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Teachers' acceptance of absenteeism: towards developing a specific scale
|
[
"Absenteeism",
"Collective self‐efficacy",
"Organizational commitment",
"Organizational justice",
"Schools",
"Teachers"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Work absenteeism is one of the major problems of human resource management in most organizations. It is \"the lack of physical presence at a behavior setting when and where one is expected to be\" (Harrison and Price, 2003, p. 204). Employee replacement costs and decreased productivity make up the direct financial costs of absenteeism. To these costs we must add indirect ones, such as the difficulties of replacing highly skilled employees who provide an essential service with equally trained personnel, leading to underperformance (Gaudine and Saks, 2001; Koslowsky, 2009).Work absenteeism is a leading problem in educational institutions as well. In the USA, according to the District Management Council (2004), teachers nationally are absent from the classroom an average two weeks each year due to illness, personal days, and other excused absences such as staff development. Podgursky (2002) found that when teacher absences are compared with absences in other professions, teacher absences are almost twice as frequent. Pay for absent teachers in the USA was estimated at $2 billion per year (Miller et al., 2008) and PS300 million in the UK (Bowers and McIver, 2000).Data from studies conducted in Ecuador shows that the financial loss was nearly $16 million a year while data from India shows $2 million per year lost due to teacher absenteeism (Banerjee and Duflo, 2005; Duflo and Hanna, 2005). The overall cost of teacher absenteeism in Israel in 2002-2003 totaled $53 million, an estimate reached by combining the salaries of absent teachers with those of the teachers used to replace them (Rosenblatt and Shirom, 2006). Apart from the financial cost, work absenteeism in schools has a negative effect on the quality of education by reducing both achievement levels and student attendance levels in school (Bruno, 2002; Miller et al., 2007; Woods and Montagno, 1997).Recent reviews of the organizational behavior literature and especially in the educational domain emphasize absenteeism as a variable related to general job attitudes, such as organizational justice and organizational commitment (Bowers, 2001; Felfe and Schyns, 2004; Martocchio and Jimeno, 2003; Myburgh and Poggenpoel, 2002). These studies showed that teachers with negative attitudes toward their workplace react by absenting themselves from work.Based on Ajzen and Fishbein's (1977) model as it concerns the \"attitude-behavior sequence,\" we expect that a specific attitude toward absenteeism will more accurately predict absenteeism behavior than general job attitudes (e.g. organizational commitment, organizational justice, and collective efficacy). Understanding and better predicting absenteeism can benefit schools by allowing them to identify potential absenteeism antecedents, intervene early, and prevent more progressive forms of withdrawal.For this purpose, we developed a measure of acceptance toward voluntary absenteeism that should better predict absenteeism behavior. Although extensive research has been conducted on absenteeism (e.g. Biron and Bamberger, 2012; Johns, 2003; Koslowsky, 2009; Sagie, 1998), there is no adequately validated measure of \"absenteeism acceptance\" in the current literature. Therefore, first, we used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in order to cross-validate the general job attitudes measures. Then, a content validation approach was used to construct the measure. We then gathered preliminary evidence of construct validity by examining the relationship of the new measure \"absenteeism acceptance\" with other constructs, specifically general job attitudes. Then we examined the criterion validity and the predictive validity by investigating the ability of \"absenteeism acceptance\" to predict future absenteeism behavior above and beyond general attitude measures.\nTheoretical background: Attitude-behavior correspondence: Ajzen and Fishbein's (1977) theory\nMethod: Study sample\nResults: Hypotheses results regarding construct validity\nDiscussion: The main goal of this study was to develop an accurate measure for predicting voluntary absenteeism among teachers, because as far as we know, no satisfactory validated measure has been developed to date. The importance of such a tool lies in its ability to help understand, predict, and potentially reduce the high costs of absenteeism behavior. We included this specific measure in the \"attitude-behavior sequence\" suggested in Ajzen and Fishbein's (1977) model for predicting actual absenteeism and compare its predictive validity with other general attitude measures that have been used in the literature.We found clear evidence for the reliability and validity of this specific measure. First, this measure was demonstrated to be psychometrically strong, with satisfactory reliability (a=0.76). Second, considering that reliability is necessary but not sufficient for validity (Cortina, 1993), all of our hypotheses were either supported or partially supported, demonstrating the validity of the measurement.In addition to the internal and the convergent validly that we found for the general job attitudes based on AVE measure, our findings also confirm the construct validity of the new measure \"absenteeism acceptance.\" As expected, we found in most of the correlations weak negative relationships between the general job attitudes and \"absenteeism acceptance.\" This demonstrates the convergent validity and the discriminant validity of the new measure, showing it is not simply a duplicate of any of these general job attitudes.More specifically, we found that slightly more general job attitudes were related to \"affective reaction to own absenteeism\" (one of the dimensions of \"absenteeism acceptance\") than to \"affective reaction to co-workers\" absenteeism (the other dimension of \"absenteeism acceptance\"). Moreover, we found that the relationships were relatively stronger between the general job attitudes and \"affective reaction to own absence\" than between general job attitudes and \"affective reaction to co-workers' absence.\" These findings may explained by the fact that different job attitudes may reflect intrinsic motivation factors (\"I\" as a reference point of view) more than extrinsic motivation factors (\"colleagues\" as a reference point of view).According to the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation theory (Deci, 1975), we may distinguish between the different dimensions of \"absenteeism acceptance.\" Extrinsic motivation originates outside of the individual and focusses on the short term. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that exists within the individual and is not reliant on any external pressure. Research on intrinsic motivation has focussed on the long term and directed attention to process aspects (Covington and Mueller, 2001; Deci et al., 1999).The definition of work withdrawal construct presents motivational factors such as the following definition: \"behaviors dissatisfied individuals use to avoid aspects of their specific work role or minimize the time spent on their specific work tasks while maintaining their current organizational and work-role memberships\" (Hanisch and Hulin, 1991, p. 111), which may include physical removal from a particular workplace, either for part of a day (voluntary lateness), an entire day (voluntary absenteeism), or permanently (voluntary turnover) (Blau, 1998; Blau et al., 2004; Johns, 2001).The most common model of the internal structure of withdrawal behaviors, posits that withdrawal manifestations occur in progression, starting with relatively mild forms of psychological withdrawal such as occasional lateness and advancing to more severe forms such as absence or even turnover (Johns, 2001; Koslowsky, 2009). Previous studies strongly appear to support the progression of the withdrawal model. Longitudinal studies by Clegg (1983), Wolpin et al. (1988), and Rosse (1988) found a lateness-absence progression. Several studies reveal a progression from absence to turnover (Farrell and Peterson, 1984; Kanfer et al., 1988; Krausz et al., 1988; Rosse, 1988). In fact, previous meta-analytics showed that the two adjacent relationships in the progression model (e.g. lateness-absenteeism, absenteeism-turnover) were stronger than the nonadjacent relationship between lateness and turnover (Koslowsky et al., 1997; Mitra et al., 1992).Therefore, we may anticipate that \"absenteeism acceptance\" which presents an attitude toward severe withdrawal behavior such as absenteeism will be affected by internal factors which relate to the long term, such as organizational commitment, organizational justice, and collective self-efficacy.The contention that absenteeism frequency is the best measurement of voluntary absenteeism seems to be mildly supported by the study results which indicate that slightly more general job attitudes were related to absenteeism frequency than to absenteeism duration. However, few job attitudes (e.g. procedural justice, normative commitment) were found to be related to absenteeism duration which, according to the literature, is a truer reflection of involuntary absenteeism and logically, should not be affected by attitude. These findings may be explained by the fact that although a model of \"attitude-behavior sequence\" seems to be most appropriate for predicting voluntary absenteeism (e.g. Benson and Pond, 1987; Hom and Griffeth, 1995), it is often difficult to classify a particular incident in the appropriate category. Moreover, a change in the parameter used for measuring absenteeism (duration or frequency) is not enough to consider whether the absenteeism is voluntary or involuntary. Support for this argument may be found by the satisfactory correlation that was found in this study between absenteeism duration and absenteeism frequency.In addition to the confirmation of the construct validity of \"acceptance absenteeism\" measure, our study findings also confirm the criterion validity and the predictive validity of the new measure of \"acceptance absenteeism.\" Testing both absenteeism frequency and absenteeism duration, we found that \"absenteeism acceptance\" measure predicts absenteeism behavior above and beyond that predicted by the general job attitudes. These findings may reinforce Ajzen and Fishbein's (1977) attitude-behavior approach, since accurate predictors relate higher to voluntary absenteeism than do other non-specific predictors, with a potential contribution in the future to reducing voluntary absenteeism in schools.Strength, limitation, and future research\nConclusion: This study develops and expands upon previous research by creating and validating a specific \"absenteeism acceptance\" measure that seems to be useful in understanding and predicting voluntary absenteeism. In the past, research has attempted to identify predictors of absenteeism behavior by focussing chiefly on general job attitudes and has come up with inconsistent results. We developed a measure involving a specific attitude toward absenteeism and found that \"absenteeism acceptance\" behaves differently than general job attitudes. The study findings clearly indicate \"absenteeism acceptance\" as a reliable and valid predictor of costly absenteeism behavior. Moreover, this study may contribute to expanding the Ajzen and Fishbein (1977) model as it concerns the \"attitude-behavior sequence\" by adding a specific \"absenteeism acceptance\" measure, an approach not tested previously. We encourage schools and principals to use this simple, reliable, six-item measure as an indicator of teachers' attitudes toward absenteeism and to predict voluntary absenteeism. It appears to be a psychometrically sound measure that can be used in future absenteeism research, in theory as well as practice.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This study aims to develop and validate a measure of a specific attitude toward teachers' absenteeism that predicts this behavior more accurately than other general measures of job attitudes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Participants were 443 teachers from 21 secondary schools in Israel. In the first phase, the teachers answered anonymous questionnaires related to their general attitudes and their specific attitude through \"absenteeism acceptance\". In the second phase, each teacher submitted copies of his half-year absenteeism records six months after the end of the first phase.\nFindings: - The authors used CFA to cross-validate the different job attitudes measures. They confirmed the construct validity of \"absenteeism acceptance\" through convergent and discriminant validity, finding relatively weak negative relationships between \"absenteeism acceptance\" and the general job attitudes. The criterion validity and predictive validity of the new measure was confirmed by intercorrelations that were found to be relatively stronger between \"absenteeism acceptance\" and the two measures of absenteeism (frequency, duration) than between the general job attitudes and these two measures. Quasi-Possion regressions indicated that \"absenteeism acceptance\" emerges as a better predictor for both of the absenteeism measures than other general job attitudes.\nPractical implications: - This new measure will benefit schools and principals by allowing them to identify potential absenteeism antecedents and enable early intervention.\nOriginality/value: - Whereas past research on work absence focused primarily on general attitude antecedents, the present study addresses a specific \"absenteeism acceptance\" measure. This measure can be advantageous in both understanding and predicting voluntary absenteeism more accurately than general attitude measures.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Engineering-out hazards: digitising the management working safety in confined spaces
|
[
"Facilities management",
"Health and safety",
"Building information modelling",
"Digitalisation",
"Application programming interface",
"Confined spaces"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine. - Peter Sondergaard\nData as the new commodity in safety management: Just as iron represented the Industrial Revolution's raw material, data constitutes the new raw material of the information age (Edwards et al., 2016). Modern building operations have become increasingly dependent upon the raw commodity of data augmented by cyber-physical connectivity achieved via:\nHealth and safety of confined spaces: Surveyors, plant operators and maintenance staff in the municipal AECO sector routinely enter confined spaces to conduct regular maintenance or surveying tasks (Fishwick, 2012; Gov, 1997). Such work primarily involves manual labour intensive surveying procedures and that are virtually untouched by digitalisation (Parn and Edwards, 2017b). Confined spaces (by virtue of their nature) are often difficult to access and egress and when conducting routine tasks, workers frequently face physical constraints such as reduced and/or restricted mobility (IACS, 2007). These challenging working environments can pose multiple life threatening hazards for workers (Du et al., 2012; Burlet-Vienney et al., 2015b; Burlet-Vienney et al., 2015a). At present, a high number of deaths occurring each year from working in confined spaces poses a significant \"risk mitigation\" challenge for industry. For example, recent statistics reveal that deaths and injury within confined spaces are a global phenomenon (c.f. Fishwick, 2012; Chinniah et al., 2017) and although the trend of fatalities has seen a slight reduction in the recent years, fatalities remain a prominent cause of concern for statutory bodies monitoring occupational hazards (Gov, 1997; Fishwick, 2012; Riaz et al., 2014; Burlet-Vienney et al., 2015a, 2015b; Chinniah et al., 2017).\nSensor data analytics for built environment: BIM within the AECO sector, provides a platform for sharing both semantic and geometric data throughout a built environment asset's lifecycle (Vanlande et al., 2008; Parnrn et al., 2017). Similarly, wireless sensor network (WSN) technology has gained prominence within the management of built environmental assets post construction (Li and Becerik-Gerber, 2011). A WSN is a wireless network of sensors (also known as nodes) to provide real-time monitoring of physical or environmental conditions (such as temperature, pressure etc.) within built environment systems and can link to a BMS to maintain historical O&M data (Cook and Das, 2004). There have been significant attempts to integrate BIM with different sensing technologies to specifically improve: environmental monitoring (Piza et al., 2005); H&S management (Shiau and Chang, 2012; Guven et al., 2012); building performance (Guinard et al., 2009; Katranuschkov et al., 2010; Attar et al., 2011; Setayeshgar et al., 2013); and optimised energy consumption (Becerik-Gerber et al., 2011). Consequently, there has been shift from model-based management of building information (i.e. BIM 1.0) to an integrated environment (i.e. BIM 2.0) of distributed up-to-date information (Underwood and Isikdag, 2011). Technologies such as WSN, cloud computing, mobile devices and application logs are the new facilitators of this paradigm shift which is capable of generating enormous amount of new, structured and unstructured real-time data often referred to as big data (Mohanty et al., 2013; IBM, 2017). Big data consists of those initiatives and processes that involve extremely large data sets that are too diverse, fast-changing and their size is beyond the ability of conventional data processing techniques (Kitchin, 2014; Wu et al., 2015).\nMethodology: developing the second generation confined spaces safety monitoring system: The built environment is rapidly transforming with the aid of digital technologies into 'smart buildings' and 'smart cities'; where automated data accrual and concomitant decision making have become inextricably linked within the fabric of contemporary FM practice. In turn, this metamorphosis has progressively converted \"traditional\" into \"digital economies\" that are set to revolutionise global trade, industry and commerce under the guise of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). To develop the second generation of CoSMoS, an applied methodological approach was adopted that used data accrued from an educational building, where applied research represents non-systematic inquiry that seeks to address a specific problem (Bajpai, 2011). The FM team managing this building had noted that they required greater intelligence from an extensive range of data accrued and gave permission for the research team to use such subject to confidentiality of participants being preserved; and wider dissemination of the research findings. Within this methodological framework, a two-phase process was adopted. First, a conceptual model was created that sought to provide a 'blueprint map' to integrate BIM, sensor based networks and DA in one system. To achieve this development, an extensive review of extant literature was conducted, focussing upon the risks imposed upon maintenance workers operating within a building's confined spaces. Second, the conceptual model was then transposed into the prototype's development environment. A discussion of the work then follows.\nAutomating the measurement of environmental attributes: The data-sensing layer consists of a network of wireless sensing motes that measure the environmental attributes, temperature and oxygen in this case, of a physical building. Once deployed in a facility, motes will initialise and implement operations such as neighbour discovery, data sensing, sensor data processing and sensor data transmissions. Motes are programmed to aggregate the sensor values coming from other sensing motes and forward them along with its own data to sensing gateway mote. A gateway mote is connected to a server using a standard universal serial bus interface. The back-end sensor application runs on a Revit Server to read sensing gateway mote. Sensor application is programmed to read TelosB gateway mote; convert acquired raw sensor values in a machine/human understandable format; and push the data-to-data storage layer. To generate the sensor value pattern over a given period of time, current as well as historic sensor data are retrieved and data visualisations are generated using ggplot2 package in RStudio. The application then projects these visualisations in the plugin upon users request (Figures 4 and 5) (Dibley et al., 2012).\nConclusions: Digitisation achieved through advanced computerisation has engendered the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) which is set to continue unabated. Such technological development will transform the digital built environment by creating a vast and ever expanding web of cyber-physical connectivity supported by an abundance of networked senor devices that generate rich real time data and information that is recorded in databases. Retrieval and subsequent automated analysis of this data will enable operators to learn from patterns and trends in a building O&M. Such information should be used to inform future design developments and augment the environmental, safety and financial performance of the digital built environment. The work will also provide an opportunity for all building stakeholders to improve prevailing soft landings practices and procedures by learning from an existing building's performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to report upon the further development of a hybrid application programming interface (API) plug-in to building information modelling (BIM) entitled confined spaces safety monitoring system \"CoSMoS\". Originally designed to engineer-out environmental hazards associated with working in a building's confined spaces (during the construction phase of a building's life-cycle), this second generation version is expanded upon to use archival records to proactively learn from data generated within a sensor network during the building's operations and maintenance (O&M) phase of asset management (AM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: An applied research methodological approach adopted used a two-phase process. In phase one, a conceptual model was created to provide a \"blueprint map\" to integrate BIM, sensor-based networks and data analytics (DA) into one integral system. A literature review provided the basis for the conceptual model's further development. In phase two, the conceptual model was transposed into the prototype's development environment as a proof of concept using primary data accrued from a large educational building.\nFindings: An amalgamation of BIM, historical sensor data accrued and the application of DA demonstrate that CoSMoS provides an opportunity for the facilities management (FM) team to monitor pertinent environmental conditions and human behaviour within buildings that may impact upon occupant/worker safety. Although working in confined spaces is used to demonstrate the inherent potential of CoSMoS, the system could readily be expanded to analyse sensor-based network's historical data of other areas of building performance, maintenance and safety.\nOriginality/value: This novel prototype has automated safety applications for FM during the asset lifecycle and maintenance phase of a building's O&M phase of AM. Future work is proposed in several key areas, namely, develop instantaneous indicators of current safety performance within a building; and develop lead indicators of future safety performance of buildings.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Strategy deployment systems within the UK healthcare sector: a case study
|
[
"United Kingdom",
"National Health Service",
"Community health services",
"Strategy deployment",
"Healthcare",
"Balanced scorecard"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since its introduction in 1992, the balanced scorecard (BSC) has been successfully applied in government and non-profit organisations, including several healthcare providers (Kaplan and Norton, 1992; Kaplan, 2001a; Kaplan and Norton, 2001d). As a performance measurement system, the BSC is no longer perceived as a new management tool (Tapinos et al., 2011). The publication by Kaplan and Norton of The Execution Premium (Kaplan and Norton, 2008c) revealed performance measurement systems, such as the BSC, are no longer the only method to measure performance. Instead, such frameworks are an integral part of a closed-loop management system (CLMS) that ensures successful strategy execution by linking strategy to performance measurement systems (Kaplan and Norton, 2008a, b). It has been argued that CLMS have guided large corporations such as the Bank of Tokyo, HSBC Rail, Lockheed Martin, and Marriott Vacation Club International to effectively translate strategy into specific operational targets, thus ensuring employees link their daily inputs to the organisation's strategic objectives (Kaplan and Norton, 2008a, b).In June 2009, the first author of this paper was appointed as a Strategic Project Manager in a UK National Health Service (NHS) Community Health Services (CHS) organisation. This role was focused on evaluating and facilitating strategy deployment within the organisation. April 2009 was an important period for all NHS CHS organisations as they were formally split from the commissioning service in the Primary Care Trust (PCT). This had many implications for CHS organisations, including the need to establish an individual board, develop an independent strategy, and to set up autonomous governance. This research examines the implications of these changes by investigating how to adapt strategy deployment systems within a CHS organisation by focusing on the applicability of BSC and CLMS models. In addition, as a suitably technically skilled workforce is required for the successful implementation of any management system, the research expanded the scope of the study by assessing the organisation's readiness for implementing formal strategy deployment systems. Therefore, this research makes an empirical contribution by detailing how the implementation and adaptation of the BSC and CLMS can support an organisation in shaping its strategy by assessing the maturity of its strategic development process.This paper first reviews salient literature on the topics of strategy and performance measurement and then moves on to outline the research methodology used. We then present the findings based on 17 key areas identified for a successful strategy development and deployment. These 17 key areas are discussed and used to assess the current capability within the case study organisation. Finally we present our conclusions and recommendations through the developed conceptual model.\n2. The literature: 2.1 Strategy development\n3. Research methodology: This study uses a qualitative approach to examine an embedded single-case study (Yin, 2009). This research design was adopted to gather rich data in order to develop an understanding of how to adapt the BSC and the CLMS models for strategy development and deployment in a UK healthcare organisation.3.1 Case study justification\n4. Findings: 4.1 Background and case presentation\n5. Discussion: Based on the analysis of the literature and the findings summarised in Table II and III above, as part of the research it became logical to develop an adapted CLMS model to support the organisation in its strategy development and deployment. To this end, we developed a six-stage conceptual model, as illustrated in Figure 2. This model has been designed to help the organisation in its strategy development and deployment by describing a robust methodology for addressing the 17 key issues that were identified in the primary research.The proposed conceptual model includes the CLMS five stages and presents the capability gaps as indicated by a green/amber/red coding system to highlight areas of potential strengths and weakness. The coding system was established based on a consensus at the time of the assessment by the researcher and the managers involved in the project, where green means \"no capability gap\", amber means \"minor capability gap\", and red means \"notable capability gap\". Moreover, the conceptual model identifies some of the tools and techniques that can be used during the process steps of developing and deploying the strategy in this particular organisation. Next we describe the six stages of the conceptual model.Stage 1 - develop strategy\n6. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to investigate strategy deployment within a CHS organisation. From a practical perspective, gathering data via questionnaires, interviews, archival records, and observations helped to develop the Strategy Development Conceptual Model, to overcome the issues detailed in this paper. Our solution has been designed and tailored to the specific environment of this case study organisation, as a roadmap to support the development and deployment of its strategy based on the best practice of the BSC and CLMS. This Conceptual Model implementation guides senior managers to systematically cover all key elements of strategy deployment to gain in efficiency and effectiveness.The key findings from the case revealed that performance management was weak in aligning organisational units and employees, monitoring and learning, testing and adapting strategies elements. This demonstrates that there are areas for improvement in the strategy deployment processes that should become the focus for future improvement within the organisation by implementing and using the suggested tools and techniques. Some tools are more complex to implement than others; according to our feedback a number of senior managers found difficulties in linking some terms to the strategic activities they perform, e.g. strategy map, cost and benefit analysis. It is important that more comprehensive definitions and the associated training are put in place regarding these tools and techniques which are widely used in \"industry\" but not yet within healthcare organisations.From an academic perspective, by developing the Strategy Deployment Conceptual Model within the healthcare context, we believe this study contributes to the body of knowledge for BSC implementation as well as CLMS adaptation within this sector. The questionnaire looked at senior management's capability level within this CHS organisation only. Despite interviewing key senior managers within the case study organisation, the generalisability of the results requires further research. Specifically, it would be pertinent to apply the Strategy Development Conceptual Model in other CHS organisations to explore its validity. It would be also appropriate to conduct Senior Management Strategy Deployment capability assessment in other CHS organisations. The findings of the research have proven extremely valuable to the case study organisation as improvements to its strategy development and deployment processes were identified. It is therefore suggested that the tools and techniques developed as part of this study will be pertinent for strategy development and deployment within other healthcare service providers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine an organisation-wide restructuring exercise by investigating the effectiveness of strategy development and deployment processes in a National Health Service (NHS) Community Health Services (CHS) organisation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The authors used an embedded single-case study approach to gather and analyse rich data in order to understand how an organisation can develop and deploy its strategy, and to appreciate the key tools, techniques and issues related to this process. A range of data collection methods, including archival records, interviews, observations and questionnaires, was employed to permit triangulation of the results.\nFindings: - The research led to an understanding of how the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the Closed-Loop Management System (CLMS) can be adapted to support the local CHS. In total, 17 key areas for success are presented and used to assess the current capability within the case study organisation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The authors' investigation examined the potential for improved strategic development and deployment through the adaptation of the BSC and a CLMS within a NHS CHS organisation.\nPractical implications: - A six-step conceptual model is presented which can be used to guide organisations. The model permits the assessment of capability in order to highlight current strengths and weaknesses.\nOriginality/value: - As a suitably skilled workforce is required for the successful implementation of any management system, the research expanded the scope of the study by including an assessment of the organisation's readiness for adapting formal strategy deployment systems.\n",
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] |
HRM practices and innovation performance: a panel-data approach
|
[
"Training",
"Innovation performance",
"Compensation",
"Longitudinal studies",
"Employment security",
"ESEE",
"Firm Performance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The study of leveraging innovation has recently generated theoretical and empirical contributions. Advances in data analysis and panel data at corporate level have allowed researchers to pinpoint the specific relationships between innovation and industrial dynamics. Several studies have addressed the propensity of firms to innovate (Lopez Cabrales et al., 2009; Teece, 2007), and it is acknowledged that individuals and the way they are managed play an important role in developing corporate innovation (Kang and Snell, 2009; Subramaniam and Youndt, 2005).\n2. HRM practices, innovation performance and firm performance: hypotheses: 2.1 Individual HRM practices, interaction HRM practices and innovation performance\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample\n4. Results: Table III provides the correlations between the variables included in the analysis.\n5. Implications and conclusions: The purpose of this paper was to analyze the contribution of specific HRM practices - employment security, training investment and compensation, individually, and their interactions with innovation performance (measured by the number of patents) - and the firm performance (in terms of AV and productivity) using a longitudinal data design. It focused on innovation performance as one of the most relevant sources for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage (Lopez Cabrales et al., 2009; Zhou, 2006). As previous research has noted, innovative results emerge from the way employees are managed, that is to say, the extent to which having a permanent, stable job, an attractive salary and continued training bears on their level of commitment to the company. Also, the study analyzed the direct effect of innovation performance on firm performance and the extent to which innovation performance mediates in the relationship between the HRM practices and firm performance, in an attempt to disentangle the so-called \"black box\" between investment in employees and organizational profits. Data panel regressions were conducted to infer causality from a longitudinal design. The implications derived from the results obtained are as follows.\n",
