known about how this affects recruitment outcomes. In this study, we drew on mental workload and media richness theories in order to understand how well rich media convey information and create a more complete framework of information acquisition in recruitment.\nConclusion: The current research drew on two theories in a recruitment-based context and suggests that media richness can influence how much information people are able to learn about organizations, which has important implications for recruitment. Our results indicated that people were not able to learn as much job-related information in richer media as in less-rich media. Furthermore, media richness did not seem to provide an advantage in providing information about organizational culture. These findings emphasize the need for organizations to carefully evaluate the fit of the technology with the task at hand to ensure that the medium will be effective. Given these results, organizations should carefully consider whether it is worth the time and expense of implementing vivid and interactive media for use in recruitment and other HR activities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Rich, interactive media are becoming extremely common in internet recruitment systems. The paper investigates the role of media richness in applicants' ability to learn information relevant to making an application decision. The authors examine these relationships in the context of two competing theories, namely media richness theory and cognitive load theory, which predict opposite relationships with information acquisition. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Participants (n=471) either viewed a traditional web site or visited an interactive virtual world that contained information about an organization's culture, benefits, location, and job openings. Culture information was manipulated to either portray a highly teams-oriented culture or a highly individual-oriented culture.\nFindings: Participants who viewed the low-richness site recalled more factual information about the organization; this effect was mediated by subjective mental workload. Richness was not related to differences in culture-related information acquisition.\nPractical implications: These findings suggest that richer media (such as interactive virtual environments) may not be as effective as less rich media in conveying information. Specifically, the interactive elements may detract focus away from the information an organization wishes to portray. This may lead to wasted time on the part of applicants and organizations in the form of under- or over-qualified applications or a failure to follow instructions.\nOriginality/value: This study is among the first to use a cognitive load theory framework to suggest that richer media may not always achieve their desired effect.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Higher education's sustainability imperative: how to practically respond?	[ "United States of America", "Higher education", "Universities", "Sustainability", "Campus framework", "Coordination", "University administration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nI. Universities as challenging places for sustainability: Sustainability continues to emerge as a marching banner for all walks of life and all types of organizations. Notwithstanding its sometimes ambiguous and pliable definitions, sustainability has an instinctive logic to it that many find compelling - if not an imperative. Yet, the larger and more complex the organization, the greater the challenge of operationalizing the concept and daily operations of sustainability. Individual corporations, responding to emerging global issues of environmental degradation, social injustice, and changing economic realities, are examples of organizations that are successfully using sustainability principles and practices to influence their core business models (Volkswagen Group, 2008; Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, 2010; Lubin and Esty, 2010). Their culture of responding to bottom lines and accountability coupled with largely ministerial decision-making (notwithstanding shareholders) allows for such success.Institutions of higher education are different. While they have stakeholders, not shareholders, they are otherwise not immune to many of external drivers behind the corporate shift to sustainability (Bardaglio and Putman, 2009; Lubin and Esty, 2010; Wright, 2010). Yet, implementing sustainability practices across all walks of the campus often proves to be considerably more challenging than in a corporate environment because campuses have additional pressures (Velazquez et al., 2005; Walton and Galea, 2005; Ferrer-Balas et al., 2008; Bardaglio and Putman, 2009). For example:* Institutions of higher education are typically tasked with the trinity of education, research and service; these three and sometimes competing orientations may dilute a focused orientation and create competing priorities.* Different constituents demand different services. Universities are largely comprised of four personnel bodies - students, faculty, staff and alumni - each of whom have varying, and sometimes competing, priorities in terms of sustainability. For instance, recycling efforts offer some experiential learning for students, but may contribute little towards advancing formal curricula. Likewise, cross-cutting sustainability-oriented courses are on the rise, but may be insufficient to advance campus renewable energy installations. It is often difficult to uncover cross-constituency synergies between these constituents.* Campuses face management challenges akin to small cities as they must provide an array of support services in an increasingly complex environment - thereby prompting a sprawling horizontal organization, sometimes with diffuse focus.* New domestic competition from for-profit enterprises increasingly commodifies educational products and cuts into market share. Campuses may be less likely to move forward on sustainability if programs and revenues are shrinking.* With recession economies the \"new normal,\" campus professionals are asked to cut costs, increase employee productivity but not payroll, and recruit and cultivate a new generation of administrative leaders to supply quality leadership succession.* The typical structure of universities - including power concentrated at several levels and a philosophy of protecting tradition and academic freedom - hinders sweeping change. By contrast, corporations can often streamline and focus on core products or services with comparative ease. University structures account for many of their good attributes, but their inherent structure may impede the wide-sweeping changes that are needed.This paper's purpose is threefold. The authors first describe four phases for how universities have addressed a sustainability agenda and offer specific lessons for how and where experiences at the University of Colorado Boulder (UCB) have been met with success and where efforts have fallen short. The authors conclude by positing general reflections for executing university-wide sustainability initiatives. The primary methodology rests on two approaches:1. Distilling various \"war-room\" discussions with faculty, students, administrators over the course of many decades to present four phases.2. Reflecting in depth on one-case - UCB - to document the progress (and processes) that have been made and the challenges that lie ahead.The central intent is to illuminate central barriers against, and incentives for, a coordinated and integrated approach to campus sustainability. The general reflections provide essential understanding for universities aiming to formalize their efforts. At a minimum, it helps develop the burgeoning literature on higher education's response to develop, implement, and administer policies and programs that will help universities become international models for best practices in campus sustainability operations and programs.\nII. Phases of university approaches to campus sustainability: For as long as there have been pressures to promote the concepts of sustainability, there have been approaches employed by universities to do so. The authors have intimate experience championing campus efforts with respect to sustainability in a variety of capacities. Collectively, these experiences include, but are not limited to: chairing academic programs (undergraduate and graduate), managing student-led efforts, directing campus-wide research institutes, interacting with campus operations (e.g. housing and dining, facilities management (FM)), participating in campus-wide sustainability steering committees, serving as campus sustainability coordinators, and teaching sustainability focused courses. Based on experiences learning, teaching, and administering within universities - collectively for almost a century - and lessons from \"war room\" discussions, the authors have observed four phases that may typify or predict campus responses to sustainability. Identification of these four phases represents the authors' collective judgment and understanding, useful in processes gauging and understanding the comprehensives of a university's endeavors. These phases are not discrete or exclusive. Elements of each may be found at any one time on any individual campus.First phase: grassroots\nIII. Experiences at the University of Colorado Boulder: The third part of the paper focuses on the experiences at UCB, in which the authors have most familiarity. The focus is on this campus as a setting to further explicate examples of initiatives that have grown to receive national prominence but also to learn why other efforts have had difficulty \"growing wings.\" The intent is to spotlight educational programs and experiences - pointing to variations in resources, staff, materials - and describe some of the factors that explain how or where aspects of sustainability education came to fruition or still bear challenges ahead. These reflections ultimately shape many of the conclusions offered in the final section (part IV).In short, sustainability efforts at UCB have received decades of attention and have made progress, including examples of most of sustainability's common elements and phases but also path breaking institutional achievements. The common theme is that most have been extremely successful at the grassroots level. The resulting sustainability capacity at UCB is accordingly large, horizontal, and - for better or for worse - driven as much by legacy inertia as by deliberate planning. The irony is that such successes are arguably now proving to be major challenges to overcome. The first section provides a general and historical context to set the stage for the more current detailed accomplishments and subsequent challenges, highlighting academic, student, and administrative perspectives.Roots\nIV. Lessons for executing university-wide sustainability initiatives: There is enough evidence nationwide to detect an arms-race of sorts among universities competing for green status. Recent national campaigns related to carbon neutrality, green buildings, local food, renewable energy and sustainability reporting have boosted sustainability activities at campuses across the globe. Studies now show that upwards of two-thirds of prospective college freshman look at campus green rankings as a factor in college choice (Pryor et al., 2008; Princeton Review, 2010); it is often cited as one of the top three reasons why UCB students made their decision for where to attend university. But in university settings, being \"greener\" or \"sustainable\" means something broader than widespread dual flush toilets, award winning recycling programs, and installing a wind farm on campus. Such agendas need to formidably weave through curriculum, research, service, operations, and campus/community life (Velazquez et al., 2005; Ferrer-Balas et al., 2008).Just as sustainability is an emerging global mega-trend that is fundamentally redefining business in the private sector; it can be - and should be - a touchstone for all walks of life on campus. Organizations - and universities - ignore the sustainability imperative at their own peril. As suggested in the Harvard Business Review (Lubin and Esty, 2010), albeit largely aimed toward corporations, there are also direct implications for higher education:Why do we think sustainability qualifies as an emerging megatrend? Globalized workforces and supply chains have created environmental pressures and attendant business liabilities. The rise of new world powers, notably China and India, has intensified competition for natural resources (especially oil) and added a geopolitical dimension to sustainability. \"Externalities\" such as carbon dioxide emissions and water use are fast becoming material - meaning that investors consider them central to a firm's performance and stakeholders expect companies to share information about them.\nConclusions: This paper offers perspectives and recommendations designed to promote campuses' ability to move into the fourth phase. These observations are first directed at developing an integrative vision that can span and unite disparate campus units. It also offered pathways to organizational changes that will enable robust campus implementation of sustainability-related principles and practices.With respect to integrative vision, sustainability is best articulated by campus leadership as a more pronounced foci across campus academic disciplines in order to engage the breath of interests a campus represents and seed the integration on which sustainability relies. This is no small task but a great opportunity to multiply sustainability's sweep to the order of magnitude impacts needed to effect change at the campus and, as a result, at societal levels.Organizational realignment, however modest, would flow from that integrative vision. The reflections above offer observations relating to the manifold benefits of a sustainability performance system that defines and quantifies sustainability's influences on campus systems. Developing a culture of sustainability sufficient to break down organizational barriers to change and integration is also no small task. However, in a few circumstances where glimmers of the power of this synergy can be seen, they further inspired to pursuit of the Holy Grail.In the end, despite some of the daunting challenges discussed above, there is optimism about trends in sustainability at universities such as UCB and beyond. What was once nothing more than a buzzword largely associated with groups on the fringes of power at best is now a guiding principle in some of society's most successful economic engines. Similarly, universities that once relegated sustainability to the provinces of grassroots efforts that were largely ignored at the top are now making serious structural and philosophical changes in recognition of the challenges and opportunities a resource-limited world brings.Indeed, universities are often relied on to serve as the wellspring of innovation and success, particularly for the sciences and engineering; for centuries they have been precisely that in nearly any field that has played a role in the remarkable success of twenty-first century humanity. Now they must embrace and foster a new direction of innovation: how universities can sustain the success they have achieved. This article summarizes some of the barriers that are present to that goal, but also some of the successes already achieved and the opportunities waiting to be seized.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to describe four phases for how universities have addressed a sustainability agenda and offer specific lessons for how and where experiences on one campus, the University of Colorado Boulder, have been met with success and other challenges. The authors offer general reflections for executing university-wide sustainability initiatives with a central intent of illuminating central barriers against, and incentives for, a coordinated and integrated approach to campus sustainability.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach for arriving at four phases and a description of the University of Colorado Boulder is based on experiences from learning, teaching, and administering within universities-collectively for almost a century among the authors-and lessons from \"war room\" discussions.\nFindings: - Sustainability initiatives on campus may evolve through a series of phases labeled: grassroots; executive acceptance of the business case for sustainability; the visionary campus leader; and fully self-actualized and integrated campus community. The University of Colorado Boulder, while a leader in many respects of sustainability (research, student activities, facilities management) has experienced serious challenges for coordination.\nOriginality/value: - The four phases are a relatively novel contribution for the specific literature on sustainability education. Second, the tangible examples from University of Colorado Boulder demonstrate how coordination is difficult in these situations; these examples allow readers to better relate to and understand such challenges. Finally, the authors reflect on central issues according to three categories: self-reflection, recommendations, and advantages.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Framing online promotions: shipping price inflation and deal value perceptions	[ "Prices", "Accounting", "Retailing", "Electronic commerce" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: There is considerable published research documenting that different implementations or semantic presentation of the same retail price reduction can change consumers' perception of a promotion offer (Sinha and Smith, 2000; Gilbride et al., 2008; DelVecchio et al., 2009). When prices have a single component, base price of the product, savings associated with sales promotions reduce the base price thus communicating superior transaction value to consumers. However, if the price of a product is made of multiple components, a retailer has the flexibility of presenting the promotional offer to reduce one or more price components (not just base product price). There are many examples of multi-component pricing in the marketplace: warranty and services associated with products, cell phone purchase along with activation fees, service charges, taxes etc. It is also of particular relevance to purchases in remote channels like catalogs or the internet where consumers pay a base product price and a shipping surcharge (for product delivery). This research focuses on surcharge components that are mandatory (e.g. shipping charges for non-digital products purchased online that cannot be consumed otherwise) but not components that consumers can purchase separately (e.g. salesperson suggests optional replacement plan when consumers purchase household appliances), and are strategically managed by retailers (e.g. while sales tax is a mandatory surcharge, consumers perceive it to be outside the control of the retailer).In remote retail channels, shipping charge is a mandatory price component in addition to base product price when consumers purchase non-digital products. This offers retailers multiple possibilities of presenting the various components of price. It does not add any tangible value to the physical product but provides the means to transport the product to the customer (Schindler et al., 2005). Retailers can offer or change how promotional offers are presented in real-time to improve their positions on shopbots and compete on the basis of price. Various shopbots differ in how they order products in their listings, some use product price, whereas others use landed price (base product price plus shipping and handling). Studies have shown that when retailers offer shipping promotions, they achieve the highest customer satisfaction ratings and are the most influential aspect in one's decision to make a purchase online (Vascellaro, 2006). While there is considerable research documenting that different implementations or framing of the same retail price reduction (cents off, percentage off, or discounted price) can change consumers' perception of a promotion offer (DelVecchio et al., 2009), research is lacking on consumer perception of different presentations of shipping promotions. Differences in the framing of base product price, shipping charges, and promotions can impact purchase incidence and lead to differences in retailer profitability and is the focus of this research.Consider a product with base price $20, shipping cost $4 (surcharge 20 percent of base price) and a $3 off promotion (discount size of 15 percent of base price). Consumers infer total price (base price-promotional savings+shipping) to calculate the total monetary outlay for the purchase of a product at an online store. A retailer can frame the final purchase price of $21 as one of the following ways - reduced base price promotion, reduced shipping promotion, or reduced all-inclusive price promotion as shown in Table I. If the promotional discount equals or exceeds the shipping fee, the free shipping promotion and reduced shipping promotion would be the same. Since the financial outlay and dollar value of savings is the same for all promotion frames, rational analysis of costs in comparison to regular (unpromoted price) should not lead to any differences in deal values across consumers.However, given that relative savings differ dramatically based on whether product price or shipping is used as the referent (see columns 3 and 4 in Table I) regular price, multi-component pricing, price partitioning theory, and reference dependence theory would suggest that consumers will differ in their perceived deal value and inferences of shipping charge inflation for each promotion frame. Online retailers face the challenge of selecting promotion frames that maximize deal evaluations for high and low priced products and for high and low level of shipping charge relative to base product price.There is considerable research indicating that different presentations of promotions with the same product price reduction can change consumers' perception of a promotion offer (Lichtenstein and Bearden, 1989; Yadav and Monroe, 1993; Sinha and Smith, 2000). However, prior research has not examined if consumers differ in their perceptions of equivalent promotions presented as reduced product price promotions versus reduced surcharge promotions. Prior research on price framing has documented the deleterious impact of reduced price promotions on internal reference prices and product quality inferences (Grewal et al., 1998). However it is unknown if those negative inferences persist for reduced shipping promotions. This paper examines if consumers differ in their perceptions of deal value and shipping charge perceptions for economically equivalent promotions presented as reducing shipping charges (reduced shipping promotions), or product price (reduced product price) or as reduced all-inclusive price and if these perceptions differ for large versus small shipping surcharge size for high and low priced products.This paper contributes to the literature on promotion framing by examining how consumers differ in their evaluations of promotions offered on product base price versus shipping charges, since both can be strategically managed by retailers. Are economically equivalent reduced shipping promotions more or less attractive compared to reduced base price promotions? Given that costs of product delivery are high for retailers in some product categories, do consumers differ in their perceptions of shipping charge inflation across promotion formats for low-priced versus high-priced products? Further, this research contends that consumers differ in their framing of shipping promotions compared to monetary promotions based on the relative size of surcharge to base product price. As more retailers wield shipping charges and shipping promotions as a competitive tool to increase purchase incidence at their sites (Mangalindan, 2006), examination of consumer responses to shipping promotions in relation to other commonly used promotion frames is warranted.\nTheoretical background: Presenting a price promotion in different ways is similar to the framing of purchase decisions provided the benefits received by consumers from the promotion are constant. Research on how consumers process and internalize the price stimulus in purchase situations has examined such issues as reference price, deal framing, price recall accuracy, encoding, and storage. One key generalization from this literature is that consumers are highly sensitive to context, including semantic cues in promotion offers. We draw upon prior research in partitioned or multi-component pricing and mental accounting that have implications on this research.Partitioned prices versus bundled or all-inclusive prices\nHypothesis: The principal dependent variable in this study is perceived transaction value of the deal, which represents a consumer's evaluation of the financial terms of the deal per se and is equal to internal reference price (from memory or based on normal prices charged) minus the purchase price, while controlling for the acquisition value of the offer (Thaler, 1985; Yadav and Monroe, 1993). One major difference of this research from previous studies is that it examines the effect of different promotional representations on deal value perceptions where underlying financial outlay and objective savings is the same. Previous articles have focused on the main effects of semantic cues (other than reduced shipping promotions) and magnitude of surcharge relative to base price on preferences for partitioned or bundled price components. This research posits that in addition to magnitude of surcharge relative to base price, the magnitude of base price itself, and individual differences in valuation of shipping benefits will moderate the relationship of promotion frame on deal evaluations as we discuss next.Role of promotion framing in presence of surcharge\nExperimental context: Design and procedure\nResults: Manipulation checks\nDiscussion and future research: Predictions from mental accounting theory would suggest that consumers would integrate monetary price components with promotional savings and encode them as reduced loss. This would suggest that deal values associated with economically-equivalent promotions presented as reduced shipping promotion, reduced price promotion, and reduced all-inclusive promotion would be equivalent. However, contrary to expectations, results from our experiment show that shipping charge skeptic and non-skeptic consumers differ in their perceptions of regular shipping price inflation and deal value perceptions for the three promotion presentations for large surcharge but not when surcharge is small. Economically equivalent deals offer the opportunity to separate the \"pure semantic effect\" of deal description as the monetary value of the deals and financial outlay are held constant across the deals.For equivalent dollar savings, when base price and shipping costs are low, consumers perceive no differences between reduced base price promotions and reduced shipping promotions, and between reduced shipping promotions and reduced all-inclusive promotions. Reduced base price promotions convey higher deal values compared reduced shipping promotions and reduced all-inclusive price promotions for high-priced products with low surcharge. When base price and shipping costs are low consumers have little motivation to integrate the multiple price components and use the largest price component, base product price, to evaluate the attractiveness of an offer. Reduced shipping offers are wasted in such situations since consumers ignore shipping charges anyway. Retailers have some flexibility to compete by reducing the base price and increasing shipping charges within limits to recoup margins.Shipping charges dominate perceived deal values of promotions offered on high and low priced products with large shipping surcharge. Skeptics and non-skeptics differ in the inferences they draw from promotions which impacts deal values. Reduced shipping promotions convey higher deal values than other promotions among non-skeptics, since they draw inferences of shipping charge inflation when presented with all-inclusive promotions. In contrast, reduced all-inclusive price promotions convey higher deal values compared to reduced shipping and reduced base price promotions among skeptics, who infer shipping price inflation when presented with reduced base price promotion or reduced shipping promotions.This research contributes to the literature on promotion framing by examining differences in perceived deal values of promotions when prices are partitioned into base price and surcharge. The size of surcharge relative to base price are a source of information that consumers use to make inferences about retailers' tactics which impacts the deal values associated with promotions. This has been demonstrated in the context of online promotions, specifically reduced shipping promotions, reduced base price promotions and reduced all-inclusive price promotions for the first time.The article also sheds light on how presentation of promotional savings to price components in partitioned price format changes the referent used in calculation of savings. If consumers differ in their valuation of benefits for the price components, it leads to differences in inferences about retailer tactics. The explicit allocation and reduction of shipping costs in reduced shipping promotions reduces (increases) perceptions of shipping charge inflation among non-skeptics (skeptics). In fact, the presence of any promotion with a shipping surcharge triggers suspicions of shipping charge inflation among skeptics, which explains our surprising finding that reduced price promotions triggered shipping charge inflation but not product price inflation. Examining boundary conditions for such processing to take place, like providing external reference price for base price only, shipping price only, or all-inclusive price is a topic for future research.In our experiment, consumers evaluated deal values of promotional offers in comparison to regular price of the same brand. Incidentally, we find a significant main effect of base product price on deal value. Promotions on high-priced products have higher deal values than low-priced products, a category-specific finding given that students use laptop bags for public activities and use it to convey professionalism. Quality of laptop bags across brands is more difficult to compare across online stores. Future research should be directed to examine the validity of these findings for shopping versus experience products.We find that reduced base price promotions are more attractive than other promotions for high-priced products with small surcharge size. Findings in the pricing literature suggest that reduced base price promotions lead to lower quality perceptions and increase price sensitivity which lowers deal values (Chen et al., 1998). We control for changes in quality inferences by restricting comparison to the same brand. Future research should consider quality inferences in comparisons across brands since online medium increases comparison shopping behavior among consumers.Future research can investigate whether the demonstrated effects are robust when monetary promotions of moderate and high levels are offered and for fixed shipping and for value-contingent shipping offers (free shipping with minimum purchase thresholds). Subjects in our experimental study were students; replications with mainstream buying population will provide useful managerial insights. High shipping charges are cited as the most important reason that trigger shopping abandonment among 46 percent of online shoppers (eMarketer, 2009). Clearly, anecdotal evidence suggests that:* consumers are highly responsive to shipping policies;* there is room for improvement in how policies are crafted; and* little is known about consumer trade-offs that lead to the observed behaviors.This study suggests that shipping charges appear to be a lens through which prices and promotions are processed online. Shipping charges that are a significant proportion of base product price invite more scrutiny and inferences that retailers are inflating shipping fees to bolster their profits. Astute online retailers must use promotions selectively while keeping in mind that shipping fees can change how consumers value monetary promotions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This research seeks to examine differences in perceived shipping charge inflation associated with online promotions presented as reducing base product price, reducing shipping surcharge, or reducing all-inclusive price and its impact on deal values for shipping charge skeptics and non-skeptics.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Drawing from research on multi-component pricing and mental accounting, a laboratory experiment investigates if shipping charge skeptics differ in their perceptions of shipping charge inflation for different presentations of online promotions from non-skeptics, and if they differ in perceived deal value of economically equivalent promotions presented as reduced product price, reduced shipping charge promotion, or reduced all-inclusive price for high and low priced items with small or large shipping fees at retail websites.\nFindings: - Analyses show that shipping charge skeptics differ from non-skeptics in their perceptions of shipping charge inflation and deal values for different online promotions only when the surcharge is large relative to the base price. Reduced price promotions are most attractive for high-priced items with low surcharge but least attractive for large surcharge sizes. For large surcharge sizes, shipping charge skeptics prefer reduced all-inclusive price promotions to reduced shipping promotions, while non-skeptics prefer reduced shipping promotions to reduced all-inclusive price promotions.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The results suggest that the effectiveness of various promotion frames at online stores differ based on base price, surcharge size, and consumer skepticism of shipping charge. Robustness of the results obtained at different levels of discount sizes need investigation.\nPractical implications: - Online retailers that have to charge high shipping fees can use promotions to shift the referent price component used by consumers to calculate savings and mitigate perceptions of shipping or base price inflation. For equivalent dollar savings, retailers can use reduced shipping charge promotions to communicate higher deal values to shipping charge non-skeptic consumers than reduced base price or reduced all-inclusive promotions.\nOriginality/value: - This research examines how consumer perceptions of deal values differ, even though objective savings and financial outlay is the same, when promotions are presented as reducing product price versus surcharge.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Hospital services quality assessment: Hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, as a tangible example of a developing country	[ "SERVQUAL", "Quality assessment", "Customer services quality", "Hospitals", "Iran" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Quality orientation is one of the main priorities of any progressive organization (Tabibi et al., 2001). Evidence from both production and service organizations indicate that quality is the key determinant for market share, investment return and cost reduction (Anderson and Zeithaml, 1984). In the health sector the importance of services and their relation with human life, quality assurance and quality promotion has increasingly caught the attention with tax payers having increasing expectations from hospitals and other health providing organizations (Tabibi et al., 2001). Two types of quality are considered in service organizations: technical quality and functional quality (Carman, 2000). Technical quality or in fact quality in health services is determined by properness of diagnosis and medical processes (Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 1987). Functional quality is in relation to the manner by which health services are delivered to patients and since most patients lack the required knowledge rendering them unable to assess the technical quality of services, functional quality is usually the main determinant of the patients perception of the quality received (Bopp, 1990). In order to assure that medical procedures are effective not only from the experts' viewpoint (technical quality) but also having the ability to satisfy the functional quality, patients expectations must be considered in health service delivery. Hence, it is essential to evaluate services explicitly and implicitly based on consumer's viewpoints (Hamidi, 1998).Consumer satisfaction can be measured by comparing patients' expectations and perceptions of the provided services. If the services provided are more than their expectations those services are considered excellent, when consumer's expectations and perceptions are congruent the services quality is satisfying and as we know, consumer satisfaction is crucial for success of any organization. The health sector as a sub sector of the wider service industry has a notable position among all other services organizations because of its role and the fact that even a very small error in this sector could have irretrievable effects on both patients and the wider community. Thus it can be argued that a quality orientation is more important in this sector than other sectors (Fitzsimons and Fitzsimons, 2001).Evidence suggests that perceived quality is the most important factor affecting the consumer's satisfaction which in return, affects patients' intentions to use products and services in the future (Zeithaml, 1988). Therefore, considering patients perceptions of service quality is of critical importance. Although different attempts have been made to measure the quality of services, but there is no general agreement on how this concept should be measured. The Servqual approach to the measurement of service quality has attracted considerable attention in recent years (Zeithaml et al., 1988; Brooks et al., 1999; Chaston, 1994; Reynoso and Moore, 1995; Edvardsson et al., 1997; Lings and Brooks, 1998; Sahney et al., 2004). This approach starts from the assumption that the level of service quality experienced by customers is critically determined by the gap between their expectations of the service and their perception of what they actually receive from a specific service provider (Zeithaml et al., 1990).\nMethodology: The present descriptive study was carried out in 2008 using a cross sectional analysis.Research population\nResearch findings: This research was performed on 385 patients in teaching hospitals of Kerman Medical Sciences University. Average age of studied sample was 37.99+-15.86 and average length of stay in hospital was 4.59+-2.91 days. Other demographic findings are illustrated in Table I.Highest mean expectation scores\nDiscussion: One of the key aims of this research study was to investigate the applicability of the SERVQUAL approach in the context of teaching hospitals, taking into account the following limitations:* SERVQUAL has been criticized on both theoretical and operational grounds as argued by Asubonteng et al. (1996). Nevertheless Asubonteng et al. (1996) conclude that \"until a better but equally simple model emerges, SERVQUAL will predominate as a service quality measure\". Evidence also suggests that while SERVQUAL itself is a useful tool to a service manager, it may not give a complete image of needs, expectations and perceptions in a service organization context.* Several issues have been raised with regard to the use of perception and expectation (P-E) gap scores, i.e. disconfirmation model. Most studies have found a poor fit between service quality as measured through Parasuraman et al.'s (1988) scale and the overall service quality measured directly through a single-item scale (Babakus and Boller, 1992; Babakus and Mangold, 1992; Carman, 1990; Finn and Lamb, 1991; Spreng and Singh, 1993). Though the use of gap scores is intuitively appealing and conceptually sensible, the ability of these scores to provide additional information beyond that already contained in the perception component of service quality scale is under doubt (Babakus and Boller, 1992; Iacobucci et al., 1994).* Studies have also cast doubt on the number and stability of the five SERVQUAL dimensions (Buttle, 1996; Carman, 1990; Babakus and Boller, 1992). Critics of the model question the claim of Parasuraman et al. (1988) that the five SERVQUAL dimensions are universal and generic. Early work (Donnelly and Dalrymple, 1996) led to the suggestion that these criticisms might be justified in the public sector where there are no close commercial sector analogues.Expectation scores\nConclusion: The increasing importance of cost control, changing consumer attitudes coupled with severe competition will affect many of the successful hospitals throughout the next decade and will need to place themselves as \"high-quality\" health care providers. Even those hospitals that do not look for a high quality position will find it necessary to define, screen, and improve the quality of the services they provide. Technical quality alone, however, will not lead to increased revenues and facility utilization thus it is necessary to consider functional quality as well. The results of this study demonstrated that SERVQUAL is a useful tool for measuring functional quality from the patients perspective.The expectation scores in this study were high thus posing a potential difficult problem to resolve in the healthcare context, while SERVQUAL gap scores were all negative, it is important not to jump to negative conclusion about the services being provided, the hospitals were performing well in some dimension of service (reliability and empathy) and received high perception scores, unfortunately these high scores were met with higher expectation scores which led to negative gap scores.While there have been a number of problems arising from the application of SERVQUAL in healthcare, this approach has been shown to be appropriate for assessing the quality of services provided by hospitals of Kerman medical university. One of SERVQUAL's major contributions to the hospitals is its ability to identify symptoms and to provide a starting point for the examination of underlying problems that inhibit the provision of quality services. Administrators should understand the area in which expectations are high, so that the service delivery process can be tailored to meet those expectations.\nRecommendations: Based on the research, the following recommendations are presented to improve the therapeutic service quality and patients' satisfaction.It is not sufficient to pay attention to technical quality only since patients lack the capacity to assess this type of quality but there is a necessity to focus equally on functional quality which will not increase costs very much, but can bring enormous benefits for the system and make the organization more pleasant for patients.These recommendations could be operationalized by the following:* providing better physical facilities;* cross training staff on patients' concerns, e.g. their need for better polite behavior, from responsive personnel;* providing a trustful atmosphere across the hospital;* paying individual attention to each patient; and* better facilities for visitors.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Although quality orientation is one of the main priorities of any progressive organization, quality evaluation in organizations providing services such as hospitals is one of the key challenges, because in this sector quality is determined by many intangible factors. Applying the service quality gap model is one of the common tools for quality evaluation in the service sector. This paper seeks to evaluate this issue.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The present descriptive study was carried out through a cross-sectional method in 2008. The participants of this study were patients who had been referred to Kerman University of Medical Sciences hospitals. The sample comprised 385 patients, the data were collected by SERVQUAL as a standard questionnaire, and data analysis was carried out on 385 completed questionnaires.\nFindings: - In all five dimensions of quality, a gap was observed between patients' perceptions and expectations as follows: Assurance: -1.28, Empathy: -1.36, Responsiveness: -1.80, Tangibles: -1.86 and Reliability: -1.69. A paired T-test showed that the differences between quality perceptions and expectations are significant (p value<0.05). Based on the findings of this research, the hospitals in the study did not meet the expectations of patients and were unable to provide health care services according to patients' expectations. Hence rearranging the service delivery and deploying better facilities and equipment in order to decrease the gap between patients' perceptions and expectations may be helpful.\nOriginality/value: - The paper reports an original application of the SERVQUAL approach to hospital services of a developing country.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An empirical assessment of comparative approaches to service quality measurement	[ "Customer services quality", "Quality management", "Gap analysis", "SERVQUAL", "Quality assessment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The objective of the study is to assess and compare the effectiveness of measuring service quality using three different approaches, viz., modified Gap Model (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1991), TOPSIS (Hwang and Lin, 1987) and Loss Function (Ross, 1988). In this study, we also attempt to develop a framework for measuring service quality using these three different methods. Research on measurement of service quality has been considered important by both practitioners and academicians over more than a decade. Gap model based on the SERVQUAL instrument is a well-known and widely-used measurement approach. In this paper, we argue for the use of TOPSIS and Loss function as alternative approaches to the gap model. The use of these alternative approaches in services marketing literature is rare, and provides new direction to service quality measurement.The empirical evidence for this paper is provided by data on the service quality for leading Indian commercial banks. The service quality evaluations obtained from these three distinct methods are compared and tested for their mutual agreement, thereby placing the gap model amongst a set of appropriate methods in measuring this intangible construct.In this paper, we argue for the viability of TOPSIS and Taguchi loss function as effective additional approaches to measure service quality. However, it should be noted that TOPSIS, loss function and the gap model do not necessarily replace each other. These three approaches address different aspects of service quality management and therefore need not always be viewed as alternative to each other. In fact, these three approaches can be viewed as complementary to each other in achieving the ultimate goal of service quality diagnostics and improvement. TOPSIS is an operational/design approach that helps select the optimal levels of service quality attributes that would facilitate the delivery of customer satisfaction. This technique can be extremely useful for service design. Similarly, loss function is better suited to highlight the future long term damage caused by not delivering on customer defined service standards. This approach is strategic in nature and therefore eminently suited to predict the long term competitive performance. Gap model is perhaps best suited to highlight the current performance of a service provider by identifying the delivery gaps.Current research on service quality has shown that customers think in terms of adequate and desired expectation and develop a \"zone of tolerance\" when evaluating service quality. This is the extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept a variation in the service. So, the objective of the service provider would be to remain as close to the desired level and as far as possible (on the positive side with cost consideration) from the adequate level. In a way, we can say that this objective emulates the philosophy of any multi-criteria decision making method, where we need to minimize the distance from the positive ideal solution (PIS) and maximize the distance from the negative ideal solution (NIS). So, it is a seemingly conflicting decision and the firm tries to trade-off its position with respect to these two reference points. In the services marketing literature, this approach of optimizing the distance between the desired and the adequate service levels has not been discussed. Moreover, services marketing literature talks about arranging the zone of tolerance levels by attributes according to their levels of importance (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003), but does not attempt to find out an overall value of the service. In our study, we have specifically used TOPSIS to address this unexplored area by proposing an overall closeness rating (OCR).Further, the performance of a service organization on all the attributes and dimensions of service quality may not always move in the same direction. To improve on the responsiveness to customer queries, a bank official may design a display board outlining various FAQs, but may not be in a position to sit with each customer and explain him/her all the banking products in detail. So, a balancing act needs to be carried out by the customer contact employees to cater to the requirements from all quarters in a timely fashion as far as possible. Traditional SERVQUAL-based gap model approach cannot handle such a compromising situation, where improvement in one attribute may be at the cost of deterioration in the other. To address such problems, we propose a quadratic Taguchi loss function, where the effect of such conflicting criteria are squared and an overall performance index is developed in form of the loss function value. The bank having the least loss value is taken to be the best performer in providing quality service to its customers.\nTheoretical background: Gap model\nMethodology: Instrument\nResults: The analysis was carried out in three stages, as described in this section.Gap model results\nDiscussions and conclusion: The primary contribution of our study is methodological. We have compared the gap model approach, widely used in marketing literature, with popular approaches in other streams of literature: TOPSIS from decision sciences and loss function from operations research and engineering. We first computed service quality of banks using a modified version of gap model. Closeness to the ideal solution was then obtained by TOPSIS. This was followed by Taguchi loss function to identify the service losses incurred by each bank. Statistical tests demonstrated mutual agreement of the different ranking methods.Our findings apparently suggest that the alternative methodologies can provide equally good measurement of service quality. But, they should not be used in an interchangeable manner. Our research shows that a single measure of overall service quality is over-simplistic. It would be more useful to explore a richer profile of customer service quality provided by different measurement approaches. Each methodology has its own advantages and disadvantages, and should be used based on its suitability for a particular application.While the gap model provides a good starting point for analysis, modifications in terms of other approaches might be required in specific contexts. In gap model, problems with \"average\" approach to aggregate service quality measures arise when gaps have different signs and positive and negative deviations cancel each other out. This is realistic only when the dimensions are compensatory. However, at times, service quality dimensions are non-compensatory. For example, a customer who is dissatisfied with billing accuracy is unlikely to feel compensated by its speedy arrival.TOPSIS addresses this problem by choosing the most preferred alternative as having not only the shortest distance from the positive ideal solution, but also the longest distance from the negative ideal solution. TOPSIS has advantages over other approaches, because it has: a sound logic that embodies the rationale of human choice; a scalar value that considers the best and worst alternatives simultaneously; and a simple computation procedure that can be easily programmed on a spreadsheet (Kim et al., 1997). TOPSIS is capable of depicting the pursuit of the best performance of a company's service operation for each evaluation criterion in a simple mathematical form. Further, TOPSIS allows objective weights to be incorporated into the comparison process. However, while considering a solution with the shortest distance to the positive ideal solution and the greatest distance to the negative ideal solution, TOPSIS does not consider the relative importance of these distances (Opricovic and Tzeng, 2003).When the bank performance is evaluated by service loss, action can be taken when the loss is greater than the competitors. Service quality loss generally treats all positive service quality gaps as zero, and computes the proportion or percentage of service quality items that register negative gaps (Hussey, 1999). The negative gap readings are squared thus amplifying their effect and making their sign positive. Lower the service quality loss, higher the index of satisfaction for service quality performance. Service loss functions are very robust, and have the ability to combine different dimensions of service quality into the common index of Taguchi loss. This is possible even if the dimensions have different units of measures and varying magnitude of scale. The non-linear forms place more value to those outcomes that are closer to the target level. Service loss functions also score well on some of the criteria designed by Stewart (1992): use of use by non-experts; transparency of the logic of the method to the decision maker; and freedom of ambiguity regarding interpretation of inputs required from the decision maker. However, the main drawback of service loss functions is its weight sensitivity and the fact that the decision maker (bank manager) may have problems identifying appropriate goals and weights (Festervand et al., 2001). Loss function approach is best applied when the objective is not to obtain an optimal solution, but to rank a number of entities to a more manageable subset. The purpose is to augment the information available to the decision maker, rather than to use it unilaterally in deciding the course of action (Festervand et al., 2001).A comparison of the three approaches to service quality measurement has been summarised in Table VIII.To sum up our argument, we demonstrate through our study the applications of three comparative approaches to service quality measurement based on SERVQUAL items and dimensions developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988). The modified gap model can be used to find out the minimum level of customer expectation and the perceived performance with respect to the expectation. The overall closeness rating of each bank from the ideal combination (positive and negative) can be identified using TOPSIS. Bankers should also focus on the service losses from each attribute through the loss function approach, and take steps for loss minimization in their policy decisions. Service loss gets transformed into lower satisfaction, which causes customer defection.In this paper, we provide a multidimensional guideline for decision makers in the service industries to translate the customer feedback into managerial actions for improving overall level of service quality and customer satisfaction. The three techniques for service quality measurement can be accommodated in a framework of service quality improvement that measures service quality gaps, selects an optimal combination of attribute levels to deliver customer satisfaction, and focuses on reducing the future loss caused by poor quality. Using only one approach to service quality measurement is over simplistic and multiple methods need to be incorporated. These techniques, when used in a complementary manner, can achieve much more than simple measurement.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically assess three comparative approaches to measuring service quality: modified gap model, TOPSIS and loss function. Aims to argue for the use of TOPSIS from decision sciences, and Loss function from operations research and engineering, as alternative approaches to the gap model.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The empirical evidence is provided by large sample consumer data on the service quality for leading Indian commercial banks. The service quality evaluations obtained from these three distinct methods are compared and tested for their mutual agreement.\nFindings: - Fndings show that the rankings obtained from different methods are statistically in agreement, suggesting that the alternative approaches can provide equally good measurement of service quality. But they should not be used in an interchangeable manner.\nResearch/limitations/implications: - Research shows that a single measure of overall service quality based on gap model is over-simplistic. It would be more useful to explore a richer profile of customer service quality provided by different measurement approaches. Each methodology has its own advantages and disadvantages, and should be used based on its suitability for a particular application.\nPractical implications: - This research offers profound practical implications. It offers managers with a framework of service quality improvement that measures service quality gaps, selects an optimal combination of attribute levels to deliver customer satisfaction, and focuses on reducing the future loss caused by poor quality.\nOriginality/value: - Extant marketing literature is replete with gap model applications for measuring service quality. Drawing from interdisciplinary literature, alternatives are provided to the traditional gap model, which show equally good measurement with greater suitability of application under certain conditions.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of company-dependent and company-independent information sources on organizational attractiveness perceptions	[ "Internet", "Recruitment", "Empirical study", "Human resource management", "Social factors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the current business environment, recruiting high-quality employees remains a crucial human resources function for organizations. Recruitment initially involves a communication process in which organizations attempt to attract job seekers (Breaugh and Starke, 2000). Given the need to increase organizational attractiveness, Barber (1998) described recruitment as often involving the communication of information about jobs (e.g. job openings, job characteristics) and organizations (e.g. work environments, work climates) to job seekers through specific channels or sources. Recruitment-related information sources and their characteristics thus can significantly influence organizational attractiveness. Furthermore, previous recruitment research suggests that job seekers draw inferences about organizations based on cues from both company-dependent and company-independent information sources (Cable and Turban, 2001; Van Hoye and Lievens, 2007a). Company-dependent information sources, such as recruitment web sites, comprise part of organizational recruitment activities and can be directly controlled through the organization. Conversely, company-independent information sources, such as social influences, represent external information sources and mostly fall outside of organizational control. Despite the increasing reliance on web-based technologies in organization to support the recruitment process and growing recognition of the importance of social influences in job seeker application decisions, no prior empirical studies that we know of have directly explored the role of recruitment web site quality and social influences on organizational attractiveness perceptions.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: Recruitment-related information sources\nMethods: Survey procedure and sample\nResults: The PLS approach was employed to analyze the research model of this study. The software program used to conduct the PLS analysis was PLS-Graph Version 3.0 (Chin and Frye 1994). A variance-based PLS approach was chosen over covariance-based methods such as LISREL because PLS does not impose sample size and distribution restrictions (Chin et al., 2003). PLS is a structural equation modeling technique that simultaneously assessed the measurement model and the theoretically constructed structural model (Wold 1982). Although the measurement and structural parameters are estimated together, a PLS model is analyzed and interpreted in two stages. The measurement model was estimated using confirmatory factor analysis to assess the validity of theoretical constructs and the structural model was analyzed to examine the associations hypothesized in the present research model.\nDiscussion: Discussion of key findings\nConclusion: Implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Grounded in the extended technology acceptance model and dual-process theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop a research model to examine the impact of company-dependent (e.g. recruitment web sites) and company-independent (e.g. social influences) information sources on job seeker perceptions of organizational attractiveness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Utilizing data collected from 193 participants in Taiwan, various relationships in the research model are tested using the partial least squares approach.\nFindings: The results indicated that job seeker beliefs (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) of recruitment web sites and social influence factors (informational and normative social influences) are important antecedents of organizational attractiveness. Furthermore, system quality affects perceived ease of use, while information quality and service quality influence both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of recruitment web sites.\nPractical implications: Organizations need to put time and effort into ensuring that job seekers are satisfied with the information and service quality of recruitment web sites, since these two service-oriented web site features can enhance job seeker perceptions of organizational attractiveness. Additionally, perhaps the recruitment web sites can add links designed specifically for the social influencers such as parents, significant others, or teachers.\nOriginality/value: The empirical approach is novel to the recruitment literature, and this study demonstrates its viability in providing a more comprehensive examination of the role of recruitment-related information sources for organizational attractiveness perceptions. These contributions also have practical implications for organizations: understanding how various recruitment-related information sources are likely to affect job seeker attraction and application decisions may improve organizational recruitment effectiveness by building a well-designed recruitment web site and positive word of mouth from existing employees.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Digital mastery in Indonesia: the organization and individual contrast	[ "Digital mastery", "Digital capabilities", "Digital leadership", "Organizational digital mastery", "Individual digital mastery" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Digital technology, which has grown rapidly in the last few decades, has created enormous benefits for business activities. It introduces and enables more effective and efficient business processes (Nwankpa and Roumani, 2016). It also removes time and location constraints in communication (Castells, 2007) as well as barriers to the distribution of products.Many companies have been aware of these benefits and started utilizing various digital technologies. Companies such as Google, Skype, Amazon, Apple and Samsung have successfully benefitted from digital technology in delivering compelling and better consumer experiences, escalating their market shares from competitors who are lagged behind (Gruber et al., 2015). Those companies are considered as Digital Masters (Westerman et al., 2014).Westerman et al. (2014) mentioned that Digital Masters are significantly more profitable than their peers. Excellent leadership and digital capabilities (DCs) are notably the key differentiators of the Digital Masters. The effective leadership will set the direction of the development of DCs in such companies.The number of Digital Masters is still fairly low (Westerman et al., 2014). The rest of the companies fall into lower categories, namely Beginner, Conservative and Fashionista, defined in the literature review section. These companies lack the necessary leadership capabilities (LCs) and/or DCs to create a superior business process for creating better customer experiences.Based on this finding, the authors became interested in conducting research to examine the digital mastery level of companies in Indonesia. The country has demonstrated remarkable recent economic growth. Internet penetration in Indonesia has grown by 34% in 2016 and is predicted to increase by 53% in 2020; the digital economy of the country will rise by 18% in the next five years, spurring an increase in the country's GDP by 10% in 2025 according to McKinsey (2016). However, Indonesia may be seriously challenged in realizing this prediction. According to the Indonesia Data Centre (IDC), digitization in Indonesia will lag behind its neighbors (Lathiva, 2017). This is due to the absence of a strategic plan regarding the development of digital technology in Indonesian companies, as commonly found in developing countries (Genus and Nor, 2007). Consequently, the new investment plan to boost digitization in the country may be pointless, as reported by IDC. Thus, there should be an examination of the level of digital mastery of companies in Indonesia to enable them to design an effective strategy.Kane (2019) emphasized that the most successful digital transformations are initially embarked from shifting in mindset, leading to the efforts to achieve a certain level of digital mastery, that does not only happen at the organization level but also, most importantly, at the employee (individual) level. Both digital mastery levels are different and need to be compared, as suggested by Schuchmann and Seufert (2015). They claimed that in coping with innovations for enhancing the digital transformation of a company, evaluating both individual and organizational' ability is critically fundamental. This is because there can be a non-alignment between individual's and organizational's competence which could influence the pace of company's transformation. Moreover, the gap that occurs in the level of digital mastery at the individual and the organization level can hinder the digital transformation efforts in a company (Kane, 2019). To shed more light in this matter, our study thus compares the perception toward digital mastery at the organization and individual levels. However, to the best of our knowledge, comparison at both levels does not exist at the time of this study. Accordingly, what problems and challenges are faced by companies undergoing a digital transformation will largely remain unknown. Our research objective here is to contribute theoretically and empirically to providing a gap model of digital mastery development in a company. The gap model will be a reference for companies to develop their digital mastery.This paper is organized into six main sections. After the introduction section, there is a literature review section describing the theoretical foundation of this research. The third section describes the research methodology used to examine the digital mastery at the organization and individual level. The fourth section presents the research findings. The fifth section provides a more detailed analysis of the organizational and individual digital mastery level in several companies in Indonesia and exposes emerging gaps. The final section concludes the study and discusses the possibilities for further research.\nLiterature review: Digital mastery\nResearch methodology: Research instruments\nResults and discussions: Initial data set and company selections\nData analysis: Score-based analysis\nConclusions and directions for further research: Digital mastery is a prerequisite concept to be applied in the current business world, one that has been transformed by the digital revolution. Companies are required to compete and survive, and thus digital technology becomes one of the resources that are of great importance. Strong DCs and LCs are key drivers to encourage a company to become a Digital Master.The research results showed that gaps between organization and individual's digital mastery level always emerged. The gaps included the total gap, DC gap and LC gap. The total gap indicates the total difference of DC and LC between the organization and individual' digital mastery level. The DC gap signifies the difference capability level in adopting, creating or developing digital technology between the organization and individuals to achieve a better consumer experience, optimal operational processes and innovative business models in a company. Meanwhile, the LC gap represents the gap between organization and individuals in identifying strategic digital technology and integrating all elements to produce strategic DCs for a company. The identification of these gaps was conducted using two analyses, score-based and graph-based analyses.The score-based analysis provided results of the measurement of digital mastery level and the quantification of the total gap, DC gap and LC gap between the digital mastery of the organization and individual levels in a company. The analyses of these gaps used two methods of calculation, namely the maxpoint and midpoint method. A maximum of digital mastery achievement was attained by using the maxpoint method. On the other hand, the midpoint method showed the company's real potential in achieving a digital mastery position. Thus maxpoint method always gave higher results in digital mastery position than using the midpoint method. Furthermore, at both maximum and real potential digital mastery levels, the scored-based analysis presented a conclusion that the majority of companies have a bigger gap in their LC than in DC.The gap mapping in digital mastery position between the organization and individual levels were classified into two major groups, namely the upper area and the lower area. Upper-area companies are indicated by their higher position of digital mastery at the organizational than individual level. The isolation of digital transformation development activities in the company is the root cause of this condition. Meanwhile, lower-area companies are the exact opposite of upper-area companies where they cannot mobilize employees' high digital mastery achievement effectively to transform the company.However, the score-based analysis could not explain the difference in gap position that occurs in each company. By using graph-based analysis, we could analyze the difference of gaps in digital mastery quadrant between the organization and individual levels. This is because every graph holds different interpretations and implications. There are four types of graph, namely vertical, horizontal, diagonal with positive slope and diagonal with negative slope graphs. The vertical graph shows that a gap only occurs in DCs, while the horizontal graph shows that a gap only occurs in LCs. Diagonal graphs with positive and negative slope indicate that there are gaps in both LC and DC. For upper-area companies, a diagonal graph with a positive slope shows that its organization's DC and LC are higher than individual's DC and LC. Contrarily, for lower-area companies, the graph indicates that its organization's DC and LC are lower than individual's DC and LC. Meanwhile, a diagonal graph with a negative slope in the upper area signifies its lower position in DC organization than in DC individual, while in a negative slope in the lower area signifies its higher position in organization's LC than in individual's LC.Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Our research objective here is to contribute theoretically and empirically to providing a gap model of digital mastery development in a company. The gap model will be a reference for the companies to develop their digital mastery.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To gain deeper insights into the study, a mixed method of qualitative and quantitative was performed. The level of digital mastery of the organization was determined using quantitative techniques through a self-assessment questionnaire. Meanwhile, digital mastery at the individual level was measured by a qualitative method using an open-ended (essay format) survey questions.\nFindings: The findings show a stark difference between the organization and individual regarding their digital mastery level. At the end of the paper, the authors suggest some remedies that will help those companies narrowing the gap and fulfill the agenda of their digital transformation.\nResearch limitations/implications: Further research should analyze more industries or companies, conducting case studies to discover more detailed findings as to where the gaps are located or conducting digital readiness and leadership skills at the individual level to discover the direction of development of digital technology in a company. We expect this research can be replicated in other countries, so that wider general insights into the development of digital technology may be obtained.\nPractical implications: Upper-area companies are indicated by their execution of partial digital initiative in the company which results in the lack of socialization of the ongoing digital activities into the individual level. Companies, especially Top Management, need to develop more knowledge about digital application and transformation to every individual in the company. Meanwhile, lower-area companies should improve their engagement across all organization members. The companies should be able to take advantage of their existing employees who possess knowledge in digital application and transformation and generated various artifacts to motivate other employees to jointly transform the organization into a Digital Master.\nOriginality/value: Our study compares the perception toward digital mastery at the organization and individual levels. Both levels are different and need to be compared, as suggested by Schuchmann and Seufert (2015) and Hinings et al. (2018). Comparison at both levels does not exist at the time of this study. Accordingly, what problems and challenges are faced by companies undergoing a digital transformation will largely remain unknown.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring a transition in Dutch healthcare	[ "Transition", "Frontrunners", "Sustainable healthcare", "Transition management", "Persistent problems" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Healthcare systems in developed countries, such as the Netherlands, are increasingly identified to be unsustainable in their current design and seemingly immune to reform (e.g. Broerse and Bunders, 2010; Broerse and Grin, 2017; Dickinson and Pierre, 2016; Fineberg, 2012; Plsek and Greenhalgh, 2001; Neuteboom et al., 2009): the rising costs that come with technological progress in the context of an ageing population and a highly specialised and fragmented domain lead to increasing pressures for transformational change. The problems that seemingly defy reform are rooted deeply in the existing system, they are systematically (re)produced and therefore they have a persistent nature (Loorbach, 2007; Schuitmaker, 2013). These persistent problems come in many shapes and forms, illustrative examples are provided in Broerse and Bunders (2010) and Broerse and Grin (2017), but are inherently all concerned with the key features of the current health system such as a dependency on medical rationalisation, specialisation and standardisation. It has proven difficult to alleviate tensions in the system by addressing problems through increasing efficiency or other types of optimisation (e.g. cost control and quality management). Persistent problems become visible through these kind of interventions, clashing with the existing default solution pathways and remaining unsolved (Broerse and Bunders, 2010; Schuitmaker, 2013). Several authors (e.g. Broerse and Grin, 2017; Schroeder et al., 2013) point out the necessity of an integral transformation of the whole system, even though it is unclear what a future system would look like (Charlesworth et al. 2015).\n2. Transitions and transition management (TM): During the 1990s (sustainability) transitions developed as a new research concept focussing on large-scale and long-term societal change. Transition research has primarily addressed socio-technical systems, e.g., energy, mobility, water or waste. However, research into socio-institutional systems, such as healthcare, is gaining terrain. It is becoming clear that healthcare is an equally complex system facing the necessity of radical change to deal with persistent problems.\n3. Method: This paper is based on an experimental transition process involving frontrunner organisations in the healthcare domain in the Netherlands: the \"Expedition to Sustainable Healthcare\". The data were collected in a longitudinal study by examining the activities and development of eight Dutch healthcare organisations participating in the expedition and following the impact three years beyond the scope of the actual programme (2014).\n4. Dutch CSR Network for Healthcare: 4.1 Establishment and development\n5. Results: In 2014, the first eight healthcare organisations participated in the expedition. These organisations included academic and regular hospitals as well as institutions for mental healthcare, elderly care and handicapped care from around The Netherlands. They were approached by the network as frontrunners in Dutch healthcare and were actively invited to become participants in the expedition. The network had identified these organisations through early involvement in the network, prominent placement in hospital rankings and visible activities towards sustainability. In most cases, the organisations were already affiliated with the network.\n6. Discussion: In this section, the design and results of the expedition are discussed from the perspective of TM. Additionally, this section looks at the contribution of the expedition towards a transition in Dutch healthcare.\n7. Conclusions and recommendations: Transitions are concerned with radical change over a long period of time. In practice, such transitions are highly complex, incremental and unpredictable. In our paper, we have followed the developments in the Dutch healthcare sector during a period of three years and have looked specifically at the \"Expedition to Sustainable Healthcare\". This expedition helped to explore the potential future direction and dynamics of a transition in Dutch healthcare. Such a transition, according to both research and the participants in the expedition is both likely and desirable. At the same time this expedition has only been a very small-scale intervention with at least on the surface so far a marginal effect on the Dutch healthcare system. Nevertheless, the outcomes suggest that there is the need for a more strategic and focussed effort to guide and accelerate certain transition pathways as well as that the approach of the expedition is a promising way to operationalise TM principles.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Healthcare systems are facing persistent challenges, such as dealing with an ageing population, related increases in chronic diseases and healthcare costs facilitated by technological progress. The authors argue that the boundaries of optimisation are being reached and a more fundamental change or transition is necessary. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contours of this transition in the Netherlands. The authors do this from the perspective of healthcare organisations that have participated in the \"Expedition to Sustainable Healthcare\": a learning programme organised by the Dutch Network for Sustainable Healthcare aimed at creating frontrunners in this transition.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper combines conceptual with experimental empirical work. The authors use the transition research frameworks to conceptualise persistent problems and transitional dynamics in the healthcare system. In a longitudinal study, the authors analysed how the participating organisations developed after the expedition.\nFindings: The process validated the initial understanding of persistent sustainability challenges. An integral approach to sustainable healthcare is translated as a transformation of culture, structures and practices and the development of capacity for crossing borders and domains, inside and outside of the organisation. To facilitate and stimulate such a process the authors found that problem structuring and collective identification of persistent problems and the unsustainability in the healthcare system is a crucial step towards a shared view and discourse that supports change.\nOriginality/value: A transition in the Dutch healthcare system is just starting to emerge and has barely been subject of research. This paper provides an empirical description of a transition management process in this context. The authors hope to lay a foundation for future work that seeks to explore transitions in healthcare in theory and practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Pre-project peer reviews in GMP/lump sum contracts	[ "Project evaluation", "Risk management", "Construction industry", "Contracts" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Construction is a risky business. The five different types of construction contracts identified by Carty (1995), namely lump-sum, unit price, guaranteed maximum price (GPM), cost reimbursable, and construction management involve varying levels of risk from the point of view of a contractor, with reimbursable cost contracts being the least risky and GMP the most risky.A lump sum contract requires a contractor to provide a fixed price to the owner to do all the work required by the agreement. A lump sum contract can only be executed when the scope of the work is clearly defined and understood by all parties. This type of contract offers the owner the best protection relative to the price the owner will pay for the work, but it is a risky contract for the contractor.A GMP contract is usually used when the scope of work cannot be defined as clearly as in a lump-sum contract. The contractor and the owner agree that the contractor will perform an agreed scope of work which is defined as best as possible at a price not to exceed an agreed-on amount, the guaranteed maximum price (GMP). The contractor is obligated to keep track of all of the project costs and if the costs are less than the agreed-on GMP amount, then owner and contractor will share the savings per contract terms. If the costs exceed the GMP without any changes to defined scope, the contractor must solely bear additional costs. This type of contract is as risky for the contractor as a lump-sum contract.In CM-at-risk contracts, the owner expects the CM to provide either a lump sum or a guaranteed maximum price for the performance of the work, including all subcontract costs. Contractors and CMs have been utilizing tools such as pre-project peer reviews (PPPRs) to mitigate their risks on high-risk lump sum or GMP contracts.PPPR is an internal process used by a company in order to mitigate its risks associated with delivering projects on-time, meet or beat the client and company budget and to satisfy clients. PPPRs allow reviewers to evaluate the status of a project prior to committing to a GMP or lump sum and to provide objective feedback to the project team on ways to mitigate or reduce risks. In the absence of a mature literature on this topic, this study aims to find out the common PPPR practices that may affect the outcome of a GMP/lump sum contract and to provide guidelines to the construction industry for PPPR implementation.\nPeer reviews: Per Webster's Dictionary (2007), a peer review is \"a process by which something proposed is evaluated by a group of experts in the appropriate field\". A peer review can be conducted in any field. The most common in the context of the construction activity are peer review of publications, research programs, design and design documents, construction, and overall company performance.Peer review of publications is a sensitive subject in the research community. Peer review has a momentous influence on the lives of those who seek to publish; on the credibility of an academic discipline and on the way it develops. It is used widely within the academic community on the assumption that it encourages high standards of scholarly writing by providing an informed, fair, reasonable and professional opinion about the merits of research work (Runeson and Loosemore, 1999). Runeson and Loosemore (1999) conducted an experiment that tested the extent to which peer review in construction management serves this function and concluded that there is little consistency in the reasons advanced for rejection or revision of a paper. Hauer (2005) provided guidelines for reviewing literature on road safety. Seagren (2003) compiled a set of suggested guidelines for peer reviewers. Godoy (2006) identified the critical areas in which reviewers fail to perform a good review.Peer reviews may also be conducted on research programs. For example, New York's Transportation Research and Development Bureau conducts an independent peer-review of their in-house research program to enhance the capabilities of researchers and the quality of the research results. The National Science Foundation routinely sets up panels of experts to evaluate research proposals and select those worth funding (Alampalli, 2001).Peer review of design and design documents is a common practice in the construction industry. Many licensed structural engineers review designs developed by other engineers. External project peer reviews can include those mandated by state and local codes and statutes or voluntary reviews conducted independently at the request of an owner (Stuart, 2006). For example, The City of Chicago's Department of Construction and Permits has been implementing a Structural Peer Review Program where outside experts are contracted to reduce the time and effort required for structural plan examination by city personnel. Other cities and government agencies also administer similar programs. Similar to reviewing design documents, Dunscombe and Cartwright (2005) mention peer review of draft procurement documents in a design-build project.Construction companies can also conduct peer reviews during construction to evaluate methods, materials, specifications, and protocols relative to common problems such as water intrusion through building envelopes and the resultant damage it causes, including mold (Scott and MacPhaul, 2005).Peer reviews may also be conducted to evaluate the overall performance of construction companies. The American Consulting Engineers Council (ACEC) has developed a peer review program (www.acec.org/education/opr/overview.cfm) that would give design and/or consulting firms the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of their own practices and procedures. The need for a peer review is usually initiated when the principals of a firm seek an independent assessment of their company and a comparison with industry norms. The six topics that are reviewed during the peer review of engineering companies include general management, professional development, project management, human resource management, financial management, and business management (Bergeron, 1997).Pre-project peer review (PPPR) in the context of construction management is either a formal or informal process whereby a company utilizes internal or external third party senior managers to understand, identify and recommend ways to reduce the risks associated with a proposed project. Its purpose is to deliver projects on-time, meet or beat the budget, achieve quality and safety standards, and to satisfy clients. A PPPR should allow reviewers to evaluate the status of a project prior to committing to a GMP or lump sum and to provide objective feedback to the project team on ways to mitigate or reduce risk. It is generally desirable to conduct the review early in the engagement.Based on their expertise, the reviewers may focus on the following subjects: planning and logistics, staffing, agreement with owner, price, general conditions, profit, subcontractor issues, safety, quality of workmanship, customer satisfaction, regulatory issues, and information technology. During this process, the project team and reviewers learn from each other. The recommendations of the reviewers are evaluated and implemented by the project team. This process is put in place to help reduce the company's exposure to risk by early identification and resolution of risky operations. It is expected to indirectly benefit the client.A literature survey indicates that there are no published studies related to pre-project peer reviews (PPPRs) in the context of construction management. A survey was conducted therefore to collect information in this field.\nMethodology of the study: A survey was administered to the top 400 construction companies listed by Engineering New-Record to collect information about the extent to which PPPRs or similar processes are used in the construction industry and inquire about current PPPR practices. The top 100 construction management companies are included in the list of the top 400 construction companies.The closed survey method was used. Respondents were asked to select from multiple answers to each question. The downside of this method is that it does not allow respondents to express their own answers since it guides them to select from among a list of predetermined answers. The survey preparers have to work on the answers carefully to ensure that respondents will be comfortable with their selections. For some questions, respondents were allowed to provide their own answers in addition to the selection.Since there are no studies related to the subject, a group of experts had to be consulted to develop the questions. The executives of a company that routinely conducts PPPRs (turnover of $1.5 billion per year) were interviewed for this purpose. The survey tool presented in the Appendix (Figure A1) was organized in such a way that companies that conduct PPPRs and companies that do not conduct PPPRs answered different questions. The companies that conduct PPPRs were split into two groups, depending on whether they do it formally or informally. A total of 72 replies were received, yielding a rate of response of 18 per cent. The findings of this survey are presented in the next section.\nSurvey results: Of the 72 respondents, 56 (78 per cent) stated that they conduct PPPRs and 23 of those (32 per cent of the overall sample) followed a formal routine in conducting these reviews. As presented in Figure 1, the 33 companies (46 per cent of the overall sample) that conduct informal PPPRs stated that the reason for not conducting a formal process was not the cost of the process (3 per cent) or the lack of resources (3 per cent), but their company culture (85 per cent).Figure 2 presents the criteria that companies use to decide the need for a PPPR. Most of the companies that conduct PPPRs (73 per cent) used the cost of the project and slightly to a lesser extent (45 per cent) the size of the project to decide the need for such a review. It is interesting to note that according to respondents' perception, clients do not appear to recognize the importance of such reviews and probably consider this process to be part of the construction company's internal practices.Most companies (93 per cent) conduct PPPRs either right before submittal of the GMP or lump sum proposal or during negotiations with the client. This practice coincides with the definition of PPPR described in the preceding section. It was rare (7 per cent) that PPPR would be conducted at the time the GMP is reviewed during construction.Three out of the four respondents that represented companies that do not conduct PPPRs and would not consider conducting PPPRs in their projects in the future, stated that the cost of the process and the lack of the appropriate company culture and resources are the three most important factors that affected their opinion.Composition of the PPPR team\nConclusion: PPPRs can be conducted by construction companies and CM at-risk firms to assess and mitigate risks before committing to a GMP or lump sum. Despite the many advantages of conducting PPPRs for all parties involved including the contractor, the CM and the owner, there is no indication in the literature of the extent to which PPPRs are used and the common practices that may affect the outcome of the project. The survey conducted in this study aimed to bridge this gap. It was found that 95 per cent of the respondents either conducted a similar process or are willing to conduct PPPRs in their projects in the future. This result points out the acceptance of and the importance attached to this process in the construction industry.As far as common practices in conducting PPPRs are concerned, the following findings stand out:* Slightly more of the respondents 46 per cent (as opposed to 32 per cent) prefer conducting PPPRs on an informal basis, not because a formal process is more costly or requires more resources, but because it is not part of their company's culture.* Most respondents (91 per cent) reported that the PPPR team is composed of the members of the local office, probably because these individuals are most familiar with local conditions and local resources. The members of the PPPR team appear to be drawn mostly from departments with day-to-day responsibilities.* All companies that conduct PPPRs stated that the cost of the process is included in the budget as part of overhead. This result indicates that the cost of PPPRs is justified by the construction company or CM-at-risk firm because of its direct benefits including minimizing the risk of underestimating the cost of the project, evaluating the appropriateness of the schedule, and reviewing the general conditions, closely followed by preventing bad deals, achieving owner satisfaction, and making sure the credentials of the project staff are adequate.* A follow-up process to PPPRs is conducted by many companies and is considered to be a requirement by even those companies that do not conduct PPPRs. These respondents appear to agree with Cooke and Tate's (2005) recommendation that a risk mitigation plan with action items should be assigned to team members at the planning stage, and that team members should report on the status of their assigned risk area during project execution. It is not a good practice to just provide suggestions and assume that they will be implemented. A follow-up process is highly desirable.Variations of PPPRs are used extensively by contractors and CM firms presumably because they are considered to be beneficial. There seems to be reasonable consensus concerning the composition and duties of the PPPR team, the follow-up process, and budgeting for this activity. What is not clear is whether PPPRs actually contribute to the success of a project. It would help practitioners to know if the current PPPR practices impact project success positively. Research is underway to assess the impact of PPPRs on project success as perceived by a construction company or a CM-at-risk firm.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - A \"pre-project peer review\" (PPPR) is conducted by a construction company or CM-at-risk firm to mitigate or reduce project risks prior to committing to a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) or lump sum. The purpose of this paper is to find out the common PPPR practices that may affect the outcome of a GMP/lump sum contract and to provide guidelines to the construction industry for PPPR implementation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A survey was administered to the top 400 construction companies listed by Engineering New-Record that also includes the top 100 construction management firms. The closed survey method was used. Respondents were asked to select from multiple answers to each question. The survey preparers worked on the predetermined answers carefully to ensure that respondents are comfortable with their selections. For some questions, respondents were allowed to provide their own answers in addition to the selection.\nFindings: - Even though conducting formal PPPRs is not common practice in the industry, the results confirm the necessity and importance of this process in GMP or lump sum contracts. The other findings provide information about the current practices related to PPPR implementation. For example, more companies prefer conducting PPPRs on an informal basis; the PPPR team in most companies is composed of professionals in the local office with day-to-day responsibilities; the cost of PPPRs is included in the budget as part of overhead; and finally, a follow up process to PPPRs is conducted by many companies and is considered to be a critical by even those companies that do not conduct PPPRs.\nOriginality/value: - A literature survey indicates that there are no published studies related to PPPRs. The study reported in this paper fills this gap.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Successful restaurant crowdfunding: the role of linguistic style	[ "Entrepreneurs", "Communications", "Restaurants", "Crowdfunding", "Kickstarter", "Linguistic style" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Crowdfunding allows entrepreneurs to draw funds from a large number of individuals (i.e. the crowd) through the internet (Mollick, 2014). Crowdfunding has grown into a multibillion industry; as of February 2020, Kickstarter alone had raised more than $4.76bn in pledges for more than 176,000 successful funded projects (Kickstarter, 2020). Crowdfunding can be an effective alternative fundraising vehicle especially to independent restauranteurs, as they tend to encounter fundraising limitations through more traditional means of finance due to its small-size and high risk (Lelo de Larrea et al., 2019). In Kickstarter's food category, more than 29,500 projects had, as of February 2020, been launched, accounting for a value of more than $159.7m. With a success rate of 25.22%, over 7,000 of these have been successfully funded, a value of $135.14m (Kickstarter, 2020).\nLiterature review: Language expectancy theory\nMethodology: Data\nResults: Table 1 reports descriptive statistics. The range of funding goals of the restaurant crowdfunding varied from $275 to $850,000 with an average of $38,243. The median funding goal of successful projects was significantly lower ($24,287) than that of unsuccessful projects ($51,197). This finding shows how important it is to set an appropriate funding goal. The funding period was about 33 days; successful projects used a rather shorter period (31.48 days) than that of unsuccessful projects (34.36 days). This implies that lengthening a funding period does not necessarily increase the likelihood of success. Successful and unsuccessful projects showed an insignificant difference in the number of photos and videos posted. On average, the restaurant projects posted about 5.5 photos and 1 video. On the other hand, successful projects showed many more updates from entrepreneurs and comments from other crowdfunders. Successful projects approximately tripled the number of updates of unsuccessful projects. Posting more updates may reflect greater effort at communicating about a project and continual refinement of its development. Thus, potential funders are likely to perceive the entrepreneurs and their projects to be more reliable than those having a fewer number of updates. Successful projects averaged 13 comments whereas unsuccessful ones averaged fewer than two. Kickstarter's staff members also pick projects - \"Projects We Love.\" Crowdfunders can sort those projects separately, which increases their likelihood of being funded. Approximately 45% of successful restaurant crowdfunding projects were picked as \"Projects We Love,\" while only 18% of unsuccessful projects were picked in that category.\nConclusion: Within the context of restaurant projects, the current study has investigated the role of linguistic style in the success of crowdfunding. In exploring success factors of crowdfunding, prior research has identified with whom to communicate and what to communicate. What has largely escaped attention is how to communicate. Freear et al. (1994) revealed differences of three different groups of investment individuals based on the level of inexperience. Ahlers et al. (2015) examined external signals that trigger equity crowdfunding success. Recent studies have revealed the importance of project preparation attributes and elements of business concept on crowdfunding success in the context of restaurant (Honisch et al., 2019; Lelo de Larrea et al., 2019). The current study looked at linguistic styles that matter to restaurant crowdfunding, examining the following four: concrete, precise, interactive and psychologically distant language. Findings of this study indicate that restaurant projects pitches are more likely to succeed in raising money through crowdfunding use language that is more concrete, less interactive and low in psychological distancing. Preciseness did not significantly affect funding success.\nTheoretical implications: The current study makes a theoretical contribution to the growing literature on crowdfunding and restaurant crowdfunding, in particular. Despite the increasing practice of restaurant crowdfunding and good matches with small- and medium-sized restaurants' needs, scant research has been conducted. Notably absent from the research is work on linguistic styles that are effective in restaurant crowdfunding. Previous crowdfunding literature mostly examined what are effective contents that entrepreneurs share and communicate with potential funders such as photos, comments and reviews and project goal (Ahlers et al., 2015; Gleasure and Feller, 2018; Kuti and Madarasz, 2014; Lelo de Larrea et al., 2019). This study reaffirmed the findings of previous literature with control variables, and found funding goal, update frequency, total number of comments, and staff picked (\"project we love\" badging) affect the funding success in the restaurant crowdfunding context.\nPractical implications: Crowdfunding develops a community of supporters who can interact socially with the entrepreneurs (Averbeck and Miller, 2014). Through this communication channel, the entrepreneur can communicate and deliver value to her prospective investors regarding the project and the product/service (Daniel and Ellis-Chadwick, 2016). This communication enables entrepreneurs to validate their business plans as well as product/services; they can expand awareness by delivering value and building relationships, all of which should originate from proper language use and linguistic styles (Zhao et al., 2019).\nLimitations and suggestions for future studies: The study used kickstart.com that is one of the popular crowdfunding platforms with significant size of restaurant projects. However, as the crowdfunding market grows, and more and more crowdfunding platforms become available, future studies may investigate similarities and dissimilarities of restaurant crowdfunding projects over multiple crowdfunding platforms.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Crowdfunding can be an effective fundraising vehicle to independent restaurants to overcome fundraising limitations due to its small-size and high risk. A few studies have identified contents of communication for successful crowdfunding, yet missing is on how to say. The purpose of this paper is to investigate linguistics styles that are effective in pitches in restaurant crowdfunding.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study analyzed 500 restaurant crowdfunding projects listed on Kickstarter.com that is one of the most popular crowdfunding platforms with sizable restaurant projects. By text analysis, this study identifies four linguistic categories - concrete, precise, interactive and language with low psychological distancing - from the project descriptions. A binominal linear regression analysis identified effective language styles that increases success of restaurant crowdfunding.\nFindings: Drawing on the language expectancy theory and uncertainty reduction theory, this study found that project descriptions that are concrete and delivering stories with fewer usage of first person pronouns are likely to succeed in restaurant fundraising. Interactive style was counter-effective while preciseness of language did not affect funding success significantly. Findings further reveal the roles of non-linguistic attributes shown in the project pitches.\nResearch limitations/implications: Despite the increasing practice of restaurant crowdfunding and good matches with small- and medium-sized restaurants' needs, scant research has been conducted. Notably absent from the research is work on linguistic styles that are effective in restaurant crowdfunding. This study extends the prior literature by investigating how restaurant entrepreneurs should communicate with potential crowdfunders to make crowdfunding successful in the restaurant context. Simply knowing what are important does not provide holistic help to restaurant entrepreneurs; they also should know how to communicate well.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study are important for restaurant entrepreneurs who need to present their projects and communicate effectively with potential investors online. Based on the study's findings, crowdfunding platforms could enhance their project posting systems by developing algorithm that automatically measures language cues embedded in a project description and providing suggestions to improve persuasiveness of languages to maximize funding success for restaurant projects.\nOriginality/value: Scant research has been conducted in the restaurant crowdfunding; prior crowdfunding literature has focused on the projects other than restaurants such as technology, design and film. This study is the first that uncovers the role of the linguistic styles for the specific context of restaurant crowdfunding. This study sheds the light on the critical communication strategies used by small-sized restaurant entrepreneurs on crowdfunding platform.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"Bad jobs": a case study of toilet attendants	[ "Precariousness", "Non-standard employment", "Quality of work", "Toilet attendants" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper discusses and documents the quality of work and employment of workers in one specific occupation at the very bottom of the labour market, toilet attendants. It sheds light on how this type of jobs cluster adverse features in different dimensions - \"bad jobs\" - but also how, within the group, the most vulnerable are pushed by dire socio-economic needs into even worse jobs.\nLiterature: How precariousness works\nResearch questions: To summarise, this contribution studying the group of toilet attendants, will go into the following research questions:\nContext, data and design: Context\nResults: As argued in the previous sections, the results are split into two main sets of findings. First, we check whether toilet attendants indeed have worse employment relations, and whether this lack of employment security spills over into other dimensions of working life. Afterwards, we compare those toilet attendants who indicated that they had accepted the job out of economic necessity with the rest of the toilet attendant sample. This analysis aims to document the differences between both groups in the quality of their working lives.\nConclusion and discussion: This case study of toilet attendants, an almost ideal typical group of low-skilled manual service workers, documents some important dimensions of this group's \"bad job\". Before we go into the conclusions we can infer form this study, we should point to the small size of the sample of toilet attendants interviewed. Although potential bias may be mitigated by quite low non-response, it should be noted that small sample sizes call for cautious inferences.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of precarious and low-quality jobs with the study of toilet attendants, an ideal typical case of low-wage manual service workers who are excluded from secure wages, decent working conditions, and employment protection.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An extensive survey with standardized questionnaires (n=107) and in-depth interviews (n=10) of toilet attendants in Belgian towns, mostly Brussels and Ghent. Results are compared to the work quality of low-skilled workers, and the within-group position of necessity workers is analysed.\nFindings: Toilet attendants definitely occupy \"bad jobs\", measured by the higher prevalence of informal and false self-employed statuses, more intense work-life conflicts and verbal aggression from clients, and a lower job satisfaction. In all these respects, they perform worse than other low-skilled workers. Concurrently, there is a strong within-group divide between necessity workers and those who see the job as an opportunity. Despite a similar job content, necessity workers less often earn a decent wage, suffer more from customer aggression, lack social support and pleasure from work. Mechanisms related to self-selection and the absence of intrinsic rewards explain these in-group differences.\nOriginality/value: This contribution indicates, first, that job insecurity spills over into poor working conditions, work-life conflicts, and customer aggression. Furthermore, it documents that jobs are not necessarily bad in themselves, but become problematic when taken up by people with too few choices and too pressing socio-economic needs. Problems of sub-standard jobs are not merely job problems but problems of workers in a certain position.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The Job Demands-Resources model: state of the art	[ "Employees", "Employee behaviour", "Human resource management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: During the past three decades, many studies have shown that job characteristics can have a profound impact on employee well being (e.g. job strain, burnout, work engagement). For example, research has revealed that job demands such as a high work pressure, emotional demands, and role ambiguity may lead to sleeping problems, exhaustion, and impaired health (e.g. Doi, 2005; Halbesleben and Buckley, 2004), whereas job resources such as social support, performance feedback, and autonomy may instigate a motivational process leading to job-related learning, work engagement, and organizational commitment (e.g. Demerouti et al., 2001; Salanova et al., 2005; Taris and Feij, 2004). Although these previous studies have produced a long list of possible antecedents of employee well being, theoretical progress has been limited. Many studies have either used a laundry-list approach to predict employee well being, or they have relied on one of two influential job stress models, namely the demand-control model (Karasek, 1979) and the effort-reward imbalance model (Siegrist, 1996).\nBalance models of employee well being: Point of departure of several models in the occupational health literature is that job strain is the result of a disturbance of the equilibrium between the demands employees are exposed to and the resources they have at their disposal. For example, according to the well-known demand-control model (DCM; Karasek, 1979, 1998), job strain is particularly caused by the combination of high job demands (particularly work overload and time pressure) and low job control - \"the working individual's potential control over his tasks and his conduct during the working day\" (Karasek, 1979, pp. 289-290). Thus, one basic premise in the DCM is that employees who can decide themselves how to meet their job demands do not experience job strain (e.g. job-related anxiety, health complaints, exhaustion, and dissatisfaction). According to Karasek (1979), p. 287):The individual's decision latitude is the constraint which modulates the release or transformation of \"stress\" (potential energy) into the energy of action.There is indeed empirical evidence showing that particularly the combination of high job demands and low job control is an important predictor of psychological strain and illness (Karasek, 1979; Schnall et al., 1994). Although the literature provides considerable support for the strain hypothesis, support for the buffer hypothesis - stating that control can moderate the negative effects of high demands on well being - is less consistent (De Jonge and Kompier, 1997; Van der Doef and Maes, 1999). This may suggest that job control is only partly able to buffer the impact of job demands on employee well being. Nevertheless, the DCM has dominated the empirical research on job stress and health over the past 20 years (see also Cordery, 1997).An alternative model, the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model (Siegrist, 1996) emphasizes the reward, rather than the control structure of work. The ERI-model assumes that job strain is the result of an imbalance between effort (extrinsic job demands and intrinsic motivation to meet these demands) and reward (in terms of salary, esteem reward, and security/career opportunities - i.e. promotion prospects, job security and status consistency). The basic assumption is that a lack of reciprocity between effort and reward (i.e. high effort/low reward conditions) will lead to arousal and stress (cf. equity theory; Walster et al., 1978), which, in turn, may lead to cardiovascular risks and other strain reactions. Thus, having a demanding, but unstable job, achieving at a high level without being offered any promotion prospects, are examples of a stressful imbalance (De Jonge et al., 2000). The combination of high effort and low reward at work was indeed found to be a risk factor for cardiovascular health, subjective health, mild psychiatric disorders and burnout (for a review, see Van Vegchel et al., 2005). Unlike the DCM, the ERI-model introduces a personal component in the model as well. Over commitment is defined as a set of attitudes, behaviors and emotions reflecting excessive striving in combination with a strong desire of being approved and esteemed. According to the model, over commitment may moderate the association between effort-reward imbalance and employee well being. Thus, personality is expected to be able to further qualify the interaction between effort and reward. Some evidence for this pattern has indeed been reported (e.g. De Jonge et al., 2000).Strengths and weaknesses of both models\nThe job demands-resources model: At the heart of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model (Bakker et al., 2003b; c; Demerouti et al., 2001a, b) lies the assumption that whereas every occupation may have its own specific risk factors associated with job stress, these factors can be classified in two general categories (i.e. job demands and job resources), thus constituting an overarching model that may be applied to various occupational settings, irrespective of the particular demands and resources involved. Job demands refer to those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that require sustained physical and/or psychological (cognitive and emotional) effort or skills and are therefore associated with certain physiological and/or psychological costs. Examples are a high work pressure, an unfavorable physical environment, and emotionally demanding interactions with clients. Although job demands are not necessarily negative, they may turn into job stressors when meeting those demands requires high effort from which the employee has not adequately recovered (Meijman and Mulder, 1998).Job resources refer to those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that are either/or:* Functional in achieving work goals.* Reduce job demands and the associated physiological and psychological costs.* Stimulate personal growth, learning, and development.Hence, resources are not only necessary to deal with job demands, but they also are important in their own right. This agrees with Hackman and Oldham (1980) job characteristics theory that emphasizes the motivational potential of job resources at the task level, including autonomy, feedback, and task significance. In addition, this agrees on a more general level with conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 2001) that states that the prime human motivation is directed towards the maintenance and accumulation of resources. Accordingly, resources are valued in their own right or because they are means to the achievement or protection of other valued resources. Job resources may be located at the level of the organization at large (e.g. pay, career opportunities, job security), the interpersonal and social relations (e.g. supervisor and co-worker support, team climate), the organization of work (e.g. role clarity, participation in decision making), and at the level of the task (e.g. skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, performance feedback).Dual processes\nEvidence for the JD-R model: Evidence for the dual process\nConclusion: Whereas the JD-R model (Demerouti et al., 2001a, b) fits the tradition of the general DCM and the ERI-model, it also satisfies the need for specificity by including various types of job demands and resources, depending on the occupational context under study. Thus, the JD-R model encompasses and extends both models and is considerably more flexible and rigorous. Indeed, Van Veldhoven et al. (2005), using data from 37,291 Dutch employees', compared the demand-control-support model with the JD-R model. They found that the latter model provided the best approximation of the relationships among work characteristics, health, and well being. In a similar vein, the study of Lewig and Dollard (2003) among Australian call centre workers showed that the JD-R model accounted for more variance in emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction than either the DCM or the ERI-model.Taking into consideration the evidence about interaction effects leads to a revision of the predictions shown in Figure 2. This is because Figure 2 was made by considering only the main effects of job demands and job resources - i.e. the influence of job demands on strain, irrespective of the level of job resources, and the influence of job resources on motivation, irrespective of the level of job demands. The evidence about interaction effects requires the adjustment of two quadrants, namely the high-high and low-low constellation (see Figure 7). When job resources are high we saw that it makes no difference in exhaustion or vigor (thus in strain; cf. Figures 3 and 5) what the level of job demands is. Within this constellation strain was at a low or average level instead of a high level as was predicted by the additive model, i.e. when solely the effect of job demands was examined. Returning now to the low demands-low resources condition, the prediction regarding strain remains the same while the prediction regarding motivation should be altered. As we saw in Figures 4 and 6, when job resources are high the level of motivation is high as well, irrespective of the level of demands. However, when job resources are low the lowest level of motivation is found for the high demands-low resources condition leaving an average motivation for the low-low constellation.\nAvenues for future research: Four main avenues for future research on the JD-R model may be distinguished. These pertain to reciprocal relationships, objective outcomes, the main and interaction effects, and the inclusion of personal resources in the JD-R model.Reciprocal relationships\nPractical implications: The JD-R model assumes that whereas every occupation may have its own specific working characteristics, these characteristics can be classified in two general categories (i.e. job demands and job resources), thus constituting an overarching model that may be applied to various occupational settings, irrespective of the particular demands and resources involved. The central assumption of the JD-R model is that job strain develops - irrespective of the type of job or occupation - when (certain) job demands are high and when (certain) job resources are limited. In contrast, work engagement is most likely when job resources are high (also in the face of high job demands).This implies that the JD-R model can be used as a tool for human resource management. In close collaboration with human resource managers and consultants, the model has now been applied in over 130 different organizations in The Netherlands. Because every occupation may have its own unique risk factors of burnout (or antecedents of work engagement), we have started to use a two-stage procedure in our organizational research with the model. The first qualitative phase of the research includes explorative interviews with job incumbents from different layers of an organization (e.g. representatives from management, staff, and shop floor). The interviews, which last approximately 45 minutes, include open questions about the jobs of the interviewees, and refer to its positive and negative aspects. The incorporation of a qualitative phase in the research is valuable because it potentially generates knowledge about unexpected, organization-specific job demands and job resources that will be overlooked by highly standardized approaches. For example, it is conceivable that in one organization (e.g. a production company) employees are exposed to high physical job demands, whereas in another organization (e.g. an insurance company) employees are not exposed to such demands at all. In addition, in certain companies, employees are confronted with mergers, which may cause job insecurity and role ambiguity. Such organization-specific job demands can be traced in the exploratory qualitative phase.In the second phase of the research, the job demands and job resources potentially associated with burnout or engagement are operationalized in items and scales and incorporated in a tailor-made questionnaire. All employees from an organization are then invited to fill out this questionnaire. This enables a quantitative analysis of the job demands and job resources that have been identified qualitatively and that potentially play a role in the development of job strain and motivation. The analysis usually concentrates on differences between departments and job positions, in terms of job demands, resources, employee well being, and its consequences. In some projects, managers participate in JD-R workshops before the start of the study, so that they can learn how to use the information that will become available. The subgroup analyses can provide clear indications for interventions, since they highlight the strengths and the weaknesses of departments and job positions. Tailor-made interventions are then possible, aimed at reducing the identified job demands, and increasing the most important job resources, which, in turn, may decrease the risk for burnout, and increase the likelihood of work engagement and good performance.In addition, we have recently developed an internet application of the JD-R model - called the JD-R monitor, in which employees who fill in an electronic questionnaire receive online and personalized feedback on their computer screen about their most important job demands and resources. The feedback includes histograms of the specific demands and resources included in the study, in which the participant's score is compared with that of a benchmark (comparison group). In addition, the feedback mode is interactive, such that participants can click on the histograms and receive written feedback about the meaning of their scores on the demands and resources. In a similar way, feedback about well being is included in this internet tool. The final PDF-report that can be generated at the end of the program is used as input for interviews with company doctors and personal coaches.We hope that this review encourages researchers to investigate the validity of the Job Demands-Resources model in various occupational groups and in different countries. In addition, future research should test whether the JD-R monitor is effective in helping employees to cope with their demands, mobilize their resources, stay healthy, and perform well.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to give a state-of-the art overview of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The strengths and weaknesses of the demand-control model and the effort-reward imbalance model regarding their predictive value for employee well being are discussed. The paper then introduces the more flexible JD-R model and discusses its basic premises.\nFindings: - The paper provides an overview of the studies that have been conducted with the JD-R model. It discusses evidence for each of the model's main propositions. The JD-R model can be used as a tool for human resource management. A two-stage approach can highlight the strengths and weaknesses of individuals, work groups, departments, and organizations at large.\nOriginality/value: - This paper challenges existing stress models, and focuses on both negative and positive indicators of employee well being. In addition, it outlines how the JD-R model can be applied to a wide range of occupations, and be used to improve employee well being and performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