"role": "user"
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"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and innovation performance in Spanish manufacturing firms. The paper focuses on the number of existing patents, analyzing the extent to which this variable is favored by HRM practices. It will also assess the extent to which patents explain the firm performance and mediate in the relationship between the latter and HRM practices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The objective is to assess these relationships using the Spanish Survey of Industrial Strategic Behavior. The longitudinal analysis focuses on the years between 2001 and 2008, a period of great economic growth in Spain.\nFindings: The findings show that the most innovative firms were also the most competitive ones. Furthermore, employment security positively affects innovations over time and training on new technologies is associated with the number of patents, when overall compensation practices are high.\nPractical implications: This study demonstrated the existence of two objectives that HR managers should be aiming at. On the one hand, the development of patents should be a priority for obtaining better results over time. On the other hand, management should invest in HRM practices because they favor innovation and are neither a waste of time nor resources.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the literature, surpassing the limitations of previous research, by assessing the role of HRM practices in innovation and company outcomes and by using a longitudinal study design.\n",
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] |
Service innovation through dynamic knowledge management
|
[
"Intellectual capital",
"Knowledge management",
"Innovation",
"Automotive industry",
"Taiwan"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: It is widely accepted that knowledge is critical to organizational success. The accumulated knowledge of customers, relationships, processes, innovations, and human resources comprise organizational intellectual capital, which must be integrated into critical decisions. This knowledge is both learned and exploited for business enhancement and innovation. Under today's changing environment, the management of intellectual capital is dynamic and requires capabilities of continuous integration, modification, and innovation.Intellectual capital is one specific aspect of the resource-based view (Reed et al., 2006). Based on RBV, scholars identify intellectual capital as the main source of organizational competitive advantage (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998) and others claim that intellectual capital affects business performance (Bontis, 1998; Bontis et al., 2000; Mavridis, 2004). Although intellectual capital is a bundle of critical resources that can be used to create or produce a higher value asset (Edvinsson and Sullivan, 1996; Teece, 1998), a high stock of intellectual capital does not necessarily lead to high performance. A good example in case is the significant losses of IBM in 1992 and 1993 despite of its large inventory of intellectual capital (Teece et al., 1997; Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000; Zollo and Winter, 2002). Moreover, RBV does not provide for managers with useful advice as to which firm-specific resources they should accumulate to gain an advantage in the fast changing environment (Priem and Butler, 2001).Thus, Teece et al. (1997) propose the concept of dynamic capabilities to emphasize the development of management capabilities and the unique combination of organizational, functional and technological skills that address the changing environment and enable firms to sustain their competitive advantages. However, how dynamic capability enhances knowledge management in helping organization's performance improvement has attracted little attention. Based on a case study with in-depth interviews with managers, the present study aims at a deeper understanding of the alignment between dynamic capabilities and knowledge management approach. It also provide a real-life case on how Fortune Motors, an automobile service firm, made a breakthrough in its bottlenecks such as increased customer defection, uneven quality of technicians, and increased competition among franchising chains. The firm turned its performance around after linking dynamic capability with its knowledge management practices to create new service processes named \"eCare\". Through the case report, we offer the insight into knowledge management approach that enhances the integration, acquisition, and reconfiguration of both internal and external knowledge for the improvement of organizational performance.The next section is a review of literature pertaining on knowledge management and the concept of dynamic capabilities. The paper goes on to give a description of the method used in the case study, which is followed by case analysis and research findings and discussions. The paper is concluded with a summary of the study, and some managerial implications are provided.\nLiterature review: Knowledge management\nMethod: The case study examines a KM system developed and implemented by Fortune Motors, an automobile service firm operating in Taiwan. The eCare system embodies the principles and concepts of the dynamic capability, and these principles are applied into practice through a wide range of knowledge management activities. Owing to the complexity of contextual content of this case, an explanatory approach was used to give a descriptive account of the processes involved in the implementation of the KM system. According to Yin (1993), explanatory cases are suitable for doing causal studies in complex and multivariate cases. The utilization outcomes were explained by three rival theories: a knowledge-driven theory, a problem-solving theory, and a social-interaction theory.Knowledge-driven theory means that ideas and discoveries from basic research eventually become commercial products. Problem-solving theory follows the same path, but originates not with a researcher, but with an external source identifying a problem. The social-interaction theory claims that researchers and users belong to overlapping professional networks and are in frequent communication (Yin and Moore, 1987).We base the case study on in-depth interviews, along with the secondary data accessed from the firm. The main fieldwork was conducted with semi-structured interviews of the most knowledgeable managers and informants at the Fortune Motors' corporate headquarter. To provide a holistic organizational perspective, the authors formally interviewed eight managers. The range of interviewees covered different actors involved in the development and implementation process of the eCare system. Documentary evidence permitted cross-checking of much of the interview materials. It was possible to control the reliability of the managers' recollections on technical and other details by comparing them with internal documents. The use of externally oriented articles provided yet another method to triangulate the validity of the interview data. In sum, the document and interview data were transcribed, analyzed and triangulated with iterative verification with interviewees until structured findings were formed.Given the nature and contextual conditions of the eCare system, the report of the case is qualitative. As Yin (1994) pointed out that generalization of results, from either single or multiple designs, is made to theory and not to populations. We therefore took on this case as a base to verify the validity of the proposed model, and thereby providing some managerial implications to managers in a real-life situation.\nCase analysis: Case background\nDiscussion: Building a profit chain with knowledge of the service triangle managed\nSummary: The successful service innovation enabled through dynamic knowledge management in Fortune Motor presented here provides empirical evidence on how an organization aligns knowledge management with fast changing business environment. The dynamism in the market imposed new challenges to the managers in Fortune Motors, who were confronting with severe bottlenecks in its existing business practice. Fortune Motors sought to adapt itself to the new demands of market by developing and adopting the eCare system. The implementation of the KM system demonstrates the critical role of dynamic capabilities of knowledge management in transforming the business processes and creating competitive advantages for the company. The three inter-relating processes of dynamic capabilities were integrated into the routine workflow and operational procedures of the service company, where they were used to help the management in sensing the changes, identifying the managerial bottlenecks, re-evaluating customer demands, reconstructing the processes, creating and utilizing the knowledge base, optimizing the routines, and eventually accomplishing a successful service process innovation and customer satisfaction.The findings in this study confirm that of Cooke (2002), maintenance workforce can contribute to organizational competitiveness when the organization harnesses their knowledge. The dynamic capability of KM has not only built a profit chain with knowledge of the service triangle but also established resource uniqueness by synchronizing the internal and external knowledge. Furthermore, this KM capability has facilitated the development of other structural components of intellectual capital.While research on service innovation is still scant, the case of Fortune Motor demonstrates a practical example of how organization successfully substantiates service innovation to turn its performance around. We note that our research findings are consistent with dynamic capability and knowledge management theories that highlight exploration and exploitation of the collective knowledge in an organization help an organization to compete effectively, and that dynamic capabilities enable organization to exploit existing knowledge and explore new knowledge to form a competitive advantage. Specifically, we applied dynamic capabilities of a recursive flow of integration, learning, and transformation to demonstrate how Fortune Motors leverages its intellectual capital into value creation process (eCare system). The model developed here will provide a useful basis for further testing effectiveness of knowledge management practices.In developing our study, we have noted several limitations in our approach. First, regarding the service innovation, our analysis has concentrated primarily on how the alignment of KM with dynamic capabilities assists the creation of new service processes. A fuller understanding of knowledge as the source of organizational advantage will require an examination of the ways in which dynamic capabilities can be developed and exploited. Second, given that the sample is selected from the automobile service industry, adapting the model to other sectors under different context should be cautious. What is more, as this study is based on a single case, the findings may not be generalized so as to replicate to other instances. It does, nonetheless, provide managers with some useful insights and guidelines for organizational process transformation and service innovation, including:* managing the knowledge of service triangle to build a profit chain for customer, firm and employee;* synchronizing internal and external knowledge to create and sustain the uniqueness of resources of the organization; and* developing intellectual capital using the dynamically established knowledge base.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study on the management of intellectual capital in Fortune Motors. It intends to highlight how an automobile service firm apply dynamic knowledge management concept to create new service processes which resulted in breaking through the bottleneck of profit loss.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study is based on an in-depth case study, semi-structured interviews and extensive access to the secondary data on the firm. A qualitative approach was used to analyze the data due to the complexity of contextual content.\nFindings: - The proposed model has been validated and found that dynamic capabilities could enhance knowledge management by linking external resources or stimuli and internal knowledge management practices. Empirical evidence has also been provided on how a firm can apply dynamic capabilities to its knowledge management to substantiate service innovation.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Further studies verifying the linkage between knowledge management and specific capabilities can be extended from this study.\nPractical implications: - The proposed model provides a guideline for practitioners in managing their valuable knowledge and enhancing the existing knowledge management practices.\nOriginality/value: - This paper identifies a gap in the linkage between knowledge management and constant environmental changes that has been overlooked. To narrow down this research gap, a model of a cyclical flow has been proposed containing processes of integration/coordination, learning/experimentation and innovation and transformation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
New frontiers and approaches to clinical governance
|
[
"Clinical governance",
"Patients",
"Safety",
"Canada"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Challenges facing health care systems, specifically with regard to the development of effective clinical governance processes, were recently discussed by Plochg and Klazinga (2005), who concluded that there is a need for increasing dialogue between clinicians and managers. They point out that clinical excellence has a tendency to be idiosyncratic, based as it is on a physician culture that emphasizes clinical autonomy and which thus needs, in a general sort of way, to be reined in by managerial oversight. They suggest that there needs to be a significant shift in the culture of health care in order to integrate the responsibilities of clinicians and managers to enhance patient care quality. However, they do not question the immutability of key characteristics embedded in clinical autonomy, specialization or sense of professionalism that must undergo a fundamental change if clinical governance is to have any meaningful impact. Moreover, there are two critically important aspects of the clinical/managerial worlds which make dialogue difficult to initiate and sustain: focus (clinicians focus correctly on the individual patient, managers on the organization and its many patients, for which they are responsible); and a related issue of trust (which, given these differing foci, is hard to develop when clinicians fear cost cutting motives in managers and managers fear extravagance in clinicians). Whether the topic is quality of care, patient safety, organization reform, or broad policy issues, this divide between clinicians and managers is real, significant and should not be underestimated.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Seeks to explore conceptual approaches and training paradigms that are necessary to counter new challenges in the face of new concepts and tools to assess and mitigate threats to patient safety, while enhancing quality of care.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Interdisciplinary conceptual approaches and a specific strategy - that of Canada's Western Regional Training Centre for Health Services Research - are presented.\nFindings: - A critical element in meeting the new challenges in clinical governance is significant change in both managerial and clinical culture.\nOriginality/value: - The approach outlined directly addresses many of the tensions inherent in current clinical governance and broadens the conception of clinical governance to embrace a wider array of critical health system issues.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The importance of customer's perception of salesperson's empathy in selling
|
[
"Cognitive empathy",
"Affective empathy",
"Customer-oriented behavior",
"Customer satisfaction and commitment",
"Information communication ability"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: With the sales landscape of today being dynamic, evolving and uncertain (Dixon and Tanner, 2012), sales organizations are frequently evaluating ways to better manage their relationships with customers. With changes in the competitiveness of the marketplace, companies have made modifications to their sales strategies, including relationship selling, value selling, key account selling and solution-based selling (Paesbrugghe et al., 2016; Kaski et al., 2017). Compared to customers in the past, customers today have more transactional power because they have access to an abundance of information (Rapp et al., 2014). Today's salespeople are expected to have a deepened and sophisticated understanding of customers' needs (Rapp et al., 2014; Homburg et al., 2009). However, it has been found that salespeople often do not meet those expectations, resulting in failure to provide the correct value proposition to customers. These failures lead to lower levels of buyer satisfaction (Kumar et al., 2013) and commitment to the salesperson (Reynolds and Beatty, 1999; Palmatier et al., 2007; Rutherford, 2012). Further, any negative impact regarding the salesperson transfers to the selling firm, ultimately hurting a firm's ability to compete in the marketspace (Rutherford et al., 2006, 2008). To reduce failures and increase positive outcomes of relational exchanges, salespeople must understand customers' expectations concerning creating value and must act appropriately in satisfying those expectations (Blocker et al., 2012; Haas et al., 2012; Hohenschwert and Geiger, 2015). Hence, salespeople that are able to provide the correct value proposition to customers become a key point of differentiation (Kaski et al., 2017).\nTheoretical background: Empathy\nMultidimensional perspective of empathy: Research in psychology and counseling has shown that cognitive and affective dimensions are distinctively different and influence behavioral outcomes differently (Preston and de Waal, 2002). For example, affective empathy, which is an emotional reaction (e.g. compassion) to another person's emotional response (e.g. sadness), is not dependent upon the cognitive understanding of why the person is sad (Rankin et al., 2005).\nHypothesis development: Empathy's impact on information communication ability\nResults and findings: The results from the analysis suggested that salesperson's cognitive empathy (standardized regression coefficient = 0.625; z value = 8.825, p < 0.001) and affective empathy (standardized regression coefficient = 0.201; z value = 3.999, p < 0.001) had a significant positive relationship with salesperson's information communication ability. Therefore, both H1-A and H1-B were supported. Further, results show that cognitive empathy has a larger effect than affective empathy on information communication ability.\nTheoretical contribution: Although empathy has been found to have a positive effect on sales, sales research has yet to provide conclusive evidence on whether cognitive empathy and affective empathy would have a similar effect on a salesperson-customer relationship. First, the results mostly (excluding H3-B) confirm that the relationships between the facets of empathy and the examined outcomes are positive and significant. This provides strong support for the importance of studying the impact of empathy, either globally or from a faceted viewpoint, on important buyer-seller relational outcomes.\nManagerial implications: The study confirms that customers' perception of salespeople's empathetic ability is important and results in enhancing customers' outcomes. Therefore, it is important that when sales managers and recruiters select new salespeople they emphasize and evaluate salespeople's empathetic ability both from cognitive and emotional viewpoints. While both viewpoints are important, this study suggests that cognitive understanding is more important.\nLimitations and future research: This study has several limitations. First, the scale used in this study measures salesperson's empathy from a customer's perspective. This study assumes that the customer's perception of the salesperson's empathy would closely resemble the level of empathy the salesperson actually possesses. Future research should address this concern by assessing customer's perception of salesperson's empathy and salesperson's empathy simultaneously through role-playing scenarios. In doing so, researchers would be able to assess whether a customer's perception of salesperson's empathy and the salesperson's empathetic ability are similar. A second limitation of the study is focused on the data collection, as the study used online panels to collect the data. Today, online data collection is often used by researchers because of the vast amount of benefits it provides (Jasmand et al., 2012; Barnes and Pressey, 2012). However, online data collection has its drawbacks. It restricts the sample to respondents that are invited to participate in the study and also to respondents that have access to the Internet. Using a more traditional data collection method, such as a mail survey or a telephone survey, could potentially be more beneficial.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of salesperson empathy, both cognitive and affective, on business-to-business buyer-salesperson relational outcomes. Specifically, the direct impact of empathy is examined in relation to both the salesperson's communication ability and customer-oriented behavior. The impact of empathy is then examined as a direct and indirect influencer of satisfaction with the salesperson and commitment to the salesperson.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To attain the objective of this research, an empirical study was conducted using 248 business-to-business purchasing agents.\nFindings: The study found that cognitive empathy and affective empathy had a positive relationship with customer-oriented behaviors, information communication ability and commitment to the salesperson. However, only cognitive empathy was found to have a positive relationship with customer's satisfaction with the salesperson.\nOriginality/value: Although empathy has found to have a positive effect on sales, sales research has yet to provide conclusive evidence on whether cognitive empathy and affective empathy would have a similar effect on a salesperson-customer relationship. This study provides evidence that not all facets of empathy influence relational outcomes the same way and differ in magnitude. This provides strong support for the importance of studying the impact of empathy from a faceted viewpoint rather than a uni-dimensional perspective when examining the influence on buyer-seller relational outcomes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Business process portfolio selection in re-engineering projects
|
[
"Change management",
"Best practices",
"Optimization",
"Risk analysis",
"Reengineering risk",
"Business process reengineering",
"Portfolio selection"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Customers, competition, and change have created a new world for business, such that organizations designed to operate in one environment are inadequately equipped to operate well in another (O'Neill and Sohal, 1999). This is what Drucker (1969) termed the \"Age of Discontinuity\" or the challenge of the traditional assumptions of business. Since the last decades of the twentieth century, reengineering project in the business process has been introduced as a managerial tool of today to accomplish the effectiveness, responsiveness and competition of processes (Davenport and Short, 1990; Hammer, 1990; Hammer and Champy, 1993; MacIntash, 2003; Terziovski et al., 2003). As the basis of competition, many organizations consider business process reengineering (BPR) project, which lead to changes from cost and quality to flexibility and responsiveness. However, this process is an unreliable and painful and so far, most of reengineering projects have been doomed to failure (Hammer and Champy, 1993). Roots of these failures could be found in combination of hard and soft factors (Hanafizadeh and Osouli, 2011) that have been studied by majority of researchers (Purwadi et al., 1999; Al-Mashari and Zairi, 2000). The purpose of most papers related to BPR has been to identify the main uncertainty factors and the risk sources in order to suggest a solution for that (Hanafizadeh and Osouli, 2011; Al-Mashari and Zairi, 1999). However, this study reckoned that risk, as the possibility of deviation from the expected results, can be also considered as an opportunity (Spaulding, 1997). Despite the number of papers probing into the failure reasons of BPR project, there is still an issue that how and when a BPR project becomes successful. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to introduce a new methodology for constraining the risk of reengineering project by proposing a model for selecting candidate process for reengineering, built upon a new definition for return and risk of BPR projects.\n2 Literature review: 2.1 Business process reengineering\n3 Research approach and methodology: 3.1 Designed algorithm for the study\n4 Survey and data analysis: The validity of the model was tested step by step by implementing it in the RMRC.\n5 Conclusion: Despite the raising attention to reengineering project as a need of recent decades, significant failure rate of these projects is a huge obstacle on the way of their evolvement. BPPS, developed in this paper, is a new methodology which aims to propose a new way for achieving and conducting successful BPR projects by constraining changes of reengineering projects during its early stages.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: In today's societies, work environment and customers' expectations change on a daily manner. Consequently, it is crucial for companies to find a way for adapting themselves to new requirements. For this purpose, reengineering projects have been introduced and evolved in different companies with different responsibilities over the past decades. However, the risk associated with these projects is inevitable and is a huge obstacle on the way of their implementation. This study, in line with previous studies, contributed in this context by proposing a new methodology for selecting suitable processes and adopted best practices candidate for business process reengineering (BPR). The proposed methodology aims to achieve lower risk and higher probability of success for BPR projects.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This objective is achieved by integration of the concept of portfolio selection problems (PSP) into the organizational decision making concerning BPR project. A model for selection of most appropriate reengineering scenarios, which is a combination of processes and best practices, is adopted and proposed. This model by putting additional constraints on risks associated with a BPR project and increasing its return identifies the most prosperous portfolio of scenarios for a reengineering project. The proposed model is tested step-by-step through a case study in order to validate its outcome and justify its practicality.\nFindings: In this paper, a new methodology is proposed containing a model as a managerial tool for conducting more successful reengineering projects. The applicability of the methodology is tested in one of the largest metallurgical laboratory and research centers of Iran. Four strategic processes were selected and several best practices customized, after screening all processes of the case study. Accordingly, in total, 15 different scenarios were explored for the reengineering project in which four of them identified by the model as the processes with the highest possibility of success through the BPR project.\nOriginality/value: This methodology suggests a novel way to benefit from PSP for process selection problems by putting additional control on implementation risk of reengineering project. While the urge of using reengineering project exists within the current companies, the high level of risk of these projects is considered as a huge obstacle in conducting this project. This study, by proposing a new method, aims to address this issue as well as point to the practicality of integrating PSP model in organizational contexts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The sky is the limit for staff at Flight Centre UK: Business lands tenth spot from the Great Place to Work Institute
|
[
"Management development",
"Employee relations",
"Employee benefits",
"Career development",
"Awards",
"Tourism and travel"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A travel company that comprised two shops and 20 staff 15 years ago now has ten brands, 1,600 employees and a PS1.1 billion turnover. Partly as a result of this impressive growth, Flight Centre UK prides itself on being able to offer real opportunities for career progression and a wealth of staff benefits.\nFast-track leadership program: The company's rapid growth is supported by the establishment of a successful fast-track leadership program, which is designed to find and develop future leaders of the business. The program includes leadership-development courses and individual mentoring from a member of the senior-management team.\nBuzz nights celebrate individual achievements: The company also focuses on reward and recognition, hosting regular buzz nights which are designed to celebrate individual achievements. The top performers receive prizes for their successes. Buzz nights are also an opportunity for teams to get together and get excited about the success of their business areas.\nOpportunities for progression: Flight Centre engages closely with the communities in which it operates. It seeks, for example, to employ local people and offer young people work-experience placements. It also raises money for local charities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Describes the policies and practices that have helped Flight Centre UK to reach tenth place in the Great Place to Work awards and be recognized in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For for the ninth time.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Examines the company's approach to career development, training, remuneration, rewards and other employee benefits.\nFindings: Details the promotion opportunities available to new and talented employees in this growing company.\nPractical implications: Highlights the fact that most senior managers - including the firm's managing director - set out as travel consultants.\nOriginality/value: Gives an overview of award-winning HR policies at a fast-growing company.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Reluctant managers: Methodist ministers and management
|
[
"Identity",
"Management philosophy",
"Church ministers",
"Management language",
"Methodism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: I'm of the generation that, when I began my ministry the issue of management was never really raised; and what I've noticed throughout my ministry, throughout the 40 years, it's become more and more of an issue around the issue of management (Samuel, Methodist Superintendent).\nDoing management and becoming a manager: It is important to distinguish between the study of what people who are called managers do and the study of management activities which may or may not carried out by those who are called managers (Grey, 1999; Hales, 2001). Indeed Hales (2001) argues that changes in contemporary organizations are resulting in the elimination or marginalization of the manager as a distinctive role in many organizational contexts. However, the activities of management remain, carried out by people who are not called managers. Glover and Guerrier (2010), within the IT sector, discuss the growth of roles requiring hybrid skills: that is roles requiring both professional and managerial skills. Again this is a description of a role requiring management activities by someone who may or may not have the word \"manager\" in their job title.\nThe context of the Methodist Church: The Methodist Church is the fourth largest Christian denomination in Britain. Founded by John Wesley in the eighteenth century, Methodism is a non-conformist Protestant movement, so called because it does not conform to the rules of the Church of England (BBC, 2011; Haley and Francis, 2006).\nMethodology: This study forms part of a larger two-year research project concerned with the professional identity of Methodist Presbyters. In this paper we will be focusing on the results of the qualitative research that was undertaken in 2011/2012. In addition to the interviews reported here, this paper is shaped by feedback from groups of Methodist Presbyters who have engaged with the results as part of their continuing professional development.\nManaging in the Church: the presbyters' perspective: The role of the presbyter is complex and multi-faceted. The interviews illustrated that there is considerable freedom and scope for ministers to shape their role and determine the priorities that seem appropriate in the particular circuit context in which they are operating and according to the skills and abilities (gifts) that they feel that form part of their ministry. Adam encapsulates this flexibility as follows:\nPresbyters as \"managers\": the perspective from those who work with them: It was noticeable that those who worked with the presbyters were generally comfortable with using the discourse of management and applying it to a church setting. They were usually people who had been or, in the case of lay volunteers, still were managers in secular organizations. For them, the reluctance of certain presbyters to engage with the \"language\" of management was a matter of real concern as the following two quotations illustrate:\nDiscussion and conclusion: Using secular, management language, the role of the presbyter might be described as a role requiring hybrid skills (Glover and Guerrier, 2010): a mix of the professional skills that have developed through formation as a minister and the management skills required in the day-to-day running of the church or churches they are responsible for. Certainly, the presbyters' description of their work was reminiscent of classical descriptions of management work as involving a hectic work pace and long working hours, fragmented days with regular interruptions, and the requirement to respond to unexpected events (Tengblad and Vie, 2012; Mintzberg, 1973). There was some evidence that the management dimension of the work was increasing both due to increased regulatory demands, for example, in relation to safe-guarding, health and safety and charity governance, and to the changing nature of the church, with ministers increasingly responsible for larger numbers of smaller churches. The management aspects of the work are obviously greater for those ministers who are superintendents.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a research from a study undertaken with Methodist circuit ministers in the UK and those that work closely with them. It considers in what way and to what extent ministers think of themselves as managers and to what extent and in what way they are expected to perform as managers by those they work with.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research that informs this paper was gathered through a qualitative study which involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with 22 participants both Methodist ministers and those who worked closely with them.\nFindings: The study shows that, whilst those who work with ministers typically do not problematize management and expect managers to be able to perform management tasks, the ministers themselves are ambiguous about or rejecting of the discourse of management.\nResearch limitations/implications: The relatively small sample size limits generalizability.\nPractical implications: The study challenges trainers in this context and in other contexts where the \"language\" of management is contested or rejected to find a discourse of management which is acceptable.\nOriginality/value: The study contributes to the small body of literature on management and the development of managers within religious organizations. It contributes to the literature on managerial identity and the importance of management language in becoming a manager by presenting an example where this language and identity is contested or rejected.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Social networks and knowledge sharing in organizations: a case study