When and why skill variety influences employee job crafting: Regulatory focus and social exchange perspectives	[ "Job crafting", "Skill variety", "Promotion focus", "Procedural justice climate" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent decades, the top-down fashion of job design has hardly been adaptable to the decentralized workplace (Crant, 2000). Organizations need their employees to make initiative changes in the ever-changing environment. In other words, instead of passively accepting their job assignments, employees should actively optimize and modify their job components and work roles (Bell and Staw, 1989). By doing so, employees proactively engage in the \"job crafting\" process of sculpting and altering their jobs (Wrzesniewski et al., 2013). Job crafting refers to \"the physical and cognitive changes individuals make in the task or relational boundaries of their work\" (Wrzesniewski and Dutton, 2001, p. 179) and consists of three forms: changing the task boundaries of the job (e.g. the number, scope, or types of job tasks performed at work), altering the relational boundaries of the job (e.g. the quality and/or amount of interaction with others at work), and modifying the cognitive task boundaries of the job (e.g. the meaning and significance of the job).Recent studies have suggested that job crafting is widespread across a variety of occupations and that most employees have at least some latitude to sculpt the boundaries of their jobs (Zhang and Parker, 2019). Furthermore, job crafting may produce a number of positive effects, including employee subjective well-being, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, work engagement, job performance, and career success (Petrou et al., 2017; Romeo et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2018). In essence, the extant literature suggests that by crafting jobs, employees achieve a better fit between their jobs and themselves and inspire initiative in the workplace (Berg et al., 2013).Due to job crafting's value to employees and their organizations, researchers have investigated what job-related factors motivate employees to craft their jobs (Makikangas et al., 2017). However, most research focuses on job autonomy, which reflects employees' perceived freedom to change the boundaries of the job (Petrou et al., 2012). Research is required to understand what other job characteristics can promote employee job crafting and to identify the mechanisms that are involved in the motivational process (Zhang and Parker, 2019). To address this research gap, this paper focuses on an important, yet underexplored, dimension of job characteristics that may predict employee job crafting, namely, skill variety. Skill variety refers to the extent to which a job requires employees to use a wide range of skills, talents, and activities in performing the work (Hackman and Oldham, 1975).In the present research, we integrate regulatory focus (Higgins, 1998) and social exchange (Blau, 1964) perspectives with job crafting literature to understand when and why skill variety influences employee job crafting. Specifically, we theorize the direct effect of skill variety on job crafting based on the premise that perceived challenges and opportunities make employees experience more meaningfulness (Hackman and Oldham, 1980). Because crafting a high skill variety job is risky and challenging, either internal (individual differences) or external (work context) factor motivates employees engage in job crafting. We then examine the boundary conditions: The first one is promotion focus as one dimension of self-regulatory focus (Higgins, 1998) that determines whether an employee wants to use the opportunities to promote themselves. The second one is procedural justice climate that reflects the social exchange relationship between employees and their work groups, which determines whether the employees are willing to contribute to groups and organizations (Tyler and Lind, 1992). Figure 1 shows our theoretical model.This article aims to advance the theory of job crafting in a meaningful way. First, by focusing on skill variety with respect to a job, this research contributes to the deeper understanding of the role of employees' perceived challenges and opportunities to stretch their skills and talents as a critical predictor of job crafting. Next, we theorize and empirically examine the different mechanisms--namely, the regulatory focus and the social exchange processes--that interactively influence the effect of skill variety on employee crafting. We show that employees might react to the perceived challenges and opportunities to stretch their skills and talents with different motives for job crafting under varied situations. Moreover, because our theoretical model is multilevel, including job-, individual-, and group-level constructs with different theoretical mechanisms, our theory and findings generate a variety of practical implications to promote employee job crafting.\nTheory and hypotheses: Role of skill variety\nStudy 1: Participants and procedures\nStudy 2: Participants and procedures\nDiscussion: The literature on job crafting has paid scant attention to the role of skill variety--one dimension of job characteristics--as a predictor of employee job crafting. Therefore, the current research investigated when and why skill variety promotes job crafting by incorporating different theoretical perspectives, namely, regulatory focus and social exchange, with job crafting theory. The results of our two empirical studies generally support our major hypotheses. In Study 1, skill variety is positively related to job crafting and such an effect is stronger when employees' promotion focus is high rather than low. In Study 2, the two-way interaction between skill variety and procedural justice climate is slightly below the level of significance, but the cross-level framework enables us to identify the more complex relationship. That is, a high level of skill variety influences employee job crafting regardless of the level of promotion focus when procedural justice climate is high, whereas the effect only applies to the employees with a high level of promotion focus when procedural justice climate is low.Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The literature on job crafting has paid scant attention to the role of skill variety, one dimension of job characteristics, as a predictor of employee job crafting. By integrating regulatory focus and social exchange perspectives with job crafting literature, the authors investigate how skill variety promotes employee job crafting and the moderating roles of employee's promotion focus and procedural justice climate.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors conducted two questionnaire surveys, one with a sample of 205 employees from a variety of organizations in China, and the other one with a sample of 265 employees within 44 work groups at a state-owned enterprise in China, to examine the hypotheses.\nFindings: Results suggest that a high level of skill variety within a job promotes employee job crafting, that such an effect is stronger when the employee's promotion focus is high rather than low, and that procedural justice climate mitigates the negative influence of a low level of promotion focus.\nOriginality/value: The authors' findings suggest that both self-regulatory and social exchange mechanisms play a critical role in promoting employee job crafting when individuals are engaged in jobs that entail a high level of skill variety.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Managing condition-based maintenance technology: A multiple case study in the process industry	[ "Maintenance programmes", "Condition monitoring", "Production processes", "Case studies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The aim of this article is to examine whether a number of common assumptions found in the literature on the way condition-based maintenance systems are designed and implemented can be supported by empirical evidence. Condition-based maintenance (also referred to as predictive maintenance) is a program that recommends maintenance actions based on condition monitoring information (Jardine et al., 2006). This information has to be strongly correlated with the onset of failure, and a certain threshold value should be identifiable that indicates the need for intervention (Tsang, 1995). Most of the research done in the area of condition-based maintenance addresses only the technical aspects, with most of the papers covering mathematical approaches to a certain specific problem (Garg and Deshmukh, 2006). Hardly any empirical evidence was published so far on the managerial aspects of designing and implementing condition-based maintenance technology. We have attempted to fill that gap to some extent.Relevant empirical research on manufacturing and general maintenance technology has been done by Meredith (1987) and Hipkin and Lockett (1995), among others. They formulated postulates based on the existing literature and examined these in multiple case studies. We have followed the same methodology. Based on a well-known conceptual framework on the management of technology (e.g. see Carrillo and Gaimon, 2004; Gaimon, 2008; Meredith, 1987) we have developed three categories of postulates: technical systems, managerial systems, workforce knowledge. It is generally accepted that in the management of technology, careful attention to each of these categories is of paramount importance (Gaimon, 2008).Our focus on the process industry is for two reasons. First, process industry firms work with high capital investments and large expenses for downtime, availability and reliability. This in turn puts pressure on the maintenance function and causes the need for advanced maintenance technology and practice (Arts et al., 1998; Ketokivi and Jokinen, 2006; Tan and Kramer, 1997). Second, empirical research in this area is limited to date (Van Donk and Fransoo, 2006). In line with Swanson (2003), and based on our own preliminary knowledge of this industry, it can be expected that condition-based maintenance is an important maintenance concept in dealing with these high demands on availability and reliability.This paper starts with definitions, typical steps and a typology of condition-based maintenance. In section 3 the theoretical framework with eight postulates is presented. Section 4 outlines the methodology. Sections 5 and 6 discuss the five case companies and the results of the study. Each theoretical postulate is compared with the case data and analyzed. Some postulates were supported by the empirical findings, whereas for others, limited or no support could be found in practice. The paper finishes with a discussion and conclusion section.\n2. Condition-based maintenance types and processes: In recent decades a huge body of literature has emerged on different types of condition-based maintenance models. There are two classes of tasks: diagnosis and prognosis (Jardine et al., 2006).Definitions, typical steps and typology\n3. Postulates: Technical system postulates\n4. Methodology: In order to examine the postulates, we have conducted a multiple case study, which is appropriate since our primary aim is theory-building from an exploratory perspective (McCutcheon and Meredith, 1993). The research is exploratory since we have no solid ideas on the exact behavior and causal relationships of the concepts in practice, but rather aim at developing knowledge that can serve as a stepping-stone towards such conceptual models; hence the use of a multiple case study (Dul and Hak, 2008; Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007). The postulates help us in guiding the research process, and, eventually, in the development of hypotheses that can be tested statistically with a large sample. As the postulates do not contain explanatory statements, we prefer to avoid the word \"test\".Our focus is on the process industry for reasons explained before. A specific selection of case companies was made based on three criteria. Such an approach to sampling is important in case research (Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007; Siggelkow, 2007). The criteria are:1. Company size, whereby companies were selected with a minimum number of employees of 50. This is based on the assumption that larger firms have more possibilities for the development of advanced maintenance techniques, such as condition-based maintenance (Carnero Moya, 2006).2. The degree to which the companies consider plant maintenance as an important part for achieving excellent overall performance. This was measured by interviewing key personnel prior to the actual case study.3. In addition, a selection was made of unrelated companies (not part of the same conglomerate and no supply relationship), in order to avoid any \"double dipping\". This (together with criteria 1 and 2) resulted in a set of four companies (which we label Gas, Elec1, Aramid and Chem). An opportunity arose to also investigate a fifth company (Elec 2), which is related to another company (Elec 1). This was taken into account when assessing the results.At the case companies, interviews were conducted with representative personnel, such as maintenance managers, process engineers and maintenance engineers. Follow-up telephone interviews were used for validation and additional questions. The interview data was structured and labeled per firm to allow for cross-case analyses. Additional data sources included written documents and presentation material. Measures taken to ensure the validity and reliability are summarized in Table I. The case companies are described in detail in the next section.\n5. Case firm descriptions: This section describes some general characteristics of the process industry together with the characteristics of the five case companies.Process industry characteristics\n6. Results: Technical systems postulates\n7. Discussion and conclusion: The wealth of condition-based maintenance literature indicates that it is a popular topic, and it also suggests that the concept is relevant for industry. Although we do not question the relevance for industry, this study shows that several assumptions found in the literature cannot be substantiated in the current multiple case study. The case firms, all production plants in the process industry in The Netherlands, appear to have a generally unsystematic approach to condition-based maintenance, with most of the attention paid to diagnosis. In the diagnosis system, on the one hand, the disciplines are able to integrate knowledge from their respective domains and solve problems, but, on the other hand, it is unclear how problems are identified and how decisions are made. Such a reactive approach might be sufficient in situations where reliability and availability targets are easily met, but might still lead to unnecessary breakdowns or maintenance interventions.When it comes to prognosis, the findings show that some firms estimate the remaining useful life (or the probability that the installation will hold until the next shutdown) using intuition and gut feeling, and that other firms do not attempt any predictions at all. The result is a situation that is very much similar to the design of the diagnostic system we identified at the firms. However, we also saw some attempts at two companies (Gas and Chem) to use more structured approaches towards prognosis through the use of collaborative work environments and advanced types of software, respectively. Apparently these firms recognize the need for structure when the condition-based maintenance models become more complex.Several limitations can be identified in the current study. First of all, we have to recognize that plant and human safety are the most important goals for process industry firms, and this might affect condition-based maintenance practice, particularly prognosis. For example, when prognostic models indicate (within a certain confidence interval) that failure will happen at time t, firms might still decide to opt for earlier shutdown when there is a potential effect of failure on safety aspects. In that sense, (plant-wide) optimization becomes difficult. Secondly, the findings are all from process industry firms. Other industries will differ in terms of operations strategy, dominating technologies, organizational arrangements and availability of software and hardware, thereby affecting the preferred maintenance approaches. However, even for those industries the results may still be useful since they indicate that various types of difficulties appear in the adoption and use of maintenance technology. For instance, the importance of actively managing process engineering, maintenance engineering and operations knowledge for condition-based maintenance in the process industry, may have its peer in other manufacturing industries.Several avenues for future research exist. The results of this in-depth multiple case study could be further supported by case studies at firms with different organization structures and size. Similar research questions could also be posed in other industries, as we indicated above. Furthermore it would also be interesting research to identify the key success factors for firms actually implementing and using prognostic condition-based maintenance.In summary, this study provided an empirical perspective on condition-based maintenance technology. We hope that our findings will help managers improve the success rate of their maintenance technology efforts. We would like to encourage scholars to further investigate the actual use of condition-based maintenance in various industrial settings, thereby helping industry achieve its operational goals.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Condition-based maintenance is the diagnosis of component failure or a prognosis of a component's time to failure. The aim of this paper is twofold: a summary of the main assumptions regarding condition-based maintenance found in the literature into eight postulates, and a comparison of the postulates against industrial practice. The postulates were formulated regarding the technical system, the managerial system and workforce knowledge.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The postulates were examined in a multiple case study of five large firms in the process industry.\nFindings: - The results indicate that some postulates were supported with empirical findings. Limited or no support was found for postulates concerning the application of prognostic activities, use of dedicated software, use of procedures, use of training, and the active management of domain-related knowledge availability.\nPractical implications: - Practitioners can use the eight postulates as key elements in the management of condition-based maintenance technology, and for the comparison of their current condition-based maintenance practices with what literature generally proposes.\nOriginality/value: - Other researchers have reported on condition-based maintenance, but most publications focus on applied mathematics and new monitoring and simulation models. Only limited attention was paid to industrial practice so far. The study is one of the first in-depth empirical studies into actual condition-based maintenance practice.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Operational efficiency of plastic producing firms in Iran: a DEA approach	[ "Data envelopment analysis", "Efficiency", "Bootstrapped Tobit regression", "Plastic industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Holding an estimated 10 percent of global proven oil reserves, Iran boasts the Fourth largest proven petroleum reserves following Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Venezuela. Among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries members, Iran is the second largest oil producer following Saudi Arabia. In 2008, Iran produced about 3.8 million barrels of crude oil each day (Ilias, 2010). As a result, the petrochemical industry is among the largest industries in Iran, nearly 200,000 enterprises, accounting for 36.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) (CBI, 2013). Iran petrochemical industry also represents about 5.3 percent of the global chemicals products and 36 percent of Middle Eastern production (Wikipedia, 2017). Before 2015, in which Iran nuclear deal reached in Vienna, Iran's crude oil product has remained substantially flat while exports revenues have grown in past years because of surges in oil prices. One reason is that aging infrastructure and old technology has plagued Iran. US sanctions have limited access to new technologies, such as natural gas injections and oil recovery efforts (Ilias, 2010). In this period, many foreign players, especially Chinese firms entered this market, which leads to high degree of complexity and low market share of domestic companies (Haghighi et al., 2012). However, after Iran nuclear deal, some improvement in this industry has achieved. According to NIPNA (2017), in 2016, Petrochemical products accounted for the first place in the non-oil exports, roughly $14.3b which represents 32.6 percent share of total exports. Since the chemical industry is extensive, the question arises whether all parts of this industry act efficiently? Evidence shows the upstream petrochemical industry can be in a special place in the Middle East and the world (Petronn, 2016), but how does plastic and chemical production perform? It seems that government has paid less attention to downstream industries and plastic production. Downstream companies do not hold favorable conditions in the manufacturing sector and cash flow. They also perform inefficiently in the country and the world (ILNA, 2017). In recent decades, the importance of efficiency measurement is increasing because of growing competition in the marketplace (Uyar et al., 2013). Recently, most researchers conduct studies to evaluate efficiency and productivity in a particular industry (Dash Wu and Ho, 2007).\n2. Theoretical background: In this section, the authors explained the literature review relating to efficiency and DEA method, following by bootstrapped Tobit regression. We did not describe a detailed discussion of these methods in this study. For more information and debate, readers are referred to Cooper et al. (2006), Fried et al. (2008) and Leopold Simar and Wilson (2007).\n3. Methodology, variables and data: 3.1 Methodology\n4. Results and discussion: The results of data analysis are categorized into the following five sections; analyzing the efficiency scores using DEA, benchmarking, efficiency drivers using bootstrapped Tobit regression, discussion, and managerial implications.\n5. Discussion: In this section, the authors described a critical analysis of the DEA and bootstrapped Tobit regression. By this, they mention managerial implications.\n6. Conclusion and implications: The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the operational efficiency of 17 Iranian plastic producing firms and to determine efficiency drivers. There are many efficiency studies on different industries all over the world. However, most of them have been conducted in developed countries. Also, there are many studies on efficiency assessment of the retail industry, while other manufacturers need to be taken into consideration. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct more efficiency studies in developing countries and other industry such as chemical industry. This study is the one for this gap. The authors used DEA and bootstrapped Tobit regression for these purposes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Firms are working in a complex environment in which the updated information increase the pace of precise decision making and reduce the risk of wrong decisions. Therefore, discovering firms' performance is a major issue. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of Iranian plastic producing companies by using data envelopment analysis (DEA). It also discovers various drivers that significantly affect the efficiency of enterprises.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors studied a sample of 17 manufacturing firms to examine the relative efficiency of companies. They, then, evaluated the effects of efficiency drivers and used two methods for these purposes: DEA and bootstrapped Tobit regression model.\nFindings: The study has shown that two manufacturing firms out of selected 17 are efficient under the Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes model. Also, nine out of 17 plastic producing companies are productive under the Banker, Charnes, and Cooper model. The results of Tobit regression shows that only two efficiency drivers out of four have a significant positive influence on the efficiency of plastic producing firms.\nResearch limitations/implications: Considering one industry and country limits the generalizability of the results provided. Besides, data availability has limited the analysis in some parts, particularly in bootstrapped Tobit regression.\nPractical implications: The authors listed this section into benchmarking and strategical management; more importantly, the suggestions for improving the chemical industry and its future evolution are presented.\nOriginality/value: The paper is classified into two issues: the efficiency of plastic producing firms in Iran and evaluating the reason for inefficiency, apart from internal managerial procedures.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Felt discrimination increases offensiveness of stereotyped out-group depictions	[ "Ethnic minorities", "Discrimination", "Issue involvement", "Perceived offensiveness", "Stereotype", "Sympathy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this issue.\nIntroduction: Companies have long used branding elements (i.e. imagery and/or names) derived from ethnic stereotypes. Native American (hereafter referred to as \"NA\") imagery and names have long been associated with teams (e.g. Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, Cleveland Indians, Florida State Seminoles and Washington Redskins) and as identifiers for brands (e.g. Eskimo Pies, Indian Motorcycles, the Land O' Lakes' maiden, Red Man Tobacco). In addition, media/entertainment outlets often depict NAs in a stereotypical manner (e.g. Caucasian actress Michelle Williams stylized as a NA for a 2013 AnOther Magazine cover, Caucasian actor Johnny Depp portraying Tonto in Disney's 2013 Lone Ranger movie). However, stereotypical depictions are not limited to NAs. Many brands (e.g. Aunt Jemima, Cream of Wheat, Uncle Ben; see Strausbaugh, 2006) continue to use iconography grounded in African-American stereotypes, even though some branding elements have been updated over time to minimize the potential of being perceived as overtly offensive. Further, Asian Americans are routinely stereotyped in advertising as \"model minorities\" that are technologically savvy and well assimilated. Rarely is this group depicted in familial or other social contexts (Farhi, 2011; Taylor et al., 2005; Taylor and Lee, 1994; Taylor and Stern, 1997).\nLiterature and research objective: Perceived discrimination can have lasting effects on individuals. Discriminatory acts dehumanize, subjugate (Goff et al., 2008) and provide social identity threat to minorities by framing aspects of their social group as less desirable (Steele and Aronson, 1995; Tajfel and Turner, 1986; White and Argo, 2009). In particular, research has shown that ethnic discrimination has specific deleterious effects on targeted individuals, acting as a stressor impacting physiological and psychological health (Brown et al., 2000; Feagin, 1991; Mossakowski, 2003; Pascoe and Richman, 2009; Sellers and Shelton, 2003; Williams et al., 2003). Continually experiencing instances of ethnic discrimination may also induce minorities to perceive their ethnicity as chronically salient (Paolini et al., 2010), and numerous exposures to discrimination may make minorities hypersensitive to perceiving offensiveness in ethnicity related stimuli (Contrada et al., 2000; Feldman Barrett and Swim, 1998).\nStudy 1: For this experiment, data were collected in two separate phases. Participants received course credit. During the first collection, 148 undergraduate participants at a university in southern USA reported their gender and ethnicity, and they responded to a 5-point, ten-item measure of perceived day-to-day discrimination (Appendix for items; 1 = never to 5 = all of the time; adapted from Krieger et al., 2005; Williams et al., 1997, a = 0.889). Perceived discrimination items were averaged and mean centered.\nResults and discussion: Exploratory factor analysis with a direct oblimin rotation yielded three factors explaining 63.27 per cent of the variance (i.e. 1 = \"non-ethnic names combined with an alphabetic logo\", 2 = \"ethnic names combined with a caricatured logo [overt depictions]\", and 3 = \"ethnic names combined with an alphabetic logo [subtle depictions]\"; Table I). Factors with three or more items and items whose loadings' absolute value was greater than 0.50 were retained for a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The CFA supported a model with the three identified factors (kh2(149) = 310.349, p < 0.001, SRMR = 0.073, CFI = 0.903, RMSEA = 0.096). All factors exhibited satisfactory convergent validity because of their average variances extracted (AVE) being greater than 0.5 (AVE\nStudy 2: In Study 2, stimuli manipulation included differences in logo type (NA caricature [Washington Redskins current \"Indianhead\" logo] versus NA symbol [Washington Redskins \"arrowhead\" logo circa 1965]). Logos were paired with the names \"Redskins\" or \"Warriors\" producing a 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design. \"Redskins\" was used because of its specific ethnic connotations. \"Warriors\" was used because it can be tied to NAs and several other categories (e.g. military, athletes). However, here the imagery tied to the \"Warrior\" name may frame the term as contextually NA.\nResults and discussion: Given our condition sample sizes (i.e. all N < 30), we initially used a Kruskal-Wallis test to identify potential group differences in measured variables because of any one of the four logo type/name combinations. No significant group differences were identified (H\nGeneral discussion and implications: Beyond acting as a stressor for minorities, this research supports the notion that as non-depicted minorities perceive being more affected by ethnic discrimination they perceive more offensiveness in overt stereotypical depictions of out-group minorities. This heightened recognition of offensiveness tied to overt out-group depictions and/or symbolism arises as these non-depicted minorities develop a sense of sympathy for out-group minorities. These findings support the tenets of the CIIM where individuals come to perceive a shared fate with, and closeness to, minorities outside their ethnic in-group. These findings also add to the literature because they show that as individuals begin to feel closeness to an out-group, they may become vigilant in identifying overt social identity threats to that out-group. However, there seems to be less likelihood to recognize an out-group social threat as offensive if the depiction were presented in a subtle manner. This does not preclude the possibility of an out-group teaching individuals why a subtle depiction or symbol is detrimental, with the goal of recruiting allies to their cause.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the effects of minorities' who experienced discrimination on perceptions of offensiveness tied to brand imagery that stereotypically depicts other minorities classified as out-group members.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Study 1 utilizes factor analysis to develop dependent variables, and a path analysis to model relationships between the focal independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DVs). Study 2 uses an experimental approach analyzing data with ANOVA and bootstrapping methodologies.\nFindings: Minorities who report experiencing more discrimination perceive more offensiveness tied to branding containing overt stereotypical depictions of out-groups. This effect is mediated through a perceived sympathy for the out-group. However, while some minorities perceive these branded logos as relatively more offensive, minorities, as a group, do not perceive these stereotyped logos as overly offensive.\nResearch limitations/implications: Minorities not depicted in or alluded to in stereotypical imagery associated with a brand may be a valuable consumptive bloc that can be recruited to oppose such uses of stereotypes. This research highlights that any sympathy that these minorities report holding for depicted minority groups may be important to future targeted communications. Brand managers may need to aggressively defend the brand against negative attributions derived from non-depicted minorities' felt sympathy. Depicted minorities fighting to remove stereotypical imagery in brands may be able to leverage non-depicted minorities' expressed sympathy to form coalitions. Depicted minorities' communications, however, may need to increase issue relevance to non-depicted minorities.\nOriginality/value: This research explores how non-affected groups perceive stereotypes infused in branding. It demonstrates that, depending on past experiences, these individuals may defend against a perceived social threat targeted at a societal out-group.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Decoding fashion advertising symbolism in masstige and luxury brands	[ "Fashion", "Semiotics", "Luxury", "Masstige" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Luxury fashion retailers are well known as the most prolific sector in the global retail business (Amatulli and Guido, 2012). Researchers acknowledge the importance of understanding values associated with luxury fashion brands because such an understanding helps retailers build their own retail brand identity, image and personality; moreover, it helps create a retail strategy as a unique selling proposition (Dion and Arnould, 2011; Ko and Megehee, 2012). This paper explores the values associated with luxury and masstige fashion brands with a strong, yet differentiated retail presence, through their advertising messages. While there has been considerable research into luxury fashion brands (Ko and Megehee, 2012), research into masstige (mass-prestige) fashion brands is scarce. This research seeks to expand an understanding of differences and commonalities of implicit values depending on the different levels of luxury fashion market.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Luxury brands and their values\n3. Method: 3.1 Semiotics analysis\n4. Results: A semiotic analysis of the researchers' own interpretation, along with interpretations drawn from online fashion blogs, was integrated into the research results. The frequencies of implicit values in all of the advertisements were calculated and summarized (see Table I). Only those brand values extracted more than three times from all advertisements were analyzed to make comparisons for common vs distinct values akin to that brand type (i.e. masstige or luxury), and a comprehensive framework was created in Figure 1. Values in italics below represent those values more likely to be linked to either luxury or masstige Brands, and not shared by both. The common underlying implicit values across luxury and masstige brand advertisements include exclusivity, sophistication, authenticity, accomplishment, and pride. The common themes more akin to the luxury brand advertisements include heritage, timelessness and aesthetic pleasure. The symbolic meanings and themes that are more likely to be linked to masstige brand advertisements are seasonality, sexuality and a sense of renewal.\n5. Conclusion and implications: This research analyzed masstige brand advertising in relation to luxury brand advertising to identify common and unique themes for each. First, five common, implicit advertising cues were identified as shared by luxury and masstige brands: exclusivity, authenticity, sophistication, accomplishment and pride. These cues signify higher-order hedonic and social needs that both brand types aim to satisfy.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to advance the theory and practice of luxury and masstige brand advertising effectiveness by decoding symbolism imbedded in fashion advertising.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research employs a semiotic analysis of masstige brand advertising to discover those messages and themes that emerge and that communicate masstige values.\nFindings: The research identifies identitary values that are exclusive to masstige brands, and those they share with luxury brands.\nResearch limitations/implications: The purpose of this research is not to make generalizations; rather, its purpose is to offer insights into those themes that define luxury and masstige brand identitary values.\nPractical implications: The research provides insights into the key identifiers, which may inspire further research and provide marketing insights for the operation management in luxury fashion.\nOriginality/value: The research contributes to luxury and masstige retail brand research by identifying the symbolic meaning of luxury advertising.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Factors important for the selection of fast food restaurants: an empirical study across three cities of Pakistan	[ "Services marketing", "Customer preferences", "Customer behaviour", "Fast food", "Restaurants", "Culture", "Consumer behaviour", "Pakistan", "Service operations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Continuous study of customer behaviour and perceptions is very important in order to respond efficiently to a changing market environment. The studies by Jones et al. (2002), Bukari and Aziz (2009) and Qin and Prybutok (2009) examined customers' behaviour towards fast food. To manage and deliver customer service in a better way, understanding of customer choices and priorities is essential. It is a common assertion among management and marketing theorists that customer service quality is essential to business success (Kristensen et al., 1992; Zeithaml et al., 1996; McColl-Kennedy and Schneider, 2000). Delivering superior service quality leads towards higher returns as compared to others (Aaker and Jacobson, 1994).Economic, environmental and social developments and issues are putting increasingly varied and complex pressures on rural areas in many countries (Hall et al., 2003). Following the global trend, the service sector is also growing in Pakistan. The contribution of the services sector to the growth of Pakistan's GDP has been more than 50 per cent in recent years. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2008-2009, Pakistan has also seen a major transformation in its economic structure, and the share of the service sector was 53.8 per cent. The service sector grew by 3.6 per cent against a target of 6.1 per cent and an actual outcome of 6.6 per cent. The service sector has been an important contributor to Pakistan's economic growth over the past five years by growing at an average of 6.6 per cent annually since 2003-2004. The sub-sectors that contribute most to the service sector include retail trade, wholesale trade, research and educational consultancy services, restaurants and hotels, financial, construction, and some business services. In Pakistan, there is a growing trend for fast food restaurants. Food services have been among the major recipients of foreign investment worth around $US492m (SMEDA, 2006). The percentage contribution of fast food restaurants and hotels is also augmented by the contribution to overall employment in Pakistan. Restaurants and hotels comprise approximately 15 per cent of total employment in Pakistan (Economic Survey, 2008). Huge FDI and significant employment of labour clearly depicts a greater contribution to the service sector of the Pakistan economy.In a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (2004), in the section \"Food and Drinks Forecast Asia and Australia\", it is identified that demand is gradually shifting from unprocessed to processed foods. Total retail sales of processed foods amounted to $US1.1bn in 2000. Diet foods are growing in popularity due to rising health consciousness, while fast foods are also becoming popular, especially with younger people. This growth is also evident from the growth of McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Express and many other fast food companies in Pakistan. Fast food chains such as Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, McDonald's, Domino's, KFC and Subway are doing well in Pakistan with a simple strategy of expansion and profits. With the advent of globalisation, Asian eating habits are changing to emulate those of the West, and this is why the consumption of fast food is also on the rise (SMEDA, 2006). Multinational organisations (like McDonalds and other fast food chains) should find out how they should adjust their entire marketing strategy, including how they sell and distribute, in order to fit in with the demands of new markets (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 1995).Pakistan has a population of above 180 million, with a growing middle-class. Approximately one quarter of the total population represents the potential market for fast food, and interestingly it is also rising due to increased affordability. The success of international fast food chains such as McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Pizza Express, Subway and others clearly validates the increased desirability of fast food in Pakistan (Austrade, 2009). Understanding the customer perceptions of service quality and value is especially important to international service firms because such perceptions are susceptible to cultural differences (Lee and Ulgado, 1997). Pakistan's diversity is amazing, not only from the geographical point of view but also from cultural and lingual perspective and a lot more research is needed to know more about the local perspective as it is not yet fully studied (Parekh, 2010). In today's ever-increasing globalisation of services and brands, service-oriented businesses need to attend to the satisfaction of their customers both domestically and abroad while transcending unique cultural differences (Gilbert et al., 2004). Consumer satisfaction and its determinants are measured in both perspectives; one nation and across nations. Studies measured customer satisfaction of various countries (Anderson et al., 1996; Fornell et al., 1996; Dermanov and Eklof, 2001; Gilbert et al., 2004; Goyal and Singh, 2007). Studies also compared and analysed customers across the countries and cultures (Lee and Ulgado, 1997; Espinoza, 1999; Gilbert et al., 2004; Gilbert et al., 2004; Cunningham et al., 2006). These researchers studied customer behaviour in fast food but questioned whether there were differences in consumer choices in different cities (in the same country); this still needs to be answered. More specifically, objectives of this study are:* to analyse customer behaviour towards fast food across different cities in Pakistan;* to identify the important factors used by customers in the selection of fast food restaurants; and* to study the differences/similarities in important factors considered by customers in different cities for the selection of fast food restaurants.\n2. Literature review: The fast food market is defined as the sale of food and drinks for immediate consumption either on the premises or in designated eating areas shared with other food service operators, or for consumption elsewhere (Datamonitor, 2009). Most fast food consumers seem to place a greater importance on the quality of a service (value menus) than they do on the costs associated with its acquisition (food only). Marketers need to emphasise the importance of service quality as an operational tactic and strategic objective. Researchers should also understand that service quality is an important decision-making criterion for service consumers (Cronin et al., 2000). The behaviour of the consumer is not always the same - it varies from time to time and from person to person. Rapid economic and income growth, urbanisation, and globalisation are leading to a dramatic shift of Asian diets away from staples and increasingly towards livestock and dairy products, vegetables and fruit, and fats and oils (Pingali, 2007). Differences also occur while customers experience goods and services, because each experience is derived from the interaction between the staged event and the individual's prior expectations (Pine and Gilmore, 1999). Marketers should now focus on providing memorable experiences to their customers because it matters most (Pine and Gilmore, 1999).Fast-food marketers should understand consumers' perceptions and preferences for fast-food outlets and how they differ across cultures/countries, so that strategies can be tailored to improve perceptions of their restaurants and to increase demand (Kara et al., 1995). Differences in perceptions can be observed between the consumers in the different cities of a country (Liu et al., 2007). Fast food restaurants should deliver a mix of services and products that engage customers at an individual level and convert a visit into a memorable event. Commodities are fungible, goods tangible, services intangible, and experiences memorable (Pine and Gilmore, 1999).Customers select a restaurant on the basis of a number of factors. A number of studies have suggested various factors that customers consider important for the selection of fast food outlet. Studies relevant to the objectives of this study have been incorporated in the discussion. Studies with application of models like SERVQUAL, etc., were neither the part of discussion nor the study because focus of these studies was service quality not the selection of fast food restaurants.\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Discussion of factors\n4. Results: 4.1 Analysis of customers' profile\n5. Discussion: In descriptive statistics, it is shown that more than 70 per cent of customers in all three cities visit fast food restaurants one to three times in a week. Most customers enjoy eating at restaurants with their friends and family, which suggests that eating at a fast food outlet is enjoyed collectively as an event. Customers go to fast food restaurants for a change in taste and for an outing. The majority of customers spend around 1,000 rupees in a week. As regards customer choice, KFC (maybe because of its penetration in the market and attractive promotional offers) was found to be in top position in all cities and also overall in a leading position, followed by Pizza Hut. Although Pizza Hut is not available everywhere, its high ranking can be justified by its diffusion in customers' minds through advertisements and promotion on satellite TV and cable (Austrade, 2009). Customers from all cities gave high importance to price, timely service and promotional deals/offers when selecting the restaurants for an outing and for a change in taste along with their friends and family, while customers in cities B and C were found to be more variety-seeking. Customers in city A go to restaurants that have better image; therefore these restaurants should be advertised differently in different regions. Although the differences were not found to be significant (as the results of the ANOVA showed) for all factors, descriptive statistics and the results of factor analysis justify the differences in consumers' priorities regarding factors across the cities. Dixon (2003) also does not recommend accepting or rejecting results only on the basis of p-value.\n6. Conclusion and managerial implications: The motivations of customers regarding fast food were a change of taste and having fun. From the marketing point of view, restaurants should improve their taste and ambience so that customers can have memorable experiences. Marketers need to emphasise and carefully consider key points in strategy formulation like affordability in designing their pricing strategy, service timings in service blueprints, variety in menus, image in positioning strategy and promotional mix in promotional strategies (Kara et al., 1995) because customers are price sensitive. These findings are found to be consistent with findings of Aziz and Bukhari (2009). This will help them to provide memorable experiences (in fast food restaurants) because it matters most (Pine and Gilmore, 1999). In addition, as companies are expanding in the global economy, they need to understand the cultures in which they are competing and their associated diversity so that their products and services satisfy the preferences of their new consumers (Gilbert et al., 2004). Altering and adjusting the marketing mix determinants are essential and vital to suit local tastes, and to meet special needs and customers' non-identical requirements (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 1995). Customers were observed to be price- and time-concious and also to be more inclined towards attractive promotional deals/offers. This also confirms the importance of these factors in decision making and strategy formulation. Differences were observed in the context of image and variety of food. Customers from cities B and C (Lahore and Gujranwala) were more variety concious, whereas customers of city A (Islamabad) were more image concious. So managers need to be aware of the differences in the priorities of customers (Lee and Ulgado, 1997) when entering into a new market and also in developing strategies at national level with a local touch.\n7. Future research and limitations: Overall, the results were reliable as Cronbach's a showed an acceptable value. However, in future research some individual items could be re-examined and modified or completely changed because the Cronbach's a value was found to be a little lower (Santos, 1999). This research has investigated only customers in fast food restaurants, so further generalisability of the findings could be made only to the same sector and not all service sectors. Differences in customers' choices and priorities can also be validated by conducting future studies in other service sectors, such as telecommunications, banking, advertising, consulting and others. The sample was limited to university students in three cities in Pakistan; other customer segments and geographical areas could also be included in future studies. Further research could also investigate other culturally diverse countries like India and other Asian countries. Future research could also include other metropolitan cities like Karachi, Peshawar and others. Research could also be undertaken to determine whether customers perceive and have expectations of products/goods in a different or a similar fashion (as observed in this study).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - There are different factors that affect customers' experiences at restaurants, and this could lead towards the selection or rejection of a fast food restaurant. The primary purpose of this study is to explore the factors that are important for the selection of restaurants and also to identify the cultural or regional differences in consumer behaviours amongst student customers in relation to international fast food restaurants.