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge sharing",
"Social networks",
"Channel relationships"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Knowledge sharing has become a key concern to organizations, not only because of the growing importance of the value of knowledge work (Hansen, 2002; Reagans and McEvily, 2003), but also because of the increasing recognition that tacit \"noncodified\" knowledge is of more value than explicit \"codified\" knowledge to the innovation process (Leonard and Sensiper, 1998).In multi-unit organizations, units can learn from each other and benefit from new knowledge developed by other units. Knowledge sharing among units provides opportunities for mutual learning and inter-unit cooperation, which in turn stimulates the creation of new knowledge (Tsai and Ghoshal, 1998). A growing body of empirical evidence indicates that organizations that are able to share knowledge effectively between one unit and another are more productive and more likely to survive than organizations that are less adept at knowledge sharing (Darr et al., 1995; Baum and Ingram, 1998).Scholars have addressed the question of why some business units share their knowledge together while others do not by analyzing the factors that could inhibit or foster knowledge sharing between individuals and groups. Some have tried explaining the behavior of knowledge sharing by personality traits rather than by situational constraints (Hendriks, 1999; Hinds and Pfeffer, 2001). Others have focused on interrelationships; they have adopted a social network perspective where knowledge sharing is explained largely by attributing behavior to the social context in which the actors are embedded (Reagans and McEvily, 2003).Conceptualizing organizations as social communities in which knowledge is structured, coordinated, and shared is central to understanding knowledge sharing in organizations. Kogut and Zander (1992) state that a \"firm should be understood as a social community specializing in speed and efficiency in the creation and transfer of knowledge\".Nature of ties in organizations\nProperties of knowledge: Codification\nElements of the research problem: It seems that while the ease or difficulty of categorizing and identifying the codification of knowledge is an important concern, by no means does it encompass the full spectrum of knowledge sharing within organizations. Crucially, the findings cited overlooked differences in the perceived \"sensitivity\" of knowledge as well as its \"ownership\". The fact that knowledge can be codified does not necessarily mean that it is available for use, or that it automatically becomes public knowledge. The employee may be reluctant to share this knowledge because it may be sensitive in some details; it might reflect poorly on him in some way. In addition, he could feel that he owns this knowledge, that it is a result of his own unique experience. This feeling of ownership can also create a sense of power when negotiating status or compensation within the organization. On the other hand, not all noncodified knowledge is private. Public knowledge, such as being aware of available specific expertise, cannot be documented in any form; nonetheless, it is still public in the sense that it can be verifiable through third parties. There is nothing inherently certain, much less automatic, about this process. So, to address this key issue, this study undertook an extension of the current categories of knowledge - codified/noncodified and public/private- to an expanded set of combinations of these attributes that is more reflective of the mix likely to be found in real-world situations.Based on these assumptions, the following typology of knowledge, as shown in Figure 2, was constructed: public (codified, noncodified) and private (codified, noncodified). Each type of knowledge can be defined with unique characteristics that also characterize its differences.* Public noncodified knowledge: This knowledge is general, work-related, context-free, depersonalized, verifiable through third par ties, and not documented in any form.* Public codified knowledge: This knowledge is general, context-free, depersonalized, verifiable through third parties, documented in some form and written in the form of standard instruments such as company reports, manuals, audited financial statements, regulatory files, etc.* Private noncodified knowledge: This is informal or personal knowledge that an individual obtains from direct experience in a given domain. It is context-specific, subjective, personally sensitive, and not documented in any form. Examples are beliefs, viewpoints, insights, and experiences.* Private codified knowledge: This is informal or personal knowledge that an individual obtains from direct experience in a given domain that is context-specific, personally sensitive, and documented in some form such as e-mail correspondence, personal notes, etc.With the findings of the previous studies in mind, the following hypotheses were formulated:H1. There is significant association between strength of business ties and the sharing of public knowledge.From the previous hypothesis, the following sub-hypotheses were constructed. They will direct the testing of prediction potential statistically:H1a. A close business relationship is a predictor for sharing of public non-codified knowledge.H1b. A close business relationship is a predictor for sharing of public codified knowledge.H1c. Frequency of business interactions is a predictor for sharing of public non-codified knowledge.H1d. Frequency of business interactions is a predictor for sharing of public codified knowledge.The second hypothesis is:H2. There is significant association between strength of social ties and the sharing of private knowledge.From the previous hypothesis, the following sub-hypotheses were constructed. They will direct the testing of prediction potential statistically:H2a. A close social relationship is a predictor for sharing of private non-codified knowledge.H2b. A close social relationship is a predictor for sharing of private codified knowledge.H2c. Frequency of socializing is a significant predictor for sharing of private non-codified knowledge.H2d. Frequency of socializing is a significant predictor for sharing of private codified knowledge.\nMethodology: Research site and data collection\nAnalysis: To analyze strength of ties, four questions were constructed. The first two questions measured the strength of business ties while the other two measured the strength of social ties.Independent variables\nResults: Density\nDiscussion: This study has attempted to generate additional insights concerning the relationship of tie-strength to knowledge sharing by using new variable configurations and dichotomies. Previous research in knowledge sharing focused on and addressed the codification issue as a primary facilitator or inhibitor of knowledge sharing. This study presumed that the codification issue alone does not reflect all dimensions or traits of knowledge transfer or how people react to them. This study has taken research in this area a step forward by adding two specific categories of knowledge to the codification dimension and by asking whether employees perceive knowledge as \"private\" or, in other words, whether it belongs to them or whether it is \"public\" i.e. belonging to the organization.The testing of the two main hypotheses established that the strength of business relationships, in comparison with the strength of social relationships, contributes measurably more to the sharing of both public and private knowledge. This finding points to the significant dominance of business relationships over social relationships related to the sharing of knowledge in this setting.What underpins these patterns is that the business/working relationships, whether in the form of frequency of interaction or closeness, were notably denser. The density of business relationships was 69 percent, whereas the density of social interactions was only 24 percent. Likewise, some 63 percent of the ties were described as close in business relationships, compared with 35 percent of the ties described as close in social relationships.The above finding guided the researcher to the need to examine the organizational practices and situational realities within the organizational setting of IMFC. Seeking to gain a better understanding of the context in order to further explain the interesting patterns of the data, the researcher interviewed a number of managers. These extensive interviews were unstructured. The researcher sought explanations about the possible factors behind the presence of strong formal connections and weak informal channels of sharing between employees.The central focus of the interviews was the structure of IMFC, specifically, its coordinating mechanisms and how these mechanisms shed light on the findings of this study. This is because the structure of coordination determines the organization's capability to mobilize and integrate different types of knowledge (Lam, 2000). The interviews verified that IMFC has a centralized formal hierarchical structure. Its internal organization is built primarily upon the centralization of authority. The findings suggest that the mechanism of coordination at IMFC seems to work in favor of working connectivity and horizontal knowledge sharing among units. From an information processing perspective, centralization is likely to have a positive effect on intra-firm knowledge sharing because \"centralization provides coordination and integration across the interdependency\" (Egelhoff, 1982).Nevertheless, much current research has focused on informal relations and decentralization as mechanisms for sharing knowledge (Tsai, 2000; Chang and Harrington, 2003). The reason for this is largely because innovation and the creation of new knowledge are now receiving more attention in organizations due to the rising pressures of increased competition. Using formal hierarchy as the coordinating mechanism leads to the sharing of unstructured knowledge for the sake of near-term gains (unit task completion; unit risk management) as opposed to long-term gains (development of new processes and business opportunities). Unstructured types of knowledge sharing, which are naturally stimulated without systematic mechanisms or overt intervention from the organization, are often representative of actual day-to-day practices and are part of the workflow between individuals in different units. By contrast, the structured forms are more likely to lead to collective knowledge and organizational learning.Companies that qualify as learning organizations actively manage the learning process to ensure that it occurs by design rather than by chance. One way of doing so is designing workplace learning, where the central objective in learning is to become a practitioner and not simply to absorb practices by rote. Learning by doing in the context of the community where learning takes place is crucial. Mentoring, coaching, team and work groups are different mechanisms of implementing this strategy (Brown and Duguid, 2000). At IMFC, knowledge sharing was unstructured; in other words, there was no systematic learning that takes place between groups. Rather, only fragmented individual learning occurred. This may well have costs in terms of time, money and competitive advantage. In addition, in firms with hierarchical control, noises from below (i.e. from those who are on the front line and have the most insight and experience) are often not heard \"up there\". Such local insights are too valuable for a firm's competitive advantage to go unheard or be \"lost\".In addition, conditions of internal uncertainty at IMFC played a large role in initiating unstructured knowledge sharing between units. Uncertainty here is defined as: \"Imprecision in estimates of future consequences conditional on present actions\" (March, 1994). Within a financial institution, conditions of uncertainty arise mainly from the necessity for total accuracy in all transactions. Any mistakes can be very costly; hence there is \"zero tolerance\" for mistakes.The findings of this study showed that dichotomizing noncodified knowledge into public and private made eminent sense. Although both the \"public\" and the \"private\" are noncodified knowledge, the frequency of working interaction predicted the sharing of public noncodified knowledge in this context, while the closeness of the working relationship predicted the sharing of private noncodified knowledge. This is due to the attitudes bankers have towards these two kinds of knowledge. One widespread norm that contributes to knowledge sharing is the idea that organizations own the labor of their employees (Feldman and March, 1981). Kelly and Thibaut (1991) suggest that knowledge embodied in a work product is more likely to be considered the property of the organization, while employees view their expertise, or \"private\" knowledge as part of themselves and not simply a commodity. Hence, expertise more directly reflects their identity and self worth. Accordingly, sharing expertise, in other words \"private knowledge\", will have not only pragmatic implications but also implications for the expression and consistency of the possessor's identity and value.While the dimension of closeness predicted the sharing of most kinds of knowledge, it did not predict the sharing of private codified knowledge, neither did any other kind of tie. This finding draws attention to the fact that large parts of human knowledge, such as skills, techniques and know-how (i.e. private noncodified knowledge) cannot be easily articulated or communicated in codified forms. Knowledge of this kind is experience-based, and it can be revealed only through practice in a particular context and transmitted through socializing because it may be too difficult to explain, too changeable, too contextually specific or too politically sensitive. Most information systems have failed to capture the private knowledge that companies were striving to collect even though such expertise is so crucial for innovation. There is now a growing realization that this type of knowledge cannot be codified and can be shared only through face-to-face interactions (Bansler and Havn, 2003; Butler, 2003).\nConcluding observation: Knowledge-sharing networks do not exist in some isolated bubble by themselves. Elements such as basic organizational structure and existing conditions of uncertainty play a crucial role in understanding knowledge sharing patterns between units. Focusing on the formal hierarchical structure as a coordinating mechanism, while ignoring the informal lateral relations seems to inhibit the sharing of private noncodified knowledge. Yet this is the type of knowledge that most researchers and practitioners believe is the most valuable knowledge in terms of its uniqueness and its importance for innovation in the emergent knowledge economy.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to determine the association between the strength of different types of ties with the sharing of different kinds of knowledge.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In this paper the association of ties with the sharing of different types of knowledge was measured by a specifically created and developed web survey that was made available to 22 units in the subject organization. Multiple Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure (MRQAP) was used to examine the resulting data in order to address the following questions: first, is there a significant association between strength of business ties and the sharing of public knowledge? Second, is there a significant association between strength of social ties and the sharing of private knowledge?\nFindings: - Findings in this paper show that the strength of business relationships rather than the strength of social relationships contributed most significantly to the sharing of public and private knowledge in this organization. Specifically, the frequency of business interactions predicted the sharing of public non-codified knowledge, while the closeness of business relationships predicted the sharing of private non-codified knowledge and the sharing of public codified knowledge. Unexpectedly, neither business nor social ties predicted the sharing of private codified knowledge.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The paper shows that one organization belonging to a certain type of business was studied, and these results might be more relevant in the setting of similar business organizations that have similarities in their contexts and profiles with this organization.\nPractical implications: - The results in this paper may assist organizations in rethinking the ways of approaching certain types of knowledge sharing in their strategic and infrastructural decisions and their application. Organizations might invest in promoting inter-unit exchanges and in creating meaningful social nets for more innovative products and better performance.\nOriginality/value: - This paper makes a distinct contribution to the available body of research on how social networks in organizations operate in sharing knowledge. The paper provides answers to a number of research questions that have not been addressed thus far in the literature; this study also provides fresh insights into the investigation of patterns of association and prediction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Clients' goals and the construction project management process
|
[
"Construction operations",
"Project management",
"Construction industry",
"Sweden"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The aim of this paper is to suggest methods that will enable innovative and effective communication and collaboration between clients and construction project management professionals. To achieve this, the paper addresses the following issues. First, the linkage between project output and the client's more or less explicit needs will be emphasised. A novel approach to establish and satisfy client requirements in construction will be sought by focusing the project management processes from conception through briefing, design, production and hand-over. Second, the role of the client and other roles in construction projects will be discussed. In particular, close scrutiny will be given to the conditions and prerequisites for the project management professional, acting as the client's representative. In this respect the need for a new role as a facilitator in the dialogue between the client and the design and construction team will be explored.Finally, the objective is also to explore experiences from collaboration between stakeholders and to create knowledge of the relationship between an effective achievement of clients' goals and the construction project management process. Such knowledge should make it possible to create innovative methods for facilitating the management of the construction process from conception to completion. It will also provide a deeper understanding of the consequences of strategies or methods for the improvement of the performance of the client organization's business objectives in construction projects.\nCurrent development trends: The client's goal of raising quality and ensuring end-user focus, whilst at the same time outsourcing the management process for the completion of facilities, implies a gap between logics - the logics of the client and of the construction management professional. In a study by Granath and Hinnerson (2002a, b) it is noted that although there is an agreement on the values and objectives of a project, there is a risk that these will change due to the project processes of today. Discussion on the need for facilitators interpreting the requirements of the client rather than a discussion on the role of construction project managers illustrates this. One field of professional activities is being developed whereas another is not. This brings into doubt the role of construction project managers and how they relate to the achievement of clients' objectives. This also questions how construction project managers can combine construction management and project management in such a way that roles and goals are professionally managed. Another important question is which roles and functions are appropriate in managing the client's needs. In a situation where there is an increased need for professional clients and the aim of construction project management professionals is to engage in a wider range of tasks and activities, there is a need for an innovative approach or method that develop roles and relationships that satisfy the clients' objectives in construction projects.In addition to the roles of the client and the construction project manager, steering instruments governing the outcome of construction projects and, to some extent, the ways of cooperation, are also important to study. One steering instrument is the brief. How it is produced and interpreted is thus of importance. Several factors affecting the conditions for Swedish briefing have changed in the last decade (Ryd, 2003).Core activities and business objectives in construction projects\nMethods: In February, June and December 2005, three expert workshops in the field of construction client management and design and construction briefing were arranged by the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. During these workshops experts from Norway (four), Sweden (seven), and The Netherlands (four) participated. The purpose of these joint workshops was to exchange expertise between the different client organizations and to disseminate knowledge on the field of design and construction client organization collaboration, relating it to briefing and construction project management. Within the workshops different types of briefing processes were distinguished depending on the chosen scope. The workshops were documented in working documents circulated to participants. In a few cases, follow-up interviews were conducted.\nThe actors: Construction clients and briefing\nThe process of capturing user demands: The process here refers to the process of achieving the client's objectives. We focus here on the briefing process and the construction project management process.According to Rezgui et al. (2003), the briefing process is \"a process running throughout a construction project by which the requirements of the client and other relevant stakeholders are progressively captured, interpreted, confirmed, and then communicated to the design and construction 'team'\". This description broadens the customer perspective emphasizes cyclic aspects and clarifies the briefing activities (Barrett and Stanley., 1999). However, there always needs to be an avenue for stakeholders to identify, clarify, analyse, formulate, and confirm their perspectives (Rechtin and Maier, 2000; Spencer and Winch, 2002) - a process with the overall aim of continually co-coordinating the client's business and facility planning.Strategic briefing is a concept that has still not been completely accepted in Sweden. This basically British concept was introduced at the beginning of the 1990s to reduce the limitations experienced in traditional specification development when both public and private operations were in a state of constant change (Blyth and Worthington, 2001). The more conventional, needs-initiated briefing process was based on the assumption that the requirements a structure must meet can be described with the help of studies of existing work processes, interviews with employees, and management. Strategic briefing springs from the current operational needs, but also takes a longer perspective and focuses on the operation's strategic development plans, its prospects, and the building's potential for adaptation for other uses. It is a matter of identifying the activity that is to be housed in the building, how it might change, and the factors that affect these changes. Bertelsen et al. (2002), for example, found that the identification of the strategic themes is of fundamental importance for the client's possibilities to manage the construction process.The tactical briefing process helps define the course of action. An operative brief considers those aspects that can be adapted and changed as the operation changes. It includes operational and building-related performance specifications, guidelines for layout, and interior design concepts that together form the foundation for the individual organization's use of the premises.The workshop, held in February 2005, revealed that there are trends that urge for revaluing the briefing process. The importance of proper design and construction briefing has always been evident, because it represents the quality of demand in purchasing buildings and procuring construction. During the last decades, however, the need for better briefing with the focus on end-users has been increasingly recognised in professionalizing the demand in building and construction among clients, industry and researchers all over the world.Emphasis is put on a desire to manage the brief with a more strategic focus on end results, facilitating the user's business process rather than focusing on the technology of building parts and components. In a few countries, such as Australia, Denmark, and Sweden, construction clients associations have been initiated in order to empower the position of the client-principal in enhancing innovative construction practices. One of the major success factors of these associations is in better briefing, i.e. in the effect of sound decision-making in early stages of the process - the earlier the better (Fristedt and Ryd, 2003).Workshops held in June and December 2005 pointed to difficulties for construction projects in delivering what user-clients need. Much in the same vein as Granath and Hinnersson (2002a), it was found that user demands, although more or less developed briefing processes are at hand, were hard to define and measure on the construction project level and thus difficult to validate during the construction (production) process. The functions defined in the brief were described as cumbersome to communicate and translate to production activities. The workshop participants considered that there was a lack of systems and methods to sufficiently and in a satisfactory way keep track of user client demands. A suggested method to address this issue, at least partly, was to iterate and validate project goals with project participants on a regular and coherent basis throughout the project. This was considered as a way to develop the process, as a way to achieve monitoring and assessing of the brief during all phases of design, construction on to hand-over and use. However, the two workshops did not clarify and present ideas on how to relate specific client goals and demands to the outcome of construction projects, the artefact/object, on a detailed level - this issue remains.Within the workshops different types of briefing processes were distinguished depending on the chosen scope. Some of the processes aimed at satisfying internal objectives of the construction processes others intended to meet external efficiency such as satisfying the client's business goals. Furthermore, a trend of increased interest for process-oriented and strategic briefing was indicated as well as the need for more research for about collaborative working. Also, communication and interaction capabilities are considered vital. The growing awareness of the role of the construction client in design and building process innovation points to the need for the development of expertise among clients in the fields of briefing and procurement as these are considered to be the key aspects in reforming the briefing and construction processes (Ang et al., 2004).\nDiscussion: If current research is surveyed one finds that studies within the field of briefing and construction respectively cover a large number of issues. Innovation of collaborative forms is in focus as well as what can be learnt from, for example, lean production are examples. Often there are points made about the need for strategic design and construction briefing, addressing processes that translate corporate strategies into property investments and corporate real estate decisions. To achieve this, innovative management is needed. Often the early stages are noted as important when discussing where efforts should be made.Reflecting on current research and developments, we can see that there are two different logics governing users and the construction companies. This difference, we conclude, is not addressed to a large extent, if at all. The differences lie in the views of several aspects of projects and user activities. First and foremost it is the difference of project scope. For the user the scope is continuous and permanent; for the construction company it is project by project. So, who should govern the construction process?An increased focus on the client is on the agenda and it is noted that the client needs to develop skills to support development in the construction sector (National Commission of Construction, 2002). This is important as the client consults experts within both briefing and construction, experts who should represent the user. The client thus needs to be skilled in choosing the appropriate experts or consultants for the tasks of demanding what will be supplied (i.e. the briefing) and how it should be achieved (i.e. the construction). If the client is not as professional as required, the logics of the consultants prevail rather than the logics of the client and the users.The focus on the project also brings with it different incentives: the users need an efficient facility and the construction sector aims to deliver in an efficient way. As construction project management is not active within the users' business and activities, the construction project can only deliver to what is specified in the brief, and subsequently transformed into drawings. With the focus on delivering specified functions, the user's experience of what is usable does not get communicated to the construction process. This issue is addressed by a CIB workgroup on usability, W111, where the standpoint is that it is the user's behaviour that should define the process rather than what solution that can be delivered (Granath and Alexander, 2006).In addition to the project scope and incentives, the way of measuring aspects of the project differs. The users view projects as related to their situation, whereas the construction sector has, in general, a factor view. The projects are measured according to sets of factors like time, cost and function whereas the users consider usability and satisfaction. The different approaches may meet, but as they are based on different logics they cannot merge. This is important to acknowledge when the experts managing users' construction processes do not come from the same logic as the users. It can be argued, and rightfully so, that users cannot focus on complex construction issues instead of their professional core business. This is correct, but the construction project management must improve their skills in communication and interaction with the core business. Construction must be delivered by the logic of user's permanent organization rather than the project-by-project approach utilised by the construction sector. The aim of supporting the core business with facilities within the field of facility management is one approach that aims to overcome the different logics as well as the partnering in construction can be viewed as another way of getting closer.So, is it only about diminishing the gap between the user's needs and the construction delivery? We would argue that there is a need for innovation of roles and views on projects and how to manage them. When there is an increased need for professional clients and the aim of construction project management professionals is to engage in a wider range of tasks and activities, there is a need for an innovative approach that develops roles and relationships that satisfy the clients' business objectives in construction projects.\nConclusion - why innovation is needed: The developments and discussion presented above challenge the traditional role of several actors. Construction project managers, if they do not want to be regarded as \"hard booted\", need to participate, and recognize all stages from the conception to the completion and use of projects and facilities. There is equally a challenge for clients to become more knowledgeable, either by developing their own organisations or by using appropriate support, such as project managers, facilitators or similar professional roles, to support their processes. There is a need for communicating core business needs to construction prerequisites. There is a need to choose logic - however, this does not diminish the need for methodologies for capturing, processing and verifying requirements in the process of provision of facilities to a user.In our view, there is a great deal of interest in this issue internationally. Thus, elaborating the client perspective empowers a demand-driven attitude that will lead to an integrated approach, enhance innovation, improve managerial competences and stimulate a reformed management of construction projects. This is a field that will require studies and research in order to develop a client-/user-driven construction process that is more than just new statements. It is likely that a part of this development, or change, starts in the educational systems providing the industry with staff. Thus, research needs to address not only issues in the business as such, but also what requirements should be put on the education and training of the stakeholders that are active in the construction sector.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to suggest methods that will enable innovative and effective communication and collaboration between clients and construction project management professionals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The methodology involves workshops with construction clients documented in working documents circulated to participants.\nFindings: - Workshops revealed trends that urge a re-evaluation of the briefing process. The need for better briefing with the focus on end-users is increasing. The findings also pointed to difficulties for construction projects to deliver what the user-clients need. There was considered to be a lack of systems and methods to keep track of user client demands sufficiently and in a satisfactory way. Goals need to be iterated and validated on a regular and coherent basis throughout projects. An increased interest for process-oriented and strategic briefing was indicated.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Further studies are required to develop a client/user driven construction process that is more than just new statements. Research needs to address not only issues in the business as such, but also what requirements should be put on the education and training of stakeholders who are active in the construction sector.\nPractical implications: - The paper presents a challenge to the traditional role of several actors; there is a need to communicate core business needs to construction prerequisites in a reciprocal way. There is a need of choosing logic - however, this does not diminish the need for methodologies for capturing, processing and verifying requirements in the process of provision of facilities to a user.\nOriginality/value: - The paper proposes the idea that different logics govern actions by construction industry stakeholders, an issue the construction sector needs to address.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Integrated risk minimization methodology for high volume manufacture
|
[
"Failure modes and effects analysis",
"Risk management",
"Electroplating"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Over the last ten years, companies have been challenged to implement radical changes and develop new processes, in order to compete in an environment where seemingly only the leanest, and most responsive, survive. New products are constantly emerging at high speeds of development (Gunasekaran, 1998), thus increasing the need for flexible and adaptable processes. For example, as Jagdev et al. (2004) describes, today's electronic organisations are continuously striving for smaller, faster, cheaper and more reliable products with increased functionality. Many companies face going out of business or shrinking down to a size that allows them only to participate in small niche markets (Kocakulah et al., 2000). An example of such has included the necessity to follow the trend towards automated high-volume manufacturing. However, as the processes continue to advance, a gap in the area of quality is emerging, as the minimisation of the potential risk of defective parts is often overlooked. According to White, advances in technology in recent years have been accompanied by an increasing number of hazards and failures (White, 1995). High performance demands differing degrees of precision and complexity, and since complexity is accompanied by a higher likelihood of defects and errors, increased attention to monitoring and screening during production is therefore required (Agres, 1988). Identifying and mitigating process risks are critical steps in managing a successful high-volume process. In practice, focus is frequently placed on getting the process running, with no thought given to either known or unanticipated risks. However, ignoring the potential process risks is, as the old axiom says, \"failing to plan is planning to fail\".Risk management is becoming a multidisciplinary approach and this paper proposes an integrated risk minimisation (IRM) methodology to reduce potential risks within high-volume manufacturing. The IRM methodology is built into the manufacturing process, so that information can be instantly gathered as process changes occur. Ultimately, providing the best information considerably increases the probability of making a good decision. The IRM methodology detects and predicts defects, with each defect linking back to its potential failure modes. The IRM provides vital data to the user and achieves the optimum solution, and the results show a significant reduction in potential process risk. Figure 1 shows a schematic of the IRM.\n2 Problem statement: High-volume manufacturing has traditionally been seen as a low manufacturing cost process with high automation. Whilst high-volume manufacture has measurable benefits, a distinct gap remains between the theoretical ideal of zero defects and the practicalities of manufacture. Minimising the risk of producing defective product is no trivial task. This paper proposes a structured methodical approach as a means of bridging this gap.Electroplating is a metal finishing process and represents a good example of a high-volume process with a large number of variables and high potential of process risks. Electroplating is defined as a process to protect, beautify, insulate, or increase the specific properties of the metal objects, generally of iron, aluminium, or copper alloys (Flott, 2002). Electroplating is the case study process used to verify the effectiveness of the IRM in industrial practice. An evaluation of prior practical methods displays the effects of poor measurement models in terms of how quality issues are determined, understood and resolved. The impact of a poor measurement model is an increased risk of defective parts being produced.In electroplating, it is common for the measurement approach to differ from the process output, or the reliability of inspections to be poor due to a lack of confidence. Functional electroplating as seen in the electronics industry, differs greatly from other applications of electroplating, both in the size of product, the techniques applied and the types of metals deposited. Whilst these represent fundamental differences, functional coating shares the same basic principles of electroplating and has inherited a common measurement model.An overview of the measurement process shows a large disparity between the actual and the desired measurement capability. Consequently, not all possible defects can be adequately identified, which sometimes leads to customers receiving defective parts in the worst case scenario.\n3 The role and importance of connectors in industry: There are four stages of manufacture: moulding, stamping, electroplating and assembly. Electronic connectors have become essential commodity items where millions of people worldwide depend on connectors for multiple everyday tasks. To illustrate the size of the worldwide market for electronic connectors, the sales for 2004 were $286 billion, with $143 billion sold in USA alone (Bishops and Associates, 2005). The high demands are being driven through digital audio, video, home information and consumer electrical and electronic equipment. Electronic connectors establish an inseparable connection between two points, which allows a signal to be transmitted with minimal distortion or signal loss.\n4 Literature review: FMEA analysis helps to identify every possible failure mode of the process, to determine its effect on other sub-items and on the required function of the product of process (Browning, 2003). Research was also completed in the area of new approaches for the evaluation of risk priorities of failure modes. Teoh reviews work completed by Kato, Shirakawa and Hori in 2002, in the context of knowledge fragment where FMEA is being applied at the conceptual design stage (Teoh and Case, 2004). The objective is to apply FMEA at the earliest moment in order to minimise potential costly failures. However, as Teng and Ho report, one major problem with FMEA is that no one considers the manufacturability of the product (Teng and Ho, 1996). Quite often FMEA is completed to fulfil customer document requirements and the net effect is that many companies terminate their FMEA process once the FMEA report is completed (Teng and Ho, 1996). Many alternative approaches have been suggested in the past, however, the IRM proposes a unique closed loop incorporating fully integrated FMEA process. The objective has been to transform the function of the FMEA methodology from focused on FMEA report generation to a vital tool used to reduce potential defects. Effectively, linking the FMEA with the quality control tools turns data into information which can be utilised by design and process engineers. The full integration of the FMEA with the process ensures that the FMEA always reflects the current process status.\n5 Integrated risk minimisation: The IRM seeks not only to detect defects, but also to monitor process variation and predict potential defects. FMEA methodology is an integral part of the IRM solution, where it is used to identify the potential failure modes within the process.The IRM closes the loop on the FMEA methodology, as continual process variation updates and operator feedback ensures that an accurate generic process FMEA is maintained. A sustained flow of accurate information allows the FMEA to identify potential risks. The IRM is an integrated solution, which means that the sensors providing the process detection and monitoring are equally as important as the mechanics of the methodology employed. The IRM uses a combination of both established and innovative methods of detection that have never previously been applied to the electroplating process.Established detection methods include X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) deposit thickness, solderability testing and adhesion testing. Insufficient metal deposits will result in a failure to achieve the desired properties, while excessive metal deposits will yield an overly expensive product. Ensuring accuracy of results is an important step, as the IRM depends on the data measurements outputted from the XRF. Gauge and Attribute Repeatability and Reliability (GRR)/(ARR) testing both provide a good measure of this accuracy. A similar approach was implemented for both solderability and adhesion testing.Machine colour vision was proposed, tested, validated and implemented as the optimal solution for inline detection of electroplating defects. Machine colour vision has removed the dependence on visual inspection performed by the operator. The combination of machine colour vision and XRF measurement data brought about an improved method of electroplating inspection, which provides an accurate measure of electroplated product.A software interface, designed using gathered process data, provides accurate user feedback which establishes a means of defect prediction. The software interface formed the basis for the final element in the IRM methodology. The comprehensive solution stands the IRM apart from other applications.The IRM is not only a methodology, but also an integration of technology that drives excellence into the manufacturing process, through the monitoring of process variation and the detection of process defects. Operator feedback is central to the success of the IRM, where the operator receives the knowledge necessary to react in a structured way in order to prevent the occurrence of defects. An action research approach was deemed the most appropriate method for this research. The advantage of designing and developing a solution in an industrial environment is that the overall solution can be tested immediately, thus allowing any omissions or errors to be quickly identified and rectified.\n6 IRM intelligent control: A number of sensors are used to determine electroplating quality as no one will measure comprehensively evaluate the overall quality. The sensors used for detecting electroplating defects are split between XRF, which is an offline deposit thickness measurement, and machine color vision, which is an inline inspection process. In addition to these sensors, there are a number of manual tests such as adhesion and solderability tests.6.1 XRF\n7 Results: Figure 6 shows the defective parts per million (PPM) trend recorded from January 2004 through to January 2006. Defective PPM is a measure of the quality of the process related to the volume of parts produced.In effect, the FMEA highlights the potential risks and the PPM reflects the actual defect rates. The IRM was implemented in December 2004, therefore, this trend analysis shows the immediate impact of IRM. The average PPM recorded pre-IRM introduction was 24,680, and from January 2005 to January 2006 post-IRM, the PPM was 3,971. This demonstrates a massive change and illustrates an 84 per cent difference post IRM implementation. Figure 7 analyses the impact of the IRM. The blue bars represent the spread of potential failure modes before IRM. The graph shows that 89 per cent of all potential failure modes before IRM had a risk priority number (RPN) exceeding 100.The post-IRM implementation results show that 73 per cent of all potential failure modes have an RPN under 100, while the remaining 27 per cent have an RPN between 101 and 200. Thus, proving that no potential failure modes with an RPN over 200 were recorded post-IRM implementation.The sequence of the following results shows the true impact of the IRM.1. The results were analysed to determine whether a relationship exists between production volumes and defective parts. The IRM has managed to reduce the number of defective parts consistently, even when production volumes showed an increase.2. The scrap costs constitute an important factor, and were analysed over the last five years period. There is an evidence to support that the greatest reduction has been achieved due to IRM implementation.Figure 8 shows the trend in terms of the production quantities and scrap quantities for 2004 and 2005. The production quantity trend is shown in red and the scrap quantity in blue. The trend for production quantity shows a steady rise from 2004 to 2005, while the scrap quantities show a significant reduction. This reduction confirms the achievement of a considerable transformation.\n8 Discussion: The methodology can be viewed in two contexts. Firstly, the approach taken to develop the IRM methodology, and secondly, the IRM methodology designed to reduce potential defects.FMEA was initially used to identify the most frequent defects and categorise the process risks. The FMEA also provided the analysis to quantify the true impact of the IRM implementation, by specifically measuring the reduction on risk through RPN reduction. IRM achieves continuous improvement through the closed loop design, where all failure modes are linked to the actual defects identified by the IRM. The aim of which is to provide structured data in an FMEA format, so that design engineers are informed of the potential problems experienced in practice, thus, making these problems known and potentially allowing for them to be designed out of the process.An integrated methodology is critical, both in the context of an inline solution and in terms of providing an effective structure for all measurement data. The inline element is an absolute requirement for high-volume manufacture, particularly, when the process is continuous. Data volumes and processing speeds are particularly challenging, not just for the IRM, but for all commercial solutions that have attempted to reduce the potential failures in high-volume manufacture.The measure of success achieved by the IRM methodology is quantified by the level of potential risk reduction. The IRM methodology best describes how the minimisation of risk is achieved. The IRM methodology was designed inline with the electroplating process, in order to achieve significant reductions by giving immediate operator feedback. The integration of multiple measurement sensors and the provision of a user interface facilitates the completion of all inspection measurements, which delivers full defect traceability. FMEA analysis performed pre-and post-IRM implementation made it possible to compare the impact of the IRM on the number of potential failures recorded. The completion of this research into an industrial case study has allowed IRM implementation to be evaluated from a practical viewpoint, through measurement of PPM reductions.However, the IRM, as with any methodical or technological change, presented several challenges. Some of the major challenges experienced related to operator training and operator acceptance of the solution. Change is generally met with resistance and the magnitude of the change can often be initially underestimated. However, over time, the IRM success delivered a practical solution that was soon recognised by the operators to be more of a help than a hindrance. This meant that the operators became more open to fully embracing this innovative methodology, which has succeeded where many traditional methods of electroplating defect detection have failed.\n9 Conclusions: The successful transformation of a subjective inspection process to a quantifiable set of engineering principles yields specific benefits as detailed below:* The inline design of detection sensors successfully delivers a reduction in the potential risks of producing defective product. Full IRM implementation provides immediate feedback to the operator.* Improvements to customer queries as all questions can be answered with full data traceability.* Closing the loop on FMEA through IRM ensures that the electroplating process FMEA is maintained and remains reflective of the electroplating process. Therefore, focus is placed on using the FMEA to reduce potential risks, as opposed to the more traditional focus on the actual task of completing the FMEA.* The IRM has made a significant impact on bridging the gap between the customer's desire for zero defects and the practical challenges involved in attaining this target.* Implementation of inline \"risk minimization model\"; effectively provides immediate feedback to the operator in order to reduce risk of defect production.* Customer improvements - full traceability translates to the documentation of \"out of control conditions\". Thus, reducing the risk of customer receiving defective parts.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology to reduce the potential risk of failures in high-volume manufacturing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research documented here represents an even balance of theoretical and practical development, with validation of the methodology - referred to as integrated risk minimisation (IRM).\nFindings: - The success of the IRM is measured in terms of reduced defect rates, through either prediction or earlier detection of defects. The combination of an inline design and immediate operator feedback on all detected defects was a critical design element.\nPractical implications: - The electroplating process was chosen as a suitable case study to provide the platform from which the IRM could be developed and tested. Implementation into industry has generated the proof to support the IRM as a methodology that can successfully reduce potential risks in high-volume manufacturing.\nOriginality/value: - In a unique approach, failure modes and effects analysis is built into the IRM methodology, thus establishing a \"closed loop\" process. The IRM methodology is suitably generic, to allow the achievement of similar results for any high-volume process.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Competences desired among educational leaders of technical education degree institutions
|
[
"Evaluation competence",
"Innovative competence",
"Leadership competence",
"Pedagogical competence",
"Research competence",
"Teachers’ competences"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the modern information age, the role of education has tremendously changed. There is increasing emphasis on democratizing learning, connecting to the real world, and skills development (Pahomov, 2014). The quality of education in Indian higher education system is considerably poor as compared to that of developed nations of the world. Among many reasons, lack of quality teachers is one of the biggest issues in quality education (Bloom et al., 2016). Ball (2000) expressed apprehension over the commoditization of education because the roles of teachers were being reduced to functional machines. Therefore, there is a pressing need to revamp the education system (Pahomov, 2014). Educational leaders (ELs) create opportunities for the learning and development of students (Huang, 2013). They foster commitment, collaborations, and cooperation among educational community by building trust and relationships between community members (Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA), 2011). They guide institutions for the development of future educational leaders (Huang, 2013). The dimensions of their leadership expand to cultural, institutional, and political domains of the educational organization (Szeto et al., 2015). The present study has been carried out to explore and analyze the set of competencies required for becoming ELs.\n2. Review of the literature: ELs are change champions of educational institutions who use their self-concept, emotional intelligence, vision of institution and all resources to enhance educational outcomes in terms of capacity building of students, teachers and society at large (Thornton, 2014). Their enthusiasm (Robinson, 2004), openness to new learning, political astuteness, informal power, critical thinking, and deep understanding of entire educational system (Stoll et al., 2003) foster innovative transformations that eventually give serendipitous results (Robinson, 2004). ELs are highly knowledgeable, most proficient, experienced, and carry out a series of research projects (Al-Ahdal, 2014). They assume various roles such as a guide, a critical friend, a philosopher, and an expert (Al-Ahdal, 2014; McLean et al., 2008). They also act as teacher-scholars who adopt a distinct approach for education by emphasizing more on the process of education (Wilkerson and Irby, 1998). They bring an evolutionary development in education (Steinert et al., 1988) through critical reflections (Robinson, 2004) and extending their services beyond their own classrooms and institutions (Danielson, 2005).\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Research questions\n4. Results: The results of all the responses given by respondents in the form of rating the competences of ELs have been analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) technique using AMOS 20.0. The Standard Regression Weights (SRW) or b-coefficients of the items have been accepted by above/equal to 0.4 (Bagozzi and Baumgartner, 1994). The Combined Score (CS) for each competence is the average of b-scores of the competencies representing the respective competence (Table I). The CS >= 0.4 indicates the significance or presence of respective competence.\n5. Discussions: The results show that ELs are essentially required to possess evaluation competence followed by research competence, leadership competence, pedagogical competence, and then innovative competence. ELs demonstrate leadership qualities and act as enablers. Therefore, the biggest competency of ELs is helping others in their improvement (C9). It fosters capabilities of aligning class activities with learning objectives, fair evaluation, and becoming constructive feedback providers (C24, C22, C25). Being leaders, they never blame circumstances or environmental conditions for failures.\n6. Implications: The study contributes to both the literature and educational system. The study contributes to the literature in terms of spotlighting competencies in a hierarchical order to qualify for becoming Educational Leaders. The technical educational institutions need to have right set of people to refurbish the education system. The study will help these institutions in terms of ensuring that people with right competences are recruited and developed. The study also sets benchmarks for job design and appraisal of educators.\n7. Limitations and future research: The sample was specific to one state and technical education degree institutes. There may be the chances of response bias in few situations. Therefore, there are few reservations in generalizing the findings. The study did not include the determinants of these competences. This gives scope for future research in terms of identifying determinants of different competences and testing across other types of higher education institutes.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This study aims to identify and classify various competences and competencies that educational leaders should essentially possess.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify various competences of educational leaders in the institutions. Later, an empirical research was conducted. The data were analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using AMOS 20.0 to classify these competences according to their relative importance considering natural gaps in standardized beta (ss) values. In all, 96 administrators of 35 technical institutions of Punjab (India) offering engineering and management programs and 93 veteran educational experts had responded in a survey.\nFindings: The results of the study identified five competences: pedagogical, leadership, innovative, research and evaluation competences. The competencies \"help others in improvement and not blame circumstances\", \"set high benchmarks\" and \"align class activities with learning objectives\" have qualified among the \"most important\" competencies for the educational leaders.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample was specific to one state. There may be the chances of response bias in a few situations. Therefore, there are few reservations in generalizing the findings.\nPractical implications: The study has several implications for both the faculty and the technical education degree institutes. The study provides a link between the characteristics and competencies of educational leaders. This study also contributes in terms of mapping of these competencies while recruitment of the faculty to test whether the candidates possess the potential of becoming educational leaders.\nOriginality/value: The administrators can test these competencies in their faculty for the purpose of identifying both the educational leaders within their institutes and the potential educational leaders in future by assessing \"requisite\" and \"important\" competencies.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A theory of contingent business process management
|
[
"Contingency theory",
"Business process management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Business processes describe the sequences of organizational activities that transform inputs into outputs (Garvin, 1998). Business process management (BPM) describes the attempts of organizations to manage these processes in such a way that positive effects accrue like increased quality, customer satisfaction, financial performance, decreased production time or costs (Kohlbacher, 2010; Ranganathan and Dhaliwal, 2001). Poor process management, conversely, can lead to decreased financial performance, organizational conflicts and decreased innovation (Benner and Tushman, 2003; Ittner and Larcker, 1997).\n2. Background: 2.1 Differences in organizational processes\n3. A new theory of contingent process management: Even if OIPT has been developed as a theory of organizational design which focuses on the organization as the unit of analysis, we believe that an IP view serves as a valuable lens to also examine business processes and process management mechanisms. We make four arguments in support of this assertion: First, much like OIPT belonging to the class of contingency theories, we also argue that there is no one best way to manage processes but the optimal way depends on the nature of processes. Second, processes have objective qualities that can be described and measured if information is available and collected. Third, processes (like organizations) can be conceived as open social systems that process information. Within processes, a variety of actors execute a variety of tasks in some logical and temporal dependency, often using a variety of tools and equipment. This situation involves a huge amount of information being processed, distributed and created. Everyone involved, therefore, must cope to some extent with uncertainty and equivocality. Fourth, processes (like organizations) involve tasks that span a variety of groups or departments. They therefore require certain coordination mechanisms to process information. IP is important to connect single tasks to an efficient and effective process.\n4. Proposition development: Above we have formulated our general theory of continent BPM. We now detail our view of this theory, by examining the complexity of the suggested moderation relationship between process management mechanisms and process management requirements in more detail. Figure 2 shows our view of the relationship between the mechanisms and requirements we consider. We now proceed to detail the propositions visualized in this model.\n5. An illustration of our theory: In this section, we demonstrate how our theory can be applied. We use it to contrast four business processes: personal data administration, international transfer management, continuous performance management, and rolling out a new HR strategy. As all of these processes belong to the HR department, existing process classification systems would thus unequivocally classify them as support processes (Ould, 1995) or HR processes (APQC, 2016; ISO, 2008). We will show how our theory provides a more appropriate and detailed view on what these processes are and how they should be managed.\n6. Discussion: The theory discussed in this paper enhances perspectives on process management success factors through the focus on process-internal context factors, namely, process characteristics. Our intention was to understand: how business processes differ; why processes require different management mechanisms; and when process management mechanisms are successful and when not. In order to answer our research questions, we:\n7. Conclusion: Overall, our research builds on existing contextualized process management research but goes beyond these works by providing a coherent theory. Similarly to other researchers (e.g. Trkman, 2010), we build on contingency theory but provide novel and substantiated propositions for which management practices are adequate in which situations. In addition, we provide a clear guidance for how to evaluate, refute and advance the theory. Similar to other context-sensitive approaches (e.g. Rosemann et al., 2008; vom Brocke et al., 2014, 2016), we consider contextual factors as critical for process management but systematically derive them based on existing literature and link them to existing theory. By doing so, we do not only describe but also explain and predict context-sensitive process management which can serve as a basis for more context-sensitive process management research and practice. We hope this theoretical paper, therefore, serves as inspiration both for further theory development as well as to empirical studies that test, refute, support or otherwise augment our arguments.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Many researchers and practitioners suggest a contingent instead of a \"one size fits all\" approach in business process management (BPM). The purpose of this paper is to offer a contingency theory of BPM, which proposes contingency factors relevant to the successful management of business processes and that explains how and why these contingencies impact the relationships between process management and performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors develop the theory by drawing on organizational information processing theory (OIPT) and applying an information processing (IP) perspective to the process level.\nFindings: The premise of the model is that the process management mechanisms such as documentation, standardization or monitoring must compensate for the uncertainty and equivocality of the nature of the process that has to be managed. In turn, managing through successful adaptation is a prerequisite for process performance.\nResearch limitations/implications: The theory provides a set of testable propositions that specify the relationship between process management mechanisms and process performance. The authors also discuss implications of the new theory for further theorizing and outline empirical research strategies that can be followed to enact, evaluate and extend the theory.\nPractical implications: The theory developed in this paper allows an alternative way to describe organizational processes and supports the derivation of context-sensitive management approaches for process documentation, standardization, monitoring, execution and coordination.\nOriginality/value: The theoretical model is novel in that it provides a contextualized view on BPM that acknowledges different types of processes and suggests different mechanisms for managing these. The authors hope the paper serves as inspiration both for further theory development as well as to empirical studies that test, refute, support or otherwise augment the arguments.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Beveridge and his pursuit of an ideal economics: why did he come to accept Keynes's ideas?