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A total of 447 questionnaires were randomly distributed among university students of three cities. Data analysis was done in SPSS Version 17. Important factors were identified by factor analysis and ANOVA was used to measure the differences (among cities).\nFindings: - According to the findings, customers considered price, variety of food, promotional deals and timely service as the important factors for the selection of fast food restaurants. Different factors were found in different cities. This implies that the choice and selection criteria of customers from different cities in the same country for fast food restaurants may vary.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The results of this study should only be generalised to the fast food sector as the research only explored the fast food industry. The respondents were selected only from university students of three cities in Pakistan. Other customer segments and geographical areas should be included in future studies.\nPractical implications: - The results enable marketers to focus on key points in formulating different strategies, like designing the pricing strategy, the service blueprint, the menu, and positioning and promotional strategies, so that they can provide memorable experiences to customers. The findings also suggest that while operating in multicultural countries, customers need to observe closely. Also, adaptation to local cultures should not be limited to the national level; it should also be tailored to the regional level (cities).\nOriginality/value: - This paper puts forward the selection criteria for fast food restaurants in a large and ethnically diverse country like Pakistan. The paper also provides useful information for both academicians and marketers about new and emerging areas in how consumer choices vary in culturally diverse nations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A classification model for prediction of clinical severity level using qSOFA medical score	[ "Statistical analysis", "Clinical severity level", "Medical score", "QSOFA", "Ensemble multi-label classifier" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The emergency department (ED) necessitates intensely ill patients of essential, lifesaving treatments. Increase in the number of casualty visits to ED has led to overcrowding and delay in providing the necessary medical attention and care. EDs often have a number of staff compared to other hospital units. However, real-world limitations restrict the number of nurses and doctors attending to the patients in the ED. The ED is a mainly challenging environment because each patient's severity of illness is constantly changing, subsequently leading to increased mortality, morbidity and poor process measures across the clinical conditions. Delay in care turns critically ill patients more vulnerable, and their health deteriorates. At the ED, the triage procedure is used to identify the medical condition of the ill patients and decide on further medical treatment based on the severity of their condition. Accurate triage process must be maintained at EDs to quickly identify and prioritize patients so that critical patients are given more priority compared to the patients with less urgency. Even though the triage is a simple process, it is challenging because of the limited time and limited information, and it completely relies upon one's perception.\n2. Literature review: Sadeghi et al. (2018) proposed mortality prediction model using 12 features extracted from the ECG signal. The study showed that random forest performs better than other classifiers. The study reveals that ECG can be used to predict the mortality of the patient in ICU.\n3. Methodology and implementation: This section discusses the construction of the training dataset and the supporting techniques used for developing the patient's clinical severity level prediction model using qSOFA medical score. The severity level prediction model is built using neural network-based MLC and ensemble MLC RAkEL. The training dataset is constructed using vital signs, demographics, medical score values, correlation and statistical values of the features. Each feature vector has a corresponding label vector with four labels, each label corresponding to the qSOFA criteria given in Table I which identifies the clinical severity level of the patient. According to medical knowledge, each vital sign has a normality range and clinical abnormality events. Clinical events are when vital sign value is not in the expected range. Based on the qSOFA scoring system, we intended to predict four different levels (three levels of severity and one normal level) of clinical severity in advance which is shown in Table I. The table shows the criteria used by the qSOFA scoring system, where the qSOFA scores range from 3 to 0, with scores of 2 indicative of high risk for mortality and 0 being normal. The training dataset for the prediction is constructed using the instances which exist prior to the occurrence of the mentioned qSOFA severity level. In our experiment, four different prediction models are developed by considering two different feature vectors over two different multi-label algorithms. Finally, using statistical two-way ANOVA analysis, it is shown that the consideration of a different set of features and the different multi-label algorithms has a significant effect on the accuracy of the prediction model.\n4. Conclusion: The presented decision support system predicts the clinical severity level of the patient in 1 h advance based on the qSOFA medical score system. Using the k-means technique, we claim that the occurrence of a severity risk level change episode depends on the sequence of immediate past data of that event. We have proved the advantage of using different medical scores and their correlation as a feature in severity risk level prediction and showed that ensemble-based multi-label RAkEL outperforms the neural network-based classifier. The proposed work is a valuable contribution to the health-care industries as they are struggling to prioritize and monitor a large number of the patient at ED or ICU.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop an efficient prediction model using vital signs and standard medical score systems, which predicts the clinical severity level of the patient in advance based on the quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) medical score method.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To predict the clinical severity level of the patient in advance, the authors have formulated a training dataset that is constructed based on the qSOFA medical score method. Further, along with the multiple vital signs, different standard medical scores and their correlation features are used to build and improve the accuracy of the prediction model. It is made sure that the constructed training set is suitable for the severity level prediction because the formulated dataset has different clusters each corresponding to different severity levels according to qSOFA score.\nFindings: From the experimental result, it is found that the inclusion of the standard medical scores and their correlation along with multiple vital signs improves the accuracy of the clinical severity level prediction model. In addition, the authors showed that the training dataset formulated from the temporal data (which includes vital signs and medical scores) based on the qSOFA medical scoring system has the clusters which correspond to each severity level in qSOFA score. Finally, it is found that RAndom k-labELsets multi-label classification performs better prediction of severity level compared to neural network-based multi-label classification.\nOriginality/value: This paper helps in identifying patient' clinical status.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Gender, space and identity: Male cabin crew and service work	[ "Gender", "Space", "Intersectionality", "Cabin crew" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In this paper, I explore the intersection of gender, sexuality and occupation through a study of male cabin crew and service work. In particular I focus on how male cabin crew mobilize and utilize space, as they construct and manage their identity. The paper is based on a talk I gave to the Gender in Management and Identity Special Interest Groups of the British Academy of Management, a joint research seminar entitled \"Exploring Intersectionality of Gender and Identity\", in May 2012. The presentation title was \"Gender, Space and Identity: Male Cabin Crew and Service Work\" and drew on a larger project I had been working on for some time on the career experiences of men in non-traditional \"feminized\" occupations (see Simpson, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2011). Space was not something I necessarily set out to look at in my research, but it emerged as central to understanding the work of male cabin crew in particular and how they managed the potential mismatch between (masculine) gender and (feminized) occupational identity.\nGender, identity and service work: The work of cabin crew can be described as \"paraprofessional\" service in the sense that management largely dictates how the service is carried out. There is a wealth of literature that has pointed to the low status of service work as well as the cultural connections with femininity and domesticity - so there is often an incongruity when such service work is performed by men. This is exacerbated by the fact that interactive service workers are increasingly asked to \"inhabit\" the job - so cabin crew are expected to feel the smile, not just look it, but to feel it as Hochschild's (1983) work on emotional labour suggests. This means that personal characteristics, such as gender as well as age, sexuality, appearance are integral to how the service is likely to be valued and how it is received.\nIdentity, space and gender: So how is space implicated in these identity processes - in how the service interaction may impinge on subjectivity and the ways in which this may be managed or resisted? Here, I see identity as process, along the lines of post-structuralist accounts, rather than as stable or fixed, allowing recognition of space as integral to identity management and negotiations. Individuals therefore \"do\" or \"manage\" identity through time and space - through, for example, speech, dress, narrative and body performances.\nIdentity, space and power: Following this, my presentation was concerned with looking at the interrelations or intersectionality between identity, space and power. The meanings attached to space (e.g. around gender and sexuality) referred to above are hierarchically arranged, with some afforded higher cultural value than others. Spaces accordingly exist in hierarchical relations with other spaces and are implicated in dynamics of power. For example, I have just moved into a new building on campus where the senior management is located, perhaps unsurprisingly, in larger offices on the top floor, while the rest of the staff are in small offices or open-plan lower down. This is a common arrangement in organizations whereby senior personnel are spatially separate and located physically, as well as symbolically, \"above\" other personnel. So spaces are hierarchical and carry meanings that are infused with power.\nCabin crew and space: Against this background, my presentation was concerned with how men in the feminized context of a paraprofessional service role, such as flight attendance, utilize the resources of space to manage their identity. I drew on a project where I had conducted interviews with 17 cabin crew from 5 different airlines in airports in the South East of England. The crew worked in a mixture of short-haul, low-cost and long-haul global carriers. Men were all aged < 35 years. Nine identified themselves, without prompting, as homosexual. However, irrespective of actual sexual orientation, sexuality was a key focus of concern for crew, in that men were routinely assumed (by members of the public, by peers) to be gay. Sexuality was therefore something they had to deal with in their day-to-day interactions on board the aircraft.\nShifting gendered meanings within the aisle: The aisle is a key space within the cabin, as it is where most of the movement within the craft, including safety checks and service, take place. As we have seen, this can be seen as a largely \"feminine\" space through its association with domesticity and female heterosexuality. It is also a highly visible space in that crew work under the often appraising (patriarchal, heteronormative) gaze of passengers. However, gendered meanings attached to the aisle could shift with the practices occurring within it. These practices are related partly to the nature and extent of physical movement and to the maintenance of safety within the craft.\nSpace as sites of resistance: Second, spaces could be seen as sites of resistance. Here, we are referring to resistance at the micro-political level where there is a tension between the individual notion of self and the subjectivity offered by the dominant discourse - e.g. discourses of consumer sovereignty and practices of deference may have negative implications for subjectivity. As we have seen, the galley is a space specific to crew (and largely inaccessible to passengers) and a site for identity repair work. The time pressures on the completion of service, particularly on short-haul flights, together with high levels of visibility in the aisles rules out supportive, as opposed to purely instrumental, exchanges among the crew - creating an imperative for off-stage regions as a retreat. The exclusivity of this space was made concrete by an emphatically closed curtain:\nBodies and space: As Lefebvre (1991) argues conceptions of body and space are inseparable. Individuals move through and occupy space with their bodies and in relationship to other bodies - so space is brought into being through these body performances. In this respect, crew are highly visible in the aisle as they walk up and down. Further, they embody the company in that airlines need to present a particular professional \"face\". This has implications for aesthetic codes of body management and with corporeal dispositions that express friendly and helpful service. The crew made frequent references to the importance of a smart, clean appearance and welcoming manner. These aesthetic codes were also symbolic of the glamour of aviation, adventure and travel. Men generally gained pleasure from visibility and from body performances (\"I love it, I'm like that, bring it on!\") both inside the aircraft and in the airport terminal:\nConclusion: This paper has highlighted how men in a feminized paraprofessional service role negotiate masculine subjectivities within and through space and how gendered meanings attached to space can impress on and both challenge and be challenged by the performances and subjectivities of individuals within them. This points to the performative nature of space in terms of, first, its relational and hierarchical nature. Here, activities and subjectivities of the crew, moving rapidly in a \"space without place\" at 30,000 feet, can be seen to articulate broader power relations below. These relate, for example, to discourses of consumer sovereignty and gender - which are manifest in the practices and power relations of the on-board service encounter as well in embodied performances and a \"gaze\" that is founded on conventional notions of masculinity, femininity and sexuality. Equally, we have seen how the \"feminized\" space of the cabin, the site for consumption, service and entertainment, is positioned hierarchically (and for male crew often problematically) against the \"masculine\" expert and technological space of the flight deck. Spaces are thus separate yet, as Gregson and Rose (2000) point out, also \"threatened, contaminated, stained and enriched\" by other spaces.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the intersection of gender, sexuality and occupation and to analyse how male cabin crew utilize space in managing gender identity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper draws on a project where interviews were conducted with 17 male cabin crew, all aged < 35 years, from 5 different airlines in airports in the South East of England. The crew worked in a mixture of short-haul, low-cost and long-haul global carriers.\nFindings: The paper shows how men in a feminized service role negotiate masculine subjectivities within and through space and how gendered meanings attached to space can impress on and both challenge and be challenged by the performances and subjectivities of individuals within them.\nResearch limitations/implications: The findings on which the paper is based surface the diverse challenges facing men in non-traditional roles - an area that would profit from further research in different contexts. Further, the findings have implications for work-based practices and employee relations within a paraprofessional service role.\nOriginality/value: The paper adds to the understanding of how gender and identity intersect as well as to how space, seen as both gendered and gendering, is implicated in the processes involved.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Public service motivation, prosocial behaviours, and career ambitions	[ "Careers", "Human resource management", "Motivation (psychology)", "Education", "Social capital", "Public sector organizations" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Research on public service motivation (PSM) has grown considerably since Perry and Wise (1990) first coined the term. Scholars have begun to examine the behavioural impacts of PSM, but most use sector as a proxy (Brewer, 2003; Chen and Lee, 2015; Houston, 2006, 2008; Lee and Wilkins, 2011; Piatak, 2015). As a result, little attention has been paid to the direct link between PSM and prosocial behaviours or career ambition. In addition, the PSM dimensions remain understudied as Wright and Grant (2010) call for \"testing finer grained predictions about the independent and interactive effects of different dimensions of PSM identified by Perry (1996)\" (p. 697). The few existing studies examining the direct link between PSM and prosocial behaviours (Clerkin et al., 2009) and career ambitions (Clerkin and Coggburn, 2012) have been limited to samples of undergraduate students. Yet, PSM dimensions vary by context (i.e. Liu et al., 2008).\nLinking PSM to giving and volunteering: Since its conception, PSM has had an altruistic aspect (Perry and Wise, 1990). For example, the emphasis on altruism can be seen in scholars' definitions of PSM. Pandey et al. (2008) note: \"Rather than simply a theory of public employee motivation, PSM actually represents an individual's predisposition to enact altruistic or prosocial behaviors regardless of setting\" (p. 91). Similarly, Rainey and Steinbauer (1999) define PSM as \"a general altruistic motivation to serve the interests of a community of people, a state, a nation, or humankind\" (p. 23).\nLinking PSM to career ambitions: Perry and Wise (1990) asserted that \"the greater an individual's public service motivation, the more likely the individual will seek membership in a public organization\" (p. 370). As Wright and Grant (2010) argue, PSM theory tends to be used to support such statements, but confidence in these assertions is limited. Wright and Christensen (2010) find that a strong intrinsic motivation fails to predict the sector of lawyers' first jobs, but it increases the likelihood that future jobs will be in the public sector. In another study, Christensen and Wright (2011) find that individuals with higher levels of PSM were neither more nor less likely to join the public sector, but rather were more likely to accept jobs that emphasize service to others regardless of sector. This finding supports claims about the importance of the altruistic component of PSM (Brewer, 2003; Houston, 2006, 2008), but raises questions about the role of PSM in predicting job sector choices. Clerkin and Coggburn (2012) examine the relationship between PSM and job preferences among undergraduate students to find that PSM, especially the self-sacrifice dimension, is related to the attractiveness of working in the public and non-profit sector.\nHypotheses: This study examines the link between PSM and volunteering, giving, and career ambitions. Based on the altruistic aspect of public service, people with higher levels of PSM may be more likely to give charitable donations and volunteer. Both of these prosocial activities encompass the altruistic component of PSM as they embody helping others, serving the public interest, and self-sacrifice:\nData and methods: To test these hypotheses, this study draws upon graduate student responses to an original survey. Measuring PSM is complex (see Wright, 2008 for an overview of the challenges) and evolving (see Kim, 2009, 2011, for examples of recent work and Kim et al., 2013 for an example of recent efforts to develop an international PSM survey). This analysis examines different measures of PSM from an original survey to measure graduate students PSM using Perry's (1996) original 40-item survey questionnaire to measure the six dimensions of commitment to the public interest, civic duty, social justice, attraction to policymaking, compassion, and self-sacrifice.\nAnalysis and findings: PSM and volunteering\nConclusion and implications: In support of the basic premise of PSM theory, people with higher levels of PSM tend to be more likely to aspire to work in public service, broadly defined to include government and non-profits, in order to satisfy their motivation. However, no positive relationship was found between PSM and desire to work in the non-profit sector and only PSM measured by an index of Perry's (1996) 40-item survey seemed to increase the likelihood of students hoping to work in government. These findings also support the few studies that have begun to examine the impact of PSM (Clerkin et al., 2009) and public sector employment on prosocial behaviours (Chen and Lee, 2015; Houston, 2006, 2008; Piatak, 2015) respondents with higher levels of PSM are more likely to volunteer. However, findings were less consistent in terms of the relationship between PSM and giving; a significant positive impact resulted only for the PSM index of Perry's (1996) 40-item survey.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the behavioural consequences of public service motivation (PSM) and how motivation relates to an individual's call to serve both inside and outside of the workplace. More specifically, this study examines whether and how PSM relates to prosocial behaviours - volunteering and giving - and career ambitions to work in the government or non-profit sector among public affair graduate students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Logistic regression is used to examine the PSM link using a composite of the 40-item scale, each of the six dimensions - commitment to the public interest, civic duty, social justice, attraction to policymaking, compassion, and self-sacrifice - and the five-item scale from the Merit Principles Survey. The analyses draw upon data from a unique online survey of 122 graduate students in Master of Public Administration and Master of Public Policy programmes.\nFindings: The results indicate that people with higher levels of PSM are more likely to want to work in public service and volunteer. However, mixed results were found for the relationship between PSM and giving charitable donations and career ambitions to work in government and no link was found for career ambitions to work in the non-profit sector.\nOriginality/value: This paper answers calls to examine the dimensions of PSM and examines Perry's (1996) original conception. The results provide practical implications for human resource managers as well as non-profit and public managers in recruiting and retaining employees and volunteers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Examining potential benefits and challenges associated with the Internet of Things integration in supply chains	[ "Information technology", "Adoption", "Risks", "Technology", "Benefits", "Information management", "Challenges", "Supply chain management", "Internet of things (IoT)", "Value chain", "Supply chains" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Internet of Things (IoT) as a term has been around for about 20 years and it first appeared in 1999. The term was coined in the context of supply chain management (SCM) by Kevin Ashton who was working on a research project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AutoID lab to explore ways to improve business performance through linking the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology information to the internet (Gubbi et al., 2013). There is no common definition for the IoT but it simply relates to the integration of physical objects communicating with one another and through the internet to achieve some useful objectives (Botta et al., 2014; Whitmore et al., 2015; Wortmann and Fluchter, 2015).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Overview of the IoT\n3. Research methodology: 3.1 Instrument development\n4. Analysis and results: 4.1 Benefits to individual organizations\n5. Conclusions: 5.1 Conclusions and recommendations\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to have a huge impact on businesses and, especially, the way we think about supply chain management (SCM). However, there is still a paucity of studies on the impact of IoT adoption on supply chains and on different aspects of the business in general. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perception of the academic community of the impact of the IoT adoption in organizational supply chains with a view to verify potential key benefits and challenges existent in the literature. The research presents the impact on an organization along with the impact across its entire supply chain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected through the use of an online survey and 87 participants completed the survey. Participants were mainly from the academic community and were university scholars based in different countries located in six continents. Participants were authors, or co-authors, of academic papers published in the Decision Science Institute 2015 and 2016 annual conference proceedings, the 21st International Symposium of Sustainable Transport and Supply Chain Innovations, the Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 2016 issues, and the Operations and Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 2016 issues.\nFindings: The authors were able to confirm the significance of some of the examined potential benefits to individual organizations and their entire supply chains. However, the study identified other potential benefits that were not seen as a direct impact of IoT adoption. Most of the examined potential benefits were found to contribute to a number of critical success factors for implementing successful SCM. The authors were also able to confirm that some of the examined potential challenges were still perceived as key hinders to IoT adoption but examined potential challenges were not seen as hurdles to IoT adoption.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study of its kind. Although some literature attempted to provide an overview about the IoT management, no study has specifically explored potential benefits and challenges related to the adoption of IoT in supply chains and ranked them based on their significance. The results can be beneficial to academic scholars interested in the researched topic, business professionals, organizations within different sectors, and any other party interested in understanding more about the impact of adopting IoT on SCM.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Ninja Kitchen to the rescue: Evaluation of a food safety education game for middle school youth	[ "Video games", "Food safety", "Hygiene", "Individual behaviour", "Middle schools", "Attitudes", "Self‐efficacy", "Intentions", "Serious games", "Kitchen", "Cooking" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Middle school youth have increasing food preparation responsibilities and limited food safety knowledge (Byrd-Bredbenner et al., 2010). Although they are interested in learning about food safety, few food safety education programs have specifically targeted youth (Lichtenstein and Ludwig, 2010). Given that the most common jobs for youth are related to food service (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011) and that they are future family caregivers, middle school youth are important to target for food safety education (Haapala and Probart, 2004; Coulson, 2002; Endres et al., 2001; Larson et al., 2006; Neumark-Sztainer et al., 1999; Davich, 2002). An important challenge in reaching and engaging this age-group is that they want learning to be entertaining and it \"should not seem educational\" (Byrd-Bredbenner et al., 2010).\nMaterials and methods: Participants\nResults: A total of 1,387 middle schoolers participated in the study. Some participants (n=119) were deleted from the analysis because they had missing demographic data leaving a total of 1,268 participants who completed at least one of the test administrations. Many participants completed all three test administrations (33 percent) or at least two administrations (42.3 percent). Students were split evenly by gender (50 percent female). Most participants were from the northeastern US (79 percent) with the remainder from the southwestern US (21 percent). More than half of participants were in eighth grade with the remainder in sixth (26 percent) or seventh grade (15 percent). Participants were assigned to either the experimental (n=903; 71 percent) or control group (n=365; 29 percent). Comparisons between study groups revealed no significant differences in the proportion of girls and boys. However, study groups differed significantly in the proportions of each grade level and from the two school geographic regions. Participants in the control group were in lower grades and more likely to be from the northeast than the experimental group. To control for study group differences, analyses took into account gender, grade level, and school geographic region differences.Factor analysis confirmed the unidimensionality of items in each measure reflecting the psychographic characteristics and intended food safety behaviors. Reliability coefficients for all study instruments were acceptable (Table I).As shown in Table I, food safety knowledge was low with all participants answering about half the questions correctly at the pretest. After controlling for gender, grade level, and school geographic region, there were significant time (i.e. pretest, posttest, and follow-up test) by group effects for the safe cooking temperatures for animal proteins and danger zone hazard prevention scale scores. Post hoc statistical analysis revealed that after the experimental group played the video game (pretest to posttest), their knowledge of safe cooking temperatures for animal protein and danger zone hazard prevention increased significantly and remained elevated at follow-up. At the follow-up test, the control group's knowledge of danger zone hazard prevention increased significantly.When asked about usual food safety behaviors, most middle schoolers reported on the pretest that before making a snack, they washed their hands all or most of the time. They also indicated that they washed fruits and vegetables before eating them all or most of the time. There was a significant time by group effect in usual behaviors of washing fruit and vegetables before eating them. Specifically, the experimental group reported that they tended to perform these behaviors more frequently over the study period compared with the control group. Even though there was no significant time by group effect in usual behaviors of washing hands before making a snack, after the experimental group played the video game (pretest to postest), they were more significantly more likely to report that they washed their hands before making a snack. At the pretest, the value of learning about food safety scale score was high. There was no significant time by group effects in how middle schoolers felt about learning food safety. However, at the posttest both study groups were significantly more neutral about the value placed on learning about food safety.Pretest scores indicate that most middle schoolers were neutral about their perceived susceptibility to foodborne illness. Although there was not a significant time by group effect in susceptibility to foodborne illness perceptions, experimental group participants felt significantly greater threat or susceptibility to foodborne illness at the posttest and follow-up tests. Similar changes in susceptibility to foodborne illness perceptions did not occur in the control group overtime.An examination of the attitudes toward the importance of food safety scales revealed that there was no significant time by group. However, the experimental group students felt it was significantly more important to handle food safely and handwash after playing the video game, whereas these same changes did not occur in the control group. Both study groups placed significantly more importance on preventing danger zone hazards at the posttest and sustained these differences at the follow-up test.Middle schoolers felt confident in their ability to practice safe food handling as shown by high mean pretest scores on the food safety self-efficacy scales. There were no significant time by group effects for any of the food safety self-efficacy scales, however participants who played the video game had significant increases in handwashing, preventing cross contamination, and safe food handling self-efficacy at the posttest, whereas no significant changes occurred on these scales overtime in the control group. Both study groups' self-efficacy for preventing danger zone hazards increased significantly between the pretest, posttest, and follow-up tests.Participants had strong intentions to perform food safety behaviors at the time of the pretest. There was no significant time by group effects in middle schoolers' intentions to perform food safety behaviors. However, those who played the video game had significantly greater behavioral intentions to handle food safely and prevent danger zone hazards at the posttest, whereas these same changes did not occur in the control group.At the posttest, experimental group participants were asked about their use of the game. They indicated that they played the game an average of 3.7+-2.8SD times (range one to 12). Nearly three quarters of the participants reported reaching higher game levels (levels eight to 15). More than a third showed the game to friends and/or family members. Due to data collection technical difficulties, only a subset of experimental group participants (n=116) answered additional questions about the game. Approximately three-quarters of the subset agreed or strongly agreed that they liked the game and thought that it was fun. Approximately half agreed or strongly agreed that their friends would like playing the game and would benefit from learning the information in the game.Teachers all reported the game was useful for reinforcing students' food safety behaviors, specifically washing hands and cutting boards, as well as students' knowledge of safe cooking temperatures for protein foods. They felt the game helped create a positive learning environment where both teamwork and good-natured competition was observed between students as they tried to beat individual levels of play. Additionally, the teachers found the game was a good fit in their \"arsenal of tools\" for reinforcing concepts that were important to teach students before they began food preparation instruction. For example, the characters became part of class lectures and role-play. Teachers felt the repetition of action in the game was a fun way to help their students want to practice safe food handling as evidenced by their observations of students' checking each other's safe food handling practices when cooking together in class. Observations of students playing and talking about the game led all teachers to report that they would recommend the game to colleagues.\nDiscussion: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of an online food safety video game on middle schoolers' food safety knowledge, psychographic characteristics, and behaviors. Findings suggest that the food safety game was effective at increasing knowledge of safe cooking temperatures for animal proteins and procedures for preventing danger zone hazards. In addition, after playing the game, students felt they were more susceptible to foodborne illness, had stronger attitudes toward the importance of handling food safely and handwashing, and had greater confidence in their ability to practice safe food handling. These improvements in knowledge, susceptibility perceptions, attitudes, and self-efficacy coupled with the experimental groups' increase in frequency of usual food handling behaviors (i.e. washing their hands before preparing food and washing fresh produce before eating it) and greater intentions to practice handwashing and safe food handling behaviors, lend support to the usefulness of health belief model and theory of planned behavior in documenting effects of food safety education programming and findings of others (Mullan et al., 2013). Additionally, the changes in psychographic characteristics and behaviors are especially important given that the high pretest scores left little room for improvement. Most students and teachers found the game highly acceptable.Interestingly, the control group's knowledge of danger zone hazard prevention increased at the follow-up test and, like the experimental group, they had more positive attitudes toward preventing danger zone hazards and greater self-efficacy regarding danger zone hazard prevention at the posttest and follow-up test. Although the cause of these changes is unclear, it may be that exposure to danger zone concepts occurred inadvertently prior to the conclusion of the study in some control group classrooms.The increase in perceptions of susceptibility to foodborne illness that occurred after middle schoolers played the video game seems counterintuitive. However, research guided by the health belief model indicates that adherence to health protective behaviors is associated with greater perceived susceptibility (Champion and Skinner, 2008). Health behavior change theories and research also indicates that health protective behaviors are more likely to be practiced when self-efficacy for the behavior is high and attitudes toward the behavior are positive (Montano and Kasprzyk, 2008b; Mcalister et al., 2008; Strecher et al., 1986). Thus, the game had positive, but latent, effects on food handling practices of middle school youth.Over the course of the study, both study groups moved toward more neutral feelings in the value placed on learning about food safety. This could be a natural progression that occurred as the school marking period progressed and pressures to perform increased. Alternately, the increase in food safety knowledge and self-efficacy that occurred after playing the game may have diminished perceived needs to learn more about food safety. This phenomenon also has been observed in classroom-based nutrition education interventions (Byrd-Bredbenner et al., 1982, 1984).Other researchers have used video games to promote health behavior change in youth (Baranowski et al., 2008), with relatively good success at increasing their knowledge and attitudes (Thompson et al., 2007; Aoki et al., 2004; Baranowski et al., 2003). For example, intervention studies utilizing computer games to increase youth's self-efficacy and healthy nutrition practices increased their ability to request healthy foods at home and when eating out, as well as skills needed to prepare healthy foods (Baranowski et al., 2003, 2011; Thompson et al., 2010). However, participants in the intervention group who played the video games had few improvements in actual health behaviors (Baranowski et al., 2003). Behavior change is complex and typically occurs gradually; previously reported findings (Baranowski et al., 2003), along with those from the Ninja Kitchen game, suggests it is unreasonable to expect behavior change to occur from limited interactions with games alone (Guy et al., 2011). However, games and other forms of \"edutainment\", like the Ninja Kitchen game, shows promise in the ability to affect key determinants (i.e. knowledge, attitudes, and intended behaviors) that encourage and promote adoption of health protective behaviors (Montano and Kasprzyk, 2008b; Champion and Skinner, 2008; Mcalister et al., 2008).This is the first study of its kind to examine the effectiveness of a food safety video game that was specifically tailored to middle school youth. Indeed, as noted by others, few studies have focused on implementing and evaluating food safety education programs for consumers (Milton and Mullan, 2010) and fewer still have been guided by health behavior change models (Mullan and Wong, 2009). Findings suggest that the video game is an effective educational material acceptable to both youth and teachers. Given that students played the game an average of about four times (41 percent played the game only once), the game also appears to efficiently teach food safety concepts. The appeal of the game, as well as the interest of the students in playing, indicates strong potential for teaching content that many students may not be exposed to regularly. Though this research was conducted in a formal classroom, given the referral rate reported by participants, students who are not part of a formal classroom will likely play the game for the same length of time, learning the same content, even though they are not required to play. Indeed, a small exploratory study using the game in informal education with an after school group (n=9) revealed comparable findings to those reported here.As with all studies, it is important to consider findings in light of study limitations. First, some participants in both study groups did not complete study measures at all three time points which may have introduced statistical errors; however, linear mixed-effects models using maximum likelihood methods took this into account thereby limiting the chance for error (Fitzmaurice and Ravichandran, 2008; Chakraborty and Gu, 2009; Dempster et al., 1977). Additionally, it is not uncommon to have significant proportions of participants with missing data in these types of analyses (Ibrahim et al., 2012; Dempster et al., 1977; Ibrahim and Molenberghs, 2009) and previous research suggests that for studies with a high percentage of missing values, as found in this study, the mixed model approach without ad hoc imputation is the more powerful statistical approach to use compared with other methods (Chakraborty and Gu, 2009). Second, social desirability bias in food safety behaviors cannot be ruled out with regard to self-reported behaviors. However, the online survey format and the video game made it easy, convenient, and confidential for middle schoolers to participate and perhaps reduced the risk of social desirability (Kreuter et al., 2008). Third, the confines of the research situation and use of a convenience sample of middle schoolers from only two geographic regions may limit the generalizability of findings to the middle school population as a whole. Lastly, comparisons of middle school youth who played the video game more compared with those who played less was beyond the scope of this study, but worthwhile investigating in the future.Our understanding of foods' potential to harm rather than nourish or heal has been decreasing and foodborne illness has risen as a burden on public health (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). School health curricula and other food safety interventions targeted at youth have had limited effectiveness (Haapala and Probart, 2004). Other outlets are needed to reach youth that offer promise of promoting substantial food safety behavior changes. Using video games, such as Ninja Kitchen that promote positive food safety behaviors could capitalize on youth's pre-existing attention to and enjoyment of playing video games (Rideout et al., 2010). The Ninja Kitchen video game (freely available at: www.ninjakitchengame.org) is a unique tool that can help middle schoolers develop the cognitions needed to practice safe food handling and reduce the risk of foodborne illness.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of Ninja Kitchen, a food safety educational video game, on middle school students' food safety knowledge, psychographic characteristics, and usual and intended behaviors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The experimental group (n=903) completed the following activities about one week apart from each other: pretest, played the game, posttest, and follow-up test. The control group (n=365) completed the same activities at similar intervals but did not have access to the game until after the follow-up test.\nFindings: - Linear mixed-effects models, controlling for gender, grade, and geographic location revealed significant time by group effects for knowledge of safe cooking temperatures for animal proteins and danger zone hazard prevention, and usual produce washing behaviors. Pairwise comparisons, adjusted for multiple comparisons, indicated that after playing the game, the experimental group felt more susceptible to foodborne illness, had stronger attitudes toward the importance of handling food safely and handwashing, had greater confidence in their ability to practice safe food handling, and had greater intentions to practice handwashing and safe food handling. Teachers and students found the game highly acceptable.\nOriginality/value: - The game has the potential to promote positive food safety behaviors among youth, in a fun and educational format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Financing practices and preferences for micro and small firms	[ "Capital structure", "Micro and small firms", "Survey", "Greece", "Small to medium‐sized enterprises" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The growing recognition of the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to economies in the European Union (Commission of the European Communities, 2008) and the acknowledgement that SMEs are relatively financially constrained have resulted in a surge of interest in SME financing prior to and during the current financial turmoil.A major area of interest, from an academic and policy perspective, is analysis of the different types of finance that are used by SMEs, and their preferences. This subject is conventionally captured under the term \"capital structure theory\". The literature emphasises that the capital structure theory of large firms has very limited applicability to SMEs (Michaellas et al., 1999). There is substantial evidence that small firms have less access to formal sources of external finance (e.g. Beck and Demirguc-Kunt, 2006, Kuntchev et al., 2012 for developing economies). Beck et al. (2006) found that younger and smaller firms report higher financing obstacles, and in a later paper Beck et al. (2008) concluded that small firms use less external finance, especially bank finance.In terms of SMEs it is very difficult to generalise about capital structure issues because of the differing size of SMEs, nature of the firm, the external environment and context diversity. In particular, smaller firms (i.e. \"micro\" and \"small\" according to the EU definition of SMEs[1]) are more numerous and make a significant contribution to EU member state economies, but, as indicated above, are more constrained in raising external finance. The focus of this paper is on issues relating to the capital structure of micro and small firms in Greece, which has a higher proportion of these firms in the EU categorisation of SMEs, and is the first investigation of the financial issues of smaller SMEs in this member state. The study makes an important contribution to the literature and provides an important insight to policy makers and other small firm stakeholders concerned with enhancing the number of start-ups, the survival rate and growth of small firms in Greece; to the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no other survey-based research study regarding SMEs' access to finance in Greece. Additionally, by studying smaller firms within the SME definition, the findings should give a better understanding of the patterns of financing in other countries that have a similar landscape of smaller enterprises.The paper simultaneously addresses two important factors for small firm financing. Firstly, the literature to date relating to SME financing tends to focus on the traditional main external sources of capital for large enterprises, namely equity and debt. Although several authors acknowledge that small businesses are not \"scaled-down versions\" of large businesses (Cressy and Olofsson, 1997), when investigating the capital structure of SMEs, they focus on the very same sources used by large firms. The need to incorporate sources other than traditional financing sources in the financing pattern of SMEs was addressed by Beck et al. (2008). This paper gave consideration to distinct sources of funds that were found to be important to smaller firms. These included funds sourced from the family, trade credit, the various grants offered by government and other regional bodies, and micro-loans. This study considers most of these and other sources of finance in mapping the capital structure issues for smaller firms.The study also investigates the financing preferences of small firm owners. Respondents were asked how they would finance their investments and daily operations if they faced no barriers to accessing finance. The comparison of these preferences with their current sources of finance gave an important insight into the so-called \"SME finance gap\"[2]. Thus, the survey sheds light on how the entrepreneurs themselves evaluate various financing sources and the corresponding obstacles they face in to gaining access to those sources.The remainder of the paper is as follows. Section 2 briefly presents some background data on the European and the Greek SME sector; Section 3 provides a brief background of the financing patterns of micro and small firms. Section 4 presents the data and the methodology employed. Section 5 presents the empirical results, while section 6 concludes the paper.\n2. SMEs in Europe and Greece: As mentioned previously, SMEs represent 99 per cent of the total number of enterprises in Europe and employ 67 per cent of the total number of employees in the private sector. Table I presents interesting data on numbers and percentages of enterprises and employees for EU-27 and Greece for 2008. The data are divided into size groups based on the definition of the European Commission.Table I shows that there are 19 million micro firms in the EU-27, which account for 91.8 per cent of the total number of enterprises and provide jobs for 39.6 million people, namely, 29.7 per cent of total employment. With small firms added, they represent 98.7 per cent of the total number of firms and provide half the jobs. The Greek economy is based on micro and small firms with even larger figures in terms of total firm numbers and percentages. Specifically, in 2004[3] there were 902.631 firms operating in Greece, offering work to approximately two million people. The vast majority of the enterprises were micro firms (96.5 per cent), which offer work to almost 58 per cent of total persons employed, considerably higher than the corresponding 29.7 per cent in EU-27.To sum up, micro and small firms with up to 50 employees represent a very important area of the business economy. Their ability to create jobs, flexibility to adapt easily to the economic environment and endurance in unfavourable periods have been the subject of several studies in recent years. However, this is a vast area, as figures indicate, and an area to be further explored.\n3. Financing patterns for micro and small firms: Following previous research an appropriate starting point in exploring the theory of the financing of small and micro entities is through the traditional theories of the factors that determine capital structure of firms. A key to this theoretical framework is the consideration as to how the size of the business entity affects their financial structure. The influence of size has been investigated by a number of researchers from a large firm perspective (Marsh, 1982; Bennett and Donnelly, 1993; Rajan and Zingales, 1995; Panno, 2003; Ojah and Manrique, 2005; for Greece, Eriotis et al., 2007; Vasiliou et al., 2005) and a SME perspective (Kotey, 1999; Michaellas et al., 1999; Sogorb-Mira, 2005; Garcia-Teruel and Martinez-Solano, 2007; Hernandez-Canovas and Koetter-Kant, 2008; and specifically in the case of Greece, Daskalakis and Psillaki, 2008; Psillaki and Daskalakis, 2009). The analysis of the literature indicates that size does affect capital structure determination. Explanations for the differences in the capital structure due to the size of the enterprise have been identified in the literature (Pettit and Singer, 1985; Chittenden et al., 1996; Cressy and Olofsson, 1997; Jordan et al., 1998; Beck et al., 2008). The most influential explanations for the difference are:* the use of the debt tax shield;* asymmetric information; and* agency costs.The following paragraphs expand on these explanations.In the case of debt tax shields, Pettit and Singer (1985) have argued that tax considerations are of little importance for SMEs, particularly micro and small entities, as these firms are less likely to generate high profits and therefore less likely to benefit from using debt for tax shield reasons. Similar findings were derived from later research by Michaellas et al. (1999), who argued that tax considerations do not influence the debt level of SMEs. Small and micro firms are therefore unlikely to be influenced by tax considerations in the capital structure decision. Another dimension of debt tax shield is worth mentioning specifically for the Greek context, which refers to tax avoidance and evasion. For example, Matsaganis and Flevotomou (2010) conclude that income under-reporting for self-employed is estimated at 24 per cent, resulting in a 26 per cent shortfall in tax receipts. Thus, using debt for tax shield reasons is of an even lower importance for Greece.Regarding asymmetric information, the financing pattern implied by this approach is the well-known pecking order theory developed by Myers (1984) and Myers and Majluf (1984). Ang (1992), Holmes and Kent (1991), and Cosh and Hughes (1994) have emphasised that the pecking order theory can be detected in the choice of finance by SMEs. Specifically, small firms are often opaque and therefore bear high information costs per se (Psillaki, 1995). These costs (i.e. the information costs) can be considered nil for internal funds but are very high when issuing new capital whereas debt lies in an intermediate position through, for example, asset securitisation (Jobst, 2006). Small and micro firms, therefore, are expected to rely heavily on internal funds, use lower levels of debt and avoid external equity financing. The capability to control the enterprise without external interference is an important issue for owner-managers of SMEs. This is particularly the case when internal funds are insufficient: firms will prefer debt to new equity mainly because debt brings a lower level of intrusion and, more importantly, a reduced risk of losing control and decision-making power than a similar firm financed by equity.Agency costs, the costs of preventing agents (mangers) pursuing their own interest at the expense of their principals (e.g. shareholders) are not likely to be influential from a equity perspective in the case of SMEs. Invariably SMEs are owner managed and do not have access to equity markets. In the case of external debt taken on by SMEs, for example bank finance, agency costs may be particularly severe, mainly due to firm opaqueness (Van der Wijst, 1989; Ang, 1992).In summary, micro and small firms are expected to rely heavily on internal equity financing, avoid debt financing and use external equity financing as a last resort.\n4. Data and methodology: 4.1 Design\n5. Results and discussion: The results of the survey are separated into three sections. The first section analyses how small and micro firms finance themselves; the second section is devoted to how these firms would prefer to finance their operations and investments, and in the third section, how the firms evaluate the financing sources and their access to them. Each question is structured employing a Likert scale. The mean score is categorised as a measure of significance. The responses are separated into two groups using the following criteria:* whether the firm has an owner manger without any employees - this category is known as \"self-employed\", while those firms who have employees are known as \"employers\"; and* whether the respondent categorises the firm as adequately financed or not adequately financed.5.1 How do micro and small firms finance themselves?\n6. Conclusions: The paper investigates financing issues of micro and small firms (<50 employees). These firms represent 98.7 per cent of the total number of firms in Europe and provide half of the jobs (99.5 per cent and 75.3 per cent, respectively, in Greece). Despite their importance, there is limited knowledge as to their ability and preferences in accessing finance due primarily to data limitations. Micro and small firm financing differs from the typical financing pattern of large firms. The need to incorporate other sources in addition to the traditional financing sources in investigating the use and preferences of SMEs has been illustrated by a number of researchers including Beck et al. (2008). This paper considers these differences between traditional finance sources and those adopted by micro and small firms. Furthermore, in addition to the financing practices, the paper investigates financing preferences of small entrepreneurs, aiming to explore of any differences between what entrepreneurs do and what they would like to do if they faced no limitations.Concerning the research methodology followed, we conducted a survey study on a sample of Greek small and micro firms. The conclusions are based on the opinions of the respondents in a structured questionnaire, which consists of ten questions. The survey sampled Greek small and micro firms, which reflected the population of small and micro firms in Greece, according to their size and took into account regional considerations of the population of SMEs. The main conclusions of the survey are categorised into three distinct financing sources:1. equity financing;2. debt financing; and3. grant financing.In terms of equity financing, firms rely heavily on their own funds. These firms would not raise new equity from sources outside the family. Thus, there is reluctance in using new outside equity (venture capital, business angels, etc.). In the case of debt financing, firms noted that they would use more debt, specifically long-term debt, than they currently do. Thus, there are limitations in accessing long-term debt financing. The main finding in terms of grant financing, is that micro and small firms should be better informed and further encouraged to access state grants and co-financed programs (one third of the firms, i.e. 32.24 per cent, did not know of the funding bodies); thus, there seems to be an informational gap in grant financing.There is strong evidence from the findings that micro and small firms follow the pecking-order financing approach, which can be explained by the relatively high agency costs of debt and the fear of losing control in the case of external equity (funds outside the family). Furthermore, the tax-shield factor does not seem to influence financing practices. However, it should be noted that small entrepreneurs would use higher long-term debt levels than they currently do, implying difficulties in gaining access to this source of financing.The study covers a rather broad area of financing sources that could be further explored. For example, grant financing in micro firms could be explored further in terms of effectiveness. Further research could examine differences within the broad definition of SMEs, namely differences between micro, small and medium-sized firms. Industry and sector difference could also be investigated that would add to our knowledge of SME financing needs. The growing influence of small firms on the Greek and European economy[10] demands that a greater understanding of small firms and the way in which they are financed and their needs should be high on the research agenda. This paper, although limited in scope, contributes tries to address this lack of knowledge and understanding. Nevertheless, the area of small firms is vast, and small firms are indeed important. Thus, it is important to understand small firms on the same level that we already understand large firms.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aims of the paper are three-fold: first, to analyse how small and micro firms finance themselves; second, to investigate what their financing preferences are; and third, to explore their opinions on how they evaluate the financing sources and the various obstacles they face in accessing those sources.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper uses a sample of Greek small and micro firms, which cover 99.6 per cent of the total number of firms operating in Greece. The data are derived from the answers in a structured questionnaire.\nFindings: - The main conclusions are as follows. Regarding equity financing, firms rely heavily on their own funds and would not raise new equity from sources outside the family; thus, there is a reluctance to use new outside equity (venture capital, business angels, etc.). Regarding debt financing, firms denoted that they would use more debt, specifically long-term debt, than they currently do. Thus, there are limitations in accessing long-term debt financing. Regarding grant financing, micro and small firms should be better informed and encouraged more to participate in state grants and co-financed programs; thus, there is an informational gap in grant financing.\nOriginality/value: - The paper uses a sample of Greek micro and small firms and a survey methodology to tackle the lack of quantitative published data for most small firms in Greece. It incorporates distinct sources of funds that are very important for small firms (family funds, grants provided by the state and micro-loans). It investigates preferences, not just practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Collective norms of engagement link to individual engagement	[ "Multi-level analysis", "Engagement", "Group norms" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The concept of work engagement has been identified as a topic of \"wide-ranging interest\" (Sackett, 2008), which is not surprising in light of evidence that engaged employees have better well-being and undertake more positive work behaviors than those with low engagement (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007). Such evidence, and the theoretical basis on which it rests, is directed at the individual level of analysis. However, engagement at the group level (e.g. average workforce engagement) might also be important because of its potential to impact business success in increasingly competitive markets (Masson et al., 2008). Indeed, there is some empirical support for a link between aggregated levels of engagement with organizational outcomes. For example, Harter et al. (2002) found that the mean engagement within a business unit was associated with productivity, profit, turnover and accident rates of the unit. Others have linked organizational-level engagement to customer loyalty and service climate (Salanova et al., 2005) and to company growth and productivity (Kahn, 1992). Although such findings suggest that group- or organizational-level engagement is an important construct, little attention has been given to understanding the meaning of collective engagement. More work is therefore required to develop the theoretical and empirical justification for aggregating individual's engagement scores to form a group engagement score. The current study addresses this need by applying a theory of group norms to the conceptualization of aggregated engagement scores, with the aim of investigating whether \"engagement norms\" have an impact on individual engagement beyond the effect of currently identified predictors. By so doing, it furthers understanding of the process by which engagement functions at the level of a group and how this emerged group construct might in turn influence an individual's engagement, thereby offering insight for designing interventions to increase employee engagement.\nDefinitions: Although debate continues on the exact definition of individual engagement, there does appear to be a general consensus that it is a multidimensional psychological construct with both trait and state components (Dalal et al., 2008). The current study examines engagement that best fits under the rubric of \"state engagement\" as identified in Macey and Schneider's (2008) review. They suggested that state engagement exists as a complex network of constructs in a \"new blend of old wines\" (p. 10), including elements of organizational commitment, job satisfaction and discretionary effort. Given its multidimensionality and some obvious conceptual overlap with well-established constructs, Newman and Harrison (2008) and Harter and Schmidt (2008) recommend that state engagement is best conceptualized as a higher-order construct reflecting the \"cognitive and emotional involvement and enthusiasm employees have for their work and companies\" (Harter and Schmidt, 2008). Albrecht (2010) adds that it is expressed as a \"genuine willingness to invest focussed effort toward organizational goals and success\" (p. 6). These researchers argue that the weight of empirical evidence of high correlations between the relevant work-related attitudes supports this concept of a higher-order or umbrella construct.\nTheoretical background: Ehrhart and Naumann (2004) used the concept of group norms to explain group-level organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), advancing a theory of how norms for OCB develop and how OCB norms should affect individual-level OCB. Given that OCB has been hypothesized as one of the lower order constructs related to engagement (Macey and Schneider, 2008), their theory is adopted in the current study to explain the influence of engagement norms of different groups within an organization.\nCovariates: Although the focus of this study is on the cross-level effect of engagement norms on individual-level engagement, they should be evaluated against the effect of established predictors of individual engagement. It is well established that the resources available at work affect engagement (e.g. Bakker et al., 2007; Mauno et al., 2007; Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004). Resources include the psychological, physical and social features of work (Bakker et al., 2005) and they occur at different levels of the workplace, including the organization and the task (Bakker et al., 2007). The current study therefore includes perceptions of manager support and organizational resources as covariates. Saks (2006) found that those who perceived a high degree of support from their manager had higher job-related and organizational-related engagement than those with low support. Richardsen et al. (2006) and Bakker et al. (2007) also showed that perceived manager support was a key predictor of engagement. Organizational resources (e.g. pay, career opportunities, learning and development opportunities and physical resources) can be considered an individual-level construct in that individuals will differ in the way they evaluate the resources that are available to them. However, organizational resources can also be an organizational-level construct as organizations are likely to differ in the extent that they provide these resources to individuals. Because the proposed effect of group-level engagement might actually be due to the effect of resources measured at the organizational level (as found by Salanova et al., 2005, for example), it is necessary to control for both individual perceptions of these resources and between organization differences.\nMethod: Participants\nResults: The means, standard deviations and correlations between individual-level and organizational-level variables are presented in Table I. This table shows that with increasing seniority, there were increasingly high-mean engagement norms (employee (4.46) vs manager (4.58), t\nDiscussion: The results of this study demonstrated that employees, managers and senior leaders within an organization have different, albeit related, average levels of engagement and that these three different \"norms\" of engagement were independently associated with the extent that individuals within the organization were themselves cognitively and emotionally involved at work.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply a group norm approach to explain how average engagement across an organization is related to an individual's level of engagement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from over 46,000 participants from 140 organizations. Multi-level analysis tested the hypotheses that similarity (in terms of shared status) and likely interaction would determine the extent a group's norms affected individual engagement. Normative data and the dependent variable data were provided by different participants.\nFindings: Results supported the aggregation of individuals' measure of engagement to form three norms within an organization: an employee norm, a manager norm and a senior leader norm. These engagement norms were significantly related to an individual's engagement at work beyond the effect of both organizational resources and manager support. Individuals were more strongly influenced by the norm of those in the organization with whom they were most similar and with whom they were likely to interact.\nOriginality/value: Provides evidence that engagement exists at the group level and that status groups within the organization have norms that independently affect individual-level engagement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Exploring the impact of cultural values on project performance: The effects of cultural values, age and gender on the perceived importance of project success/failure factors	[ "Project management", "Cultural values", "Hofstede dimensions", "Project failure", "Project success" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: culture in projects: In a project, for a finite period of time, human and other resources are pooled to conduct a diverse set of activities to achieve a one-off, unique set of objectives. Projects are important in organisations. Where products or services are bespoke or partially so, such as in management consulting and software development, project-production forms the core of the value-adding activities of the firm (Hobday, 2000; Scott-Young and Samson, 2008). In manufacturing, firms recurrently run projects to develop products (Pasche et al., 2011). More generally, firms may engage in capital investment projects (Bryde, 2003). They must also occasionally conduct strategic initiatives, which can face very similar challenges to projects: both contexts can be unstructured and novel; \"scooping\" issues can require careful consideration; and collective decision making processes may well give regard to multiple inter-dependent criteria. Within project teams, individual team members require skills such as formal planning (Scott-Young and Samson, 2008; Bendoly et al., 2010); the ability to utilise matrix and dynamic team structures (Mendez, 2003) which facilitate flexible learning (Bresnen et al., 2004). These skills, too, can help support the delivery of strategic initiatives. It has been argued, thus, that a firm's capability to manage projects successfully could be critical to the success of strategic initiatives (Pinto and Kharbanda, 1995).\n2 The study: We used mixed research methods in the four stages described below.\n3 Results: 3.1 Exploring the factor structure of importance assigned to PSFIs\n4 Conclusions and further work: Based on content analysis of interview transcripts of 40 project practitioners, we found that practitioners may assess projects using ten PSFIs. Using EFA, we found that, rather than independent, the weights practitioners assign to the PSFIs are correlated so that the ten PSFIs can be reduced to two, more robust, PSFFs. Given its correlation with the PSFIs \"project scope\", \"time\", \"budget\", \"client/sponsor brief\", \"risk, safety and communication\" and \"wider society/economy\"; we interpreted factor 1 to be a representation of project control and extra-organisational goals; and factor 2 to be a representation of project team management/development and intra-organisational goals owing to its correlation with PSFIs \"business/organisational goals\", \"the project team\" and \"leadership and decision making\".\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to explore the impact of cultural values on the importance individuals assign to project success/failure factors (PSFFs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Themes emerging from 40 interviews of project practitioners based in Brazil, China, Greece, Nigeria, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and the USA are integrated with literature evidence to design a survey instrument. One thousand three hundred and thirteen practitioner survey responses from the eight countries are analysed using multi-group, structural equation modelling.\nFindings: Ten project success/failure indicators (PSFIs) are found to reduce to two main PSFFs: project control and extra-organisational goals and project team management/development and intra-organisational goals. It is found that the levels of importance individuals assign to both factors are dependent, not only on age and gender, but also cultural values measured as constructs based on Hofstede's individualism, masculinity, power distance and uncertainty avoidance dimensions.\nResearch limitations/implications: The snowballing method used to gather survey data and analysis of relationships at individual level reduces generalisability.\nPractical implications: The results reveal insights on how best to match the cultural values of project participants to project characteristics. They also increase knowledge on the likely perceptual differences among culturally diverse individuals within projects.\nOriginality/value: This research contributes to the literature on culture in project environments by defining a factor structure of multiple-dependent PSFIs and increases insight on how specific cultural values may impact on the perception of the so-defined PSFFs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Capital structure dynamics among SMEs: Swedish empirical evidence	[ "Capital structure", "SMEs", "Debt financing", "Life cycle stages" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for economic growth is well established, and capital availability is considered a precondition for SME investment and survival (Carpenter and Petersen, 2002; Beck et al., 2005; Fagiolo and Luzzi, 2006; Hutchinson and Xavier, 2006; Oliveira and Fortunato, 2006). At the same time, financing constraints are regarded as a main barrier to firm growth (Holtz-Eakin et al., 1994; Chittenden et al., 1996; Cooley and Quadrini, 2001; Becchetti and Trovato, 2002; Reid, 2003). As documented by Mach and Wolken (2011), credit-constrained SMEs are significantly more likely to exit the market than are unconstrained ones. In the same vein, Rajan and Zingales (1995) found that firms with better access to external capital grow faster, and Coad et al. (2013) argued that the ability to obtain external financing is an important factor in firm development.\n2. Theoretical framework, previous empirical studies and hypotheses: Firms change steadily over their life cycle stages, determined by both internal and external factors (Anthony and Ramesh, 1992). Of particular importance is that firms' needs and access to financing sources vary over these stages (Berger and Udell, 1998; Frielinghaus et al., 2005).\n3. Data sample, variables, data analysis and model specification: 3.1 Data sample\n4. Empirical results: 4.1 Descriptive analysis\n5. Concluding remarks: This paper empirically examines hypotheses drawn from pecking order theory regarding the impact of firm age on capital structure. Given that the accessibility and employment of capital are main preconditions for SME investment, growth and survival, this study focuses on how SMEs use financing sources, debt capital in particular. Significant differences were found in the use of financing sources between the six age categories investigated (cf. Mac an Bhaird and Lucey, 2011). Overall, older firms tend to rely less on debt capital than do younger ones. This may be because older firms realize opportunities to use internal financing sources more than do their younger counterparts (Gregory et al., 2005; Mac an Bhaird and Lucey, 2010; Yazdanfar, 2012). Due to costs related to agency conflicts, SME owners and managers prefer to be autonomous and retain control over their firms. They therefore follow a hierarchy (i.e. pecking order) in using capital, preferring internal capital to external capital sources. When focusing on differences between STD and LTD, the present study suggests different patterns depending on firm age. While younger SMEs have higher STD ratios than do older ones, older SMEs have higher LTD ratios than do their younger counterparts. These patterns support previous findings (Serrasqueiro and Nunes, 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to empirically investigate the existence of dynamic capital structure among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across their life cycle stages.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The analysis examined a sample of 15,952 SMEs across five industry sectors for the 2009-2012 period. Several techniques, including ANOVA and multivariate regressions, were used to analyse firm-level data.\nFindings: The findings suggest that start-up SMEs, on average, rely on equity capital, and that the level of equity capital increases as firms age. The short-term debt level is particularly high in early life cycle stages, decreasing later on. The long-term debt ratio is positively related to firm age, although it is low in all life cycle stages investigated.\nPractical implications: The findings may help several parties, including firm owners, to better understand how capital structure can be related to various life cycle stages. Such an understanding may help these actors use financial resources efficiently.\nOriginality/value: To the authors' best knowledge, little research has addressed whether there are any differences in financing patterns over the firm life cycle.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Moderating role of CEO compensation in lean innovation strategies of Chinese listed family firms	[ "Family firms", "Lean innovation", "Patent application", "Research and development investment", "CEO compensation", "Resource-based view", "Agency theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Competition in global business environment encourages firms to be more competitive to survive. Sustainability is considered as a successful driver of innovation (Szekely and Strebel, 2013), whereas innovation is regarded as the valuable source of competitive advantage (De Massis et al., 2016). In this regard, the role of family firms is very crucial because according to Chirico et al. (2018), innovation strategies of family firms are related to cost-benefit analysis. Literature related to family firms has been producing novel findings (Carney et al., 2018). According to Chrisman and Patel (2012), it was previously believed that family firms behavior toward innovation investment was risk aversive. Morck and Yeung (2003) also stated that older family firms show more risk aversion behavior toward innovation investment decisions. Contrary to above findings, recent literature has provided evidence that family firms are more efficient in transforming their innovation inputs into outputs as compared to the non-family firms (Carney et al., 2018; Xiang et al., 2019). This differing results from the extent literature is the first motivation for the researchers to conduct this study. Additionally, we used lean innovation concept in this study that splits the entire innovation process into R&D investment, patent applications, propensity to patent and conversion rate of R&D investment. Previously the concept of lean innovation has been used by Carney et al. (2018) only. \"Doing more (innovation output) with less (innovation input)\" is termed as lean innovation (Carney et al., 2018). Many scholars (Carney et al., 2018; Dieguez-Soto et al., 2016; Duran et al., 2016; Matzler et al., 2015; Xiang et al., 2019) have concluded that family firms are getting more innovation output by investing few innovation inputs which shows that family firms are following lean innovation strategies.\n2. Theoretical background, literature review and hypothesis development: In highly competitive markets with an ever-shortening product life cycles and lesser customer loyalties, companies are required to be more innovative in their operations and delivering versatility of products they offer (D'Aveni et al., 2010; Garud et al., 2013). The family firms in contrast to their non-family counter parts are viewed more conservative toward long-term innovation projects given the lengthy payback periods associated with the R&D investments. This postulate is correct up to some extent that family firms are less inclined toward investing in the R&D projects on the voluminous basis; however, the tendency of family firms to convert weaknesses into opportunities lies in their strong monitoring. The relationship between resources and output at the managerial and organizational level can be explained with the help of the resource-based view, agency theory and stewardship theory. The resource-based view (RBV) is a model which is used to evaluate financial performance differentials among firms (Kraiczy, 2013). Barney (1991) developed this framework on the basis of two assumptions. First, in terms of resources all firms in an industry are heterogeneous and second, the resources are immovable and inimitable across the firms. Therefore, it can be said that RBV is a model which considers the firm's resources as a key source of firm performance as well as competitive advantage. Kraiczy (2013) stated that all resources have not the potential to be used as key resources for competitive advantage rather the resources with a potential to influence the firm performance positively are called key resources.\n3. Data and methodology: 3.1 Sample selection\n4. Findings and analysis: Table 1 presents descriptive statistics of our study variables. The mean value of \"FF\" is greater than 0.5 which shows that more than 50% of the firms in our data set fall in the category of family firms. The minimum value of FF is 0 because it is a dummy variable where 0 indicates non-family firms and 1 indicates family firms. In case of FA (firm age) the minimum value is 0 which shows some firms are incorporated in the year between 2007 and 2016. The mean value for RDI is 0.00742 with minimum value 0 which shows that some companies do not invest in research and development. The minimum value for all proxies of innovation is zero which shows in some of the previous year's firms do not invest in innovation activities.\n5. Conclusion: This study was aimed to examine the nexus between family firms and lean innovation. Another purpose of the study was to examine the role of CEO compensation between family firms and lean innovation. On the basis of analysis and discussion it is concluded that H1 is fully achieved because in both cases, i.e. innovation input (R&D investment) and innovation output (Patent applications); the relationship were found to be significant so, it is concluded that family firms are more likely to pursue a strategy of lean innovation. It is further concluded on the basis of data analysis and discussion that H2a is also achieved because researchers found statistically significant relationship between family firms and patent application propensity. Moreover, it is also concluded that H2b is achieved because results showed that research and development investment conversion is statistically significant in family firms which shows that in case of input as well as output, family firms are proactive towards research and development investment which successfully is converted into positive output and similar pattern is observed in case of propensity to patent applications. Now for H3, it is concluded that CEO compensation negatively moderates the nexus between family firms and lean innovation. Although it was expected to moderate positively on the basis of agency theory, however, negative moderation raises serious concerns about the role of CEO compensation in motivating the CEOs to take better innovation decisions for the company in long-term planning.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Chinese listed family firms on lean innovation strategies. Additionally, the authors also examined the moderating role of CEO compensation on the family ownership and lean innovation strategies relationship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data is obtained from CSMAR database about Chinese family firms listed at Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange. Panel data comprising of firm year observations from 2007 to 2016 is analyzed using STATA.\nFindings: Family firms are proactive towards research and development investment (innovation input) as well as towards patent applications (innovation output). Moreover, family firms show propensity towards patent applications and towards converting their R&D investment into granted patent applications. CEO compensation negatively moderates the nexus between family firms and lean innovation which seriously needs to be addressed to reduce agency costs.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study has focused on Chinese market only. The study is useful for policy makers to address the serious concerns identified in the conclusion section, i.e. effectiveness of CEO compensation in addressing the lean innovation strategies in emerging economy like that of China.\nOriginality/value: Given the usually considered conservative approach of family firms towards innovation, this is the first study which has tested the moderating role of CEO compensation on family firms and lean innovation relationship in an emerging economy. This study is unique because it provides a detailed analysis of lean innovation process by splitting the process into different stages. The negative moderating impact of CEO compensation raises new concerns to resolve agency conflicts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How a surveillance society pervades workplace psychology: Modelling the ethical conundrum for managers and culture leaders	[ "Uncertainty", "Transparency", "Equality", "Surveillance", "Ethical video surveillance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: In a world where Marketwatch.com predicts the market for video surveillance to extend to over $75bn by 2022, Edward Snowden astutely commented that \"Saying you don't care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is like saying you don't care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say.\" As technology and society continue to intertwine, a conceptual paper by Hagen et al. (2018) delves into the balance of power inherent in strategic decisions about the extent of video surveillance that an organization deploys. Based on a literature review, a model is proposed to assist managers in making ethical decisions about weighing the privacy of individuals against providing adequate organizational security.\nOrganizational ethics: Because technological shifts have made video surveillance equipment more affordable and widely available, more and more organizations have integrated their use into daily operations. Video surveillance means to watch, regulate, and exert control over how people working in the organization conduct themselves; it is also a crime-prevention measure. Modern commercial surveillance uses include capturing footage and metadata to build data banks to profile customers for advertising purposes. Other examples of video surveillance are individual employees spontaneously filming unacceptable practices within the organization on their smartphones, or employers using CCTV to track their workforce productivity. In the USA, the limited legal regulation around video surveillance by organizations means they're generally left to decide their own policies on how to perform surveillance on their people.\nA model supporting better decisions: The mass integration into social behavior of an individual's capacity to record video makes it difficult to control people's video sharing. Organizations begin video surveillance for reasons that include guarding innovations that give them a competitive edge, and to protect employees from threats or equipment dangers. A good practice communication strategy to reduce people's uncertainty is for organizations to specify easily understandable policies, covering what is acceptable and unacceptable from the employer and for employees.\nMoving forward with confidence: Practical advice from a human resources perspective is to reduce uncertainty by communicating clearly about what the organization seeks to achieve through new surveillance practices - aims that are likely to vary for the separate groups of affected customers and employees. From the capturing stage at the latest, organizations should establish policies about video surveillance use and data handling, including metadata. Remaining aware of the potential negative effects surveillance can have on employees, and therefore business performance, the authors suggest that employee training on the ethical use of their personal devices may be a worthwhile investment for an ethically operating enterprise to explore. This step may well mitigate any negative effects on the organization's reputation as a result of their video surveillance practices, by injecting transparency into the ethical tug of war between safety and privacy that any organization operating today must contend with.\nCommentary: The review is based on \"Why are you watching? Video surveillance in organizations\" by Hagen et al. (2018), published in Corporate Communications: An International Journal. This conceptual paper concentrates on presenting a model to assist managers to weigh ethical considerations against the security benefits to the organization when assessing the use of video surveillance equipment. The three key dimensions here are transparency, access, and equality.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: This conceptual paper concentrates on presenting a model to assist managers to weigh ethical considerations against the security benefits to the organization when assessing the use of video surveillance equipment. The three key dimensions here are transparency, access, and equality.\nPractical implications: The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Network performance assessment for collaborative disaster response	[ "Aftercare", "Disasters", "Emergency response", "Natural hazard", "Cognitive accuracy", "Network performance", "Emergency plan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Partnerships are valued in reducing hazard risks and generating more effective disaster response (Kapucu, 2006; Schneider, 2005). Networks play important roles as policy instruments when dealing with disasters (Mitchell, 2006). Network has also been used as an important perspective on performance assessment for collaborative disaster response (Hu et al., 2014; Hu and Kapucu, 2014; Kapucu and Demiroz, 2011). Methodologically, performance was measured through comparisons between planned versus actual networks (Choi and Brower, 2006; Choi and Kim, 2007; Kapucu and Demiroz, 2011).\nResearch on network performance: In the past few decades, networks have been important research agenda or (Isett et al., 2011; Lecy et al., 2014; Popp et al., 2013; Provan and Lemaire, 2012). It is used both as a metaphor to describe and explain intergovernmental, cross-sector, interorganizational relationships (Koliba et al., 2010) and as methodological tools to examine relational data (Choi and Kim, 2007; Kapucu and Demiroz, 2011; Lee and Kim, 2011). Networks have been applied in many areas and different contexts (Jasny, 2012; Lee et al., 2012; Provan and Huang, 2012; Schalk et al., 2010). However, network performance assessment still remains a challenge because performance management across multiple agencies is complex (Heranz, 2010; Kapucu and Demiroz, 2011). Because network is a special type of arrangement, in which interorganizational relationships are core components of performance measures, evaluators should identify the true nature of the relationship to provide distinctions (Mandell and Keast, 2008). Essentially, main purposes or functions of network include linking members and their resources to facilitate joint action and learning, so analysis on collective interactions and impact in new and innovative ways is an important task. Moreover, networks are different from each other. Indeed, interorganizational networks are highly complex and dynamic in terms of their purposes, structural arrangements and underpinning relationships. Further, they function on many different operational levels, or layers, and do not always follow clear linear trajectories (Huxham and Vangen, 2000; Brown and Keast, 2003; Kilduff and Tsai, 2003).\nNetwork performance in emergency management: Multi-organizational, intergovernmental, multi-sector collaboration is important in disaster response (Waugh and Streib, 2006; Waugh and Tierney, 2007). As an important model, network analysis has been an alternative methodology to evaluate emergency management collaborative efforts (Abbasi and Kapucu, 2012; Comfort, 1994; Hu et al., 2014; Hu and Kapucu, 2014; Kapucu, 2009). Viewing networks as self-organizing systems, Comfort (1994) suggested the process of self-organization in the context of disaster environments is in newly evolving complex system. According to Comfort (1994), mobilization involves a set of actors, which vary in terms of prior disaster experiences, organizational sectors and other characteristics. Similarly, Kapucu (2009) evaluated the Federal Response Plan (FRP), the National Response Plan (NRP), and the National Response Framework (NRF) from the perspectives of interorganizational networks and complex adaptive systems. Subsequently, using Hurricane Charley's coordination data, Abbasi and Kapucu (2012) analyzed the evolution of interorganizational response networks and the organizations' network structural changes over a period of time. The results show that analyzing static networks does not reflect how the network evolves or how different organizations change their roles as the incident emerges. At a recent study, using data from Florida emergency management networks, Hu and Kapucu (2014) investigated whether the centrality of organizations in emergency management networks relates to information communication technology utilization.\nContext of the study: In the study, the collaborative disaster response to the Sichuan earthquake, also known as the Wenchuan earthquake was discussed. The earthquake occurred on May 12, 2008, in the Sichuan province, China, and killed 69,195 people while leaving 18,392 individuals missing (Kapucu, 2011). It is also known as the Wenchuan earthquake, after the location of the earthquake's epicenter. The epicenter was 80 kilometers west-northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital, with a focal depth of 19 km. The earthquake was not only felt in nearby counties, but as far away as Beijing and Shanghai. Strong aftershocks, some exceeding a magnitude of 6, continued to hit the area months after the main quake, causing new casualties and damage. Official figures stated 69,197 were confirmed dead, 374,176 injured, and 18,222 listed as missing. The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless, though the number could be as high as 11 million.\nMethod: We developed networks according to task units derived from activated emergency plans using methods on affiliation network (Borgatti and Everett, 1997; Hu et al., 2014). Moreover, perceived influenced structure was derived based on cognitive accuracy and used to measure participants' collective perception for further discussions on network performance. Hence, three structures, including planned network, actual network, and perceived influenced structure, were derived according to each activated emergency plan to map network. First, planned networks, composed of organizations designated according to activated emergency plans, were established to indicate legal or official structures. Second, actual networks were developed to indicate how organizations related to one another in practice. Third, perceived influenced structure, indicating the extent to which legal or official structures match with the perception of involved organizations, was used to identify organizations perceived to be most influential in each network.\nDesign: In the research, affiliation networks were introduced to facilitate model establishment (Borgatti and Everett, 1997; Hu et al., 2014). Data on them tends to be more reliable than those on other social networks, since membership of a group can be determined with verification not available in collaborative relationships. Very large networks can be developed in the same way since group membership can be ascertained from lists, which makes time-consuming interviews or questionnaires unnecessary. We constructed the affiliation networks of participating organizations, in which a link between two organizations was identified if they were engaged in a same task unit. Planned networks and actual networks were both established using affiliation networks, although the data sources were different.\nData collection: We determined participating organizations through the report from Shaanxi Emergency Management Office (SEMO), along with several experts' suggestions to specify network boundaries. In the survey, respondents consisted of executive directors or managers were assumed to have the most accurate information about their organizations' actual activities and the authority to make decisions. We defined a list of task units through content analysis of each activated emergency plan (Table I) and determined two-mode matrix for each planned network. To examine perceived influenced structures and actual networks, questionnaires, consisting of two sections, were sent to participants. In the first section, based on the list of task units listed in Table I, respondents were asked to identify the task units in which they were engaged for actual response. In the second section, they were required to identify the organization they considered to be most influential in each response, implemented according to activated emergency plan.\nResults and discussions: Networks development\nConclusion: Since conventional methods on organization performance assessment are not sufficient for network performance evaluation, creation of new models or methods is imperative. In addition to structure-based power, new dimensions based on cognitive power to indicate legitimacy of an organization was introduced to form a comprehensive framework. Due to the complexity of coordination among organizations in disaster response, affiliation networks were applied to map networks in disaster response. In each network, three structures, consisting of planned network, actual network and perceived influenced structure, were developed and compared to assess performance. Different from conventional methods focussing on an organization's direct position and role in a network, performance can be assessed in two procedures. First, we compared three structures in each network to identify effectiveness. Second, emphasizing ineffective networks, we conducted an analysis of the organizations based on indexes including relative centrality, cognitive accuracy, and more.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a modified network performance assessment method to address issues of coordination among organizations in the context of disaster response.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study introduces affiliation networks to map disaster response system integrated with task/function and unit identifications. The study also assesses performance in two successive procedures including ineffective networks identification and assessment on organizational effectiveness.\nFindings: The study emphasizes problems in the current emergency management system in China with a focus on Sichuan earthquake experience. Specifically, some problems with the traditional central planning and control mechanisms in coordination across boundaries are highlighted, including participants' inexact perception of information or resource accessibility, confusion of functional designation of organizations.\nOriginality/value: The study builds network performance assessment method to other contexts where different emergency management systems exist and modifies them to facilitate quick complex networks evaluation. The theoretical insights from affiliation networks and cognitive accuracy provide additional contributions to the literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
BAE Systems takes environmental training to the top: Senior executives learn how to integrate green issues into their everyday functions	[ "Strategy", "Environment", "Training", "Defense industry", "Top executives" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A global provider of defense and security products is integrating environmental awareness into every business unit and helping its executives to consider the limitations and opportunities of the environment in their everyday functions.\nTwo key goals for the training: \"We had two key goals for this training; to ensure a level of integration with other existing training and development schemes and to get different senior people from across our business units together in one room so that they could collectively learn and appreciate how the environment affects our operations and how our long-life products - ships, planes and tanks - affect the environment,\" Jayne Rogers explained. \"We needed those at leadership level to think differently about the environment, moving away from a silo mentality towards integrating the limitations and opportunities of the environment into our everyday functions.\"\nFlexibility to tailor course content: She is particularly impressed by the flexibility of the program, in terms of tailoring course content to meet the exact and unique needs of the business and such a senior - and potentially skeptical - audience. She considers that the ability to deliver at scale is also very constructive.\nStrategic and operational overview of environmental sustainability: According to IEMA the course on leading with environmental sustainability seeks to give senior executives, board members and investors a strategic understanding of the risks and opportunities presented by a changing environment on their ability to do business. It aims to provide a strategic and operational overview of environmental sustainability. Delegates leave the session with a new understanding of the short, middle and long-term opportunities and challenges that environmental sustainability presents in value creation for their organization.\nTwo formal qualifications: Targeted according to the employees' role, there are also two IEMA formal qualifications - working with environmental sustainability and managing with environmental sustainability.\nAll jobs undertaken in a greener way: The increasing limitations that the environment is placing on organizations worldwide are changing the skills that employees require. IEMA has been calling for all employees - at every level of responsibility, across all areas of business and industry - to be armed with environmental knowledge.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Describes how BAE Systems, a global provider of defense and security products, is integrating environmental awareness into every business unit and helping its executives to consider the limitations and opportunities of the environment in their everyday functions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Details the role of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA)-City & Guilds course on leading with environmental sustainability in helping the company to achieve these changes. Also considers other environmental courses run by IEMA.\nFindings: Explains the two key goals of the training - to ensure a level of integration with other existing training and development schemes at BAE Systems and to get different senior people from across the business units together in one room so that they can collectively learn and appreciate how the environment affects the company's operations and how its long-life products - ships, planes and tanks - affect the environment.\nPractical implications: Reveals that engaging executive managers in the program, clarifying key questions for them and providing a model that they can support with its subsequent roll-out across their businesses is already providing huge benefits and extended buy-in.\nOriginality/value: Reveals the growing role of environmental considerations in a global defense and security company.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Tools and techniques to ensure innovative management education in India	[ "India", "Innovation", "MBA", "Academic leadership", "Challenges in management education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: You can teach all sorts of things that improve the practice of management with people who are managers. What you cannot do is teach management to somebody who is not a manager, the way you cannot teach surgery to somebody who's not a surgeon (Henry Mintzberg).\nChallenges in the Indian management education: The management education in India emphasizes theory, not practical education. When you look at engineering education, there are laboratories to experiment and verify the theoretical aspects. However, the same is not possible in the management education. Hence, the management educators emphasize case study driven education to ensure takeaways to the students. They are supposed to create case studies as per the curriculum and profile of the students. Additionally, it is also essential for students to have some industry experience because it helps them relate theory with practice. Unfortunately, Indian students pursue education from primary level to postgraduate level without any break. As a result, they do not have any industry experience and find it tough to acquire management education in the classroom.\nTools and techniques to ensure innovative management education: The industry has certain expectations from management graduates and the educational institutions are unable to align as there is no effective industry-academia interface. Here are some tools and techniques to ensure innovative management education to Indian students:\nHenry Mintzberg on management education: What you get out of an M.B.A. programme, no matter how much experience, is functional tools and understanding in disciplines: you'll understand economics, you'll understand marketing, finance, accounting. That, M.B.A. programmes do very well (Henry Mintzberg).\nCurrent Indian scenario: Currently there are more engineering colleges in India offering MBA courses within the same campus along with engineering courses. Some of the so-called business schools (B-schools) offer freebies to attract the students violating the AICTE guidelines thus converting them into retail shops. Some students join MBA course as a pastime or to suffix this degree along with their names. Hence, they do not take it seriously. It is observed that the faculty without any teaching experience joins these so-called B-schools as a stopgap arrangement to teach management education until they get employment in the industry resulting in poor pedagogy.\nBright future for Indian management education: Presently there are a very few good institutions with a great vision and passion to impart quality management education to students. They have strong infrastructure and library facilities. They encourage faculty to pursue quality research. They invite eminent industry experts to their institutions to share knowledge. They also create new courses and customize curriculum as per the present and future global landscape. Hence, the future of Indian management education is promising despite beset with several challenges presently.\nInnovative Indian management education: Josh Kaufman remarked in The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business, \"You can't make positive discoveries that make your life better if you never try anything new.\" Hence, there is an immediate need for creativity and innovation in management education in India. What worked in the past will not work in the future. Hence, create new courses and customize them as per the aspirations of students and expectations of industry. If the Indian management education has to survive, it is essential to address the challenges and reinvent with the rapid changing times and technologies. It must be in tune with dynamic global business environment.\nSummary: To summarize, the Indian industry must come forward to support management education in India. The government must fund to encourage research in faculty. There must be support from all stakeholders including industry, educators, students, educational institutions, government, non-profits and thought leaders to innovate Indian management education as per the global standards to create world class managers and leaders.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline tools and techniques to ensure innovative management education in India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper addresses the challenges in the present Indian management education and outlines a blueprint with innovative solutions.\nFindings: It calls for support from all stakeholders including industry, educators, students, educational institutions, government and thought leaders to innovate Indian management education as per the global standards to create world class managers and leaders.\nPractical implications: These tools and techniques can be customized in other countries to ensure quality management education.\nSocial implications: The social implications of this research suggests that stakeholders must strive to ensure innovative management education to create effective managers and leaders globally.\nOriginality/value: It overhauls Indian management education as per international standards. It explains management education from the perspective of Henry Mintzberg. It reinvents management education as per the dynamic global business environment.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An experience sampling approach to the workplace environment survey	[ "Environmental management", "Productivity", "Environmental psychology", "Methods", "Post-occupancy evaluation", "Workplace psychology" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It has been suggested that the most effective workplaces of the future will be maintained in a state of \"perpetual beta\", able to repeatedly adapt to occupants' requirements in a cycle of continuous improvement (Usher, 2018). This necessitates the implementation of a feedback loop between those responsible for maintaining the building and those who occupy it. Indeed, seeking feedback from workplace end-users regarding the perception of the physical workplace environment is a core component of the post-occupancy evaluation (POE) process (Oseland, 2018), ostensibly aimed at identifying and resolving any issues in the workplace that might be negatively affecting employee well-being and/or productivity.\nLack of context: Occupant surveys tend to be administered at one time only, usually 6 to 12 months following the occupation of a new or renovated workplace. Deuble and de Dear (2018) argue that this approach is of limited practical utility as responses are too general and can be biased by various non-building-related factors.\nRelationship to job performance: The second limitation of traditional occupant surveys concerns the extent to which satisfaction with the workplace environment can be regarded as a useful measure from the perspective of the occupying organisation. Environmental comfort, in general, is commonly posited as a determinant of overall job performance (Haynes, 2012; Roskams and Haynes, 2019; Vischer, 2007), however, there is still limited evidence regarding, which aspects of environmental comfort, in particular, are most strongly related to individual productivity. This reflects the fact that academic workplace research has tended to be segmented by specialism and multivariable studies are less common (Sander et al., 2019). From a practical perspective, this is problematic because organisations have limited budgets for workplace improvements and are forced to prioritise between different possible interventions, but have limited research evidence to guide these decisions.\nThe present study: To summarise, the purpose of the present study was to pilot the use of the experience sampling methodology to assess employees' momentary perceptions of the workplace environment and to test the extent to which these were associated with well-being and productivity. On the basis of past research, it was hypothesised that:\nMethod: Site\nResults: Because the data had a nested structure (repeated measurement occasions within participants), data were analysed using a multilevel linear modelling approach, following the procedure outlined in Field et al. (2012). Multilevel linear modelling is an extension of linear regression, which entails the estimation of both fixed effects and random effects. As such, the analysis can test whether the effects of the predictors on the outcomes vary between different participants. An additional advantage is that it is capable of accounting for uneven sample sizes per unit (i.e. different number of survey responses per participant), including situations where there is only one observation for the higher-level unit (Bell et al., 2008), as it was the case in our study for the participant, who only provided one response.\nDiscussion: The aim of this study was to pilot test a methodological framework for measuring satisfaction with the workplace environment using an experience sampling approach, and to test the extent to which environmental comfort was associated with momentary well-being and productivity. The results are discussed below, along with the practical implications and limitations of the research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to pilot test the effectiveness of the experience sampling approach for measuring employee satisfaction with the workplace environment. Additionally, the authors also aimed to explore, which aspects of environmental comfort have the strongest impact on momentary well-being and productivity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In total, 15 knowledge workers in an open-plan office environment were sent a brief survey (measuring environmental comfort, momentary well-being and perceived productivity) each day over an 11-day study period and provided 78 individual survey responses in total.\nFindings: All but one of the measures on the survey had low test-retest reliability, indicating that employees' experiences of environmental comfort varied significantly each time they completed the survey. Additionally, higher environmental comfort was associated with improved well-being and productivity.\nPractical implications: The results suggest that an experience sampling approach to the workplace occupant survey is justified to better capture the temporal variability in experiences of environmental comfort. The results also suggest that improving environmental comfort, particularly by reducing the level of distractions, will enable employees to work more productively.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first field study which has attempted to directly address limitations in traditional occupant surveys by using an experience sampling approach rather than a one-time-only questionnaire.