|
[
"Ideal economics",
"J.M. Keynes",
"LSE",
"Rigorous and exact science",
"W.H. Beveridge"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The \"Keynes-Beveridge System or the Post-war Consensus\" (Hirai, 2008, p. 194) was envisioned and formulated gradually, and was dominant for a generation after the Second World War. It has also been referred to as \"a Keynes plus Beveridge formula\" (Kolberg and Esping-Andersen, 1991, p. 9) or \"Liberal Collectivism\" (Cutler et al., 1986, p. 27). This system aimed directly at sustaining a national minimum under (corrected) capitalism and ultimately at expanding the possibilities of human nature and civilization. It was composed mainly of a social security system and policies designed to realize full employment. The measures it adopted to realize these aims were not extreme, and were therefore both eclectic and practical.\n2. Economics as an empirical science: After 11 years as a civil servant addressing the problems of labor, munitions, and food, in October 1919 at the request of Sidney and Beatrice Webb Beveridge took office as the Director of the LSE, which had been formally established in 1895. In October 1920 he laid out comprehensively three goals for an ideal economics (Beveridge, 1921), a stance that would not change for the rest of his life (Beveridge, 1937, 1955, pp. 247-254, 1960, pp. 88-97). The three goals are related to the methodology, professionalization[1], and a broader aim of economics, respectively. In what follows, we will discuss that there are enough reasons why Beveridge came to accept Keynes's ideas with regard to his pursuit of an ideal economics.\n3. Economics for new professions: The second goal for Beveridge's ideal economics was to prepare new professions such as those that would connect economic knowledge to the arenas of politics and business. This aspect was related to the process of \"professionalization\", which had been seen in the newly systematized discipline, namely, economics.\n4. Economics for liberal education: Beveridge's third goal was to position economics as a core subject in a liberal education. Again influenced by J.S. Mill and Huxley, Beveridge took their position a step further. J.S. Mill advocated a thorough study both of the ancient classics (Greek and Latin) and of the natural sciences as essential to a liberal education. The former was the most complete form of expression, whereas the latter was the work of discovering the truth (observation and inference). Huxley, citing Mill's stance, later maintained that, in an age of rapidly developing science, the study of classics should be replaced by the study of natural sciences in the standard curriculum.\n5. Concluding remarks: Let us summarize and restate in a different light the arguments presented thus far. This paper has revealed that Beveridge's three-fold goal for an ideal economics can best be understood when discussed with his acceptance of Keynes's central ideas. Broadly speaking there are two elements to be considered in answering the question of why Beveridge, who once rejected Keynes's General Theory completely, eventually came to support it enthusiastically.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine two (accidental and inevitable) reasons why W.H. Beveridge, who in 1936/1937 had rejected all of the elements of Keynes's General Theory, came to accept it enthusiastically in the 1940s.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper answers this question in three steps. First, it distinguishes apparently changeable factors in Beveridge's views, from consistent ones. Second, it looks for factors of the latter type in his three goals for economics. Third, it compares his goals with those of Keynes.\nFindings: Beveridge's three goals overlapped with Keynes's ideals for economics and economists, and this is not historically accidental: economics should be useful as a basis for verification by fresh observations (as an exact science); economic knowledge should be useful in business and policy-making processes (for new kinds of educated professions); and economic studies requires a wide range of related subjects (a liberal education).\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper attempts to clarify the cognitive assumptions of the two economists. This clarification can contribute to understanding the process and reasons behind Beveridge's acceptance of Keynesian economic theory and policies on a theoretical level.\nOriginality/value: This paper examines previously ignored reasons for Beveridge's acceptance of Keynesian economics. Moreover, it suggests certain pre-analytic assumptions concerning the co-existence of social insurance and full employment policies. This perspective will be useful for historians of economics and the welfare state.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Dynamization of bankruptcy models via indicator variables
|
[
"Bankruptcy prediction",
"Dynamic models",
"Dynamization",
"Static financial ratios",
"C52",
"C53",
"G33"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The predictability of future insolvency or bankruptcy of enterprises is a long-standing issue in financial and accounting literature partly because of its practical relevance. The direct and indirect cost of these events is well known and substantial for the whole economy, especially for the most direct stakeholders: the creditors. These facts created a multidisciplinary research topic, called bankruptcy prediction or business failure prediction. The basic idea dates back to the 1960s when pioneer researchers of this topic assumed that there is such information which has statistically significant predictive power with respect to future bankruptcy of firms. The first research trials identified several potential explanatory variables calculable from financial statements of firms, so they have formed an inevitable set of independent factors for building bankruptcy prediction models (Chen et al., 2009). However, selecting the variables for the models is an empirical task because there has been no sound theoretical framework which could determine the set of independent variables to be included in bankruptcy prediction models (Nikolic et al., 2013).\n2. Literature review: It has been 60 years since Beaver (1966) published his pioneering work on the usefulness of financial ratios in predicting corporate bankruptcy. In spite of this long time, this research topic may still be considered as an evergreen one which is reflected in the high number of papers published on this research direction. This can be explained by the multidisciplinary nature of bankruptcy prediction. This aspect became apparent in the famous study of Altman (1968), who extended the \"single-ratio\" approach of Beaver (1966) to examining more financial ratios simultaneously in order to assess to financial health of companies. In order to achieve this goal, Altman (1968) applied linear discriminant analysis to predict bankruptcy of large US manufacturing companies on the basis of financial information. This was the first attempt at combining multivariate statistical methods and financial data to make predictions on future failure of firms. From this time, the application of classification techniques for exploring the empirical relationship between the occurrence of failure and potential explanatory variables can be considered as a mainstream research methodology in bankruptcy prediction. This characteristic is attributable to the fact that there is not a sound theory for bankruptcy of limited companies. In the case of public companies, the option-based theory of Merton is well known and widely used in the literature for predicting future failure. However, the lack of stock market data for private firms makes this model impossible to use, so the application of accounting data is a straightforward way for analyzing the financial health and possible bankruptcy of private firms.\n3. The concept of the proposed dynamic indicator variable: There is consensus in the literature regarding the fact that it is very rare that corporate bankruptcy occurs as a sudden event without any warning signal. It is more common that it is the end of a dynamic process (Nwogugu, 2006) with different stages. These phases can be characterized by continuously decreasing financial performance which can be caught by the time series of financial ratios. This hypothesis has already been verified by the earliest works of bankruptcy prediction, since Beaver (1966) pointed out that there are financial ratios which show significant differences between bankrupt and healthy companies as early as five years before the event of bankruptcy. As it has been documented by the cited author, as we move closer to bankruptcy, the number of financial ratios showing significant difference increases; furthermore, the differences become more apparent. This is the main reason why financial ratios from the most recent year play dominant role (Lin et al., 2011) in bankruptcy prediction models.\n4. Overview of classification methods applied in the empirical research: In line with Li-Sun (2011), this study would also like to bear in mind the practical relevance of bankruptcy prediction, so I chose only the most popular, and what is more important, only interpretable classifiers. The application of only interpretable methods is not without precedence in the literature. The study of Li-Sun (2010) can be mentioned as an example.\n5. Data used for empirical research: In order to investigate to usefulness of the proposed variables for dynamizing bankruptcy models based on interpretable classification algorithms, a self-gathered data set was used. This contains financial data for 3,370 Hungarian enterprises among which the proportion of failed companies was 50 percent. Financial data were gathered for randomly selected firms over the period of 2001-2015. With respect to the fact that financial data were obtained from such publicly available databases where there were not possible to search on the basis of size or activity of companies, these aspects cannot be taken into consideration during the data gathering process, so the resulting data set is heterogeneous with respect to these factors. When collecting data, the following aspects were taken into consideration:\n6. Results: Linear discriminant analysis, logistic regression and CHAID-based decision trees were applied in the empirical analysis to develop bankruptcy prediction models. As it is well known, the performance of the first two methods is sensitive to the presence of outliers, the range of the static financial ratios were categorized by the CHAID procedure by developing a univariate tree for each explanatory variable and the terminal node numbers were saved as ordinal variables. However, this problem may arise in the case of the dynamic variable defined in (1) as well. To overcome the problems of outliers, two possible solutions are examined in the study: generating indicator variables as defined in (2), and applying the univariate CHAID trees described earlier for categorizing the dynamic variables.\n7. Conclusions and implications: With respect to the fact that static bankruptcy prediction models dominate the literature, the most important conclusion of this research is that the performance of bankruptcy prediction models can be improved by taking into account the dynamics of financial ratios. As already pointed out by Beaver (1966), financial ratios often exhibit deteriorating trend before the occurrence of bankruptcy; however, this information is often neglected in the literature. This paper suggested two simple but efficient ways for expressing the time trend of financial ratios in the form of static variables (see Equations (1) and (2)). These measures are suitable for using within the framework of any classification method.\n8. Summary: The empirical literature of bankruptcy prediction has grown exponentially in the last 15 years. The number of publications dealing with this topic is very high. However, the research on this issue may be considered as fragmented because almost every study applies an approach which is different from other studies to some extent. This ranges from the definition of bankruptcy through the applied classification methods to the evaluation of performance of models. In my opinion, this diversity can be explained by the multidisciplinary nature of the topic, furthermore, by the absence of underlying theory for bankruptcy prediction. However, in spite of this variety, several common features can also be identified. First of all, as Yu et al. (2014) stated, the mainstream applies the methods of artificial intelligence in this field, furthermore, deals with comparing the performance of different classifiers (Sanchez-Lasheras et al., 2012). At the same time, however, it would be beneficial that domain knowledge (Zhao et al., 2009) also received more attention in addition to the different methodological approaches.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to enhance the predictive power of bankruptcy prediction models by taking the past values of firms' financial ratios as benchmark. For this purpose, the paper proposes an indicator variable expressing the time trends of financial ratios.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The proposed measure uses the minimum and the maximum of financial ratios from the previous period as benchmarks in order to give a more complete picture about the present financial performance of firms. The most popular classification methods of bankruptcy prediction were employed: discriminant analysis, logistic regression, decision trees. Sample specific results and conclusions were avoided by applying tenfold stratified cross-validation.\nFindings: The empirical results suggest that the proposed measure can increase the predictive performance of bankruptcy prediction models compared to models based solely on static financial ratios. The results gave evidence for the fact that the firms' past financial performance is a useful benchmark for evaluating the risk of future insolvency.\nOriginality/value: The proposed concept is completely new to the literature and practice of bankruptcy prediction. Similar concept has not been published to date. The suggested dynamization approach has three important advantages. It is easy to compute from time series of financial ratios. It is applicable within any classifier irrespective of its mathematical background. The performance of models can be enhanced without the necessity of giving up the interpretability of bankruptcy models, so the proposed measure may play very important role in the practice of credit scoring modeling as well.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
My years with B2B marketing in India: reflections and learnings from a journey of 40 years
|
[
"B2B marketing in India",
"Indian perspective in B2B marketing",
"History of B2B marketing in India",
"Indian B2B marketing practices",
"India",
"Business‐to‐business marketing"
] |
[
{
"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: Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action (Peter Drucker).With over 40 years of association with the discipline of industrial or B2B marketing, I can claim to be a historian for B2B marketing, at least for India. Layers of experience and exposure have equipped me with both the depth and width of the plurality of the issues and challenges of B2B markets and marketing. As 40 years is a very long period, selection of what to share and what to ignore has been a major challenge. My reflections include a synthesis of the sum total of what I have learned and shared with a large body of students and practising managers. The paper is organised around nine lenses. These lenses should provide comprehensive coverage of the Indian perspective. The historical narration is recap of the developments. There is no attempt to develop newer concepts. Through anecdotes, I have attempted to provide glimpses of the reality. This paper is confined to a review and reflections of my experiences only. It does not cover other Indian instructors, trainers and researchers. Figure 1 describes the nine lenses used for reflections.\nLens 1: Evolution of B2B markets and marketing in India: from rationing to value-based marketing\nLens 2: B2B marketing: the \"den\" of corruption\nLens 3: The impact on practices: interventions over the years\nLens 4: Work experience: recalling some helpful learnings\nLens 5: Becoming a B2B marketing person: tracing my development\nLens 6: Teaching B2B marketing: the change has been slow and evolutionary\nLens 7: A plea to authors in Western countries\nLens 8: Creating the Indian intellectual capital\nLens 9: My wish list: if I had another 30 years for B2B marketing in India\nSumming up: The Indian B2B scenario has changed a great deal. The impact of competition and globalisation has transformed B2B marketing practices beyond recognition. My reflections reveal that no matter how I view my contribution, it would remain insignificant in front of the massive output of North Americans and the Western economies. My wish list includes the building of Indian intellectual capital. However, I am not sure whether this would be able to influence the practices of Indian B2B marketers significantly. As in the past, for several decades in future, Indian marketers may have to live on borrowed wisdom. But in an inter-connected, flat world, this should not be embarrassing so long as it helps to improve practices. Similarly to me, my younger colleagues should not shun knowledge developed anywhere else. But like Western scholars, they should remain obsessed with producing Indian intellectual capital. The one-way street always has the scope to become a two-way street.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to review the author's association with the discipline of business-to-business (B2B) marketing for nearly 40 years. Of these, 34 were spent teaching in a postgraduate institute, i.e. the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, India.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper is organized around nine lenses for reflection. These provide a comprehensive coverage of the author's experiences. The paper critically evaluates the author's performance as a B2B marketing instructor, researcher, trainer and consultant. It examines the evolution of B2B markets and marketing in India and traces the symbiotic relationship between academics and practice.\nFindings: - The reflection reveals that B2B marketing practices have benefited and improved a great deal in India due to interventions from academia. However, the most disturbing aspect of B2B marketing practices in India is all-pervasive corruption. There seems to be no solution for it.\nPractical implications: - An important audience for this paper is young faculty members. It is hoped the paper will be able to motivate them for more research and publications. The challenge for B2B marketing is to fuel the declining interest in the discipline. The B2B marketing discipline in India needs more faculty members, and substantial home-grown research articles and cases.\nOriginality/value: - The paper illustrates that the Indian B2B scenario has changed a great deal: the impact of competition and globalisation has transformed B2B marketing practices beyond recognition.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Leading innovation, creativity and enterprise
|
[
"Innovation",
"Leadership",
"Creativity"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: IBM's New York Stock Exchange survey of more than 1,500 Chief Ecology Officer (CEO)'s from 60 countries and 33 industries reported that less than 50 per cent of global CEOs believe their enterprises are adequately prepared to handle a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. So, how exactly do leaders encourage ideas that turn into profitable and sustainable innovations in a VUCA world? Here I look at how you nurture what I call \"Brain Based Enterprises\" (BBEs).\nBBEs: We have travelled from the agrarian age through the industrial era to the information superhighway. At this tipping point in our evolution, we need BBEs rather than just Brawn Based Industries. Enterprises based on brainpower need to understand higher order business questions of leadership, innovation and creativity to stay ahead, such as:\nLeading BBEs: Innovation depends to a large degree on the role of leadership in creating a climate and culture where ideas can arise, germinate and then become part of the fabric of society. Having spent a good part of my life leading scientists and working with BBEs in Scientific Research and Development, I observed that creative people tend to resist management, which is the art of perfecting an existing system or business, but they can be led, which is more about bringing passions and purposes together to do new things. They may also resist \"tell\" and \"sell\" styles of leading and managing, expecting more consultation, collaboration and collegiate styles from those who run the enterprise. Whilst BBEs need more leadership than management to respond to perpetual change and flux, it is a false notion to separate the two. In other words great leadership also requires good management and vice versa, rather like a Venn diagram in which the degree of overlap varies as one gains more senior positions in the enterprise. I asked Nadine Hack to reflect on collaborative leadership in a VUCA world. Nadine is CEO of BeCause, a world leader in responsible leadership and has worked with Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and a host of blue chip companies including Coca Cola and Johnson and Johnson:\nDo creativity tools make for better brainstorming?: A debate I am constantly asked about in my work as a business consultant and design thinker is the one that says \"Do we need a creativity toolkit in order to develop a more innovative enterprise?\" Well, tools and techniques to encourage divergent and convergent thinking can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of creative endeavour at work. I define the terms as:\nEncouraging BBEs: It's one thing to train people in the tools and techniques to envision great ideas, entirely another to install the values, skills and behaviours required to sustain creativity and innovation into business as usual so that these things become a habit. Culture and structure can exert a positive or negative effect on the degree to which individual creativity becomes collective innovation. How then do we develop cultures and structures that accelerate the quantity and quality of innovation?\nLeading Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise: In a VUCA world, BBEs need to encourage people to bring their heads, hearts and souls to work.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Less than 50 per cent of global Chief Ecology Officers believe their enterprises are adequately prepared to handle a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. The purpose of this paper is to examine how leaders encourage ideas that turn into profitable and sustainable innovations in a VUCA world, especially in what the author calls \"Brain Based Enterprises\" (BBEs).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Through case studies, focused interviews.\nFindings: BBEs need more leadership than management and they use more collaborative approaches to business, working with colleagues, customers, even competitors in some areas to produce ingenious ideas for a sustainable world.\nOriginality/value: The research from which this paper is written has matured for nearly 20 years, having written my first book on the topic in 1996. This represents tens of thousands of hours of diverse experience, working as a business practitioner across a wide range of sectors. The author has accelerated my thinking via the work as an MBA academic and mental adventurer, working on the flagship creativity, innovation and change programme. During that time, the business environment we live and work in has become more VUCA. This demands that individuals and enterprises become more ingenious to ride the turbulence that this produces, in order to be resilient and antifragile when challenged.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Wind ensemble literature in the music library: a core bibliography
|
[
"Collections management",
"Music",
"Bibliographies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: To most people, mention of the word, \"band\" brings memories of half-time shows and Sousa marches. Many would be shocked to learn that renowned composers including Paul Hindemith, Arnold Schoenberg, Darius Milhaud and Igor Stravinsky have written works for winds alone. Wind ensembles trace their origins to Frederick Fennell's founding of the Eastman Symphonic Wind Ensemble in 1952. Their popularity has also been greatly enhanced by the frequent touring of the premier military ensembles, in particular the \"President's Own\" US Marine Corps band and the US Air Force band. Over 2,000 institutions of higher education offer symphonic bands or wind ensembles to their students.\nHistory and literature: Battisti, F. (2002), Winds of Change: The Evolution of the Contemporary American Wind Band/Ensemble and its Conductor, Meredith Music, Galesville, MD\nScores: Grainger, P. (1937), Lincolnshire Posey, G. Schirmer, New York, NY\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The paper seeks to provide a selective bibliography for librarians responsible for music collections and resources pertaining to the history and literature of the wind ensemble, an area frequently underrepresented in our collections.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A range of resources of value to music students and faculty are described to enable librarians and students to make selections appropriate for their needs. The works are divided into two sections: history and literature, and scores.\nFindings: - Information is provided about each work, including publisher.\nOriginality/value: - This paper offers practical suggestions for librarians responsible for music collections.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A model for supply chain risk management in the automotive industry using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy TOPSIS
|
[
"Fuzzy TOPSIS",
"Supply chain",
"Supply chain risk management",
"Risk management",
"Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Supply chain risk management (SCRM) is considered as a popular research area in recent times (Vanany et al., 2009). A better performance in the supply chain (SC) is a significant competitive advantage that can reduce the costs of production and improve the quality of products and services. Under various uncertainties, risk management plays a crucial role in SCs (Ho et al., 2015).\n2. Related works: There are many studies on SCs and the risks related to SCM. In addition, many researchers have applied fuzzy theories in their studies. Other studies have considered the combination of related concepts in the some previous studies to solve new emerging problems. In the other words, these studies have considered fuzzy concepts in their computations, where decision-making concepts are applied for SCRM procedures. Table I presents some of these studies and their related contributions.\n3. Background: This section explains the main elements and techniques applied in the current study. First, three main elements applied in an SC are explained, including the PLC, OPC and OPF. Second, fuzzy set theory and its application in MCDM are justified. Further, a fuzzy number applied in this work is defined. Finally, the steps of fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS are explained in details.\n4. The proposed model of SCRM: The present study intends to integrate the fuzzy AHP and the fuzzy TOPSIS to determine the relative importance of performance factors and rank the alternatives of risk practices. It can lead to the improvement of the risk index for each part of the PLC and the OPC in the field of SCRM.\n5. Case study (numerical example): In this paper, a case study (numerical example) of a manufacturing company in the automotive industry of Iran is employed in the proposed model. This Iranian automotive manufacturing company was established in 1966. In 2011, the company planned the production of 760,000 cars (including passenger cars, pickups, 4WDs, light and heavy vehicles, minibuses and buses). During recent years, the company has increased its market share and gained approximately 50 percent of Iran's passenger car market share.\n6. Implications: This paper contributed a hybrid fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS method to determine the weights of the relationships between the PLC, OPC and OPF components of SCRM and prioritize the ROPs for decreasing SC risks. Previous works did not employ several criteria and options for reducing risks involved in an SC (PLC and OPC parts) in a fuzzy environment.\n7. Conclusions: There are several risk factors that are effective in the performance improvement of SCM processes. In an SCM, there are two main components, the PLC and OPC. This paper referred to the study conducted by Xia and Chen (2011), to design an SCRM system with the PLC and OPC components, based on two MCDM methods (AHP and TOPSIS) under a fuzzy environment.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: One of the most important issues in supply chain (SC) management is the identification and management of the risk involved in it. The purpose of this paper is to propose a comprehensive model of supply chain risk management (SCRM) in the product life cycle (PLC) and the operational process cycle (OPC). To decrease the risks in a fuzzy environment, the model considers the organizational performance factors (OPF) and the risk operational practices (ROP).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used to determine the weights of the relationships between the PLC, OPC and OPF in the hierarchical structure of the decision problem. In addition, the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution is employed to recognize the priority of ROPs in dealing with the performance factors. The integrated framework is evaluated using the case study of an automotive company in Iran.\nFindings: The results demonstrated that the proposed model can be used to formulate an appropriate method for prioritizing defined alternatives to decrease risk and improve the organizational performance in SCRM under fuzzy conditions.\nResearch limitations/implications: A major limitation of the study is that a few of the selected criteria for risk assessment are focused only on economic factors. Another limitation of the current study is related to the PLC, OPC and OPF being based on the work of Xia and Chen (2011).\nPractical implications: The current study identified the more important stage in the PLC. More significant process in each stage of the PLC and weightier risk factors in each process of the OPC were determined. Some strategies for reducing risk in each stage of the PLC were presented. The best alternatives for reducing risks in SC were indicated.\nOriginality/value: It is worth mentioning that previous studies have not applied multiple criteria and alternatives to decrease the risks involved in the PLC and OPC parts of the SC under fuzzy conditions. However, it should be stated that some academics have used these techniques separately, in other specialized areas of the SC.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A framework to identify knowledge actor roles in enterprise social networks