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Experiences of environmental professionals in practice	[ "The Netherlands", "Graduates", "Competences", "Labour market", "Sciences" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Environmental problems and issues of sustainable development have increasingly gained attention from policy makers, scientists, market parties and actors from civil society in the last decades. Nowadays, environmental professionals are dealing with environmental and sustainability issues in a large variety of organizations, roles and disciplines at various levels. These developments have been strongly promoted and enabled by the academic world, on one hand as the home base of environmental sciences (since the late 1970s) and more recently \"sustainability science\" and on the other hand, as the provider of professionals fuelled with the knowledge and capabilities to take up the challenge of enabling the systematic societal changes required to reduce society's impacts on the environment.Environmental science has developed strongly in the last decades. In many cases, dedicated scientists developed holistic and applied programs aiming at analyzing the impacts of human behavior and designing and assessing problem-solving strategies and policies directed to governments, businesses and individual behavior. These frontrunners integrated the various relevant natural and social sciences into multidisciplinary (and later: transdisciplinary) approaches. In early stages, this work was often ignored and not rewarded by the main streams of the involved disciplines. More recently, most of these disciplines have developed environment-related subdisciplines. Nowadays, environmental science is increasingly oriented towards sustainable development (Rest, 2002; Vincent and Focht, 2009).Mirroring these developments, teaching programs have been developed in higher education both at the \"integrated\" level and at the subdiscipline level (e.g. Garcia et al., 2006; Vincent and Focht, 2009; Kitamura and Hoshii, 2010). One can assume that students graduating from both types of academic teaching programs find their own specific niche in the labor market, but this remains an understudied area. The practice of developing and implementing innovative strategies for sustainable development will require both specialists for detailed development and assessments \"on the spot\" and professionals with a holistic, integrative view for overall assessments and (long term) strategy development, who are able to integrate diverging views from various scientific disciplines and from various societal settings.Environmental science teaching programs should prepare their graduates for this role. To find - and keep - the proper balance in the curriculum between academic education and the market demand for environmental professionals, it is necessary to have an insight into the roles environmental scientists are expected to fulfill and the competencies they should have in order to be successful in these roles (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2000; Runhaar et al., 2005, 2006; Wong et al., 2007; Vincent and Focht, 2009). As part of the EU Bologna process of tuning higher education in Europe, the so-called Dublin descriptors have been developed which can be used as end goals for program development at different levels (Meijers et al., 2005).Monitoring the career development and success of the graduates as well as developments in the labor market for environmental academic professionals, provides insights into the actual working practices of academically trained environmental scientists and should therefore be part of the quality assurance system of environmental sciences programs. However, only a few studies are available on this subject. In the late 1990s, a general comparative study on the relationship between higher education and employment of young graduates from 12 different countries with different disciplinary backgrounds was carried out, called the Careers after Higher Education - A European Research Survey (CHEERS) study (Schomburg and Teichler, 2005, 2006; Teichler, 2007). A further study by Giacomelli et al. (2003) examined the developing demand of young graduates in the environmental labor market in Italy.In this paper, the authors present the results of two studies on alumni's experiences and two studies on employers' assessments of the requirements for and capabilities of environmental professionals. It is based on the alumni who finished their studies in the environmental sciences program at Utrecht University in the period 1989-2008. The authors address the following two questions:1. What is the labor market position of environmental sciences graduates from Utrecht University? What is the nature of their work?2. To what extent does the academic training fit the jobs our environmental sciences graduates hold?\n2 Environmental sciences at Utrecht University: Utrecht University is one of the oldest and the largest universities in The Netherlands. It was founded in 1656, and consists of seven faculties with c. 7,500 staff members. Approximately, 30,000 students participate in one of 45 undergraduate and 167 graduate programs. Utrecht University has offered courses in environmental sciences since 1978 and degrees in Environmental Studies/Sciences since 1989. The 30-year history of Environmental Science education at Utrecht University is summarized in Table I. The Doctorandus degree program that started in 1989 was an integrated two-year program in which students could participate upon completion of the first two years of a disciplinary program (such as biology, chemistry, physical geography, human geography, and law or social sciences). In 1998, the program was reviewed and two trajectories were introduced: one for students with a background in social sciences, and one for students with a background in natural sciences. One year later, the program was enlarged to two three-year programs: environmental studies and environmental sciences. As a consequence of the Bologna Agreement, in 2002 the university switched from the Dutch Doctorandus degree programs to the current Bachelor's programs in environmental studies and environmental sciences, and the Master's degree program sustainable development. This MSc program consists of an integrated part and four specialization tracks, of which two tracks have a natural science focus and two tracks have a social science focus. The focus of the program has broadened from environmental science to sustainability science (Clark and Dickson, 2003). The graduation level of the Doctorandus graduates is comparable to those with a Master's degree (graduate level). At present (August 2008), there are 594 graduates with a Doctorandus degree, 72 with a Bachelor's degree and 55 with a Master's degree, of which 56 percent completed the natural sciences program and 44 percent completed the social sciences program.\n3 Methods: To analyze the labor market position of our graduates, the authors carried out two surveys amongst our alumni: one in 2005 and one in 2008 (Adolfsen, 2005; Goetheer, 2008). In the 2005 survey, we approached 450 alumni of the Doctorandus programs who graduated between 1990 and 2005, of which 162 (36 percent) completed the questionnaire. This questionnaire was distributed again in 2008 in a slightly adapted form, to include the first graduates of the Bachelor's and Master's programs. The 2008 questionnaire was sent to 176 alumni who graduated between 2001 and 2007, of which 87 (49 percent) responded. The questionnaire investigated:1. The time lag between graduation and first job.2. Channels used in job seeking.3. Fields and characteristics of the:* first job; and* later jobs/career development.Because of the composition of the respondents' population, the 2005 survey provides insight into career development at the start of the professional career of our graduates as well as in later stages, while the 2008 survey mainly provides information on early career perspectives.The extent to which the academic training fits the environmental sciences graduates' jobs was studied in three ways. First, questions on this subject were included in the graduates' questionnaires. Second, data from two labor market workshops organized in 2006 by the inter-university committee environmental sciences were used. These workshops were organized to attain insight into the vision of employers of environmental scientists on the strengths and weaknesses of our alumni and the essential knowledge and skills needed for the work that environmental scientists do in practice (n=23) (Visseren-Hamakers and Vermeulen, 2006). Thirdly, the 2008 survey was complemented with a questionnaire for the employers or superiors of our alumni (N=6, Goetheer, 2008).\n4 Present occupations of environmental sciences graduates: Graduates from the Bachelor's degree program\n5 Competencies of environmental sciences graduates: fit between education and professional practice: Core competencies of environmental professionals\n6 Strengths and weaknesses of environmental scientists: Graduates' perspective\n7 Conclusions: Results of the surveys on the employment status of environmental science graduates from Utrecht University sketch quite an encouraging scenario. There is a clear niche for this type of broad and multidisciplinary professional in the labor market. In this respect, the situation in The Netherlands seems to be comparable to the north of Italy, where Giacomelli et al. (2003) concluded that the environmental labor market is in search of young professionals with a broad educational basis who embrace natural scientific and technical disciplines as well as socio-economic disciplines. This is in addition to highly specialized persons whose skills can be found in other, more traditional scientific faculties (such as chemistry and biology). The average length of time taken to find the first job after graduation (4.7 months), employment rate (93 percent) and the percentage of graduates seeking employment (3 percent) are close to the figures for higher education graduates in The Netherlands from the CHEERS study (Schomburg and Teichler, 2005; Teichler, 2007).Most Bachelor graduates continue to study at Master's level before entering the labor market. As the Bachelor's degree is relatively new in The Netherlands, employers have little experience with this type of graduate. In both the 2006 and 2008 surveys, employers indicated that they prefer to choose a master's graduate if they were to hire a new environmental scientist.From the perspective of quality assurance, both the views of the graduates themselves and their employers on the strengths and weaknesses of the graduates provide valuable information for improvements to the curriculum. Environmental science graduates are employed in a wide range of functions and work in different sectors, ranging from research institutions like universities, to consultancy agencies, governmental organizations, industries and NGOs. Their multidisciplinary and generalist character, and their ability to build bridges between disciplines, are competencies valued by themselves as well as by their employers. This is reflected in the observation that graduates as well as employers consider a number of generic academic skills (e.g. intellectual qualities, communication skills) as well as discipline specific competencies (e.g. professional and practical knowledge) as important competencies for the work of environmental scientists. Therefore, environmental sciences curricula should include a mix of both types of competencies in their programs, in order to train professionals that can make a valuable contribution to sustainable development.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the labor market position of environmental science graduates and the core competencies of these environmental professionals related to their working practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors carried out two surveys amongst alumni of the integrated environmental science program of Utrecht University and their employers. The surveys addressed alumni's working experiences and employers' assessment of the core competencies of environmental science graduates.\nFindings: - The surveys indicated that environmental science graduates have a fairly strong position on the labor market. They are employed in a diverse range of functions and working sectors, including consultancy agencies, research institutions, governmental organizations and NGOs. Graduates as well as employers consider a number of generic academic skills (e.g. intellectual qualities, communication skills) as well as discipline specific professional knowledge and practical skills as important competencies for the working practice of environmental scientists.\nPractical implications: - These insights can be used for the improvement of environmental science curricula in order to increase the employability of their graduates.\nOriginality/value: - This paper presents data on the labor market position of graduates of \"integrated\" environmental science programs and provides insights into the core competencies of these graduates.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Enablers and processes for effective knowledge management	[ "Organizational culture", "Organizational structure", "Job performance", "KM enablers", "Knowledge circulation process (KCP)", "Knowledge management (KM)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Coupled with the development and wide use of the internet and information technology in recent years, knowledge is increasingly at the heart of modern enterprises, and managers are faced with the challenge of optimizing the integration of organizational resources to ensure effective development, transmission, and retention of critical knowledge (Holsapple and Wu, 2011). Thus, as the resource-based view (RBV) of knowledge management (KM) suggests that firms need to consider the technology, the people, and the organizational infrastructure when developing, implementing, and managing KM systems (KMS) to reap long-term strategic benefits (Meso and Smith, 2000; Moran and Meso, 2008; Moustaghfir and Schiuma, 2013). However, RBV does not clarify the avenue by which informational assets become useful resources.\n2. Literature review: From the RBV of KM, organizational KMS (OKMS) is a strategic assets for firms (Meso and Smith, 2000; Moran and Meso, 2008; Moustaghfir and Schiuma, 2013). To reap long-term strategic benefit from OKMS, firms should adapt the broader socio-technical view when developing, implementing, and managing KMS. This suggests that firms should consider not only the technology, but also the organizational infrastructure and the people who form the KMS. However, these conditions do not clarify such knowledge assets' becoming useful resources. From the ecological view of KM, organizations are \"knowledge ecological system\" including four ecological dimensions (i.e. knowledge distribution, interaction, competition, and evolution) (Chen et al., 2010). This perspective suggests adopting a process approach can better explore the knowledge ecological systems of the firms. As Gupta and Govindarajan (2000) indicated, a well-established KMS relies not only on technological infrastructure, but also social ecology, such as culture, process, and structure. Therefore, this current study adopts the process view to explore the impact of KM enablers on the operation of organizational KM processes. This study adopts Lee and Choi's (2003) conceptual framework, which provides a holistic view of KM through the application of systems thinking (Figure 1).\n3. Methodologies: 3.1 Participants\n4. Results: This study retrieved 248 valid responses (Table III). This study adopted the post-detection method to avoid CMV by conducting Harman's single-factor test, and found that the first principal component's cumulative explained variance is only 27.381 percent (<50 percent).\n5. Discussions: 5.1 The importance of organizational culture to KCP\n6. Conclusion: This study identifies the importance of organizational culture and structure as an influence on KCP, and on the tasks and contextual performance of individual employees. The construct of organizational culture includes collaboration, trust, learning, innovation, and expertise, all of which have a significant impact on KCP in terms of knowledge creation, accumulation, sharing, utilization, and internalization. The construct of organizational structure includes autonomy and formalization. However, given the pyramid-like structure of Taiwanese organizations, the formalized structure has an unexpectedly positive impact on KCP. Finally, this study finds that KCP has a positive impact on both performance of tasks and contextual performance. Consequently, a well-maintained KCP not only allows for sharing of individual expertise and knowledge, thus enhancing productivity and quality of corporate policies, but also increases the willingness of employees to improve themselves and the company. The findings provide guidance for organizations to improve KM practices.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to attempt to assist firms in applying knowledge management (KM) through developing an integrated model which considers knowledge enablers, knowledge circulation processes (KCP), and job performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study utilizes a questionnaire technique to validate the proposed integrated model. Structural equation modeling also validated the model.\nFindings: All dimensions in the construct of organizational culture positively impact KCP. However, the formalized organizational structure appears to have a positive impact on KCP, while the autonomous organizational structure did not. This study also finds that KCP has a positive impact on both task outcomes and contextual job performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The integrated model, which served to examine the impact of KM enablers on KCP, from the standpoints of organizational culture and organizational structure, along with the impact of KCP on job performance, has improved understanding of the relationships among KM enablers, KCP, and job performance.\nPractical implications: Firms should carefully consider methods for adjusting internal structural designs or institute various mechanisms to promote the use of KM to maintain the organization's long-term competitive advantage.\nOriginality/value: The model contributes to firms' understanding the influence of knowledge enablers on KCP, and provides a KM performance index for assessment of individual performance. Research results can provide enterprises with guidance for implementing initiatives for KM initiatives.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mass valuations	[ "Land registration", "Accuracy", "Cadastre", "Explicability", "Mass valuation/appraisal", "Richness of data" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nDefinitions and terms: Traditionally clients have commissioned valuers to carry out valuations of an individual property or of a portfolio of properties[1]. However, there are circumstances in which large numbers of valuations are needed over a relatively short time, most commonly when a government seeks to levy value-based (ad valorem) recurrent (annual) property taxes. Fairness requires that all properties are assessed on the same basis using the market conditions prevailing at a single point in time. The costs and human resources required to carry out large numbers of valuations over a short period of time has led to the search for ways of automating the valuation process and the development of methods of mass valuation.\nThe rational for mass valuations: Mass valuations have been used in a variety of circumstances but the principal reason for developing them is usually to levy recurrent annual taxes on immovable assets on the basis of their market value. The resulting values can also be used to generate valuations for sporadic taxes or to check on the valuations submitted by taxpayers in self-assessment. Sporadic property taxes are those paid periodically as a result of a trigger event such as the sale of the property or the death of its owner and include property transfer taxes, capital gains tax, and inheritance and gifts taxes. Other applications of mass valuation include compulsory purchase, valuing state land, restitution compensation, land consolidation programmes, assessing charges for flood protection and irrigation systems, and evaluating the risks the banking system faces from its mortgage portfolio. In Slovenia the valuations are used to determine whether a family's real estate assets exceed the level per family member for social security support (Zibrik, 2015).\nPre-conditions for mass valuation: Mass valuation involves estimating the relationship between market price and the independent variables that are believed to determine it. The credibility of the model depends on the quality of the data used. The implication is that mass valuation can only be undertaken under conditions when data of adequate reliability on transaction prices and property attributes is available. Fundamentally there must be a functioning and transparent property market. This implies that the capital market functions reasonably well to finance purchases; there are an adequate number and quality of supporting trades, such as valuers and estate agents, and media through which buyers and sellers can be informed about market conditions; property rights and titles are well-defined, documented, and marketable; and there are enough market transactions for all classes of property in all locations to reliably establish what the market value is (Walter, 2011; and see also d'Amato and Kauko, 2008). As Walters (2011, p. 23) notes that \"in many developing countries, such markets do not exist\". Functioning markets may exist in major urban areas or for certain types of property but not necessarily in all areas and for all types of property. Even in developed markets, periods of recession may result in insufficient transactions to enable market prices to be estimated adequately for all types of property[5]. The \"empty cell\" problem, in which there is no information about market prices for particular types of properties in certain locations because no transactions have taken place during a period of time, can occur in any country. Moreover, if access to property is not through buying or renting it but by other means, for instance by inheritance or allocation by a customary leader or with the agreement of the community, the potential for using mass valuation is undermined.\nModelling values in mass valuation: Mass valuation models can be developed for any of the main methods of valuation including sales comparison, income capitalisation, receipts and expenditure, and depreciated replacement cost, and credible models should use recognised methods or techniques (Appraisal Standards Board, 2014). The valuation method modelled needs to reflect the way in which the market functions. The implication is that a mass valuation system is likely to contain several models with different ones for different types of property. In particular, that for residential property might follow a sales comparison approach in a country for which owner occupation is the dominant tenure whereas for commercial property an income capitalisation approach might be used due to relatively few sales of commercial property but access to premises usually being through the rental market.\nDo mass valuations and single property valuations produce the same results?: In principle the answer to this question should be yes even though the approaches are different. As the I.A.A.O. notes, \"any appraisal, whether single property appraisal or mass appraisal, uses a model, that is, a representation in words or an equation of the relationship between value and variables representing factors of supply and demand\" (I.A.A.O., 2012). The models behind both mass and single property valuations assume revealed preference in which prices fully reflect traders' preferences. In mass valuation the influences of the different characteristics of properties on the market price are modelled formally using precise rules whereas in single property valuations the influence of the various attributes of a property tend to be reflected in the valuation more subjectively. The ultimate objective of both approaches is the same, the main differences being areas of market analysis and quality control (McCluskey et al., 2013, p. 309). The issue is whether the differences in approach mean that the valuations produced are different.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the issues involved in the implementation of mass valuation systems and the conditions needed for doing so.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The method makes use of case studies of and fieldwork in countries that have either recently introduced mass valuations, brought about major changes in their systems or have been working towards introducing mass valuations.\nFindings: Mass valuation depends upon a degree of development and transparency in property markets and an institutional structure capable of collecting and maintaining up-to-date price data and attributes of properties. Countries introducing mass valuation may need to undertake work on improving the institutional basis for this as a pre-condition for successful implementation of mass valuation.\nPractical implications: Although much of the literature is concerned with how to improve the statistical modelling of market prices, there are significant issues concerned with the type and quality of the data used in mass valuation models and the requirements for successful use of mass valuations.\nOriginality/value: Much of the literature on mass valuation takes the form of the development of statistical models of value. There has been much less attention given to the issues involved in the implementation of mass valuation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Escaping low pay: do male labour market entrants stand a chance?	[ "Low pay", "Labour market", "Market entry", "Human capital", "United Kingdom", "Germany" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Over the past decades, the issue of the transition from education to work has gained increasing attention in the economic literature (Ryan, 2001). This is not without reason: in OECD countries, the youth unemployment rate increased from 12.3 per cent to 13.4 per cent between 1990 and 2004 (OECD, 2005), and the relative earnings of youths decreased by some 9 percentage points between the 1970s and the 1990s (OECD, 2006). Previous research on the school-to-work transition has scrutinised issues such as the labour force participation, the unemployment risk, the job and occupational mobility as well as the job quality of young job starters (Ryan, 2001; Hannan et al., 1997). Other studies have focused on the consequences of labour market entry in flexible jobs (Scherer, 2004; de Grip and Wolbers, 2006). However, no research has been devoted to the wage and employment consequences of entering the labour market in a low-paid job. From an economic perspective this is an important issue: a short low-pay spell at the start of the career indicates temporary labour market adjustments, but long spells of low-pay employment reveal an imbalance between the supply and the demand of skills.The aim of this paper is twofold: first, we investigate the low-wage mobility of male labour market entrants to higher pay, self-employment, unemployment and inactivity in a competing-risks setting[1]. For this purpose, we apply a discrete-time duration model that accounts for unobserved heterogeneity (unobserved individual differences in abilities). Low pay is defined as an hourly wage level below two-thirds of the median wage. Second, we assess the effect of two types of human capital - general and firm-specific human capital - on the low-wage mobility of labour market entrants. We investigate to what extent general skills acquired through education and formal vocational training, on the one hand, and skills acquired \"on-the-job\", on the other hand, can account for low-pay mobility. The distinction between both types of skills is not trivial because economic theory suggests that a combination of a sorting explanation and a human capital explanation are relevant for the early careers of labour market entrants (Weiss, 1995). Employers have imperfect information on the productivity of labour market entrants. Therefore, as the sorting model would suggest, even highly-educated young workers may enter the labour market in a low-wage job. However, all workers can potentially acquire new skills. Thus, as the human capital model suggests, even the low-educated labour market entrants may invest in on-the-job training and earn a higher wage.We use data from two countries with different institutional characteristics with respect to the school-to-work transition: the UK, which has a relatively weak link between education and the labour market, and Germany, which has a highly stratified educational and occupational system, and a highly regulated labour market (de Grip and Wolbers, 2006). Our analysis is therefore illustrative of how various forms of human capital can account for low-pay mobility in different institutional settings. The rest of the paper is organised as follows. Section 2 discusses the relationship between human capital and wage dynamics for labour market entrants. This section also discusses the role of institutional differences between the UK and Germany that could affect the school-to-work transition. In Section 3, the econometric model is described. The data used for the estimation is discussed in Section 4. Section 5 presents the results of the estimations. Conclusions are drawn in Section 6.\n2. Human capital, sorting and labour market entry: Theoretical background\n3. A duration model for low-pay mobility: Extending the standard approach that focuses on mobility from low pay to high pay, we apply a discrete-time duration model for young low-paid labour market entrants with four competing risks: moving to higher pay, to unemployment, to self- employment or to inactivity. Remaining in low pay is the reference state[6]. We use a discrete-time model rather than a continuous-time model because our data were derived from yearly observations. Let Pm(Xit, t) be the probability that individual i escapes the low-pay status to a status m after t years. Let Xit denote a matrix of covariates for individual i after being at risk for t years. The transition probability is specified by the following multinomial logit model: Equation 1 for 1<=m<=n and P0(Xit,t)=1-[?]m=14Pm(Xit,t). b0m, b1m, b2m are vectors of coefficients to be estimated. Therefore, when analyzing the first low-pay spell, the likelihood contribution of an individual for whom no event has taken place until Ti-1 is: Equation 2 where: Equation 3 and dti is a censoring indicator.However, none of the exit states can be considered as absorbing. Individuals who move out of low pay could re-enter low pay, and consequently experience more than one low-pay spell. Therefore, we extend the first-spell model to a multiple-spells discrete-time duration model which is identified under weaker assumptions (van den Berg, 2001)[7]. Let Ki denote the spell number in which an individual is last observed. The likelihood contribution of an individual for whom no event has taken place until Tki-1 in spell k is: Equation 4 where Lki is the likelihood contribution of individual i in spell k as defined in equation (2).Correcting for unobserved heterogeneity is essential in multiple-spells models in order to control for the correlation between spells within the same individual. Moreover, duration models that fail to account for unobserved heterogeneity run the risk of overestimating negative duration dependence (or underestimating positive duration dependence) as well as underestimating the effect of time-varying covariates (Lancaster, 1990; Vermunt, 1997). Finally, accounting for unobservables also controls for possible dependance between the competing risks (Vermunt, 1997). We control for unobserved heterogeneity using the non-parametric mass-points app roach introduced by Heckman and Singer (1984).According to this approach, the transitions to different states vary between a finite number of mass-points or groups of people. These J groups are not defined a priori, but they refer to groups of people who share similar levels of unobserved characteristics, reflecting different probabilities of exiting low pay, e.g. those with high levels of unobserved abilities and high exit probability to high pay, and those with low ability levels and low exit probability. This methodology allows both the intercept and the slopes (the coefficients) to vary across the J mass-points. The slopes are allowed to vary across groups (mass-points) as the returns to specific observed characteristics may be different across mass-points. Such a model is known as a random-slope model. Each group is indexed by j in the relevant parameters. The transition probability for individual i that belongs to group j is given by: Equation 5 where tk is the duration in spell k.We base our choice for the number of groups on the Log Likelihood, the Akaike (AIC) and the Bayesian Information criteria (BIC)[8]. The likelihood contribution of an individual belonging to group j is obtained as follows: Equation 6 where pj is the probability of belonging to group j and the likelihood Li\|j is defined as in equation (3), but with Pm(Xit, t) replaced by Pm(Xit, tk, j).Endogeneity of initial conditions will be a potential source of bias for our analysis. However, as our sample includes only people who gain their first job within the reference period, the problem of initial conditions does not emerge from left-censoring: labour market entrants are observed as soon as they earn their first wage. Nevertheless, there may still be some endogeneity if the unobserved characteristics that determine the initial pay level are correlated with low-pay transitions. Moreover, the sample of individuals starting employment may be selective. Individuals who expect to find a low-paid job may postpone labour market entry by enrolling in an educational or training program - thus increasing their human capital - or even by remaining jobless until labour market opportunities improve. Although it is fairly easy to account for this in a single risk model (Stewart and Swaffeld, 1999), fully controlling for self-selection in a competing risks framework is a complex endeavour.In order to reduce bias from the possible endogeneity of initial conditions, we include a number of covariates that may partly control for this problem: a dummy variable for calendar time that picks up the effect of the business cycle and its resulting effect on postponement of labour market entry, as well as a dummy for a spell of non-employment prior to labour market entry that captures the effect of the initial match between the supply and the demand of skills. However, if this endogeneity is not fully controlled for resulting estimates may well contain some bias.\n4. Data and main concepts: For the UK, we use the 1991-2005 waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). For Germany, we make use of the German Socio-economic Panel (GSOEP) for the years 1984-2005. We only use data for former West Germany, as the East German labour market presents considerable differences[9].Sample selection\n5. Results: Exits from low pay\n6. Concluding remarks: In this paper, we investigated the extent and the human capital determinants of low- wage mobility for labour market entrants in the UK and Germany. This subgroup of wage earners has received little attention in the economic literature. We investigated transitions from low pay to different destination states (higher pay, self-employment, unemployment and inactivity), while controlling for unobserved characteristics, such as ability. Combining the predictions of the human capital and the sorting model, we assessed the role of two types of human capital - general and firm-specific - on these transitions.As far as unobserved abilities are concerned, our competing-risks duration model suggests the existence of two types of low-paid job starters: movers, with a high transition probability to higher pay, and stayers with a low transition probability to higher pay and/or with a high transition probability to unemployment. Although the marginal transition probability to higher pay in the group of movers is similar in both countries (.45 in Germany and .46 in the UK), the group of movers is larger in Germany than in the UK (69 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively). If we also consider the marginal transition probabilities to higher pay among the stayers, then we can conclude that more upward mobility opportunities exist for low-paid labour market entrants in Germany than in the UK. Furthermore, in neither country does self- employment offer a \"way out\" of low pay.The results of the model indicate that low-wage job starters face different challenges in the two countries under scrutiny. In the UK, in line with previous studies, strong low-wage persistence was found for the group of stayers, as the relevant staying probability is 0.62. In Germany, however, the stayers are at greater risk of unemployment (transition probability 0.15) and inactivity (transition probability 0.16) than of low-pay persistence.In view of the differences in school-to-work institutions between the two countries, we expected human capital characteristics to explain the low-pay mobility of labour market entrants. Formal education and apprenticeship were expected to be more decisive in the low-pay transitions in Germany, while training and tenure were expected to be more important in the UK. However, the picture emerging from our findings is more complex. In the UK, firm-specific skills, as measured by tenure, account for low-pay exits in the group of movers, while both general skills, as measured by education, and firm-specific skills, as measured by on-the-job training, account for low-pay exits in the group of stayers. Therefore, for the UK, a combination of a sorting explanation and a human capital explanation seems to offer the most accurate account of the low-wage mobility of labour market entrants. For some highly-educated job starters, a low-pay spell at the beginning of their working career is a temporary incident, possibly related to a probation period. Other labour market entrants manage to escape low pay by investing in firm-specific skills, which points to a direct human capital explanation. Unfortunately, our data does not allow to investigate this effect in more detail.Surprisingly, the educational level appears to have little effect on the low-pay mobility of German labour market entrants. Apprenticeship and training positively affect the low-wage mobility in the group of stayers. Therefore, a large part of German young workers can benefit considerably from the German apprenticeship system that provides skills transferable across employers (at least within the same industry). It appears that upon entering the labour market, young German workers are sorted into low-wage and high-wage jobs according to their educational level. A learning effect, possibly related to a probation period, may be relevant to most workers with apprenticeship qualifications. Surprisingly, little effect of human capital factors is found for the group of German stayers. For this group of workers, having apprenticeship qualifications or long tenure in a low-wage job has a detrimental effect on labour market prospects. This is consistent with the segmentation in the German labour market.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and the human-capital determinants of low-wage mobility for labour market entrants in the UK and Germany.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Using panel data for the UK (BHPS) and Germany (GSOEP), a competing-risks duration model is applied that allows the study of transitions from low pay to competing destination states: higher pay, self-employment, unemployment and inactivity. Unobserved heterogeneity is tackled by a non-parametric mass-point approach.\nFindings: - It is found that low pay is only a temporary state for most young job starters. However, there is a small group of job starters that is caught in a trap of low pay, unemployment or inactivity. In the UK, job starters escape from low pay mainly by developing firm-specific skills. In Germany, involvement in formal vocational training and the attainment of apprenticeship qualifications account for low pay exits.\nOriginality/value: - Over the past decades, unemployment and low-wage employment have emerged as major challenges facing young labour market entrants. While most empirical studies focus exclusively on the transition from low pay to high pay, the paper shows that a significant percentage of young entrants are caught in a low-pay-non-employment trap. Moreover, it is shown that, depending on the institutional context, different types of human capital investments can account for a successful low-pay exit.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding eWOM of Chinese Governments information service: a perceived value-based perspective	[ "Social identity", "EWOM", "Microblogs", "Perceived value", "Government affairs", "Effort cost", "Herd effect" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As an online social media platform which made its debut 10 years ago, microblogs provide a swift mean for information transmission with interactive approaches, which in return made the announcement much more effective (Java et al., 2007). For the past few years, the amount of microblog users has increased exponentially, in the case of the most influential microblog platform in China, Sina, the number of its monthly active users had exceeded 39.2 million as well as the daily active users reached 17.2 million (CNNIC, 2018). It results in Sina becoming a dominant social media platform in China. Meanwhile, the digitalized management approach for government information publication started to emerge and gained momentum increasingly. In 2016, the State Council of China issued a set of guidelines for development of E-government and services, which highlighted the implementation of an integrated E-government system for improving the services. Therefore, more and more government institutions are opening official accounts on Sina microblog platform. Government affair microblogs have been adopted into \"Internet + Civil Service system\". According to a joint document government affair index and influences of microblogs issued by People's Daily and Sina, there are 173, 569 registered government affair microblogs on the platform, 134,827 of which are under the name of official accounts, and 38,742 are personal accounts of civil service workers (People's Daily, 2018). Government affair microblogs have been playing a pivotal role in the opinion guidance, the openness of government information and the implementation of E-government.\n2. Literature review and theory: 2.1 Social identification\n3. Research methodology: To validate the proposed model, the study designs online survey questionnaires which collect relevant data. The subjects of the questionnaire for this study are the users of Sina microblog. With its more than 39.2 million monthly active users and the daily active users reached 17.2 million, such dominant platform proves the versatility of the research.\n4. Data analysis: The study adopts the approach of partial least square (PLS) to assess the proposed model. As one of the SEM techniques, it enables assessment of connections between factor loadings and other latent variables in the way of specified model rather than in isolation (Hair et al., 2011). Also, PLS could measure for PLS is suitable for theory development and predictive applications. As long as the sample is concerned, PLS frees researchers from normality assumptions, so it suits non-normal distributions fairly well (Hair et al., 2011). Besides it handles small sample size, it meets the requirements of the theory development study that limited questionnaire was retrieved normally. The study uses SmartPLS 2.0 to proceed with the data analysis.\n5. Conclusions and implications: 5.1 Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In a people-oriented society, it is necessary to understand the electronic word of mouth (eWOM) of information service of the government. Government affair microblogs (GAM), which play an important role in orienting online opinions, listening to public voices, establishing government image, is an ideal channel to achieve this goal. In essence, the application of GAM is to improve the communication efficiency between the government and the public. The purpose of this study is to the influence factors of GAM eWOM which will not only benefits the government in better understanding the information dissemination rules of microblogs but also provides directions for the government to improve the information service over microblogs.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors investigate and verify the regulating function, herd effect applied on GAM. The authors conduct an innovative empirical study based on perceived value theory, aiming to explore the factors that influence the eWOM of the Chinese Government.\nFindings: Experiments on 502 GAM users show that social identification positively affects perceived value while effort cost negatively affects perceived value, and perceived value positively influences the microblogs' eWOM. The authors also find that the herd effect positively regulates the relationship between perceived value and GAM's eWOM. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.\nOriginality/value: In this research, the regulating effect of herd effect on the relationship between perceived value and GAM's eWOM has been explored. This study also provides inspirations for future government information service research and administrative measurement.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Management of sales advisers and service climate: an experiment	[ "Sales incentives", "Customer services quality", "Service climate", "Sales force", "Sales management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Service quality has become a major concern for companies. Research has demonstrated the importance of the personnel in contact with customers and of the management of human resources in \"servuction\" (service + production) (Eiglier and Langeard, 1987, 1994). As an integral part of this process, sales advisers appear to be fundamental to the management of the customer relation in selling services. The salesperson's expertise and customer orientation are thus crucial to the quality of the relationship and the creation of customer loyalty (Crosby et al., 1990). Banks claim to be very concerned about customer relationships. Crosby et al. (1990) has emphasized the importance of the affective relationship and of trust toward salespeople in this sector for building long-term loyalty. For Schneider et al. (1998) the service climate is an internal indicator of service quality perceived by customers. The management of bank employee is then crucial. However, in France, bank employees in direct contact with customers are managed like salespeople. Known as \"sales advisers,\" they are involved in generating revenue by opening new accounts, selling securities, negotiating loans, and other types of financial transactions. They are trained in selling, they have objectives to attain and are remunerated according to the extent they achieve them; they participate regularly in sales contests, and so on.The literature on the sales force is largely dominated by the performance model (Walker et al., 1977; Churchill et al., 1997). The sales contest fits in well with this model, according to which it is possible to influence salespeople's performance by means of rewards. Performance as used here is composed of the salesperson's behavior and the achievement of their objectives (sales, progress, etc.) In regard to the measurement of performance, Churchill et al. (1997) distinguish two aspects: objective measures based on statistics obtained internally, and subjective measures which often depend on the line manager's evaluation. In sales contests, the salesperson's performance is commonly evaluated with objective measures such as sales figures or mark-up rates. These measures are the result of qualitative work upstream which is difficult to quantify. Chonko et al. (2000) note that objective indicators do not show how the salesperson obtained a particular result. These authors also point out that, as the customer's buying behavior is not estimated through a single indicator, the volume of sales, taken alone, does not express the sales process and the accumulation of actions over time. The time or moment of measurement has an impact on performance (Chonko et al., 2000). Thus, Cravens et al. (1993) recommend a measure that is a continuous evaluation of performance, such as salespeople's commitment to service quality for instance rather than being instantaneous, at time t. According to Moncrief and Marshall (2005), when a company seeks to build and maintain long-term relationships with its customers, the relational performance of salespeople should be of primary importance. Such performance is constituted by the behaviors needed for selling the service, and for creating and maintaining the quality of the relationship over time. In this sense, service climate is a good measure as we shall now see.\nThe importance of service climate: Through their investigation of the system of employee appraisal, Schneider et al. (1980) and Schneider and Bowen (1985) highlighted the central role of service climate in the perception of service quality by customers, particularly in the banking sector. Service climate is based on the understanding that employees have practices, procedures, and behaviors that are expected and rewarded in accordance with customer service and service quality. In other words, the more employees feel they are rewarded on the basis of customer service, the better the service climate (Schneider et al., 1998). The concept of service climate is therefore central, especially in the services sector where service quality is paramount. Schneider et al. (1980) and Schneider and Bowen (1985) showed that the service climate perceived by employees is highly correlated with service quality perceived by the consumer. These researchers also demonstrated the reciprocal nature of this relationship: service quality generates customer satisfaction which in turn encourages employees to satisfy their customers. The customer plays an active part in this process in that customer satisfaction is an important contributor to the satisfaction of employees, who in turn are encouraged to satisfy their customers to an even greater extent.Along similar lines of research, three dyadic empirical studies, carried out jointly on employees and their customers, demonstrated the existence of a direct link between internal and external perceptions. The overall satisfaction of employees and of customers are strongly correlated (Tornow and Wiley, 1991; Schlesinger and Zornisky, 1991; Ryan et al., 1996). Thus, Bitner et al. (1994) consider that:Employees are proud to satisfy customers, and they are sorry when they are unable do so [...] either because the system does not leave them sufficient room for maneuver or because the hierarchy is not concerned with it.A longitudinal inquiry by Ryan et al. (1996) corroborates the initial results on the permeability of these internal-external relations. It supports the existence of a strong link between customer satisfaction with their bank branch and the satisfaction of employees. The study also confirms the reciprocity of this relation: customer satisfaction in 1992 engendered employee satisfaction in 1993. Heskett et al. (1994) termed such reciprocal relations a \"cycle of success.\"Researchers have addressed the question of the determinants of service climate. Hartline and Maxham (2000) consider that organizational involvement and the socialization of employees are ways of spreading a \"customer oriented culture\" favorable to a better quality of service, which would in turn give rise to a better service climate. For Rogg et al. (2001), human resource practices are crucial.In this context, the widespread and regular use of sales incentives or contests with short-term, quantitative objectives would appear to be paradoxical in that it raises the question of their impact in terms of service quality. Indeed, contests that place salespeople in competition with each other are widely used by companies. Faced with these practices, researchers, and practitioners have identified worrying aspects in relation to the impact of such operations on the quality of the customer relationship. In particular, salespeople may be induced to adopt more aggressive sales techniques during contests in order to over-supply their customers and be less reactive (Wotruba and Schoel, 1983; Sharma and Sarel, 1995; Murphy et al., 2004). Contests generate competition among salespeople, possibly to the detriment of service climate and quality. This situation seems incompatible with the quality of services and with a long-term view of the customer relationship. Sharma (1997) stresses the advantage of a better understanding of the impact of contests on customer satisfaction and service quality. In view of the importance of service climate, we examine the impact of sales contests on the company's service climate. More precisely, we aim to discover those features of sales contests that enable service climate to be optimized since view service climate as an internal indicator of the quality of service.After presenting a number of problems associated with sales contests, we will expound the main characteristics of contests. Various research hypotheses will then put forward before discussing the methodology of the study and its main findings. And then, we will conclude with the limitations of the research and avenues for future work.\nThe adverse effects of incentives on service climate: As an incentive over a short period of time, the sales contest spurs salespeople on through rewards given for the attainment of an objective. This motivation tool can take various forms. It can, for example, involve quantitative or qualitative objectives. Competition can be equally designed for individuals, pairs, or teams. The competition may involve a ranking system or may be absolute. In the latter case, the incentive comes close to being a quota, with the difference that it remains occasional. The number of winners may be high or extremely limited, even to the extent of having only one winner.These different features of contests can have an impact on the way in which salespeople perceive and react to these operations (Beltramini and Evans, 1988; Moncrief et al., 1988; Hile-Hart et al., 1989; Murphy and Dacin, 1998; Murphy et al., 2004). Nevertheless, we know little about these effects in terms of service climate and salespeople's relational behaviors. Though relational behaviors are the basis for customer satisfaction and loyalty (Crosby et al., 1990; Grewal and Sharma, 1991; Goff et al., 1997; Williams, 1998).In view of all this, the widespread use of sales contests seems paradoxical. Indeed, Wotruba and Schoel (1983) draw attention to various opportunistic and non-relational behaviors arising during the course of incentive operations:* delays in meeting orders;* neglect of other products or other aspects of the job;* lack of advice or incomplete information given to the customer;* lack of cooperation between salespeople during the operation;* cheating or circumventing the rules of the contest; and* friction between salespeople and management.The managerial press also draws attention to the existence of various \"secrets and lies\" on the part of salespeople in order to score points in the contest (Estell, 2001). These can include selling to family or friends, for whom the salesperson guarantees the cancellation of the sale at the end of the contest; and the cancellation of orders taken just before the competition on the pretext of a stock problem with the customer. Another common practice among salespeople is not to date contracts signed with customers, in the expectation of an incentive, or to make the customers wait until a contest begins. Along similar lines, and on the basis of managers' replies, Murphy (2004) lists problematic behavior on the part of salespeople:* the reduction of mutual aid and information sharing among salespersons;* taking ill-considered risks;* neglecting other aspects of the job;* emphasis on the product involved in the contest to the detriment of other products; and* anticipated sales leading to overstocking.This survey by Murphy (2004) focused on the characteristics of salespeople which generate problematic behavior. Competitive spirit emerges as a crucial factor affecting the spectrum of problematic behavior. Given the general esteem for this personality trait, these authors draw attention to the disconcerting nature of this finding. It would seem to constitute an index of the harmful effects of competition.After noting several problems generated by incentives, Dalrymple et al. (2001, p. 451) assert that \"there is no doubt that contests can lead to unethical behaviors among salespeople.\" These authors raise the question of the setting up of contests that might prevent such problematic behavior. Despite this and the agreement on the negative impact of contests on salespeople's behaviors, there is little research on this important topic. This article responds to this call by looking for a type of contest that preserves service climate, which is an indicator of service quality.\nThe characteristics of incentives and service climate: There is no \"typical sales contest\" but rather different combinations of characteristics. For example, objectives can be qualitative or quantitative, competition format can be individual or in teams, budget can be closed (ranked competition) or open (quota), number of winners can be high or very limited, with only one winner. The knowledge on the effects of sales contest on service climate is extremely limited. Indeed, no study examined yet the impact of sales contests on service climate.A literature review and a qualitative study helped us to identify the salient characteristics of sales contest in terms of its impact on service climate. We discuss each characteristic particularly in light of the work of Murphy and Dacin (1998), Poujol and Fournier (2006), and Poujol (2008). These characteristics can be delineated in terms of competition format, budget, number of winners and frequency.Competition format and service climate\nMethodology: Experimental design\nFindings and discussion: Since, the explanatory variables (the characteristics of contests) are of a qualitative nature, the hypotheses were tested by variance analysis using SPSS 15 software.Levene's test is not significant (0.61), which enables us to accept the sample homogeneity hypothesis. The four characteristics of sales contests explain 5 per cent of the service climate. Only one of the main effects of those characteristics is significant (Table I). But we found significant interaction effects. The sales contest that maximizes service climate has the following characteristics: high frequency - closed budget - team competition. The results of the multivariate analyzes are shown in Table I below.Team format\nLimitations and future research: A first criticism that can be made of this study concerns the limited field of observation and the source of the information obtained. It would be appropriate to extend the research into sectors other than banking in order to test the pertinence of the research model. Moreover, collecting dyadic data would enable the impact of contests on service quality as perceived by customers to be better understood.The aim of the research relates to the design of appropriate contests for safeguarding the quality of the customer relationship. A number of companies (IBM, Xerox, etc.) have already introduced qualitative competitions for motivating their sales forces. Bonuses or prizes are awarded to salespersons in accordance with their customers' degree of satisfaction. Studying this type of objective, a sensitive one in France, is an interesting line of research.Finally, looking at covariables such as company customer orientation, salesperson ethics or the manager propensity to tolerate unethical behaviors could enrich the research. Indeed, part of the variance inferred can be linked to other variables. Which variables can help explain service climate during a sales contest? This question points to another major avenue of research.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Although experts agree on the importance of service quality, sales force management practices are often far from conforming to their recommendations. The current use of sales contests with quantitative objectives on turnover or profit margin is evidence of this divergence. Sharma notes the need for a better understanding of the impact of such incentives on quality of service. In response to this call, the concept of \"service climate\" as an internal indicator of customer perception of service quality is studied. More specifically, the purpose of this paper is to consider which type of sales contest best preserves service climate.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Four characteristics of sales contests are examined through an experimental approach. Salespeople's perception of service climate are measured. Hypotheses are tested with ANOVA.\nFindings: - The study shows that sales contest can have a negative impact on the service climate. The results give indications as to which incentives are optimal in terms of service climate. Surprisingly, selective contests, with a ranked competition and few winners, would affect service climate to a lesser extent.\nPractical implications: - The findings of this study are unexpected and indicate that sales managers need to pay attention not only to sales contest's characteristics but also their interaction. The sales contest is not an addition to but a combination of modalities.\nOriginality/value: - This study has both managerial and research implications for design and implementation of sales contest.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Mapping the use of open access resources by doctoral students in the USA by employing citation analysis	[ "Scientometrics", "Open access", "IPP", "Immediacy-index", "Impact-factor", "USA-open access" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Every scholar requires access to latest qualitative research articles for completing their research undertaken; however, generally, these articles are not accessible without the subscription. Publishers provide access to these articles by charging an exorbitant amount of money from subscribers. We all know that there is an economic divide between countries in general and individuals in particular throughout the world. How can scholars access these subscriptions-based research articles especially those who belong to a developing country, where subscription of high quality and costly publications is a dream. Those researchers, who access the costly and high-quality publication, produce high-level output and mind-blowing discoveries and inventions. The bottleneck which widens the gap between researchers from the developed world and underdeveloped or developing world is unequal access to high-quality research publications. In toll-based scholarly communication model, it has been usually seen the prime focus is on better financial returns while giving secondary significance to their social responsibility thereby limiting the access. The problem of inaccessibility prevails frequently in present times, because of the adaption of toll-access model of scholarly communications for disseminating the scientific findings. Open access (OA) model of scholarly communication can provide a reliable solution to this problem. By \"OA\" to this literature, we mean its free availability on public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself (Budapest Open Access Initiative, 2002 as cited by Ghosh and Kumar Das, 2007).\nProblem: The researchers face the problem of inaccessibility to high-quality research publications because of lack of finance, technical and legal feasibility. This acts as an impediment to generate quality research, especially from developing world. The said problem could be resolved by supporting the OA to scholarly literature. The catechism arises here, whether these OA resources are credible in terms of quality or not. How much usage they have, what is the latest trend in this vein? In this context, the present study is an effort to assess and observe the proportion of OA journals cited by researchers in their doctoral theses in top-ranked institutions of the USA, especially in the field of physics. The study also examines the value and reliability of these identified OA journals by using different scientometric performance indicators.\nScope: The scope of this study is confined to the top three universities of the USA, to identify usage percentage of OA journals and evaluate the core fully OA journals to check their quality, which is cited by researchers in the field of physics in their selected ETDs submitted during the year 2014.\nObjectives: The main objectives of this study are to:\nMethodology: Phase I\nResults and discussion: Aggregate corpus of references\nConclusion: The findings of this study revealed that a total 6.25 per cent fully OA resources were used by the researchers of MIT, CIT and Stanford universities in the field of physics. It augurs well for the OA movement, that QA resources are used and valued by researchers in the USA. As we know that the USA is a developed country, the researchers there are sufficiently able to access subscription-based resources, but they also make use of an adequate amount of OA resources, indicates that OA resources are trustworthy and should be used by the researchers from other parts of the world too, especially who face financial insecurity. The study was in the quest to reveal the truth behind the quality of these OA resources which were cited by the researchers of the USA in the physic field. It applied the scientometric parameter for that purpose, and it was found that the quality of cited OA journals was very impressive and should not be neglected for this reason. The study also succeeded in listing the core OA journals as per scientometrics parameters applied, which can be used as readily available sources to access the scientific literature. However, there is need to identify the similar resources in another field other than physics, in other parts and institutions across the world. The study suggests that the researchers, libraries, information centers and research and development agencies should be more aware of OA resources available and should encourage both OA publishing and usage, by whatever means necessary.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure the fully open access (OA) contents cited by researchers from top three universities in the USA (MIT, CIT and Stanford) in the field of physics. This study aims to identify the core fully OA journals widely used by researchers in the field of physics and evaluate the cited fully OA resources by applying various scientometric parameters to check the credibility of these OA resources.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The PhD theses awarded during 2014 in the field of physics and hosted in the institutional repositories of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), California Institute of Technology (CIT) and Stanford University, respectively, were selected and scanned to extract references of sources cited. Later on, Google Scholar was used to identify source journals of the extracted references. Only source \"journals\" were selected and analyzed; rest of other sources were ignored; accordingly, toll-access and OA journals were segregated, as such the OA-cited journals could be identified. The scientometric performance indicators were used to check the quality of identified core fully OA journal cited by USA researchers in the field of physics.\nFindings: The results of this study show that fully OA resources are sufficiently used by the researchers of top three academic institutions of the world/USA. The study was also successful in identifying the core fully OA journals; besides it also reveals that these fully OA journals are highly impressive as showed by performance indicators applied. The major finding of the research includes the identification of top ten fully OA journals along with their impact based on different scientometric parameters like number of times cited, impact factor, h-index, immediacy index, impact per publication and Scimago Journal Rank (SJR).\nResearch limitations/implications: Because of a limited corpus of literature scrutinized in this study, the findings of the study may or may not represent the global picture in the field of physics.\nPractical implications: The paper confirms that fully OA resources usage trend is positively increasing day by day, and there are vast numbers of core OA journals with high-quality impact available for use to researchers around the world. Besides, the paper also affirms the view that there should be more publicity of fully OA literature around the globe to reap the benefits of the same.\nSocial implications: This paper will assist researchers, libraries, information centers and research and development institutions to take a cost-efficient approach in using and disseminating the scholarly literature.\nOriginality/value: This paper is one of the first pieces of research conducted on electronic theses and dissertation (ETD's) in top three universities of the USA, to check usage percentage and quality of fully OA journal resources cited by doctoral students in the field of physics.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The continued internationalisation of an international new venture	[ "Internationalisation", "International new venture", "Life sciences industry", "Longitudinal study" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In a wide range of countries and industries, small firms that are quick to start their internationalisation have appeared during the past two decades. These firms, often denoted born globals or international new ventures (INVs)[1], have received a great deal of attention within the emerging field of international entrepreneurship (IE) (Andersson, 2004; Kuivalainen et al., 2012; Rialp et al., 2005). Within this research field, these firms are often portrayed as entrepreneurial firms that expand in foreign markets from inception, even though critical resources, such as foreign market knowledge (FMK)[2], are missing. Because few studies, however, have captured the long-term behaviour and growth of INVs, little is known about the dynamic processes involved in these firms' longitudinal development (Gabrielsson et al., 2008; Melen and Rovira Nordman, 2009). In particular, there have been calls for longitudinal studies (Andersson, 2004; Keupp and Gassmann, 2009; Kuivalainen et al., 2012) that can capture the FMK development (Lindstrand et al., 2011) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO)[3] (Ruokonen and Saarenketo, 2009) of INVs over time. The aims of this study are to explore longitudinally the development of FMK by an INV in the life sciences industry and to determine how this knowledge development relates to the firm's EO. By answering the calls for more longitudinal research about INVs, we contribute further insights into the FMK development processes and EO of INVs during their internationalisation.\nTheoretical background: IP theory\nResearch method: The aims of this study are to provide a rich description of the development of FMK by an INV in the life sciences industry and to determine how this knowledge relates to the firm's EO over time. Such process-oriented and holistic exploration can be captured with the case study approach (Yin, 2009). Exploratory case studies are also considered particularly suitable for refining and developing existing theories (Eisenhardt, 1989). Because a great need exists for more theory-building research that can capture the long-term behaviour of INVs (Gabrielsson et al., 2008; Melen and Rovira Nordman, 2009), we argue that conducting a qualitative and longitudinal explorative case study is appropriate. The reason for choosing a longitudinal research design is that such a design provides a detailed description as to how dynamic processes actually play out (Siggelkow, 2007). Hence, a longitudinal, explorative case study enables a more detailed insight into the FMK development and EO of an INV in the life sciences industry during the firm's expansion abroad.\nCase findings: To carry out the objectives of this study, we used chronology analysis, which is a form of time-series analysis. Longitudinal case studies are particularly suitable for this kind of analysis because they allow one to trace events over time and explore the causal effects of these events (Yin, 2003). In our case analysis, we started by reducing the data and writing chronologies of the company's expansion abroad (Ghauri, 2004). In so doing, we focused specifically on those events describing the firm's knowledge development and behavioural characteristics. This data reduction enabled us to focus and organise the data (Miles and Huberman, 1994) and to track the events over time during the firm's internationalisation. The data were thereafter coded and classified into the theoretical concepts presented in our theoretical framework (i.e. FMK development and the firm's EO [risk-taking, proactive and innovative behaviour]). The coding procedure helped us to interpret the data and to relate the information to the theoretical concepts of importance in our study (Ghauri, 2004).\nDiscussion: Firm X (1998-2001): the FMK of the founder\nConclusions: The case of Firm X offers support to earlier observations stating that INVs in the life sciences industry and other high-tech industries are often founded by individuals with previous experience in international business and marketing activities (Crick and Jones, 2000; Knight and Cavusgil, 1996; Lindstrand et al., 2011; Rovira Nordman and Melen, 2008). In many of these earlier studies, individual-level marketing knowledge is commonly considered a substitute for the FMK that an INV lacks at inception. Based on the longitudinal analysis of the Firm X case, we find, however, that the previously acquired knowledge and industry experience of the founder and the grafted CEOs did not generate an adequate level of FMK. This is especially evident when the grafted CEOs - experienced in managing successful, albeit often larger, international life sciences enterprises - could not turn things around for Firm X. Our findings demonstrate that the critical FMK that guided Firm X during its later development was gathered through a process of learning by doing instead of from grafted employees. Similar to those arguments presented by Corbett (2005), we believe our findings highlight the need for entrepreneurs of INVs in the rapidly changing life sciences industry to continue to learn through experience rather than relying on existing behaviours and habits. Theoretically, the results of this study support IP research (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977, 2009) by highlighting that the knowledge development process of an INV is a path-dependent process that takes time. This process is based on the firm's learning by doing and is difficult to accelerate by grafting new and experienced employees.\nManagerial and future research implications: During the course of its existence, Firm X changed its management, its marketing strategy and even its customer base in an attempt to commercialise its products successfully. All these efforts, however, failed in the end because Firm X lacked sufficient firm-specific FMK. One lesson that can be drawn from the Firm X case is that grafting cannot solve the problems of failing markets in all cases. Instead, it is crucial for managers to develop their own firm-specific FMK by engaging in a continuous process of learning through their experiences and seeking out new opportunities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to explore longitudinally a life sciences international new venture's (INV's) development of foreign market knowledge (FMK) and how this knowledge development relates to the firm's entrepreneurial orientation (EO).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The article adopts a longitudinal case study approach to investigate an INV in the life sciences industry.\nFindings: The findings show that the EO of an INV changes during its internationalisation. A strong EO, often considered to be synonymous with the early expansion of an INV, is not always able to guide the INV in its later developmental stages. In its continued internationalisation, an INV instead needs firm-specific FMK accumulated from a process of learning by doing. The knowledge development of an INV is a time-consuming process that cannot be rushed by grafting new and experienced employees.\nResearch limitations/implications: Future research focusing on larger and broader samples of INVs is recommended to validate this study's results.\nPractical implications: Life sciences managers need to develop their own firm-specific FMK by interacting with their foreign business partners.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes further insights into the FMK development processes and EO of INVs in the life sciences industry during their internationalisation. Further understanding is also provided about how the industry-specific features of an INV in the life sciences industry influence internationalisation over time. The study's theoretical implications are that international entrepreneurship frameworks and internationalisation process theory need to be integrated to understand the longitudinal development of INVs.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Emotions and eye-tracking of differing age groups searching on e-book wall	[ "Emotions", "Usability", "Usability testing", "Information-seeking behaviour", "E-Book wall", "Eye-tracking test" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The rapid development of the internet has brought forth an increasingly diverse array of human - information interactions (HII). O'Brien (2011) pointed out that the current focus of research into HII is on how users with different tasks and purposes operate the information system. This can be done in a rational or emotional manner, which leads to particular information-seeking and usage behaviors. Venkatesh et al. (2012) proffered that humans use information technology for utilitarian as well as hedonic purposes. Dervin and Reinhard (2007) postulated that human emotions affect not only concentration, memory, performance and the ability to make judgments but also exert influence over information-seeking behaviors in everyday life. Lopatovska (2014) conducted research into the variety and breadth of emotions of users searching on Google, thereby developing a model of emotions and mood in the online information search process. She proposed that primary emotions (i.e. happiness, surprise, anger, disgust, fear or sadness) are used to direct search actions. Secondary emotions (i.e. positive, relaxed, worried or gloomy states) are affective states arising once the reader begins undergoing feelings and practicing systematic connections between categories of objects and situations and engaging in cognitive evaluations of the emotional stimuli.\nLiterature review: Emotions in information-seeking behavior\nMaterials and methods: Participants\nResults: Description of subjects' age and average scope of eye movements\nDiscussion: Research into information-seeking behaviors has not only focused on the diversity of task-based scenarios in which scholars and professionals (e.g. accountants and computer engineers) take part but has also extended its efforts into recreational information-seeking behavior and scenarios (e.g. TV and Twitter) (Elsweiler et al., 2011). Users with hedonistic needs may also exhibit searching behaviors in order to seek pleasure rather than information. This recreational seeking behavior has become a challenge for designers of human - computer interfaces. Wu and Hsieh (2016) described users driven by a utilitarian motive prefer a categorization interface, whereas users who have hedonic motives prefer a clustering interface and show high tolerance of uncertainty. According to their motives, users exhibit different risk-control attitudes or affected uncertainty mood in following questionnaire survey. This study continues the exploration of the relationship between spontaneous emotions (arising from interface operation) and information-seeking behaviors.\nConclusions: The OPAC was designed for readers to seek desired books; unsurprisingly it is utilitarian-oriented. Conversely, the e-book wall presented by the current study is aimed at capturing the readers' attention and providing them with a sense of fun and pleasure, so they may find a suitable library book through book recommendations in a hedonic-oriented fashion.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of a large e-book touch-wall, on which the visualized interface provides information in a fun, hedonic-oriented fashion on readers of different ages browsing in a public library. The authors examined how emotions exert influence on the information-seeking behaviors of readers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors investigated the emotions and responsive eye movements of 38 readers in various age groups when operating the touch-wall interface of New Taipei City Library. They were monitored using an eye-tracker and a camera that videotaped their spontaneous facial expressions. A facial affect scoring technique was used to measure emotions and statistical analysis was used to explore the relationships among the scope of eye movements, emotions and information-seeking behavior of readers of different ages.\nFindings: Results revealed that participants experienced an array of emotions, such as contemplative, doubtful or peaceful. The older the participant was, the smaller the scope of eye movements was. Scope was also affected by emotions (both positive and negative).\nOriginality/value: These results serve as useful reference for exploration into human - information interaction, perceived ease of use, affected searching and the formulation of knowledge structures in visualized interfaces.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Competencies in the 21st century	[ "Emotional intelligence", "Intelligence", "Competences", "Assessment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The concept of competency-based human resources has gone from a new technique to a common practice in the 35 years since David McClelland (1973) first proposed them as a critical differentiator of performance. Today, almost every organization with more than 300 people uses some form of competency-based human resource management. Major consulting companies, such as The Hay Group, Development Dimensions International, and Personnel Decisions Incorporated and thousands of small consulting firms and independent consultants have become worldwide practitioners of competency assessment and development. And yet, the academic and applied research literature has trailed application. This has resulted in continued skepticism on the part of many academics and some professionals, and less guidance to practitioners from on-going research than is helpful. Some of this is due to the observation that many of the competency validation studies have been done by consultants who have little patience for the laborious process of documenting and getting the results published.\nWhat is a competency?: A competency is defined as a capability or ability. It is a set of related but different sets of behavior organized around an underlying construct, which we call the \"intent\". The behaviors are alternate manifestations of the intent, as appropriate in various situations or times. For example, listening to someone and asking him or her questions are several behaviors. A person can demonstrate these behaviors for multiple reasons or to various intended ends. A person can ask questions and listen to someone to ingratiate him or herself or to appear interested, thereby gaining standing in the other person's view. Or a person can ask questions and listen to someone because he or she is interested in understanding this other person, his or her priorities, or thoughts in a situation. The latter we would call a demonstration of empathy. The underlying intent is to understand the person. Meanwhile, the former underlying reason for the questions is to gain standing or impact in the person's view, elements of what we may call demonstration of influence. Similarly, the underlying intent of a more subtle competency like Emotional Self-Awareness is self-insight and self-understanding.This construction of competencies as requiring both action (i.e. a set of alternate behaviors) and intent called for measurement methods that allowed for assessment of both the presence of the behavior and inference of the intent. A modification of the critical incident interview (Flanagan, 1954) was adapted using the inquiry sequence from the Thematic Apperception Test and the focus on specific events in one's life from the biodata method (Dailey, 1971). Later, informant assessment through 360 or assessment center and simulations coded by reliable \"experts\" are essential. This is a behavioral approach to a person's talent.The anchor for understanding which behaviors and which intent is relevant in a situation emerges from predicting effectiveness. The construction of the specific competency is a matter of relating different behaviors that are considered alternate manifestations of the same underlying construct. But they are organized primarily or more accurately initially, by the similarity of the consequence of the use of these behaviors in social or work settings.A theory of performance is the basis for the concept of competency. The theory used in this approach is a basic contingency theory, as shown in Figure 1. Maximum performance is believed to occur when the person's capability or talent is consistent with the needs of the job demands and the organizational environment (Boyatzis, 1982). The person's talent is described by his or her: values, vision, and personal philosophy; knowledge; competencies; life and career stage; interests; and style. Job demands can be described by the role responsibilities and tasks needed to be performed. Aspects of the organizational environment that are predicted to have important impact on the demonstration of competencies and/or the design of the jobs an roles include: culture and climate; structure and systems; maturity of the industry and strategic positioning within it; and aspects of the economic, political, social, environmental, and religious milieu surrounding the organization. The first four articles offered in this special issue are competency validation studies in four different types of professional occupations.Research published over the last 30 years or so shows us that outstanding leaders, managers, advanced professionals and people in key jobs, from sales to bank tellers, appear to require three clusters of behavioral habits as threshold abilities and three clusters of competencies as distinguishing outstanding performance. The threshold clusters of competencies are:1. expertise and experience is a threshold level of competency;2. knowledge (i.e. declarative, procedural, functional and metacognitive) is a threshold competency; and3. an assortment of basic cognitive competencies, such as memory and deductive reasoning are threshold competencies.There are three clusters of competencies differentiating outstanding from average performers in many countries of the world (Bray et al., 1974; Boyatzis, 1982; Kotter, 1982; Luthans et. al., 1988; Howard and Bray, 1988; Campbell et al., 1970; Spencer and Spencer, 1993; Goleman, 1998; Goleman et al., 2002). They are:1. cognitive competencies, such as systems thinking and pattern recognition;2. emotional intelligence competencies, including self-awareness and self-management competencies, such as emotional self-awareness and emotional self-control; and3. social intelligence competencies, including social awareness and relationship management competencies, such as empathy and teamwork.Competencies are a behavioral approach to emotional, social, and cognitive intelligence.\nCompetencies as behavioral manifestations of talent: While other interpretations of \"intelligence\" are offered in the literature, we believe that to be classified as \"an intelligence,\" the concept should be:* Behaviorally observable.* Related to biological and in particular neural-endocrine functioning. That is, each cluster should be differentiated as to the type of neural circuitry and endocrine system involved.* Related to life and job outcomes.* Sufficiently different from other personality constructs that the concept adds value to understanding the human personality and behavior.* The measures of the concept, as a psychological construct, should satisfy the basic criteria for a sound measure, that is show convergent and discriminant validity.An integrated concept of emotional, social, and cognitive intelligence competencies offers more than a convenient framework for describing human dispositions. It offers a theoretical structure for the organization of personality and linking it to a theory of action and job performance. Goleman (1998) defined an \"emotional competence\" as a \"learned capability based on emotional intelligence which results in outstanding performance at work\". In other words, if a competency is an \"underlying characteristic of the person that leads to or causes effective or superior performance\" (Boyatzis, 1982), then:* an emotional, intelligence competency is an ability to recognize, understand, and use emotional information about oneself that leads to or causes effective or superior performance;* a social intelligence competency is the ability to recognize, understand and use emotional information about others that leads to or causes effective or superior performance; and* a cognitive intelligence competency is an ability to think or analyze information and situations that leads to or causes effective or superior performance.If defined as a single construct, the tendency to believe that more effective people have the vital ingredients for success invites the attribution of a halo effect. For example, person A is effective, therefore she has all of the right stuff, such as brains, savvy, and style. Like the issue of finding the best \"focal point\" with which to look at something, the dilemma of finding the best level of detail in defining constructs with which to build a personality theory may ultimately be an issue of which focal point is chosen. The separate competencies, like the clusters, are, we believe, the most helpful focal point for description and study of performance.\nCompetencies and a holistic theory of personality: The specification of a competency comes from the personality theory on which this approach is based. McClelland (1951) originally described a theory of personality as comprised of the relationships among a person's unconscious motives, self-schema, and observed behavioral patterns. Boyatzis (1982) offered this scheme as an integrated system diagram that showed concentric circles, with the person's unconscious motives and trait dispositions at the center. These affected, and were affected by, the next expanding circle of the person's values and self-image. The surrounding circle was labeled the skill level. The circle surrounding it included observed, specific behaviors.The synthesis of Goleman (1995) in developing the concept of emotional intelligence and Goleman (2006) into the concept of social intelligence provided yet another layer to this integrated system view of personality. In particular, Goleman's synthesis introduced the physiological level to this model by relating findings from neuroscience, biology, and medical studies to psychological states and resulting behavior. The result is a personality theory, as shown in Figure 2, that incorporates and predicts the relationship among a person's:* neural circuits and endocrine (i.e. hormonal) processes;* unconscious dispositions called motives and traits;* values and operating philosophy;* observed separate competencies; and* competency clusters.This conceptualization of personality requires a more holistic perspective than is often taken. When integrating the physiological level with the psychological and behavioral levels, a more comprehensive view of the human emerges. The evidence of the causal sequence predicted in this personality theory is emerging but is slow due to the disparate nature of the different fields studying parts of the model. For example, arousal of a person's power motive both causes and is affected by arousal of his or her sympathetic nervous system (i.e. SNS) (Boyatzis et al., 2006). When a person's power motive is aroused, he or she is more likely to show behavior associated with a group of competencies called Influence, Inspirational Leadership, or Change Catalyst (Winter et al., 1981; McClelland, 1985). Boyatzis and Sala (2004) showed that these competencies form an empirical cluster of emotional and social intelligence competencies as assessed through the Emotional Competency Inventory and now Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ECI). These competencies are shown more frequently when a person is operating from a Humanistic versus a Pragmatic Operating Philosophy (Boyatzis et al., 2000). When the power motive is aroused along with a person's self-control at the trait level (McClelland and Boyatzis, 1982; McClelland, 1985), the stressful effects of inhibiting one's urges add to the arousal of the SNS. The result is elevated blood pressure and decreased levels of both immunoglobulin A and natural killer cells (i.e. basic indicators of the immune system). Relatively recent research has shown that arousal of the SNS is associated with neural circuits passing predominantly through the Right Prefrontal Cortex (Boyatzis and McKee, 2005).Further, it is now the contention of leading researchers in affective neuroscience and genetic expression that experience overtakes genetic dispositions in determining the biological basis of behavior once in adulthood (Williams, 2003). This would suggest that a person's experience, and his or her arousal effect, rewire neural circuits and tendencies to invoke certain neuro-endocrine pathways. Offering support for the observation, or prediction is the proposed personality theory, that use of one's competencies (i.e. behavior in specific settings in life) becomes an arousal that over time creates different dispositions, even at the biological level.\nCompetencies can be developed: One of the benefits of the competency, or behavioral approach to talent is that we enter a domain of human talent that can be developed in adulthood. Although the understanding of competencies themselves has been extended, perhaps the most important contributions in the last 30 years, has come about primarily in the last 15 years. Decades of research on the effects of psychotherapy (Hubble et. al., 1999), self-help programs (Kanfer and Goldstein, 1991), cognitive behavior therapy (Barlow, 1988), training programs (Morrow et al., 1997), and education (Pascarella and Terenzini, 1991; Winter et al., 1981) have shown that people can change their behavior, moods, and self-image. But most of the studies focused on a single characteristic, like maintenance of sobriety, reduction in a specific anxiety, or a set of characteristics often determined by the assessment instrument, such as the scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. But there are few studies showing sustained improvements in the sets of desirable behavior that lead to outstanding performance.The \"honeymoon effect\" of typical training programs might start with improvement immediately following the program, but within months it drops precipitously (Campbell et. al., 1970). Only fifteen programs were found in a global search of the literature by the Consortium on Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations to improve emotional intelligence. Most of them showed impact on job outcomes, such as number of new businesses started, or life outcomes, such as finding a job or satisfaction (Cherniss and Adler, 2000), which are the ultimate purpose of development efforts. But showing an impact on outcomes, while desired, may also blur how the change actually occurs. Furthermore, when a change has been noted, a question about the sustainability of the changes is raised because of the relatively short time periods studied. The few published studies examining improvement of more than one of these competencies show an overall improvement of about 10 percent in emotional intelligence abilities three to eighteen months following training (see Boyatzis, 2006 for a review of these studies and their impact).A series of longitudinal studies underway at the Weatherhead School of Management of Case Western Reserve University have shown that people can change on this complex set of competencies that we call emotional and social intelligence competencies that distinguish outstanding performers in management and professions (Boyatzis et al., 2002). And the improvement lasted for years. The four studies offered in this special issue were part of this stream of research.We hope you enjoy the research and that it stimulates many ideas for more research as well as application.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to show that development of competencies needed to be effective managers and leaders requires program design and teaching methods focused on learning. This is the introductory essay to this special issue of JMD.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Competencies are defined and an overview is provided for the eight papers that will follow with original research on competencies, their link to performance in various occupations, and their development.\nFindings: - Emotional, social and cognitive intelligence competencies predict effectiveness in professional, management and leadership roles in many sectors of society. In addition, these competencies can be developed in adults.\nResearch limitations/implications: - As an introductory essay, this lays the foundation for the papers in this issue.\nPractical implications: - Competencies needed to be effective can be developed.\nOriginality/value: - Despite widespread application, there are few published studies of the empirical link between competencies and performance. There are even fewer published studies showing that they can be developed. This special issue will add to both literatures.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Comparison of the effects of the food supplementation programmes of ICDS centers and primary schools at Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambagh, West Bengal, India	[ "India", "ICDS", "Food supplementation", "Mid Day Meal", "Rural West Bengal" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: India consists of diverse agro-climatic regions and ethnic multiplicities. Socio-cultural practices, life-styles and eating habits vary not only between states but also between the districts within a state. Rural India needs more attention as 98 percent of the geographical area of India and 72.9 percent of Indian population occupy rural areas spreading over 600,000 villages (Eswaraiah, 2003). According to the report of National Nutritional Monitoring Bureau and National Institute of Nutrition (2003; Parvathi, 2001), nearly 43.8 percent children suffer from moderate degrees of protein energy malnutrition, 8.7 percent suffer from extreme form of malnutrition and only 9.9 percent of the children are normal. In India, malnutrition is the direct cause of death of 500,000 children every year (Parvathi, 2001). The prevalence of underweight (a widely used indicator of undernutrition) among children under age five in India is one of the highest in the world - 43 percent in 2006 - surpassed only by Bangladesh, Yemen and Timor-Leste (UNICEF, 2007a). India is home to 55 million of the world's underweight children under age five - about one-third of the global burden of underweight in this age group (UNICEF, 2007b).\nObjective: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the changes in the nutritional status of children of Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambagh, Hooghly District, West Bengal, India from their preschool days to the present primary school days. The significance and uniqueness of the present study was to examine the present nutritional status and growth pattern of those children, who have been studied earlier by the same investigator three to four years back when they were under ICDS scheme.\nMaterial and methods: The area\nThe participants: A total of 1,012 children (boys=498; girls=514) aged two to six years old enrolled in these ICDS centers were studied. A total of 603 children (boys=300, girls=303) aged five to ten years were studied from the 15 primary schools. Almost all the studied children of the Center B were the representatives of the children from Center A who were studied three to four years earlier by the principal author in the same gram panchayat. Thus, in one way it can be considered as a type of longitudinal study. Information on a number of non-anthropometric variables such as age, and sex were collected using a pre-structured interview schedule. All the children were Hindu by religion. Most of the families depend upon agriculture for their livelihood. From ICDS centers, all children are given a daily food supplementation, in the form of porridge, consisting of approximately 60 grams of rice and 20 grams of lentils per day. They were also fed an egg per week. In case of the Mid Day Meal system of primary schools the children get 100 grams grains, 20 grams pulses, 50 grams vegetables, five grams oil and fat, salt and others as per requirement per child per day.\nAnthropometric measurements: The measurements (height and weight) were taken following Lohman et al. (1988). Height was measured by using Martin's anthropometer. Each subject was requested to stand on bare feet as straight as possible on the standing floor with heels together and the head was positioned in the eye-ear plane. The subjects were asked to take a deep breath and hold it and maintain a fully erect position without altering the load on the heels. The anthropometer was placed behind the subject so that its lower end stands between the heels and the beam passes vertically between the buttocks and touching the back of the head. The horizontal arm of the anthropometer was brought down on the top of the median plane on the head and measurement was recorded to the nearest 0.1 cm. In case of weight, the weighing machine was placed on a firm, flat surface. The participants were asked to remove any coats, heavy sweaters, shoes, keys or heavy pocket contents. The participants were also asked to stand in the middle of the scale's platform with the body weight equally distributed on both feet. The participants were weighed in kilograms to the nearest 0.1 kg (100 grams). Height and weight are important commonly recorded variables used in anthropometric study.\nAssessment of nutritional status: After taking measurements and collecting information, analyses were done using SPSS-PC package for social sciences (Version 7.5). There are several parameters on the basis of which, prevalence of undernutrition among the studied populations can be assessed. Out of those, the most commonly used and reliable indicators are stunting (low height-for-age), underweight (low WAZ) and wasting (low WHZ). For this, said three indicators were used to evaluate the nutritional status of the subjects of the present study. While stunting reflects a failure to reach linear growth potential due to sub optimal health and/or nutritional conditions, underweight reveals low body mass relative to chronological age, which is influenced by both, a child's height and weight. Stunting is an indicator of chronic undernutrition, the result of prolonged food deprivation and/or disease or illness. Underweight thus cannot distinguish between a child that is small in weight relative to his/her height and a child that is low in height relative to his/her age, but who may be normal in WHZ. On the other hand wasting is an indicator of acute undernutrition, the result of more recent food deprivation or illness (World Health Organization (WHO), 1995). Internationally accepted the National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS) age and sex specific - two Z-scores were followed (Hamill et al., 1979; World Health Organization (WHO), 1983) to define stunting, underweight and wasting. Z-scores were calculated following the standard formula:\nResults: Table I presents the means, medians and standard deviations of BMI of boys and girls from two centers by age classes. In Center A the mean BMI did not show significant differences between age two and six in boys (F=0.39, p>0.05) and girls (F=0.57, p>0.05). In Center B boys showed significant differences in BMI between age groups of five and ten (F=2.71, p<0.05) and in girls (F=6.78, p<0.001).\nDiscussion: In spite of the economic advances, undernutrition remains a significant problem in many Asian countries (Wickramasinghe et al., 2004). Undernutrition is a major public health problem and continues to be a cause of ill-health and premature mortality among children in developing countries like India (Nandy et al., 2005; UNICEF, 2006).\nAcknowledgements: All subjects who participated in the study are gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks are due to the ICDS and primary school authorities. Dr Gopal Chandra Mandal received financial assistants from University Grant Commission, Govt. of India, in the form of Minor Research Projects in 2004 (PSW-046/03-04 (ERO), March 12, 2004) and in 2009 (PHW-025/08-09 (ERO), December 12, 2008). Financial assistance to Dr S. Koziel, Polish Academy of Sciences-Indian National Science Academy Fellow, invited by Dr K. Bose, at the Department of Anthropology, Vidyasagar University, is also gratefully acknowledged.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Developing countries like India, accounts for about 40 percent of undernourished children in the World and it is largely due to the result of dietary inadequacy in relation to their needs. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the changes in the nutritional status of the children, from their preschool days to the present primary school days.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The present investigation was conducted at 20 Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) centers (Center-A) and 15 primary schools (Center-B) in Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambag, Hooghly District of West Bengal, India, at an interval of three to four years. A total of 1,012 children (boys=498; girls=514) aged two to six years old enrolled in these ICDS centers and a total of 603 children (boys=300, girls=303), aged five to ten years were studied from the 15 primary schools who were the beneficiaries of ICDS centers. Underweight (weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ)) and wasting (weight-for height Z-score (WHZ)) were used to assess the nutritional status.\nFindings: The nutritional situation (both in case of underweight and wasting) was better in Center B as compared with Center A. In general, the nutritional condition of boys was better than girls. Center had a very significant effect on both WAZ as well as WHZ, irrespective of age and sex. Sex has a significant impact only on WAZ. Interestingly, there was no significant sex-center interaction for both WAZ as well as WHZ. The children of the area were getting Mid Day Meal supplied through the school authorities which was comparatively better than the ICDS centers' food supplementation. Better monitoring of nutritional supplementation at primary schools may be an important factor.\nPractical implications: In ICDS centers, only the Anganwari worker is responsible in running and implementing the programs offered by the Government. However, at primary schools, the active involvement of all the teachers to run the program may have effectively led to have better results. Furthermore, the Government's focus should not be only on the increase the area covered by the ICDS program, but focus should be to increase the quality of food supplied, proper monitoring of the implementation and increase the allocation of funds. Appropriate measures may be taken by the authorities regarding this.\nOriginality/value: The results of the study will help in policy making in reducing the prevalence of undernutrition.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Anti-diabetic and anti-proliferative activities of herbal teas, Athrixia phylicoides DC and Monsonia burkeana Planch. ex Harv, indigenous to South Africa	[ "α-Amylase", "α-Glucosidase", "Herbal teas", "Anti-diabetic", "Anti-proliferative" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The prevalence of both diabetes and cancer has been noted as a global health burden in developed and developing countries. The biggest increase in the number of diabetes death-related cases were observed more in developing countries such as South Africa (Shaw et al., 2010). Diabetes has been estimated to cause approximately 3.6 per cent of South Africa's population deaths, making it one of the top 10 leading cause of death (Pillay-van Wyk et al., 2016). Lung, liver, stomach, breast and cervical cancers are the leading estimated cause of death in the Southern African region. The increase in new cancer cases and deaths has been largely attributed to the aging population, increasing prevalence of lifestyle risk factors such as smoking, and the less physical activities associated with urbanisation (Torre et al., 2015). There is increasing epidemiological evidence that suggests the role of dietary antioxidants, including phenolic compounds, in the prevention of several chronic and degenerative diseases which includes diabetes and cancer (Zielinski and Kozlowska, 2000; Willcox et al., 2004). These benefits are made possible by the in vivo antioxidant capacity of phenolic compounds which are reported to assist with maintaining the balance between oxidants and antioxidants (Adom and Lui, 2002). Plants are known rich sources of phenolic compounds and have an extensive reported usage for medicinal purposes (Sapkota et al., 2012). The South African plant flora has a rich source of indigenous herbal teas with some teas still unexplored even though they have diverse compounds with pharmacological properties.\n2. Materials and methods: 2.1 Plant materials\n3. Results: 3.1 Total phenolic content determination and identification\n4. Discussion: The efforts to develop a phytochemical fingerprint for both bush tea and special tea were undertaken to identify and quantify some of the phenolic compounds that could justify the potential health benefits of these teas. The HPLC chromatogram of special tea expressed more peaks when compared to the bush tea chromatogram. The HPLC results for bush tea confirmed the TLC findings and only gallic acid, chlorogenic acid and quercetin were identified and quantified. However, catechin was also identified in the HPLC analysis of special tea. There is no data currently available on the phenolic content of both bush tea and special tea. Similarly, Qasim et al. (2017) identified chlorogenic acid, gallic acid, catechin and quercetin as abundant phenolic compounds in five South African medicinal plants. Caffeic acid, syringic acid, coumarin, narigenin and kaempferol were also identified.\n5. Conclusions: Special tea contains higher TPC of 6.6 mgGAE/g than that of bush tea of 4.8 mgGAE/g and therefore that gives special tea more in terms of the antioxidant and health benefits tested. The highest ABTS and DPPH antioxidant values were 170.67 umolTE/g and 105.94 umolTE/g, respectively, for special tea. Special tea, S100, achieved the maximum anti-diabetic properties for both a-amylase and a-glucosidase inhibition of 100 per cent whereas bush tea, B100, had a higher a-glucosidase inhibition (36.67 per cent) than a-amylase (26.67 per cent). Special tea, S100, also had a higher anti-proliferate activity of 90.14 per cent than bush tea, B100, which had an anti-proliferative activity of 54.82 per cent. There was no synergistic effect in combining the two herbal teas on any of the tests conducted in any of the different combination ratios prepared. The reported anti-diabetic and anti-proliferative activities of bush tea and special tea are of great significance in combating diabetes and cervical cancer. South Africa is one of the developing countries burdened by the prevalence of diabetes and cancer deaths. The consumption of bush tea and special tea in the more urbanized areas of South Africa can aid in reducing the prevalence of diabetes and cancer as consumption is still more popular in the rural parts of the country. Future studies will be to determine the synergistic effects with a wide array of commercial teas on the anti-diabetic and anti-cancer properties of these herbal teas. Another important aspect to be investigated is the isolation and quantification of the different phenolic compounds present in the teas and their contribution to the antioxidant and health benefits of these teas.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the health and medicinal importance of bush tea (Athrixia phylicoides DC) and special tea (Monsonia burkeana Planch. ex Harv), two of Southern African indigenous herbal teas.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The two herbal teas, A. phylicoides and M. burkeana were extracted individually and in combined ratios for analysis. The phenolic content was determined and the different phenolic compounds were identified using thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The anti-diabetic activity of the teas was determined by evaluating the inhibition of both a-amylase and a-glucosidase in vitro. The anti-proliferative activity was measured on human cervical cancer (HeLa) cell line using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)2,5-diphenyltetrazolium) assay.\nFindings: Gallic acid, chlorogenic acid and quercetin were identified to be present in significant quantities by TLC. The HPLC quantified the presence of catechin (1.567 mg/g) and chlorogenic acid (1.862 mg/g) in special tea while chlorogenic acid (1.288 mg/g) was present in bush tea. Bush tea and special tea expressed significant levels of phenolic content and high antioxidant activities. Special tea (S100) expressed high inhibition of a-amylase, a-glucosidase and HeLa cell line proliferation when compared to bush tea (B100).\nOriginality/value: Both bush tea and special tea could provide an alternative for treatment and management of both diabetes and cervical cancer. However, future studies are needed to investigate their synergistic effect with a wide range of other commercial herbal teas.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of employees' values on role engagement: Assessing the moderating effects of distributive justice	[ "Healthcare", "Distributive justice", "Extrinsic values", "Intrinsic values" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Humans are motivated by various incentives and self-perceived wants and needs, with different people motivated by different combinations of these (Deckers, 2015). In the workplace, employees are rewarded with extrinsic rewards (like remuneration for certain working effort, other extrinsic rewards related to the physical work environment) and intrinsic rewards (the respect of peers and society and a vibrant and supportive work environment). Within any workplace, it is generally the case that some employees will place a high value on certain forms of rewards, while others will not (Amundson, 2007; Choi et al., 2013; Olafsen et al., 2015). Managing this motivational heterogeneity such that collective and individual employee engagement is optimised is an important challenge for all organisations.\nRE: Engagement with work, or RE, has been defined as \"a persistent, positive motivational state of fulfilment in employees\" (Maslach et al., 2001, p. 417). RE is a distinct construct that entails behavioural, cognitive and emotional elements (Saks, 2006). Engaged employees are characterised by high energy levels, willingness to invest effort into work, persistence in the face of difficulties, or vigour; enthusiasm, inspiration, an appetite for challenge, or dedication; and high concentration levels, or absorption (Bakker, 2011). An engaged worker is emotionally involved, receptive to the social environment, willing to exert effort to facilitate other's needs (Moliner et al., 2008).\nExtrinsic and intrinsic reward motivation: Motivation, a fundamental psychological construct, has been defined as the set of processes that direct and sustain action (Latham and Pinder, 2005); as the desire to make effort (Dowling and Sayles, 1978); or as activation and intention (Ryan and Deci, 2000b). Motivation can be driven by extrinsic factors such as financial, work conditions, physical work environment conditions or other rewards and recognition (Amabile, 1993; Amundson, 2007; Brief and Aldag, 1977), and/or can be driven by intrinsic factors such as a personal commitment, inherent satisfaction, personal values or innate role enjoyment (Gagne and Deci, 2005; Ryan and Deci, 2000a). According to empirical research on the self-determination theory, people who are intrinsically motivated perform activities with more interest and confidence, leading in turn to enhanced performance, persistence, and creativity (Sheldon et al., 1997). This then results in higher self-esteem (Deci and Ryan, 2008) and greater overall well-being when compared to people who are extrinsically motivated (Ryan and Deci, 2000b). The term extrinsic motivation (EM) refers to motivations to perform an activity in order to attain a separable outcome rather than for inherent enjoyment (Ryan and Deci, 2000b). EMs vary along a continuum of autonomous regulation from non-valued behaviours that are performed solely to comply with an external force or to accrue some tangible reward through to behaviour that is valued and congruent with one's values and needs.\nDJ: Organisational justice is a frequently researched topic in organisational psychology and organisational behaviour (Colquitt et al., 2001; Moliner et al., 2008). DJ, an important aspect of organisational justice, entails perceptions of fairness in the allocation of rewards and recognition (Parker et al., 1997; Di Fabio and Palazzeschi, 2012). In the service industries there is substantial evidence for a direct relationship between DJ and organisational outcomes such as citizenship behaviours or other discretionary customer-service and prosocial behaviours (Cohen-Charash and Spector, 2001; Skitka et al., 2003).\nDJ and RE: Integrating a sense of organisational justice, (DJ) with work engagement (RE) tends to improve worker perceived well-being (e.g. Maslach et al., 2001). In turn, well-being engenders extra-role customer service (Moliner et al., 2008; Salanova et al., 2011) and can increase job performance (Cohen-Charash and Spector, 2001). DJ predicts related constructs like satisfaction and reduces intention to leave (Cohen-Charash and Spector, 2001; Colquitt et al., 2001).