|
[
"User behaviour",
"Knowledge management",
"Enterprise social network",
"Role analysis",
"User roles"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Enterprise Social Networks (ESN), that is, internally accessible social networking services, are increasingly used in companies to support knowledge management (KM) and collaboration. Providing a conversational space for knowledge work (Riemer and Scifleet, 2012), ESN users perform various KM-related interactions, such as brainstorming or discussing ideas[1]. While prior work (Richter and Riemer, 2013) has investigated the ways in which users draw on ESN to communicate and share knowledge, little is known about the user roles that may emerge on these platforms. In this regard, certain behavioural patterns and types of knowledge contributions may be characteristic for a group of users, thus leading to the emergence of distinct user roles. Because user interactions are digitally stored in the ESN back end (Behrendt et al., 2014a), the analysis of the accumulated data might be well suited for the identification of use patterns of different KM-related roles, that is distinct knowledge actor roles, in ESN. This article hence addresses the following research question:\n2. Conceptual foundations: Forming the theoretical background of this article, the following sections contrast perspectives on knowledge and provide an overview of KM-related roles in organisations.\n3. Literature review: The introduced KM-related roles in organisations provide a conceptual basis for the ESN knowledge actor role framework. To be able to construct this framework, however, more information regarding roles in online social spaces as well as information on how ESN are used in organisational practice is needed.\n4. Enterprise social networks knowledge actor role framework: The ESN knowledge actor role framework is constructed by drawing on literature regarding KM-related roles in organisations (Section 2.2), research on roles in online social spaces (Section 3.1) as well as findings from ESN (Section 3.2).\n5. Discussion and future work: Drawing on findings from KM, research on roles in online spaces and ESN research, this article presents an ESN knowledge actor role framework. The framework includes ten ESN knowledge actor roles and describes the participation behaviour associated with the different roles. These behaviours are translated into a set of ESN metrics and criteria that a user has to meet to be assigned to a role.\n6. Conclusions: Adopting the knowledge-in-practice perspective, this article has introduced a framework to identify knowledge actor roles in ESN. Many knowledge interactions in companies occur in informal organisational structures (Allen et al., 2007) that are difficult to observe and to measure. ESN provide an alternative platform for knowledge-intensive interactions as well as record of these user activities. While prior research has investigated why and how users engage in ESN, little is known about the user roles emerging in ESN platforms.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Enterprise social networks (ESN) are increasingly used by companies to reinforce collaboration and knowledge sharing. While prior research has investigated ESN use practices, little is known about potential user roles emerging on these platforms. Against this backdrop, this paper develops an ESN knowledge actor role framework.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The framework is constructed based on a systematic review of literature covering knowledge worker role typologies, user roles identified in public online social spaces as well as findings from ESN research.\nFindings: The ESN knowledge actor role framework distinguishes eight contributing and two reading roles. It describes the associated participation behaviours and establishes metrics to identify the roles.\nResearch limitations/implications: Providing a notion of knowledge management-related roles in ESN, the framework enables a better understanding of knowledge processes and the involved actors. Moreover, the paper advances the field of ESN data analytics by designing a set of ESN metrics to characterise user behaviour.\nPractical implications: Understanding ESN user roles, in particular regarding their knowledge contributions to the platform, can improve knowledge transparency in companies. The framework may usefully support the identification and management of critical knowledge resources and support decision-making in the areas of human resources management and knowledge management.\nOriginality/value: Providing a platform for knowledge-intensive interactions as well as record of user activities, ESN are well suited to observe and identify knowledge actor roles emerging in this context.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Multi criteria FMECA for coal-fired thermal power plants using COPRAS-G
|
[
"Human factor",
"Multi criteria",
"Operating environment",
"FMECA",
"Grey number",
"COPRAS-G",
"Risk priority number",
"Coal-fired thermal power plant"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the traditional failure mode effect and criticality analysis (FMECA) the criticalities of the failure modes are classified into several groups of risk, known as risk priority number (RPN), to prioritize the preventive maintenance actions. It is the product of occurrence of failure (O), degree of severity on the user (S) and degree of detection by the user (D). Influences of these factors on a failure mode are scored from one to ten as described in the Table I. A failure mode with higher RPN is given more priority for maintenance as compared to the failure modes having lower RPN.\n2. Criticality evaluation factors: The selection of criticality factors for accurate criticality evaluation of the failure modes requires subjective judgment and fruitful thinking. In this paper 11 factors have been proposed for more appropriate criticality assessments which are as follows:\n3. COPRAS-G method: The COPRAS-G method for criticality evaluation of failure modes is expressed through the following steps (Zavadskas et al., 2008; Zavadskas et al., 2009; Maity et al., 2012):\n4. Case study: The proposed model as discussed earlier is applied to the series subsystems (mechanical) of a 210 MW coal-fired thermal power plant in the eastern region of India. The series subsystems are Economizer (ECO), Furnace Wall Tubes, PSH, FSH, Turbine, PRH, Final Reheater and Condenser. Figure 1 shows the simple block diagram of the power plant.\n5. Conclusions: In order to overcome the limitations of the traditional FMECA an attempt has been made in this paper to estimate improved criticality rankings. This paper introduces human factors and environmental factors as additional factors in the decision-making matrix of MCDM based FMECA. In the case study two number of human factors, i.e., operator's skill and maintenance personnel skill and three number of operating environmental factors, i.e., percentage of ash content in the flue gas, surrounding temperature of the subsystems and pH factor of the flowing fluid are considered which influence the subsystems' failure. Criticality factors are expressed against each failure mode with grey number to overcome the scoring variety of various maintenance personnel having different risk assessment ability. COPRAS-G method is applied by expressing criticality factors with grey numbers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a multi criterion failure mode effect and criticality analysis for coal-fired thermal power plants using uncertain data as well as substituting the traditional risk priority number estimation method.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Grey-complex proportional assessment (COPRAS-G) method, a multi criteria decision making tool is applied to evaluate the criticalities of the failure modes (alternatives). In this model the criteria (criticality factor) against each alternative are expressed in grey number instead of crisp values.\nFindings: Rupture failure of the straight tube of economizer (ECO) due to erosion is the highest critical failure mode whereas rupture failure of the stub of ECO due to welding defect is the lowest critical failure mode.\nOriginality/value: This paper incorporates human and environmental factors as additional factors which also influence the failure modes significantly. The COPRAS-G method is modified according this problem. Uncertainty in the scoring of criticality factors against each failure mode by various maintenance personnel is expressed in grey numbers.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Service system well-being: conceptualising a holistic concept
|
[
"Well-being",
"Service system",
"Collective",
"Multi-stakeholder"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Improving individual well-being has recently gained traction as a key tenet in service research (e.g. Ostrom et al., 2015). Service scholars are particularly interested in understanding how different actors in a service system co-create or co-destroy value and its link to the improvement in their well-being. As a result, an emerging stream of research (e.g. Mende and Van Doorn, 2015; Sweeney et al., 2015) has focussed on developing knowledge of individual-level processes (behaviours, attitudes and perceptions of customers/service providers) that facilitate manifestations of well-being among individuals in a service system. Despite this knowledge, the approach centred on individual-level processes is narrow. The socio-structural and system characteristics that may influence the co-creation/co-destruction of individual well-being are rarely considered. There is a need to acknowledge the broader context; a service system in which individuals are nested is interrelated, interdependent and inter-subjective in nature.\nLiterature review: Individual well-being\nConceptualising service system well-being: Service system well-being as a collective concept\nMethod: Data collection\nFindings: The following section presents findings related to the ten domains of system well-being. The section first presents excerpts from interviews with hospital personnel, followed by statements from actors of the convenience store to illustrate each of the domains. Although the analysis attempts to provide well-categorised domains, potential spill-overs may exist between domains and not all domains may weight equally across actors. Following the findings, this study offers four key propositions about the classification of the domains across the three levels and their interlinkages.\nTheoretical implications: This study adopts a system's perspective to account for collective well-being as a cumulative evaluation of whether life is going well for all actors who are nested in a service system. Service system well-being represents the aggregate perception of actor assessments of the system in terms of the fulfilment of their collective, and by implication, the satisfaction of their individual needs. Thus, the system-based conceptualisation contributes to the knowledge about how collective well-being emerges in a service system. The multi-stakeholder evaluation undertaken in this study departs from the current research that typically focusses on an individual actor's assessment of personal well-being. The findings demonstrate that diverse actors in a service system may assign different levels of importance to the ten domains. Despite variance in the experiences of service system well-being, findings about the shared meanings of domains that manifest among actors suggest there are implications for the ten domains that have significance for overall well-being.\nManagerial implications: The study has important implications for service management. First, it provides an alternative perspective for managers to understand how actors view well-being at the collective level. Service organisations that provide workplace well-being programs tend to place greater emphasis on physical and psychological health, through increasing physical activity and providing health risk assessments and education. A shift away from economics and the individual domain towards a more holistic approach can facilitate this transformation and enable service managers to identify deficiencies in well-being and to nurture collective practices of well-being.\nResearch limitations and future directions: This study is not without its limitations, which present avenues for future research. For instance, it used only two case studies for data collection; however, a larger sample size might have supplied a richer data set. Although this study provides deeper insights into the domains of system well-being, future research should validate these findings in different service contexts. The service systems used in the study were from the single cultural context of country of Taiwan. Hence, cultural biases, such as the bias towards conformity, may have influenced these findings.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a concept of service system well-being by presenting its collective conceptualisation and ten key domains.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Service system well-being domains were established using multi-level theory and a qualitative case study research design. To validate the domains initially developed from the literature, 19 in-depth interviews were conducted across two case studies that represented the service systems of a hospital and a multi-store retail franchise chain. A multi-stakeholder approach was used to explore the actor's perspectives about service system well-being. Key domains of service system well-being were identified using deductive categorisation analysis.\nFindings: The findings found evidence of ten key domains of well-being, namely strategic, governance, leadership, resource, community, social, collaborative, cultural, existential and transformational, among service system stakeholders.\nResearch limitations/implications: Service system well-being is a collective concept comprising ten domains that emerged at different levels of the service system. The propositions outlined the classification of and interlinkages between the domains. This exploratory study was conducted in a limited service context and focussed on ten key domains.\nPractical implications: Service managers in commercial and social organisations are able to apply the notion of service system well-being to identify gaps and nurture well-being deficiencies within different domains of service-system well-being.\nOriginality/value: Based on multi-level theory, the study is the first to conceptualise and explore the concept of service system well-being across multiple actors.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Abusive supervision as a trigger of malevolent creativity: do the Light Triad traits matter?
|
[
"Abusive supervision",
"Psychological contract violation",
"Malevolent creativity",
"Light Triad",
"Personality"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Research on creativity tends to focus overwhelmingly on the positive and benevolent (Cropley et al., 2014). The \"dark side\" of creativity and its associated constructs are fairly recent additions to the literature on creativity (Kapoor and Khan, 2016). However, the basic idea that creativity could have a dark side has been considered since the time of Aristotle (Becker, 2014). When researchers investigate the dark sides of creativity, they differentiate between malevolent creativity and negative creativity. The critical factor that differentiates malevolent creativity from negative creativity is the intent of the actor. Malevolent creativity involves the application of original ideas to deliberately harm others. Negative creativity, on the other hand, may feature no deliberate harm (Cropley, 2010). Although it may be simpler to consider malevolent creativity as a personality flaw, in general, creativity may be influenced by situational factors (Hennessey, 2015). The underlying mechanisms by which malevolent creativity is derived and the roles of environmental and individual factors remain under-researched, despite the growing interest in this topic in recent years (Gutworth et al., 2018). Harmful behavior within the workplace is often highly damaging in its own right, but harmful behavior that is also original is particularly dangerous combination because such behaviors are more difficult to detect, anticipate and responded to Harris and Reiter-Palmon (2015). Thus, malevolent creativity constitutes a serious and costly problem in organizations warranting research attention to identify environmental and individual factors that facilitate, condone, or inhibit the generation and use of malevolent creativity (Reiter-Palmon, 2018).There has been a growing interest by organizational scholars in examining \"bad behavior\" in organizations (Harris et al., 2007). Some reasons for their interest include both the increasing prevalence of these destructive behaviors being displayed in the workplace and their considerable impact on valued personal and organizational outcomes (Griffin and Lopez, 2005). There is overwhelming support to the opinion that negative events in social interactions have a stronger effect compared to positive events (Einarsen et al., 2007). Destructive behaviors by leaders, in particular, have been shown to have considerable negative effects on individual followers (e.g. Schyns and Schilling, 2013). Researchers have proposed a number of concepts that arguably fall within the domain of destructive leadership that is aimed at subordinates, such as \"abusive supervisors\" (Tepper, 2000), \"petty tyrants\" (Ashforth, 1994), \"bullies\" (Namie and Namie, 2000), \"psychopaths\" (Furnham and Taylor, 2004) and \"health endangering leaders\" (Kile, 1990). In their meta-analysis, Schyns and Schilling (2013) reported a high correlation between destructive leadership and followers' tendency to display harmful behavior. The authors while stating the reasons for the high correlation argued that destructive leaders might be seen as role models for their followers, conveying the message that displaying harmful behavior in the workplace is appropriate. Besides, when leaders, who represent agents to the organization, treat employees badly, employees may feel that they are not valued and respected by their organizations and consequently engage in harmful behavior to get even (Lian et al., 2012a).In this study, we focus on one particular form of destructive leadership, abusive supervision (Tepper, 2000), and anticipate that sustained exposure to abusive supervision is an important environmental factor responsible for triggering malevolent creativity among abused subordinates. Besides, we expect that employees' negative emotions associated with psychological contract violation (PCV) will be responsible for transmitting the impact of abusive supervision on malevolent creativity. Specifically, we postulate that employees have a basic psychological contract with their organization that they will be safe and well treated by their colleagues. When such contracts are violated (i.e. by experiencing abusive supervision), employees may feel frustrated with the employment relationship, and this frustration may lead them to display original harmful behaviors directed toward fellow employees to restore the balance or get even. Empirical studies have identified several underlying mechanisms linking abusive supervision to its outcomes (see Mackey et al., 2017); however, in this study, we focus on the intervening role of PCV (\"an emotional blend\") because seminal work on the dark side of creativity has emphasized that negative emotions might play a critical role in transmitting the impact of environmental stressors on malevolent creativity (e.g. James et al., 1999). Importantly, the latest research on malevolent creativity has also emphasized to investigate the role of emotions in shaping malevolent creative responses to negative social interactions (Baas et al., 2019). Moreover, research has demonstrated that subordinates' personality traits may potentially influence the impact of abusive supervision on their emotional and behavioral responses. However, researchers in this area have focused almost exclusively on the Big Five personality model to the exclusion of other personality traits (e.g. Tepper et al., 2001; Sulea et al., 2013). To address this shortcoming, we incorporate into our research model the newly introduced Light Triad personality traits (Kaufman et al., 2019) and investigate whether these positive personality traits, reflecting caring and beneficent orientation toward other people, inhibit the generation of malevolent creativity among subordinates in response to abusive supervision and negative emotional reactions.The current study draws upon affective events theory (AET; Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996) as its theoretical lens to argue that abusive supervision representing a negative work event elicits emotional reactions associated with PCV that, in turn, trigger malevolent creativity among abused subordinates. Further, we submit that subordinates' certain personality traits influence their behavioral reactions as they experience abusive supervision and negative emotional states (see Figure 1). The current study strives to advance the literature in three important ways. First, we expand our understanding of the small but growing stream of research investigating antecedents of malevolent creativity by examining the role of a supervisor-level factor (i.e. abusive supervisory behavior) in triggering malevolent creativity among abused subordinates. Second, while our investigation is theoretically driven by AET, which allows us to extend research on this emotion-focused framework by examining the mediating role of PCV in the relationship between perceptions of abusive supervision and malevolent creativity. Third, we include the Light Triad traits to AET research and submit that individuals scoring high on the Light Triad are less likely to engage in malevolently creative acts in response to abusive supervision and perceptions of PCV. Accordingly, this study will help managers in understanding how certain personality attributes, such as the Light Triad, may reduce subordinates' tendency to engage in original harmful behaviors against others in the workplace as a result of being exposed to abusive supervision and negative emotional feelings associated with PCV.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses: 2.1 Abusive supervision and malevolent creativity\n3. Methods: 3.1 Research context, participants and procedure\n4. Results: 4.1 Common method bias\n5. Discussion: Drawing on AET (Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996), the purpose of this study was to develop and validate a model concerning the antecedents and mediators of malevolent creativity in the workplace. As predicted, our results supported the hypothesized model. Specifically, we demonstrated that exposure to abusive supervision has a direct positive effect on subordinates' tendency to generate malevolently creative ideas. The result is consistent with previous research that has found that subordinates view their supervisors as role models and are highly likely to emulate their negative behaviors (e.g. Lian et al., 2012b; Foulk et al., 2016). Moreover, when employees are mistreated by their supervisors, it increases their desire for retaliation to get even. Thus, when subordinates experience supervisory abuse they \"pay it forward\" by subsequently instigating negative and harmful behaviors themselves directed mostly at less powerful individuals (Mitchell and Ambrose, 2007; Rosen et al., 2016). Importantly, abused subordinates are likely to seek out original ideas to cause intentional harm to others in the workplace to make their retaliatory responses undetectable. Further, consistent with the central assumption of AET, we demonstrated that PCV (a negative emotional reaction) is responsible for transmitting the effect of abusive supervision on subordinates' tendency to display malevolent creativity. Thus, employees' emotional reactions (anger and frustration) play a key mediating role in the relationship between abusive supervision and malevolent creativity. Based on AET, the current study also examined the moderating roles of the Light Triad traits on the direct and the indirect effect of abusive supervision on malevolent creativity through PCV. The findings demonstrated that the Light Triad weakened the relationship between abusive supervision and malevolent creativity as well as the relationship between PCV and malevolent creativity. These results suggest that individuals high on the Light Triad are less likely to entertain the idea of displaying malevolent creativity to cause intentional harm to others in response to abusive supervision and perceptions of PCV. Specifically, individuals high on the Light Triad are extremely concerned about how their actions may impact others and, thus, are considerate of their behaviors not being viewed as destructive (Kaufman et al., 2019). The findings are consistent with previous research that has demonstrated that the behavior of individuals who possess certain positive personality traits is less likely to be influenced by negative work events and emotions, and they seek out more constructive ways to cope with adverse situations arising in the workplace (e.g. Yang and Diefendorff, 2009; Sulea et al., 2013). Lastly, the findings revealed that the Light Triad traits conditionally moderate the indirect effect of abusive supervision on malevolent creativity (via PCV). As predicted, the mediated relationship was stronger at lower levels of the Light Triad traits, and vice versa. 5.1 Theoretical contributions\n6. Conclusion: Abusive supervision is a serious and costly problem for organizations and their members. The current study demonstrated that abusive supervision has the potential to trigger malevolent creativity among abused subordinates that can be detrimental to the well-being of others in the workplace. However, subordinates who possess higher levels of the Light Triad traits are less likely to engage in malevolent creativity in response to abusive supervision and negative emotions associated with PCV.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Drawing on affective events theory, the authors investigated whether exposure to abusive supervision triggers malevolent creativity among victims and the role of psychological contract violation (PCV) as a mediator in this relationship. The authors also examined the moderating effects of the Light Triad personality traits comprising Kantianism, humanism and faith in humanity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample comprised 297 junior doctors working at various clinical departments of public sector hospitals in three major cities of Pakistan. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and the hypothesized model was tested using the covariance-based structural equation modeling in Mplus.\nFindings: Results demonstrated that abusive supervision influences malevolent creativity directly and indirectly mediated through PCV. Further, results showed that individuals high on the Light Triad traits are less likely to engage in malevolently creative acts in response to abusive supervision and feelings of violation than those low on the Light Triad.\nOriginality/value: The authors contribute to the literature by demonstrating that exposure to abusive supervision influences the generation of malevolently creative ideas among subordinates. Further, the authors showed that subordinates high on the Light Triad handle abusive supervisory behaviors and negative emotional reactions more productively and are less likely to retaliate against perceived mistreatment compared to their counterparts.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Three decades, four phases: Public administration development in Central and Eastern Europe, 1989-2017
|
[
"E-governance",
"Central and Eastern Europe",
"New public management",
"Neo-Weberian State",
"New EU member states",
"Post-communist transition"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As this anniversary issue of the IJPSM is devoted to the development of public administration (PA) during the past 30 years, it actually coincides with the democratic changes in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) which started with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It is therefore a very fitting place to attempt to draw summary of this very interesting, and lesson-rich, well-demarcated regional series of iterations in PA(s). Serious comprehensive evaluations of the CEE countries in PA from an ex post perspective are still infrequent (but see e.g. Drechsler, 2003; Randma-Liiv, 2009; Nemec, 2010; Dan and Pollitt, 2015; Verheijen and Rabrenovic, 2015), and so we hope to contribute to this body of literature.\n2. Four periods of PA development in CEE: 2.1 Post-communist transition and NPM\n3. After 30 years: Beyond the challenges of the digital world and of Big Data in and for PA, what can we say about PA in CEE in 2017? There were many common features in the polities and PAs of the CEE countries at the beginning of the 1990s because of their common communist legacy, and also during the EU accession period stemming from the \"administrative capacity\" requirement by the EU. However, domestic decisions of individual CEE governments have moved them apart from each other, which makes it even more difficult than before to generalize findings and offer recommendations that apply to all CEE countries. This is likely to mark an end for a specific \"Central and Eastern European administrative tradition,\" as individual CEE countries gradually move toward Continental, South European, or Nordic traditions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the public administration (PA) development in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) from an ex post perspective covering the past three decades.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper reviews prior literature on CEE and PA paradigms. The authors propose to distinguish between four main phases of public sector development in new democracies: post-communist transition, EU accession, post-accession fine-tuning, and e-governance.\nFindings: There were many common features in the polities and PAs of the CEE countries at the beginning of the 1990s because of their common communist legacy, and also during the EU accession period, stemming from the \"administrative capacity\" requirement by the EU. However, domestic decisions of individual CEE governments following accession have moved them apart from each other. While some CEE countries face reversals of democratic public governance reforms, others are leading e-government initiatives - the current phase of public sector development.\nResearch limitations/implications: The choice of countries is limited to the new member states of the European Union.\nOriginality/value: The paper shows that it is increasingly difficult to generalize findings, let alone to offer recommendations, that apply to all CEE countries. This is likely to lead to an end of a specific CEE administrative tradition as previously conceptualized in academic literature.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A systematic benchmarking perspective on performance management of global small to medium-sized organizations: An implementation-based approach
|
[
"Small to medium‐sized enterprises",
"SMO",
"SME",
"Performance measurement",
"System orientation",
"Conceptual approach",
"Benchmarking",
"Global operations"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: The performance measurement literature has advocated the effective utilization of performance measurement systems (PMS) as a critical factor in the road toward competitiveness. In this context, organizations have redefined the scope and the role of these systems in order to outperform their competitors in their selected markets. Such effort has lead to higher organizational performance, which translated into enhanced competitive position in the global marketplace (Kovacic, 2007).Nowadays, organizations which have been competitive in certain regional/local marketplaces have the potential to capitalize on their know-how and success factors to enter the global arena. However, in order to be successful in the highly global competitive market, these organizations must pay closer attention to their performance measurement and management processes. In this context, for an organization to be able to compete effectively, it must measure, track, monitor, improve, and benchmark the different aspects of performance against internal, competitive and external proven benchmarks.The recent literature clearly points to the increasing importance of the different facets of performance measurement, tracking, monitoring, improvement, benchmarking, and management. This appears to be the case, regardless of the organizational sector of operations (Gomes et al., 2004, 2008; Yasin and Gomes, 2010). Given the different facets of performance measurement, benchmarking best practices are seen as an essential ingredient in the effort to achieve a first-class organizational performance. In this context, organizations are attempting to integrate benchmarking efforts with performance measurement practices into an overall organizational benchmarking performance management system. Such a system is designed to promote the effectiveness of the different facets of the organizational performance. In this context, the benchmarking effort goes beyond the typical competitive analysis, as it provides a better understanding of the processes that create superior performance (Kovacic, 2007). As such, benchmarking is considered as one of the most effective continuous improvement tools. It tends to facilitate transforming knowledge gained into innovations aimed at improving operational and strategic practices (Jain et al., 2008).As small to medium-sized organizations (SMOs) attempt to capitalize on their expertise to gain an entry into the growing global market, their managerial approaches, including performance management tend to become more challenging and complex. Therefore, the performance management process, with its different facets must be re-engineered based on sound benchmarking initiatives of effective global practices. Such benchmarking initiatives should be at the heart of the performance management system in order to integrate the different facets of performance with the strategic and operational practices of these organizations.Motivated by the increasing importance of the different aspects of performance management in a global context, and the growing role of SMOs the objective of this study is to present a performance management approach to be used by SMOs that are operating or intend to operate in the global market. The advocated performance management approach is based on the integration of several conceptual frameworks, in order to provide managers with a total system view of organizational performance in a global operations context. These frameworks are highlighted below:* An overall organizational PMS framework as well as a PMS for each of the organizational business units (BUs) (Figures 1 and 2).* An informational system framework to ensure the integration of internal and external benchmarking efforts and innovative practices in relation to the performance management process (Figure 3).* An implementation framework to ensure the effective implementation and utilization of the performance management process (Figure 4).This study is organized into five parts. Following this introduction, the literature related approaches utilized by SMOs to globalize their operations and market is reviewed. In the process, the performance management and measurement orientation utilized in these organizations at the different stages of their global involvement are outlined. In the third part, a performance management approach to be used by SMOs in a global operations context is presented. Finally, the conclusions and the practical implications for managers of these organizations are presented.\n2 Relevant literature: 2.1 Performance measurement\n3 Performance management in a global operations context: 3.1 Performance measurement approach\n4 Conclusion: The relevance of the different facets of performance has been the subject of increasing research efforts in the last twenty years (Gomes et al., 2004, 2008; Hult et al., 2008; Yasin and Gomes, 2010; Taticchi et al., 2010). This research is motivated by the significant recent changes influencing modern organizations. The principal engine of the organizational changes has been the growing utilization of e-business activities facilitated by information and communications advancements. This has created tremendous global opportunities for SMOs (Pavic et al., 2002; Maguire et al., 2007). Such organizations must be able to perform effectively in different markets and cultures. Thus, they must pay closer attention to the different aspects of their performance (Gomes et al., 2007a). This research presented a performance measurement and management process approach to aid these organizations in re-orienting their performance effort to ensure effectiveness in their global markets.The strategic framework for performance measurement in global operations incorporates the two main objectives of an effective PMS. In this context, it has two performance platforms, aimed at incorporating internal and external benchmarking efforts and practices in order to improve the different facets of organizational performance. The objective of platform A is to effectively measure the organizational performance progress related to pre-defined goals and to benchmark the results relative to external competitors. On the other hand, platform B emphasizes the effective communication of successes and failures with the employees in order to promote organizational learning and innovative benchmarking practices derived from different BUs within the organization (Storey and Kelly, 2001).The overall approach advocated in this research is designed for SMOs, which have operational ambitions to perform effectively in the challenging global marketplace. As such, it offers these organizations a dynamic and feasible approach to measure, track, and improve the different aspects of organizational performance systematically. The advocated approach reduces the complexity of the information needed, thus allowing the focus to be on the process to be improved, rather than on the tedious work which often does not lead to better performance (Gomes et al., 2007c). Also, it promotes the utilization of non-financial information in the evaluation process. Therefore, it has performance effectiveness focus, without compromising the efficiency components of performance.\n5 Practical implications: Despite effective implementations and careful monitoring, some PMS can be rather ineffective. Such lack of effectiveness can be attributed to inconsistent and unclear objectives definitions, which tend to lead to a cost-added perspective, rather than the intended value-added perspective. This can lead to performance confusion, where the performance path is opposite of the path dictated by the market. In this context, managers wrongly believe that the PMS has been correctly implemented, when in fact, all the decision making-processes are being conducted based on the wrong information, due to deficient objectives definition. Actually, in organizations that still operate as closed systems, objectives tend to be defined based only on their resources and capacities availability in hope of imposing their products/services on the market. Such orientations run counter to the competitive realities of the global marketplace. In this context, objectives definitions should result from a reconciliation process between the market needs and the competitive resources of the organization (Slack and Lewis, 2008).If implemented systematically, the performance management process-based approach (PMPA) framework has the potential to be very useful to top executives of SMOs with global operations. In this context, PMPA can be used not only to monitor the performance of the different aspects of organization management, but it also can provide a performance-oriented context for continuous improvement initiatives and benchmarking efforts.The conceptual framework in Figure 4 is designed to offer a road map toward the effective implementation and utilization of the performance management process in SMOs with global operational plans. The monitoring and benchmarking stage is the main driver, which motivates the entire performance management approach. If implemented effectively, this stage has the potential to motivate organizational change, which may lead to a culture of continuous improvement. Therefore, the monitoring and benchmarking stage has a fundamental importance to the overall performance of the organization. As such, organizational integration is decisive in order to obtain value-added performance.The contribution of this research focuses on its attempt to simplify the measurement context relevant to organizational performance. Thus, it attempts to reduce the uncertainty and complexity of the measurement process through introducing an innovative and simplified organizational performance management approach.In final analysis, the approach advocated in this research has direct benchmarking implication to SMOs with global aspiration, as they seek best practices in performance management to improve their competitiveness positions. The processes relevant to the advocated performance management approach presented in this research were highlighted with emphasis on implementation since performance measurement and management is an evolving art. This research is a modest contribution toward refining such important art. It has strong practical implications to SMOs, which has strategic plans to enter the global market utilizing different feasible modes of entry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to offer small to medium-sized organizations (SMOs) with global business aspirations an innovative approach to performance measurement and management.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The first phase of this research is based on a literature review. The second phase capitalizes on the literature review to offer a conceptual framework aimed at improving the performance measurement approach utilized by SMOs. The advocated approach stresses performance measurement, benchmarking, and effective implementation.\nFindings: - The conceptual approach offered in this study represents the main outcome of this applied research. The advocated approach integrates several frameworks in an effort to address practical concerns related to performance measurement, management, and improvement.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research offered in this study has practical and theoretical implications. The proposed approach offered by this study should be refined and validated through future research.\nPractical implications: - The approach presented in this study offers practicing managers a systematic and practical approach to performance measurement, management, and improvement.\nOriginality/value: - The approach offered in this study capitalizes on several methodologies and tools to offer managers a benchmarking-based performance management approach suitable for SMOs with global operational aspirations.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Web-based learning design tool
|
[
"Communication technologies",
"Information technology",
"Web",
"Learning methods",
"Learning design",
"Tool",
"Web‐based",
"Blended learning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The current development stage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) enables easy access to products and services related to them - computers and mobile devices (phones, tablets), applications and telecommunications networks. The educational field is, for some time, using those technologies for developing and distributing educational materials (Silva et al., 2009).This development allows the emergence of new generations of distance learning (DL), which are characterized by the media used in the delivery of educational material (Taylor, 2001) - handouts and books posted by postal service, distribution of CD-ROMs and, lately, the rise of virtual environments for teaching and learning (learning management systems - LMSs).ICTs has also provided the emergence of a hybrid mode of instruction that gathers face to face and DL tools, known as blended learning (Osguthorpe and Graham, 2003).However, the design and production of digital learning materials, even considering the appropriate use of authoring languages, require large investments in human and financial resources - which encouraged the development of a strategy that leads its development based on concepts of object orientation (OO) brought from the software engineering field. The learning materials build around this strategy are known as learning objects (Fabre et al., 2003).Learning objects represent a new approach in producing and distributing educational material. Among its main properties are the ability of combination of various objects to give rise to new objects, the possibility of reuse and optimization of resources used in its design and distribution - properties inherited from the OO paradigm, which highly values the creation of components (objects) that can be reused (Wiley, 2000).The taxonomy of learning object types, proposed by Wiley (2000), classifies them according to their complexity and functionality in five different types: fundamental, combined-closed, combined-open, generative-presentation and generative-instructional.The first three types are related specifically to the content. The last two contain abstract strategies that are independent from the contents.According to Boyle et al. (2004), \"the key concept of generative-instructional learning objects is to separate the deep structure from the surface structure of the learning object.\" The deep structure is supported by the learning design. The concept of generative learning object separates the learning design from its surface instantiation. The surface learning object is then viewed as a particular realization of the underlying learning design (Boyle et al., 2004).According to Weller (2007), if the educational experience can be thought as an action that comprises two distinct components, namely content and pedagogy, then content-based learning objects represent the instructional content, while the leaning design (the generative-instructional type) addresses the pedagogical strategies.Despite its relatively recent appearance in connection with e-learning, the concept of designing for learning is far from being a new idea. In a traditional face-to-face context, many teachers make learning design decisions (consciously, or not) every time they prepare a teaching session (Britain, 2004).Although they are not innovative ideas in education, the central ideas behind the concept of learning design represent new possibilities for increasing the quality and variety within the distance and blended learning context (Britain, 2004).\n2. Learning objects: The term \"learning object\" was chosen by the Learning Technology Standards Committee(LTSC) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, LTSC, 2002) to describe the minor instructional components, consisting of any material, digital or not (multimedia material, instructional content, learning objectives, computational tools, people, organizations, events), which is used in a technology-based learning process (LMSs, interactive learning environments, collaborative learning environments) (Silva, 2005).A narrower concept was adopted by Wiley (2000), which considers the learning object \"any digital resource that can be reused to support learning.\" These resources are delivered through the network, on demand, and may have different granularities: from small (videos, images, text) to large (lectures, lessons, courses).The concept of learning object, according to Wiley (2000), is based on the paradigm of object oriented of the software engineering. For the same author, the term \"learning object\" is not universally used and the literature shows different terms such as \"knowledge object,\" \"instructional component,\" \"pedagogical document,\" \"educational software component,\" \"online learning materials\" and simply \"resource.\"2.1 Taxonomy of learning objects types\n3. Learning design: According to Koper (2005), every learning practice has an underlying learning design that is more generic than the practice itself, as an independent structure. Thus, a learning design can be reused many times, creating different courses. The structure of a learning design can be expressed as a script, like rules to applied in a given situation (Koper, 2005):if learning situation S (and value V)then use learning design method M (with probability p)Such rules can be classified into three categories:* those derived from instructional design theory, where knowledge is shaped by theories that consist of a set of design principles;* those derived from examples and best practices in teaching; and* those derived from patterns found in best practices, representing an intermediary category between theories and best practices.To encourage the use of a language and a common vocabulary, making the learning design information a language compatible with computers, IMS Global Learning Consortium has developed, based on the Educational Modeling Language (EML) of the Open University of the Netherlands, the IMS Learning Design Specification (IMS-LD) (IMS GLC, 2003), composed of three main documents (best practice guide, binding information and information model), and XSD schemas (W3C, 2004) for validation of XML files (Olivier and Tattersall, 2005).According to the best practices guide, the development of learning design for a unit of learning can be described as follows (Silva et al., 2009):* analyze the problem of education as a specific case study, creating a scenario that describes the learning objectives and tasks or activities, establishing the basic order of events that can be captured in narrative form;* express such narrative description in an UML (Unified Modeling Language) activity diagram, which is used to support the creation of the XML document that implements the IMS-LD; and* create the actual content (educational resources) through a content package that incorporates the learning design.The IMS-LD standard provides a framework for the development of learning designs from a vocabulary that covers much of the instructional actions. According to Britain (2004), the concept of learning design is much broader, and is not fully represented by the IMS-LD specification. However, the IMS-LD is the result of an effort to standardize, through an open technical documentation, the modeling process of teaching strategies (Olivier and Tattersall, 2005).The basic structure of the element <learning-design>, according the IMS-LD (IMS GLC, 2003), is presented below:*learning-design*title*learning-objectives*prerequisites*components#roles#activities#environments*method#play*act*role-play*metadata3.1 Learning design approach in learning objects\n4. A web application model: From the technological base available in the HyperCAL online system, it is possible to adopt another layer of interaction, representing teaching strategies, through the inclusion of generative learning objects, as shown by Figures 3 and 4.For the development of Units of Learning (UOL) - a term used to define an instructional component (course, lecture, lesson) - based on the concept of learning design, there should be a distinction between the unit itself, and its delivery to different groups of learners. The IMS-LD provides a rating system to describe these units. One of the requirements that must comply with the learning design is the possibility of reproduction and repetition of such unity, reaching different system agents (Tattersall et al., 2005). Once created, the learning unit can be retrieved and delivered many times.At its core, the IMS-LD describes the interactions between users in different roles, and between users and the system. Such interactions can be captured in the form of properties and declared in the object itself (Vogten et al., 2005). The implementation of a UOL consists in customizing the contents to the user, as needed.The proposed application extends the functionality of HyperCAL online, taking advantage of its structure and tools, such as registration module of objects and their metadata, shown in Figure 5.The vocabulary used to add the new category of objects is provided by the LOM (IEEE, LTSC, 2002) and the language used in the generation of XML files is that presented by the IMS-LD specification (IMS GLC, 2003) which, although not representing all aspects of learning design, as pointed out by Britain (2004), provides a broad basis for computer implementation, as seen in the examples of Section 3.2.The new type of object is offered as the user asks to build a new learning object. When a new generative object is created, the system prompts for the learning design that will support this object - this process is driven by three different actions:(1) registration of the roles that will be played through the learning activities;(2) registration of the activities that will support the learning objectives; and(3) organization of the activities inside the object (linkage between activities, order of presentation).\n5. Conclusion: Based on the design of learning objects proposed by Silva (2005) which considers the Wiley's (2000) taxonomy of fundamental and combined objects, adding a new layer of interaction between objects, corresponding to objects that contains the learning designs, will create complete instructional units, providing not only the content but also an activity workflow, establishing the roles that each agent must play.The creation of objects follows the same generative model used in combined objects through the automatic generation of XML files, using a graphical interface that runs on a web browser.The adoption of this new layer will provide greater adaptability, because at the time of request, the object instance is created according to the needs and learning style of the apprentice, carrying his information and being presented in a customized way.Generative objects also allow its update, which can contribute to creating more qualified objects, which are improved as they are used.The choice of the web as a platform for production and management of learning objects comes as a solution for storage and sharing. The use of objects is justified when its reusability is facilitated - what is possible in a client-server environment, where information is centralized and available anywhere in the network.The technological development brought by this new extension of HyperCAL online will enable the adopting of the concept of learning design in all forms of education. The results from this model will serve as a basis for other developers to implement features of generative objects and learning design in other virtual environments of teaching and learning.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to propose a web-based tool that enables the development and provision of learning designs and its reuse and re-contextualization as generative learning objects, aimed at developing educational materials.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The use of learning objects can facilitate the process of production and delivering of educational material and their reuse and re-contextualization in different scenarios - such process is due to the current development stage of information and communication technologies (ICTs), which allow easy access to products and services related to them. ICTs combined with instructional design theories, lead to the emergence of new generations of distance learning, which add educational content to web-based services. From this combination rises a hybrid mode of education, which combines tools for face-to-face and distance learning (blended learning).\nFindings: - The use of the web as a platform for production and management of learning objects comes as a solution for storage and sharing. The utilization of objects is justified when its reusability is facilitated. This gives rise to possibilities in a client-server environment, where information is centralized and available anywhere in the network.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The combination of ICT and instructional design theories has potential and could result in hybrids which are yet to be fully understood and explored. This can enhance blended learning provision.\nOriginality/value: - The paper presents a tool in which the learning designs work as structures built on XML, based on concept maps, which act as an interaction layer between the learning objects, organizing the content to be available.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Switching barriers and customer retention: Why customers dissatisfied with online service recovery remain loyal
|
[
"Inertia",
"Repurchase intentions",
"Attractiveness of alternatives",
"Recovery satisfaction",
"Relationship quality",
"Switching cost"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This study examines the effects of switching barriers on customers' repurchase intentions. Switching barriers represent any factor that makes it more difficult or costly for consumers to change providers (Chen and Wang, 2009). Although customers may be angry with their online service encounters, they might proceed with a repurchase because they are either inactive or passive and tend to habitually avoid change or variety. Several previous studies have confirmed the effects of customer post-recovery satisfaction on repurchase intentions (de Matos et al., 2009; Grewal et al., 2008; Kim et al., 2009; Kuo et al., 2013). However, the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is not simple, and these two constructs are not surrogates for each other (Chen and Wang, 2009). For example, Bloemer and Kasper (1995) proposed that elaboration is a moderating variable in the relationship between consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Few studies have investigated why dissatisfied customers remain with their service providers (Yanamandram and White, 2006). Numerous scholars have examined service failure and recovery in online shopping environments (Forbes et al., 2005; Kuo et al., 2011; Massad and Beachboard, 2009), but the majority of them have focussed on service failures and their corresponding recovery strategies. Conversely, few studies have elucidated service recovery and switching barriers in the context of online shopping.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses development: Recovery satisfaction and repurchase intentions\nMethodology: Measurement development\nDiscussion and recommendations: Discussion of findings\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: By expanding on the work of White and Yanamandram (2007), the purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect influences of switching barriers on the relationship between recovery satisfaction and repurchase intentions in an online auction environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 272 customers who had experienced online service recovery in the past six months. Partial-least squares and mediated moderation analysis are employed to test the research model.\nFindings: The interrelationships among recovery satisfaction, relationship quality, and repurchase intentions are confirmed. Both lost benefit switching costs and inertia moderate the relationship between recovery satisfaction and repurchase intentions. Attractiveness of alternatives mediates the moderating effect of inertia on the relationship between recovery satisfaction and repurchase intentions.\nOriginality/value: Unlike previous studies, which have treated switching cost as a switching barrier, or used various components to represent switching barriers, this study incorporates switching cost, relationship quality, inertia, and attractiveness of alternatives as four switching barrier factors. This study further examines the direct and indirect effects of switching barriers on the relationship between recovery satisfaction and repurchase intentions.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Do digital celebrities' relationships and social climate matter? Impulse buying in f-commerce
|
[
"Impulse buying",
"Digital celebrities",
"Parasocial relationship",
"Social climate",
"Hedonic and utility gratification",