\nEM, DJ and RE: In the healthcare area, studies have shown that EM at the more autonomous end of the continuum is associated with better adherence to medication and other treatments, long-term maintenance, and symptom control among patients (Ryan et al., 1995; Williams et al., 1998, 2004).\nMultiplicative effects of IM and EM, DJ in predicting RE: Finally, we felt it worthwhile to examine whether a cumulative and multiplicative (in statistical terms, a three-way) interaction existed for employees with concurrent high intrinsic and extrinsic values, DJ and RE. We noted earlier that IM and EM are not considered mutually exclusive, and employees may value both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards equally. Thus, we predicted that:\nMethod: Context\nResults: For this analysis, we chose to focus on clinical staff working within hospital sites within the wider health district. Two hospital sites provided the responses for this analysis, one providing 25 responses and the other 122. Clinical staff differ from other staff in that they will have regular contact with patients and as such this sample included medical practitioners, nurses, allied health professionals and the like. Within our sample, 23 per cent of respondents were male, 70 per cent were nursing staff, 11 per cent were medical practitioners and 18 per cent were allied health and related occupations. The mean respondent age was approximately 39 years of age. These figures are broadly representative of the Australian clinical healthcare workforce (including nurses). In Australia and elsewhere, the nursing workforce is heavily feminine.\nLimitations: This study is based on a cross-sectional survey and is thus at risk of common-method variance (CMV) (Lindell and Whitney, 2001). We used both ex ante and ex post strategies to mitigate these issues.\nDiscussion: This study aimed to examine relations between RE, extrinsic and intrinsic reward motivation, DJ and workgroup integration among full-time and permanent part-time employees of a large, public health district in Queensland, Australia.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the manner in which employees' experience of distributive justice (DJ) moderates the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic values on role engagement (RE). RE is especially important in the healthcare setting (examined here) due to the sector's complexity, changeability and emotionally challenging nature.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using data collected from a survey of employees from a large government health district in Southeast Queensland (Australia), this study examined the determinants of RE among a group of employees working across three hospital locations.\nFindings: The focus of the study was on the impact, both directly and in combination, of espoused extrinsic and intrinsic values and perceived DJ on RE. The authors identify strong direct effects from DJ on RE, and complex third-order effects for the combinations of intrinsic (IM) and extrinsic motivation and DJ in predicting RE.\nResearch limitations/implications: As a cross-sectional and attitudinal survey, care must be taken in relation to common-method variance. Post hoc controls were performed in relation to this.\nPractical implications: DJ is important for all, and is a powerful motivator for engagement of employees reporting highly on IM. There is evidence that the most engaged employees are not those most motivated by extrinsic rewards alone, although employees who are motivated primarily by extrinsic rewards alone can be highly engaged when they experience high levels of DJ.\nSocial implications: For managers seeking to engage their employees, an understanding of the different motivators for intrinsically vs extrinsically inclined employees is important. Taken together, these results suggest that employee RE is driven by a complex set of factors that differ between employees. Managing this complexity is an important consideration for managers.\nOriginality/value: This is the first empirical study to show these interaction effects using these measures. The healthcare context, generally under researched, also features in this study.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A systematic literature review of the evolution of pedagogy in entrepreneurial education research	[ "Evolution", "Pedagogy", "Entrepreneurship", "Systematic literature review", "Entrepreneurial education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Entrepreneurial education, in here understood as courses and programmes in entrepreneurship, is today offered to students at most major universities across the world (Morris and Liguori, 2016). This widespread interest has been fuelled by economic downturns as well as by research supporting the notion that entrepreneurship is a key driving force behind social and economic transformation (Fayolle et al., 2016; Kirchhoff and Greene, 1998). Another contributory factor is that entrepreneurial education represents one of the most progressive and innovative forms of teaching in higher education (Greene et al., 2004; Neck and Corbett, 2018) where students are confronted with action-oriented pedagogies (Honig, 2004; Kassean et al., 2015; Mandel and Noyes, 2016), including experiential learning activities such as writing business plans, simulations, developing products, services and business models, as well as starting up real live ventures (Duval-Couetil, 2013; Fox et al., 2018; Rasmussen and Sorheim, 2006; Solomon et al., 1994).\nPrevious literature reviews on entrepreneurial education: Systematic reviews on literature and research on courses and programmes in entrepreneurship began to appear in the 1990s. These early reviews report empirical evidence in support of the assumption that skills relevant to successful entrepreneurship can be taught (Gorman et al., 1997; Solomon et al., 1994), but also emphasize the need not to lose sight of the uniqueness of entrepreneurship education (Solomon et al., 1994). Several reviews indicate that research on curriculum development and programme content in entrepreneurial education has gone largely unnoticed, with little consistency among existing programmes with respect to curriculum or teaching methods (Garavan and O'Cinneide, 1994a, b; Gorman et al., 1997). In this regard, Garavan and O'Cinneide (1994a) describe the field as being fragmented, explorative and largely descriptive, with most research questions relating to particular programmes and focussing on measures of their short-term impact or effectiveness.\nThe systematic review methodology: Our analysis is based on 395 articles published or available in press from January 1980 to December 2018 in 78 academic journals (Table AI). To enable an in-depth analysis of the literature based on a replicable and transparent review process, we followed systematic review methodology (Pittaway and Cope, 2007a; Tranfield et al., 2003). Guided by our research purpose, our systematic review has been influenced by a configurative approach where we focussed on finding patterns in the data provided by the heterogeneity of the sample (Gough et al., 2012). Gough et al. (2012) argue that there are important conceptual and practical differences between different types of systematic reviews, where they distinguish between aggregative and configurative reviews. Overall, aggregative reviews collect empirical data to describe and test predefined concepts, while configurative reviews try to interpret and understand particular phenomenon.\nAnalysis: evolution of pedagogy in research on entrepreneurial education: In this section, we present our analysis via four analytical building blocks: instructors (who), content (what), target (for whom) and teaching methods (how). To illustrate the evolution of the field over time, we follow the development phases identified in Landstrom (2010). A summary of the analysis is presented in Table I.\nThe evolutionary process of pedagogy in research on entrepreneurial education: Our analysis suggests that entrepreneurial education has increasingly positioned itself as a distinct domain by distancing the curricular content from mainstream management education (e.g. Mwasalwiba, 2010) together with a large variety of pedagogical methods inspired by both entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurship as venture creation as well as enterprising behaviour (e.g. Corbett, 2005; Gibb, 1987; Jones and Matlay, 2011). The development of the curricular content and our dimension of what have evolved from an intentional shift away from management subjects towards an entrepreneurial inspired curriculum filled with content related to various stages of the entrepreneurial process (Mwasalwiba, 2010). However, there is a large variation among educators on what literature to use (Gartner and Vesper, 1994), which can be related to contextual differences in how the subject domain is viewed. Our analysis revealed two developments related to the content dimension. One centres on content in the form of what to learn in order to engage in entrepreneurship, which has evolved to retain the main components related to the start-up process (Jones et al., 2017; Mwasalwiba, 2010). The other is an increased variation that occurred in the late 2000s and onwards related to different approaches to entrepreneurial education (Hoppe et al., 2017; Jones and Iredale, 2010). The internal selection based on understanding the entrepreneurial process and what content to include has been broadened and the influence of enterprising as a pedagogical approach spanning multiple subject domains has created new challenges for scholars about what entrepreneurial education implies in relation to content. The increased variation has intensified the discussion on what types of knowledge can be developed, which is presently being debated but with little evidence of consensus (Jones et al., 2018; Neck and Corbett, 2018).\nDirection for future research: In view of our findings and discussion, we can identify at least four areas with the potential to guide future inquiries in research on entrepreneurial education. The areas emanate from the analytical structure of our \"who-is-doing-what-for-whom-and-how\" framework and will be further elaborated below.\nConclusion: This systematic review has examined how research on pedagogical development in entrepreneurial education has evolved since the 1980s. Our results illustrate how research on entrepreneurial education over time has developed into a distinct scholarly domain, guided by a practice-oriented research agenda that has emphasized the need to connect teaching to \"real-world\" environments. But our review has also acknowledged the internal struggles that have increased in the last decade, where the inconclusiveness between a narrow start-up view and a broad enterprising view has created an academic discussion that goes to the roots of the subject and questions what the starting point should be when engaging in teaching and learning the subject. In relation to Aldrich's (1999) evolutionary model, the core idea of experiential learning theory as an underlying framework for developing knowledge on teaching and learning (e.g. Neck and Corbett, 2018) can be seen as something that has been selected and retained throughout this time period.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to create a better understanding of how entrepreneurial education research has evolved with regard to pedagogy over the past decades.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors employed systematic review methodology to enable an in-depth analysis of the literature in a process that was both replicable and transparent. Guided by the research purpose, the systematic review of 395 articles published between January 1980 and December 2018 was influenced by a configurative approach aimed at interpreting and understanding the phenomenon under study.\nFindings: The analysis suggests that the scholarly discourse on pedagogy in entrepreneurial education research has developed over time from teacher-guided instructional models to more constructivist perspectives. A shift in the literature was also observed, where scholarly discussions moved from addressing the issue of teachability to a greater emphasis on learnability. Contemporary discussions centre on the theoretical and philosophical foundations of experience-based teaching and learning.\nOriginality/value: The study illustrates how entrepreneurial education has evolved into a distinct research theme, characterized by a practice-oriented research agenda that emphasizes the need to connect teaching to \"real-world\" environments. The practice-oriented agenda has led to continued societal interest in promoting entrepreneurial education, while at the same time creating low academic legitimacy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Increasing the frequency of breakfast consumption	[ "Health foods", "Nutrition", "Diet", "Consumer behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1.1 Background: Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day, with breakfast consumption one of the \"seven healthy habits\" associated with increased longevity, as identified by Belloc and Breslow (1972) in their Alameda County Study. Experimental and observational studies suggest that the physical benefits of breakfast consumption include improved diabetes control (Clark et al., 2006) and the presence of fewer cardiovascular risk factors (Sakata et al., 2001). Breakfast consumers have been shown to have a lower body mass index than breakfast skippers (Ma et al., 2003), and this may be related to improvements in appetite control (Burley et al., 1993; Speechly and Buffenstein, 1999) and nutritional profile (Nicklas et al., 2000), which have also been linked to breakfast consumption over both the short- and long-term.Further evidence for the importance of eating breakfast has been found in studies of cognitive and affective health outcomes (Michaud et al., 1991; Nicklas et al., 2000). A number of experimental studies conducted in both school and laboratory environments have shown that breakfast consumption may lead to improvements in memory over the short-term (Michaud et al., 1991; Smith et al., 1994; Wesnes et al., 2003). Both observational and experimental studies have suggested that breakfast skipping may result in a decrease in positive affective states (Lluch et al., 2000; Yang et al., 2006).Finally, breakfast consumption has been shown to result in improvements in behaviour amongst school children. Children who regularly eat breakfast are likely to be less disruptive in class (Bro, 1994), are less likely to be absent from school and are more likely to arrive at school on time (Greenhalgh et al., 2007; Meyers et al., 1989). The consumption of breakfast has also been shown to result in improvements in academic performance (Powell et al., 1998) and school enjoyment (Ask et al., 2006).1.2 Interventions to increase frequency of breakfast consumption\n2.1 Methods: Electronic literature searches were performed using the Medline, PUBMED, SCOPUS, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases up to July 2008. In order to identify relevant grey literature, searches were also conducted using Google Scholar and the Dissertations & Theses: Full Text database. In all databases the initial search was conducted using the term \"breakfast\", results were then refined by the use of the term \"intervention\". The term intervention was valid in the PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Medline databases and exploded to include, \"intervention\" and \"school-based intervention\" in PsycINFO, \"early intervention\" and \"intervention trials\" in CINAHL and \"early intervention (education)\" and \"intervention studies\" in Medline. Reference lists of identified papers and of reviews in related areas were manually searched for additional studies.All studies that described and/or evaluated a breakfast eating intervention in a non-clinical sample were potentially eligible for inclusion in this review. In order to be eligible for inclusion studies must have reported the frequency of breakfast eating at follow-up. Only studies that were published in English were reviewed. The titles and abstracts of all identified records were screened. Articles were rejected if it was determined from the title and abstract that the study failed to meet the selection criteria. When a title/abstract could not be rejected with certainty, the full text of the article was obtained for further evaluation.In total, 11 studies were included in the review (Ask et al., 2006; Bayne-Smith et al., 2004; Crawford, 2007; Crepinsek et al., 2006; Devaney and Stuart, 1998; Kennedy et al., 2005; Martens et al., 2007; Murphy et al., 2007; Radcliffe et al., 2005; Shemilt et al., 2004; Shi-Chang et al., 2004). See Table I for a description of each of the included studies. One of the included studies, identified through electronic database searching, was reported in a Master's thesis (Crawford, 2007). A second paper included in the review was a report by the Cardiff Institute for Society, Health and Ethics (Murphy et al., 2007). The remainder of the included studies were reported in published journal articles. Breakfast eating frequency was assessed in all studies. Other outcome measures included in the reviewed studies were: assessment of breakfast quality, overall dietary quality, attitudes and beliefs surrounding breakfast and nutrition, knowledge of general nutrition, and physiological outcomes such as body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure. Since it was considered important that interventions not have negative impact on dietary quality or on attitudes towards breakfast, these outcomes were considered along with breakfast eating frequency for the purpose of this review.Since one of the aims of this review was to identify common methodological challenges encountered by researchers in this field no criteria were developed to include or exclude studies on the basis of study design or methodological quality.3.1 Results\n4.1 Discusssion: The evidence regarding the effectiveness of the reviewed interventions on breakfast eating frequency was inconclusive. Results from food availability interventions showed no evidence that school feeding programmes lead to an increase in breakfast eating frequency. There was limited evidence to suggest that persuasive messages with and without the provision of breakfast may lead to increases in breakfast consumption.This finding is consistent with research tht suggests that food scarcity is rarely cited as a reason for breakfast skipping. For example, in one study of breakfast consumption patterns in impoverished youth, only 3 per cent of breakfast skippers indicated that breakfast foods were unavailable (Sweeney and Horishita, 2005). Similarly, a study of breakfast eating habits of Australian school children reported that just 5 per cent of breakfast skippers reported that they did not eat breakfast because there was no food at home (Shaw, 1998). In both studies, breakfast skippers were most likely to report that they skipped breakfast because of attitudes and beliefs they held about breakfast, including a dislike for breakfast, and a belief that they lacked time in the morning to eat (Shaw, 1998; Sweeney and Horishita, 2005). It is plausible to argue that interventions that include a persuasive component would be more likely to address such attitudes/beliefs and, therefore, would have a greater degree of success in increasing the frequency of breakfast consumption.Such a supposition is partially supported by the results of this review. There was evidence to suggest that interventions that included persuasive messages led to increases in positive beliefs about breakfast and overall nutrition. However, only one study using a food only intervention reported the effect of the intervention on attitudes towards breakfast (Murphy et al., 2007). This study provides preliminary evidence that food only interventions may modify those attitudes, which previous studies have suggested, may be relevant in influencing breakfast eating.Importantly, of the five interventions that reported increased positive beliefs about breakfast and/or overall nutrition as a result of the intervention, three interventions also led to increases in breakfast eating frequency. No interventions led to improvements in breakfast eating frequency without also reporting an improvement in positive beliefs about nutrition and/or breakfast. This is consistent with research into breakfast consumption that suggests that breakfast consumption is predicted, at least in part, by an individual's positive attitudes towards breakfast consumption (Wong and Mullan, 2008).Evidence from the reviewed studies suggests that interventions from all three categories can lead to improvements in dietary quality. This pattern of results suggest that the interventions reviewed here, while not always improving overall breakfast consumption, have still lead to meaningful improvements in the nutritional content of breakfast. Importantly, it appears that the impact of these interventions was not limited to a single meal occasion but rather led to improvements in dietary quality throughout the day. This is of particular importance, as it shows that the food consumed at breakfast acted as an addition to, rather than a replacement of, food consumed later in the day.However, when interpreting these results, and the data regarding attitudes towards breakfast, it should be considered that neither outcome was the main outcome measure of any of the studies under review. As such, insignificant results may not have been reported, and/or findings relating to the effects of interventions on dietary quality and attitudes towards breakfast may have been reported as separate papers. It is certainly the case that a number of studies have considered these outcomes without measuring changes in breakfast eating frequency.4.2 Methodological quality of included studies\n5.1 Implications for research and practice: Owing to the myriad methodological concerns and the inconsistency in results, even when comparing similar programmes, it was difficult to draw robust conclusions based on the available evidence. In general, there is a need for improvements in the reporting of intervention studies in this area. Reporting of such features would also allow serious methodological flaws, such as those evident in some papers reviewed here, to be more easily identified and more easily overcome.Overall, it appears that interventions with a persuasive component, with or without food provision, were the most successful method of modifying individual's beliefs associated with breakfast consumption. It also appears that these changes in beliefs were associated with increases in breakfast consumption in most cases. In light of this body of research, future interventions that aim to increase breakfast eating frequency should endeavour to include a persuasive component. The current balance of evidence would suggest that such persuasive messages are likely to be the most effective method of modifying breakfast eating frequency while also having the potential to lead to increases in overall diet and positive beliefs about nutrition and/or breakfast.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - A number of interventions aimed at increasing breakfast consumption have been designed and implemented in recent years. This paper seeks to review the current research in this area with the aim of identifying common features of successful interventions and strengths and weaknesses in the current research methodology.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A systematic review of interventions aimed at increasing breakfast-eating frequency in a non-clinical sample was conducted.\nFindings: - A total of 11 interventions were identified and reviewed; of these, only three resulted in an increase in breakfast consumption at follow-up. The three studies that were successful in changing breakfast consumption all included a psychosocial component that was successful in increasing positive attitudes towards nutrition in the intervention protocol. Many of the breakfast-eating interventions included in this review have methodological weaknesses, including difficulties in implementing interventions, small sample sizes, and selection biases, which future researchers should consider when designing and evaluating their own interventions.\nResearch limitations/implications: - These findings highlight the importance of including psychosocial components in interventions designed to increase breakfast consumption, while also signalling issues that should be addressed when designing and reporting future interventions.\nOriginality/value: - This review was the first to investigate the efficacy of interventions aimed at increasing breakfast consumption. The identification of weaknesses in the current body of research, and of successful and unsuccessful intervention practices is an important step in developing successful interventions in the future.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Public procurement policy for small and medium enterprises in developing countries: Evidence from India	[ "Organization", "Implementation", "SMEs", "Barriers", "Public procurement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Public procurement represents significant portions of a gross domestic product (GDP) in many countries and acts an important tool with which governments seek to achieve multiple social and economic policy objectives (Arrowsmith, 2010; Bovis, 1998; McCrudden, 2007). Promoting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) constitutes one such goal that has attracted much policy as well as scholarly attention through the years. The economic rationale for supporting SMEs in public procurement is significant. The SMEs are important for strong local economies that can employ more people and create opportunities for citizens to achieve prosperity (World Bank, 2016). The enhanced SME access to procurement market could drive up the competition and in particular the variety, thus, increasing the potential for economy-wide innovation (Cabral et al., 2006). Supporting SMEs can, therefore, aid governments to seek impacts on competition, innovation and inclusive growth (Erridge and Greer, 2002; Uyarra and Flanagan, 2010; European Commission (EC), 2010). Especially, in the context of developing and newly industrialised economies, the small businesses are not only the biggest contributors to the total employment and job creation for those outside the primary agriculture sector, but also constitute a major source of domestic and export earnings (Reed et al., 2004; Walker and Preuss, 2008; Ayyagari and Vojislav, 2011). Although their overall impact on reducing income inequalities and poverty alleviation remain somewhat inconclusive, a strong and competitive SME sector could evidently mainstream large informal activities and marginalised sections of the population into formal value-added market activities (Beck et al., 2005; OECD, 2004). Facilitating SME participation in public procurement is thus widely preferred for pursuing developmental policy goals in countries around the world (Kattel and Lember, 2010; Tiryakioglu and Yulek, 2015).\n2. SME's and public procurement policies: a review of literature: Over the years, a significant number of studies have analysed the barriers that inhibit SMEs from gaining access to public procurement market. Such barriers exist at all the stages of procurement starting from fulfilling the pre-tender procedural requirements to competing with large firms with disproportionate advantages, and thereafter the difficulties faced in fulfilling the post-contractual obligations (Loader, 2013; Glover, 2008; Nicholas-Fruhmann, 2014; Murray, 2012). Of these, the barriers related to entry and award conditions are particularly highlighted in the policy literature on promoting SMEs in public procurement. Some of the well-known challenges to SMEs include higher financial cost of bidding (Cabras, 2011), lack of knowledge in creating proper bids, low awareness related to opportunities in the public sector, onerous tender documentation (Fee et al., 2002), time-consuming bureaucratic procedures and size-related constraints (Bovis, 1996), all of which adversely affect SMEs relative to larger enterprises, which, due to economies of scale and technical know-how, are able to absorb these costs more easily (Cabras, 2011; Flynn et al., 2013; Greer, 1999; MacManus, 1991). Adding to these hurdles, are the risk-averse tendencies among the public procurement officials who prefer large and stable companies over newer and weaker SMEs (Asian Development Bank, 2012). Many SMEs, thus, find themselves at the lower rung of the ladder in competition with large enterprises (Ladzani, 2001; Okello-Obura and Matovu, 2011).\n3. SME-oriented policies: insights from implementation theories: To develop a more nuanced and conceptual understanding on SME procurement policies, this study primarily draws insights from implementation-related theories and perspectives. Although these theories are derived predominantly from the Western context, they offer useful analytical perspectives for examining the implementation of the stated governmental policies. Implementation, as defined by Pressman and Wildavsky (1973), is understood with respect to the policy as laid down in official documents, the process of interaction between the setting of goals and actions geared to achieve them. It also involves both public and private actors as well as groups, who carry different tasks in the implementation cycle considered crucial to producing desired outcomes (Pressman and Wildavsky, 1973). Scholars like Mazmanian and Sabatier (1983) view the issue of policy implementation as a legal objective which depends on the interplay of a number of political factors and their role in favourably supporting the implementation process. It is authoritative to some extent and involves a hierarchical system, with actors like politicians, top-level bureaucrats at the centre of policy-making, primarily associated at the policy formulation stage (Howlett and Ramesh, 2003). Arguing in this line, Marsh (1998) assesses that implementation-related problems are created by actors who have not been directly involved in policy formulation, making a clear distinction between the ones who shape policies and the ones who put them into practice.\n4. SMEs and public procurement in India: an overview: The Indian government, like in many countries, enacted a preferential public procurement policy in 2012 that seeks to leverage the large procurement spending for the benefit of small businesses. In India, the small business sector forms a highly vibrant and dynamic constituent of country's economy. Formally clubbed in three distinct categories of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), together, the sector represents more than 80 per cent of country's overall industrial enterprises and is an important source for employment generation within the country. The SMEs contribute to about 35 per cent of exports, 40 per cent of overall industrial production, at least 12 per cent of the GDP and provide employment to about 60 million skilled and unskilled workers across more than 26 million enterprises (Shah, 2012). As per the Fourth All India Census of the MSMEs carried out in the year 2006-2007, the size of the sector was estimated for the first time using data from multiple sources and calculated total working enterprises in the sector to be 361.76 lakhs (36.176 million)[3]. The number of enterprises under MSE classification since 2006-2007 has grown significantly, and currently, there are approximately 46 million MSEs across various industries, employing around 106 million people (KPMG, 2014) (Table I).\n5. Research design: After three years of preparatory period and a year of mandatory 20 per cent target, the Indian procurement policy has generated much discussion among policy pundits and practitioners for its impact on the share of SMEs in purchases made by the central government agencies. In the light of the ongoing debate, the paper aims to analyse the outcome of the procurement policy and to explore complex implementation dynamics which influence the approach of public procurers towards the SME suppliers. The research, therefore, mainly focusses on the leading government buyers such as the CPSEs[8] and examines the following research questions:\n6. Analysing India's SME procurement policy: At the time of its enactment, widespread concerns were raised that the preferential programme for SMEs would only result in additional time and cost for the buyers rather than bringing in any real benefits to the SMEs. Also, given the nascent nature of the competition regime in India, a preferential procurement policy was deemed imprudent. Notwithstanding such concerns, the evaluation of India's SME procurement policy after four years yields a mixed outcome. While there is in an improved access to procurement market as a result of the policy, the SMEs continue to face barriers on a wider scale in securing public contracts compared to the large firms. This is evident from the data released by the Office of Development Commissioner (DC) for the last four years, which shows that many CPSEs have failed to achieve the stipulated target of 20 per cent procurement from small businesses (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, 2015). Of the 277 total CPSEs in India, the data reveal that only 43 have achieved the 20 per cent procurement target from SMEs, while most others have simply failed to achieve it. Also, the sub-target of 4 per cent from 20 per cent of SMEs owned by entrepreneurs of deprived communities (SC/STs) has clearly not been met in these years owing to lack of sufficient and competitive entrepreneurs in this category (Table II) (Figure 1).\nConclusion: This study has primarily examined India's public procurement policy for SMEs and shows uneven performance among the procurers to achieve the mandatory procurement targets. It highlights the prevalence of various organisation-level barriers for SMEs related to unfair qualifications criteria, the large contract size, under-staffed procurement divisions, as well as efficiency concerns among the procurers. Further, the study has shown a variance in the implementation of support policies aimed at overcoming the aforementioned barriers and increasing SME share in public contracts. The findings of this study have several implications for SME procurement policy framework in India and calls for changes relating to enhanced drive and commitment from the top, building strong organisational capacities, monitoring control mechanisms and the provision of extensive and intensive training for both public sector procurers and SME suppliers. Finally, the study has contextualised India's experience with findings in the extant literature. This has contributed to a more unified understanding of the implementation of SME-oriented procurement policies in countries around the world (Flynn and Davis, 2015; Pickernell et al., 2011; Kidalov and Snider, 2011).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Increasing the share of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in public procurement through targeted support policies is often fraught with organisational and institutional challenges as can be seen from the experiences of many developed countries. This has profound implications for emulating such policies in developing countries where administrative capacities may be low for efficient policy management. The purpose of this paper is to widen the canvass of SME procurement policy discourse by exploring a developing country context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study provides qualitative assessment using insights from policy implementation-related theories. Due to limited reporting of target data on SME participation in India, the study conducts analysis based on key informant interviews with 20 public sector enterprises.\nFindings: The evidence drawn from India mainly shows uneven performance among the procurers in achieving the SME procurement targets, and reveals serious policy implementation shortcomings. These findings correspond and complement the earlier studies on SME procurement in the developed world. The Indian case additionally reveals barriers which may be common to other developing countries such as the lack of policy-administrative capacity compounded by the prevalence of \"efficiency syndrome\" on the part of procurers.\nOriginality/value: By providing an in-depth developing country-specific assessment, the study helps informing assumptions underpinning SME-oriented procurement policies. The study, therefore, fills a gap in the literature on SME-oriented public procurement policy-making and its execution.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Restoring consumer confidence in financial services	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Financial services", "Brands", "Trust" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In a world where customer confidence is paramount, recent corporate failures such as the collapse of so many smaller pension funds and the miss-selling of financial products such as endowments have seen some UK financial organisations suffer. Combined with the continuing press coverage on customer service issues and bank charges, trust in the financial services sector has been continuously eroded. Rebuilding this trust is top of the agenda for many in the sector and online media could well be their rescue envoy.\nThe role of the \"trusted adviser\": The role of the \"trusted adviser\" has always been central to consumers' purchasing decisions in financial services but the evolution of this role has changed dramatically in recent years. Gone are the days when bank managers were respected pillars of the community who knew each customer by name and could recommend products to suit their personal needs. The independent financial advisers (IFAs) then stepped in to fulfill the trusted adviser role. However, cynicism quickly grew as people became aware that the products recommended were often the ones bearing the greatest commission value.These changes fuelled a thirst for truly independent information and consumers are now taking matters into their own hands with the help of the internet. Consumers want to feel empowered enough to make decisions for themselves and the rise in comparison web site usage proves that customers can make informed decisions without contacting the main industry suppliers. Many of these consumers also look for more in-depth and varied information before making the purchase decision. Combining independent editorial across the spectrum of financial products with comparison facilities and a clear route to purchase, this is exactly what personal finance sites offer. Their impartiality has earned them a position of trust in the eyes of consumers, and as a result these sites are becoming increasingly influential.The Northern Rock debacle that unravelled during September knocked consumers' confidence in financial services even further and has understandably driven consumers to reconsider their savings accounts. Traffic to personal finance site \"This is Money\" spiked that month, up 39 per cent on August, as consumers went online to seek independent financial information and, in particular, to compare accounts listed in the savings tables. The Northern Rock saga has again made savers question their confidence in the financial services providers and spurred them to seek information and support from financial commentators on not only the best rates but also the strongest institutions. Nearly half a million people downloaded advice from \"This is Money\" in just a couple of weeks.\nBranding: Today, our impression of a brand is informed by so much more than controlled messaging. Every aspect of an organisation's operations are scrutinised and commercial messaging is instinctively, and perhaps also subconsciously interrogated for believability and sincerity. We no longer take a company's promise at face value - we ask our friends and seek information on the internet to either confirm or discount our perception. And this evolution requires the migration from a marketing mindset of \"control\", to one of \"influence\".Control over the customer experience has become ever more diluted and in today's financial services arena, power is ultimately in the hands of third parties. Providers learned to relinquish the control wielded by their bank managers and have become adept at managing relationships with, and marketing to IFAs. But understanding how they handle the realms of online has been grasped by some more than others.\nOnline brand advertising: It is predicted that internet advertising in the UK will increase to PS4.5bn and account for nearly 30 per cent of all UK advertising in 2011. Globally, the internet will remain the fastest growing advertising medium, with a projected 18.3 per cent annual growth to $73bn (PS37bn) in 2011. So it would be fair to surmise that financial services marketers need to embrace this advertising channel with gusto - its power and influence is growing at a rate of knots. Of course, the marketing mix is all about choosing the right blend of marketing activity to achieve maximum +impact for your organisation. Brand building activity works hand in hand with direct response in an offline environment, but at present many financial services providers are not applying these principles online. As with offline channels, it is important to build brand image and equity online - especially in financial services as consumers seldom make instant decisions, they take their time and explore various avenues. The perceived administration challenges relating to Financial Services Authority compliance can be off-putting but these can be effectively managed by drawing upon the knowledge and experience of people who deal with this on a daily basis.And the beauty of brand advertising online is that not only is it cost effective by comparison, it is also extremely targeted. With society becoming increasingly fractured, the mass media is becoming less mass. Whereas TV, for example, has a highly fragmented audience, online allows you to target a niche audience and offers you the behavioural and contextual insight you need to get the messages right for that consumer; it allows you to communicate very specific messages to very specific audiences.Financial services providers have realised the importance of online as a direct response mechanism to support offline marketing activity. However valuable opportunities are being missed because of the continuing obsession with keywords, unique visitors (user that has made at least one hit on one page of your website during a specified period) and cost per click (you pay only when a consumer clicks on your offer listing), which stems from it being the most easily auditable approach. The evaluation of brand impact and resonance is often negated because of the measurement approach that is employed. Even view-through rates, which measure responses over time can be unreliable. Tracking sales and registrations occurring onr hour, one day, seven days, 14 days, and 30 days after exposure can help to build a picture. However, consideration cycles for purchasing decisions can be much longer than 30 days, especially in financial services, therefore internet users' reactions to online ads are often delayed. Basing campaigns purely around search terms has significant limitations.\nThe constraints of search marketing: Basing online campaigns purely around search leads to a fatal short-termism, whether the measures cited above are successfully deployed or not. Most searches are carried out using just two or three words. Targeting text ads around those words may offer a shot at attracting someone who is searching in a mindset to buy now, but that is all it can do. It narrows you down to a pool of people who are actively looking for your product or service and you will always be fighting for market share. Brand advertising gives you the ability to expand your market by presenting ideas to those who might be susceptible to your message, but who do not yet know that.The other constraint of search marketing is that it does not identify at which stage the consumer is at in their buying cycle. It does not offer the behavioural and contextual insight needed to get the messages right for that consumer. And it offers a very limited range of creative opportunities, losing the nuance that, for example, a rich-media display message can communicate.Added to this, anyone can bid for keyword terms so that when someone searches online for a certain word, big brands can be listed alongside total unknowns. Pouring all online spend into search with no online brand advertising running alongside it is like opening the tap at the bottom of a barrel full of brand equity and not pouring anything into the top. It will create a level playing field, which is not an attractive proposition for any brand. At present, most consumers will not pick the link at the top of the list, they will scroll down and choose the brand that they recognise.\nA dual approach: Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick in April 2007 typifies the direction of online advertising and demonstrates the recognised power of a dual approach. DoubleClick had something that search giant Google did not have: a vibrant advertising business for banners, videos, and other so-called display ads often intended more to promote brands than to generate immediate sales.Recent studies have shown that using both search and display together provides a lift of 22 per cent in conversion rates over the adoption of search alone. So, financial services providers who rely on paid search terms, are simply not being creative enough about building brands online. Sites that build deeper relationships with their customers in a specific, targeted context stand a much better chance of helping to build a relationship between you and your brand. It creates the right long-term associations with your brand - something that search is notoriously unable to do.Financial services marketers should be getting excited about and exploring online brand building opportunities. Creativity is really only constrained by the imagination; there is so much that can be done. These days, effective online branding is not simply about exposure. The notion of rich display advertising has progressed from simply running a TV ad online, and is now moving towards producing a branded valuable function, something that is relevant and useful rather than just pretty. This is by no means yet mainstream for online ads, but that is beginning to change.Successful advertisers now need to look beyond what tone of voice their audience might be susceptible to, and define what functionality and service their brand can offer in an ad space that the audience will find useful. The move is away from interruptive, exposure-based marketing to interactive, branded advertising that focuses on collaboration with the audience. This embeddable, ownable functionality of use enables longevity and ensures that the ad lives beyond that initial exposure.\nConclusion: So what does all this mean for the financial services sector? Firstly, the number of people banking online has grown to 16,898,000 over the past decade. Many consumers only physically interact with their high street bank when something has gone wrong; they have been charged for going overdrawn or a direct debit has not been paid, for example. The millions of pounds spent on the physical brand experience such as interior design and call handler training is, for many only encountered when they are angry. So the brand is constantly being negated because increasing numbers of consumers rarely have a positive experience of these physical manifestations of the brand.Mistrust in financial services has further impacted upon the perceptions of the online generation who are increasingly seeking information and support from virtual financial commentators. Last year, 36 per cent of the total online population visited a personal finance site; up from 33 per cent the year before, and visitors to thisismoney.co.uk have grown from 400,804 in March 2001, to 897,245 in March 2007.With 64 per cent of Great Britain's adult population already actively online (31m individuals) and a predicted broadband penetration of 80 per cent of UK households by 2011, it is clear that this medium is used for a plethora of reasons, from purchasing and information seeking, to entertainment and socialising. The migration away from traditional media is on an upward spiral and the approach to internet marketing and advertising will have to catch up. Now is the time to test the water - to experiment online and start to build a detailed understanding of what does and does not work for your brand.The effort to balance direct response and brand building activities through offline channels is, at present, far from being replicated online. To reap the rewards of the harvest, the seeds must first be sewn. Growing brand equity through brand association and increasing brand recognition will allow financial services providers to distinguish themselves in a marketplace fraught with mistrust and doubt. Ultimately encouraging consumer trust to propagate and eventually yielding a greater return.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to seek to explore the role of brand advertising in restoring trust in the sector. Consumer confidence in financial services has been bruised and battered over recent months.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper uses data from a variety of respected online analysts and commentators to explore current and future trends in online advertising and their impact on trust in the financial services sector.\nFindings: - The role of trusted adviser in the financial services sector is now the domain of online sources and last year, 36 per cent of the total online population visited a personal finance site. Financial services marketers have realised the importance of online as a direct response mechanism to support offline marketing activity. However the effort to balance direct response and brand building activities through offline channels is, at present, far from being replicated online. And with the migration away from traditional media on an upward spiral, the approach to internet marketing and advertising will have to catch up.\nOriginality/value: - The paper provides financial services marketers some insight into the future of online advertising and explains the benefits of adopting a dual approach of both brand advertising and search marketing to restore consumer confidence.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Nonlinear and complementary effects of responsive and proactive market orientation on firms' competitive advantage	[ "Competitive advantage", "Proactive market orientation", "Responsive market orientation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The importance of the concept of market orientation has been recognized by the marketing literature as a strategic resource with the potential to create competitive advantage (Kumar et al., 2011; Shin and Damon Aiken, 2012) when market-oriented firms understand customers' expressed and latent needs and develop superior solutions than their competitors (Hult and Ketchen, 2001).\n2. Theoretical foundations and hypothesis development: Market orientation is a cultural trait that focuses a business on the clients' needs by deploying resources and capabilities to searching, processing, analyzing and responding to market intelligence (Deshpande et al., 1993; Slater and Narver, 1998). Businesses that are market-oriented not only take advantage of the experience obtained from knowing their customers' current needs but also go beyond their current markets generating new knowledge about future needs (Ketchen et al., 2007; Narver et al., 2004).\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data and sample\n4. Results: Ordinary least squares regression analysis was used to test our hypotheses. Considering that a firm's competitive advantage can be affected by the characteristics of the company and the industry (Cai et al., 2014), we included, as control variables in our regression model, the business size (number of employees), its age (years since business foundation) and the industrial sector. These are contextual variables commonly used in the market orientation literature (e.g. Cai et al., 2014; Herhausen, 2016; Homburg et al., 2004; Wang et al., 2013). The estimated function is:\n5. Discussion: We confirm the crucial roles of RMO and PMO in building competitive advantage. First, we found that the relationship between the two types of market orientation and competitive advantage is curvilinear rather than linear. In contrast to the mixed results on the curvilinear nature of the effect found by Atuahene-Gima et al. (2005) (positive RMO2 and negative PMO2), Blocker et al. (2011) (positive RMO2 and non-significant PMO2) and Herhausen (2016) (negative RMO2 and non-significant PMO2), our results showed that both forms of market orientation exhibit saturation effects (negative RMO2 and PMO2), i.e. increasing market orientation from already high levels is not as effective on enhancing competitive advantage as when the increase is wielded from low levels. This reveals the importance of the admonition by Kohli and Jaworski (1990, p.15) to \"pay close attention to the cost-benefit ratio of market orientation\" and broaden the theoretical foundation of RMO and PMO. The study provides empirical support to Kumar et al.'s (2011) assertion that investing in market orientation may not always be effective for generating competitive advantage.\n6. Conclusions: This study presents a relevant contribution to the up to date scant body of literature simultaneously testing nonlinear and interaction effects of PMO and RMO on firms' competitive advantage.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to clarify how responsive market orientation (RMO) and proactive market orientation (PMO) create competitive advantage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Nonlinear and interaction effects are tested by applying hierarchical regression analysis to a sample of 272 Colombian manufacturing companies.\nFindings: The results show that although market orientation promotes the competitive advantage of a business, both approaches - responsive and proactive - exhibit saturation effects and a positive interaction.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study is the cross-sectional design and the use of a single source for data collection. It is suggested that future research includes different orientations combined with these two market orientations - responsive and proactive - for achieving competitive advantage. In addition, further studies could replicate this analysis for different environmental conditions.\nOriginality/value: This paper simultaneously evaluates the nonlinear and complementary effects of RMO and PMO. From a strategic standpoint, it presents an empirical confirmation of the familiarity trap, the failure trap and the positive effects of combining RMO and PMO.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A process-output classification for customer participation in services	[ "Efficiency", "Customer satisfaction", "Customer participation", "Service output", "Service process" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Customer participation (CP) is defined as the degree to which customers are involved in service production and delivery (Bendapudi and Leone, 2003; Dabholkar, 1990). A\nTheoretical foundation: Since Lovelock and Young (1979) first advanced the notion of using customers to substitute for employee labor, CP has become a dominant theme in business practice (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2000). This is especially true with the prevalence of self-service technologies (SSTs) (Meuter et al., 2005).\nProcess-output classification: The type of CP determines how firms allocate the service provision between the customer and the firm and thus is of strategic and tactical importance (Lusch et al., 2007). We use two dimensions to classify CP: output specificity and process structure (Table IV). Many existing service classification schemes have discussed some aspects related to process and output. For example, output specificity mirrors \"degree of customization\" used in the typologies by Kellogg and Nie (1995), Silvestro et al. (1992), and Verma (2000), while process structure is similar to \"customer pathways\" developed by Collier and Meyer (1998). However, our classification builds directly on the classic process-output framework and contributes to the literature in the following ways: first, it integrates these two dimensions in a unified framework and second, it expands our understanding by exploring their moderating effect on the CP-outcome link.\nResearch propositions: The effect of CP magnitude on service outcomes\nDiscussion: Theoretical implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a classification for customer participation (CP) in services. Furthermore, it develops research propositions examining the moderating role of the proposed classification on the link between the magnitude of CP and service outcomes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Building on the process-output framework, the paper explores the contingent nature of the effect of CP magnitude on service outcomes (satisfaction and efficiency).\nFindings: The research propositions suggest that specific output enhances the positive effect of CP magnitude on satisfaction but also intensifies the negative effect of CP magnitude on efficiency; conversely, generic output diminishes the positive effect of CP magnitude on satisfaction but mitigates the negative effect of CP magnitude on efficiency. The effect of CP magnitude on satisfaction is stronger for a structured participation process than for an unstructured process; while the negative effect of CP magnitude on efficiency is stronger for an unstructured participation process than for a structured process. Further, process structure has an asymmetric enhancing effect on the negative link between CP magnitude and efficiency such that the enhancing effect of process structure is stronger for specific output than for generic output; likewise, process structure has an asymmetric enhancing effect on the positive link between CP magnitude and satisfaction such that the enhancing effect of structure is stronger for generic output than for specific output.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research provides a conceptual approach to classify CP. Further research can focus on empirical validation as well as expanding the scope and variables examined.\nPractical implications: The research points to guidelines to structure CP activities based on the nature of the participation process and the type of service output to achieve the competing goals of customer satisfaction and efficiency.\nOriginality/value: The proposed classification offers a new method to visualize CP in services. The framework is applicable to a wide variety of services, service contexts, and resources contributed by customers during their participation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

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