"F-commerce"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The meteoric rise of users on social networking sites (SNSs) has attracted businesses and celebrities. Facebook (FB) is demonstrated as a subcategory of social commerce, particularly \"f-commerce\" (Leong et al., 2018). It is defined as \"a subgroup of social commerce whereby business and commercial activities are performed using FB to support online buying and selling, while the transactions can be done on the FB page or by using third-party websites\" (Leong et al., 2018). Social media engages communities in new manners that assist in accomplishing competitive business values (Pemberton, 2017). The proliferation of social media has caused the emergence of new types of celebrities (i.e. digital celebrities, also referred as social media influencers, Instafamous, vloggers and bloggers) (Djafarova and Rushworth, 2017; Zafar et al., 2020). Digital celebrities are identified as persons who have a large number of followers with perceived social influence. Social media has several interactive stimulators that have the potential to influence impulse buying (Chen et al., 2016), which is defined as \"any purchase which a shopper makes but has not planned in advance\" (Stern, 1962, p. 59).Extant literature has focused on SNSs in the context of regular and impulse shopping (Duffett, 2015; Hassan and Arino, 2016; Leong et al., 2017). There is still a lack of research on the emerging phenomena of digital celebrities, particularly in the context of impulse buying. Though users are inclined to buy impulsively, 84% of consumers have spent money without any planning and online shopping comprised 40% of impulse buying (Saleh, 2017). Organizations have started the consideration of digital celebrities. For instance, AT&T engaged five digital celebrities in their marketing plans and such campaigns have good potential to influence buying behavior of audience (Pemberton, 2017). Besides, Xiang et al. (2016) postulated that interaction with celebrities provokes impulsive urges. Therefore, it can be argued that impulse buying is an indispensable aspect of consumption, which may arouse due to the social cues in a social commerce environment. Despite the growth of SNSs, the recent systematic literature review also highlighted the dearth of research on impulse buying in social commerce, particularly with context-specific stimulators (Busalim and Hussin, 2016; Chan et al., 2017; Zhang and Benyoucef, 2016). The aforementioned evidence compels investigation into the role of digital celebrities' phenomena in impulse buying on social commerce, including f-commerce, to address the scarcity of literature.Digital celebrities are operating pages and groups on various SNSs, where users build relationships with them (Hwang and Zhang, 2018; Jin and Phua, 2014). These intimate relationships are explained by the notion of parasocial relationships, which illustrates the media-enabled associations among individuals and celebrities (Rubin and Step, 2000). Digital celebrities have a significant potential to influence their followers' ordinary buying behavior (Djafarova and Rushworth, 2017) but it is underexplored in the context of impulse buying. Park and Lennon (2006) posited that the television (TV) audience senses close relationships with the hosts of shopping programs and those parasocial relationships persuade impulse buying. Parasocial relationships with digital celebrities might strongly induce impulse buying as followers perceive them as authentic (Zafar et al., 2020) and browse them with more convenience and flexibility compared to TV hosts. Besides, digital celebrities conduct several interactive activities in their communities which may strongly incite followers to buy impulsively due to credibility and better influence in comparison to traditional celebrities (Djafarova and Rushworth, 2017). Therefore, it is essential to investigate the role of parasocial relationships in impulse buying within the context of emerging digital celebrities.Furthermore, followers of digital celebrities considered as online communities or social groups and businesses recognized their importance to promote products through interpersonal relationships (Hwang and Zhang, 2018; Lee and Jang, 2013). The social climate is a vital environmental aspect of any social group offering different values and influences members' purchase intentions (Sun et al., 2016). Individuals who follow online information are more inclined to be part of such groups wherein they communicate with each other to discuss products, seek feedback, enjoy leisure time, grab and share information that ultimately builds a social climate (Ho and Dempsey, 2010; Ruiz et al., 2018). Since communities of digital celebrities also permit such actions among followers to develop a social climate, this may affect impulse buying. Chen et al. (2016) highlighted that observational learning in online communities arouses members' impulsive urges. Existing studies have not explored the impact of social climate on impulse buying in the digital celebrities' framework. Thus, the focal objective will be to investigate the likely role of social climate and the parasocial relationship in impulse buying as followers encounter both distinctive social factors concurrently. Wei (2017) argued that digital celebrities know about their followers' psychology and groups' predilection; therefore, they can convey marketing content more efficiently than their conventional counterparts whose focus tends to be attaining money rather than persuasion. Such an influence of digital celebrities also compels to explore the followers' motivation to build a parasocial relationship. Hence, this research attempts to fill the gap with two research questions.Whether and how the parasocial relationship and social climate stimulate followers to buy impulsively with the integration of the urge to buy?What factors motivate users to build parasocial relationships with digital celebrities?To assess the hypotheses, data were collected from Pakistani f-commerce and structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. The findings of traditional celebrities and e-commerce cannot be generalized as f-commerce is more inclined to facilitate social activities and less focused on online shopping comparatively, while e-commerce promotes the shopping maximization (Huang and Benyoucef, 2013; Leong et al., 2017). This research is significant in three key ways. First, a model is proposed based on theories to investigate digital celebrities' phenomena. Second, the literature of the parasocial relationship is extended by incorporating its determinants and effects. Third, this study aims to examine the impact of social climate and its potential to enhance the role of parasocial relationships, thereby contributing to the existing literature. In addition, this research integrates the urge to buy as a mediator between contextual constructs and impulse buying.\n2. Literature review and theoretical background: 2.1 Impulse buying\n3. The research model and hypotheses development: Predominantly, Figure 1 portrays the derived research model from the S-O-R framework wherein stimuli instigate an internal process and then response (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). Digital celebrities are operationalized in terms of parasocial relationships. The social climate is implemented through social interaction, trust and support, which may also augment the influence of a parasocial relationship. The parasocial relationships and social climate are considered as \"stimulus,\" which incite impulse buying because social antecedents have such potentials (Zhang et al., 2018). Further, the urge to buy is considered as an \"organism\" (i.e. an internal process) and may intervene between integrated stimulus and impulse buying (response) in the S-O-R framework (Leong et al., 2018; Song et al., 2015). Finally, hedonic and utility gratifications such as passing time, enjoyment, information seeking and self-presentation are incorporated as determinants following UGT because gratifications persuade the interactive activities (Gan, 2017). It assists in addressing the whole phenomena of digital celebrities. The proposed associations are explained below. 3.1 Gratification-seeking behavior and parasocial relationship\n4. The research design and methodology: 4.1 The procedure and data collection\n5. The analytical approach and results: This research utilized two software packages, namely, SmartPLS, version 3.2.9, and IBM SPSS Statistics, version 24.0, to assess the data. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was employed due to several reasons. First, it is a preferred methodology in exploratory research, specifically with the involvement of formative constructs. Second, the normal distribution is not prerequisite for PLS-SEM to some extent. Finally, it is a best-suggested approach to identify predictors and theory development with the potential to evaluate all causal relations simultaneously (Hair et al., 2017). Therefore, two-step analytical procedures were performed with a separate evaluation of the measurement and structural models according to the instructions of Hair et al. (2017). 5.1 Common method and nonresponse bias\n6. Discussion and implications: 6.1 Discussion on key findings\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Growing evidence asserts that individuals are inclined to buy impulsively in the social commerce environment due to interactive elements. However, extant literature does not reveal the influence of emerging digital celebrities and their communities on impulse buying, although users may encounter them synchronously. Hence, this study explores the impact of parasocial relationships and social climate on impulse buying following the stimulus-organism-response framework with the incorporation of the urge to buy. Besides, this research investigates the role of hedonic and utility gratification-seeking behavior in parasocial relationships following uses and gratifications theory (UGT).\nDesign/methodology/approach: An empirical research study was conducted on Facebook, and data were collected from Pakistani users who followed digital celebrities. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was employed to analyze the valid data of 231 respondents.\nFindings: The results indicate that integrated constructs significantly influence impulse buying with complementary partial mediation of urge to buy. Besides, social climate significantly interacts the relationship of parasocial relationships and impulse buying. Further, passing time, enjoyment and information seeking has a significant impact on parasocial relationships, except for self-presentation.\nOriginality/value: This research provides key knowledge to comprehend the overall phenomenon of emerging digital celebrities through the integration of their parasocial relationships and the social climate of their communities, with potential intervening and interaction effects. This study also unveils the role of gratifications in building digital celebrities' parasocial relationships.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Building work-related knowledge about examination invigilation through reflective journaling
|
[
"Invigilation",
"Proctor",
"Examination",
"Further education",
"Higher education",
"Reflective journaling",
"Self-directed professional development",
"Examination Invigilation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The purpose of this self-study was two-fold. First, to aid in redressing the lack of attention given to the professional development of examination invigilators and second, to show (through a critical discussion of the literature coupled with personal professional experiences displayed in reflective journal entries) that an attitude of self-directed inquiry combined with reflective journaling enable professional development (i.e. the development of practical or work-related knowledge needed to function in a role as a further and higher-education senior examination invigilator).\nSelf-directed professional development: benefits and challenges: The thoughts of Villegas-Reimers (2003) underpinned the self-study and guided thinking about professional development. The writers state that knowledge, which results in improved teaching and learning, is gained by reflecting on practice and using a process of inquiry in one's working environment. Chitpin and Evers (2005) refer to this process as building practical or work-related knowledge, which requires a focus on problems at hand and making a conscious habit of thinking of possible solutions. Bezzina and Camilleri (2001) believe that ultimately professional development depends very much on the personal initiative of each individual. This thought is summed up in the term: \"self-directed professional development.\" But what exactly is self-directed professional development and what are the benefits for those willing to apply this mode of development?\nThe connection between self-directed professional development and reflective journaling: Self-directed professional development, which is the development of practical and/or work-related knowledge under the direction of the individual (Brown et al., 2001), can be enabled by the use of reflective journaling. Doucet and Wilson (1997), state that journaling is a means by which students can record and scrutinize their own learning experiences - to this statement could be added invigilators who can similarly scrutinize their own learning. It is this scrutiny of experiences and learning via reflective journaling that work-related knowledge can be developed. Moreover, reflective journaling is a tool, which enables the shifting of the responsibility for developing knowledge away from a preceptor and places this on the individual. In other words, it enables the development of self-directed autonomous professionals who take responsibility for their own professional learning (Calderhead, 1992). Also, the use of a reflective journal is a tool, which empowers and fosters a sense of discovery in its users (Clegg, 1997).\nReflective journaling and building work-knowledge about adaptability/flexibility: Journal entry April 29, 2019.\nReflective journaling and building work-knowledge about leading humanely: The analysis of the reflective journal entries reveal aspects of leadership in regards to the examination invigilation process. It is, however, leadership that is influenced by compassion and sympathy for people, i.e. humane leadership.\nReflective journaling and building work-knowledge about \"thinking on your feet\"/reflection-in-action: Examination invigilators rate \"thinking on your feet\"/reflection-in-action as relevant, very relevant and extremely relevant to their role. Its relevance is linked to its usefulness in various circumstances: decision making; preventing mistakes and uncovering students' duplicity (Minott, 2020).\nConclusion: This self-study report has attempted to describe how, by employing reflective journaling during a week of examination invigilation, the author built or reinforced practical or work-related knowledge relevant to critical aspects of his role as a senior examination invigilator. The ways portrayed in the study of how he achieved these may seem simplistic, for by simply reflecting on the events recorded in his reflective journal he gained knowledge. However, the process is anything but simple, for what is required is careful consideration, together with a process of disciplined intellectual criticism combining research, knowledge of context and balanced judgment (critical thinking) (Minott, 2009). This implies there is the need to \"make the time\" to accomplish this task and this requires a willingness to adopt an attitude of inquiry and engagement in self-assessment (Villegas-Reimers, 2003; Tigelaar et al., 2005). Achieving this is not without its challenges, given the fact that most busy professionals are saddled with numerous and varied tasks.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of the self-study is two-fold: first, to aid in redressing the lack of attention given to the professional development i.e., the building of practical or work-related knowledge of examination invigilators and second, to forward the idea that engaging the examination invigilation process reflectively is an effective form of self-directed professional development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The report uses reflective journaling based on Minott (2017) reflective approach to teaching practicum debriefing strategy to show the practical or work-related knowledge built by the author.\nFindings: The report shows how the author built practical or work-related knowledge about critical aspects of the invigilation process: adaptability/flexibility, leading humanely and \"thinking on your feet\"/reflection-in-action.\nOriginality/value: This paper shows (through a critical discussion of the literature, coupled with the author's personal professional experiences displayed in reflective journal entries) that an attitude of self-directed inquiry combined with reflective journaling can enable professional development i.e. the development of practical or work-related knowledge.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Discourse, knowledge and power: the continuing debate over the DBA
|
[
"Knowledge",
"Management education",
"Universities",
"Management development",
"Professional qualifications"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In February 2015, the Economic and Social Research Council in England responded to concerns about the expense and quality of the conventional PhD by reforming its funding methodology so as to concentrate its allocation to a select group of 15 \"Doctoral Training Partnerships\". These partnerships were tasked with raising the quality of doctoral provision through better engagement with industry and supervising larger cohorts of students. This announcement represented a continuation of central government policy that had developed since the 1990s. The kernel of the approach is a concern over the usefulness of the conventional PhD in the ever-changing business environment. The solution, in part, is the doctor of business administration (DBA) - but should we really view the DBA as a substitute for an increasingly challenged PhD, or more properly a new doctoral qualification in its own right with its own currency for students and wider society. Park (2007, p. 7) raises two further questions that lie at the heart of the debate over the DBA: who owns the doctorate, and who cares? Park (2007, p. 37) then identifies three themes that are at the centre of the debate on the future of doctoral education: what is the essence of \"doctorateness\"? What is the doctorate for? How can the supply chain of doctoral graduates be sustained? This paper will explore these themes through empirical research at a business school and offer a view on the value of the DBA.\nLiterature review: The idea of a professional doctorate, as in the case of the DBA, opens up the opportunity for the development of knowledge in new contexts. As a number of observers have noted (Banerjee and Morley, 2013, p. 174; De Meyer, 2013, p. 479) government and the private sector now recognise that \"knowledge production\" takes place outside the university sector in the guise of \"think tanks\", policy institutes and commercial research establishments. This increasingly pluralist context for knowledge production has important implications for universities as they have been amongst the foremost engines of knowledge production since the Victorian era. The once omniscient position of the university sector as the progenitors of knowledge is now challenged, and with this change, the unquestioned hierarchy of knowledge that was generated by universities. The changing context of knowledge production also has profound implications for knowledge producers with De Meyer reporting that Singapore University has developed a three career track system that reflects emerging trajectories for professors: traditional academic, practice based and education focused.\nResearch methodology: The research methodology adopted a mixed methods approach over two distinct phases. In the first phase, three target groups were identified as potentially useful informants: current DBA students, those who had rejected the DBA in order to study for a PhD, and the Head of Department of a major business school who held a DBA. This variety in research participants would, it was anticipated, provide a range of perspectives on the key issues of purpose, value and academic rigour. In terms of obtaining data from the DBA students, a highly structured questionnaire with 20 statements was distributed to the 37 students enroled on the DBA programme. Each of the 20 statements was followed by a five point Likert scale that enabled a quick response as well as space to elicit some commentary from students to provide greater detail. Statements, such as, \"I would rather generate theory-based knowledge than practice-based knowledge\", and \"I think that a DBA is easier to obtain than a PhD\", and \"I hope the DBA will prepare me for an academic career\", as well as \"I think the DBA is more useful than a PhD in the contemporary business environment\" explored the key issues generated by the literature review. This research was undertaken \"in-house\" with colleagues, and as a result, there were a few ethical issues to address in terms of confidentiality and process. In addition to the sample, some desk research was undertaken in order to obtain statistical data on trends and completion rates between the DBA and PhD. It was felt important that some chronological perspective be obtained in addition to looking at success rates for these two qualifications.\nFindings: Qualitative findings\nDiscussion: The context within which university educators work is dynamic and open to the influences of a range of stakeholders, including government and the business lobby. The period since 1990 has seen a significant change in how universities respond to this external environment, not least with the development of the professional doctorate. In part, this response from universities has been a reaction to market forces and the drive for new revenue streams. In part, the approach has been influenced by the realisation that Higher Education should cater for a larger proportion of the population and recognise work-based learning in broader sense (Bareham et al., 2000, p. 398). Although we should acknowledge this movement from within the university sector towards the recognition of the value of applied knowledge, we should not lose sight of the underlying tension that permeates the debate over the professional doctorate. The critique against the professional doctorate is predicated upon the idea that in offering a DBA, universities are moving away from two of their most cherished principles. First, that the DBA is inferior to the PhD because it involves less challenge in terms of research and theory- and, in doing so, undermines the supremacy of knowledge derived from research. Second, that education should be primarily concerned with the development of the individual and not their professional competencies (Boyatzis, 2008, p. 5). For those who adhere to this liberal notion of holistic education, the movement towards competency-based frameworks of knowledge is essentially reductionist in nature. The challenge for universities is to present this movement towards professional doctorates not as a reductionist approach to knowledge that is conceived solely in terms of occupational value, but as encouraging knowledge in a broader sense. It is clear that the undergraduate curriculum has changed in recent years to accommodate the drive for employability of graduates, it remains to be seen if this movement can be replicated at doctoral level.\nConclusion: This paper began with three questions which lie at the heart of the debate over doctoral education: what is the value of the DBA, who owns it and who cares about its development? This paper has described the participation of a number of stakeholders in this debate: students and their supervisors, business schools and Universities as well as employers and government. It is clear that the development of the DBA has been linked to a wider debate on the future of the PhD; in a crude sense the debate has sometimes been reduced to a zero-sum game. This reduction in the discourse over the DBA and professional doctorates more generally is too simplistic. What is clear is that Academia has engaged in the growth of the DBA partly through \"push\" factors such as government policy or business lobbying, and partly through \"pull\" factors such as the educational and pedagogic interests in developing a curriculum for the twenty-first century. In short, the development of professional doctorates is the outcome of interactions between stakeholders and public policy. The growth of professional doctorates should therefore not be seen as a response to the perceived limitations of the PhD - but as a new stage in doctoral education.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is related to how students and academics in a business school perceive the doctor of business administration (DBA) in terms of its purpose and value compared to that of the conventional PhD.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research methodology involved a two-stage approach in which a pilot questionnaire and short interviews with 37 students was followed by a second questionnaire to 21 academics employed at a business school at a post-1992 English university.\nFindings: The findings suggest that although the DBA is valued as means to develop professional knowledge and expertise, the PhD remains the premier choice for those who wish to embark on an academic career. The DBA does, however, also represents a development of work-based learning in higher education.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research was undertaken at one post-1992 university business school, further research should look to expand the sample size and include a variety of business schools from both pre- and post-1992 universities in England.\nOriginality/value: The paper does offer a justification for the continued development of the DBA and professional doctorates in general in terms of the development of work-based learning in higher education.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Automated adaptive selling
|
[
"Online retailing",
"Adaptive selling",
"E-selling",
"ISTEA model",
"Sales influence tactics"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The practice of Web customization is ubiquitous among online retailers. Marketing scholars have made notable contributions to this field, including in the areas of product recommender systems (Ansari et al., 2000; Bodapati, 2008; Ying et al., 2006), customized design and content of e-mail communications (Ansari and Mela, 2003) and morphing Web content and banner ads based on customers' cognitive preferences (Hauser et al., 2009; Urban et al., 2013). Despite this foundational research, one form of customization that has received comparatively little attention is the customization of persuasive messages (Kaptein and Eckles, 2012). This is a major theoretical gap, given the fundamental finding in the marketing literature that tailoring persuasive messages to individuals pays off (Griskevicius et al., 2009; McFarland et al., 2006; Spiro and Weitz, 1990). We contribute to this Web customization literature by developing an automated method that selects from among multiple persuasive messages regarding any product by experimentally determining the specific message that has the highest probability of success for each, individual customer in real time. To do so, we implement the adaptive sales process from the professional selling literature in an online context.\n2. Literature review: In this section, we first review the adaptive selling literature with a focus on the five-stage process model developed by Weitz (1978), and we relate this model directly to more recent developments in online selling. Second, we review work on the role of influence tactics in the adaptive selling literature. On the basis of this review of the literature, we develop our hypotheses in the subsequent section.\n3. Hypotheses: Based on the information presented above, in this section we develop specific hypotheses. Influence tactics, especially the social proof, scarcity and authority tactics, are easily implemented in online selling (Kaptein et al., 2015). There is a positive main effect of the use of influence tactics (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980; Goldstein et al., 2008; Zhang and Wedel, 2009). Thus, on average, products pitched with an influence tactic are more likely to be purchased than those pitched without an influence tactic. Finally, the literature on offline selling finds heterogeneity in the effectiveness of influence tactics across customers in interpersonal settings (McFarland et al., 2006). However, to the best of our knowledge, no prior work has exploited such heterogeneity in online selling.\n4. Automated adaptive selling algorithm: In this section, we describe our novel method of automated adaptive selling (our new algorithm) with reference to the ISTEA process model (Figure 2). Here, we provide a high-level overview of implementation at each stage of the process; the mathematical details of our method are provided in the supplementary materials. We automate the five stages of the ISTEA model as follows:\n5. Methodology: In this section, we first discuss the two simulation studies we conducted to verify the effectiveness of our method of optimizing the exploitation-exploration trade-off in the strategy formation stage of our algorithm (see Section 4 above). Following this, we discuss our three field experiments, which are used to test our hypotheses and verify the effectiveness of the implementation of our automated adaptive selling algorithm. The results for the simulation studies and for each experiment are discussed within their respective subsections below. In addition, we discuss the pooled results across all three field studies in Section 6.\n6. Pooled results: a meta-analysis across the three field studies: In this section, we will discuss our meta-analysis. We first pooled the data from each of the field experiments to conduct a meta-analysis. The results of each of the individual trials are summarized in Table II. The results of the meta-analysis show that the adaptive condition has a normalized performance of 1.035 (estimated 95 per cent confidence interval (CI): 1.032-1.037, Cohen's d = 0.02) as compared to the random condition, and 1.077 (estimated 95 per cent CI: 1.070-1.084, Cohen's d = 0.08) as compared to the status-quo condition across the studies. Using the pooled results renders all the pairwise comparisons statistically significant (p < 0.001), indicating that automated adaptive selling significantly outperforms both the status-quo and the random conditions across the different implementations in the three studies. In line with the results obtained in the third field trial, this meta-analysis thus confirms all three hypotheses.\n7. General discussion: This paper develops, describes and evaluates a novel method of automated adaptive selling using sales influence tactics. Although there have been many attempts to automate, customize and personalize online and electronic selling in recent years, we are not aware of any that have exploited the extensive literature on adaptive (offline) selling as a theoretical driver for the development of novel, online or automated approaches. We have introduced a new method in which the stages of impression formation, strategy formulation, transmission, evaluation and adjustment in the ISTEA adaptive selling model can be implemented automatically in online retailing. We targeted the adjustment of sales influence tactics, which are derived directly from the literature on adaptive selling. We further evaluated the effectiveness of automated adaptive selling in three field trials. Adaptive selling consistently outperformed the status-quo condition, suggesting the importance and potential benefits of using such an approach. Notably, the status-quo in each of our studies consisted of the established best practices of these sophisticated, for-profit retailers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to develop and test a method of automating, for online retailers, the practice of adaptive selling, which is typically used by salespeople in face-to-face interactions. This method customizes persuasive messages for individual customers as they navigate a retailer's website.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper demonstrates a method for the online implementation of automated adaptive selling using sales influence tactics. Automated adaptive selling is compared to nonadaptive selling in three e-commerce field studies.\nFindings: The results reveal that adaptive selling is more effective than nonadaptive selling. The click-through rates increased significantly when adaptive selling was used.\nResearch limitations/implications: This paper highlights the effectiveness of existing theories concerning adaptive human-to-human selling and their utility to online selling. The authors demonstrate the added value of adaptive selling in e-commerce, thereby opening up a novel area of research into adaptive selling online. While the paper focuses on the adjustment of sales influence tactics, other factors could be investigated for adjustment in future research (e.g. prices).\nPractical implications: The methods, described in detail, are readily available for implementation by online retailers. The implementations are timely and increasingly valuable as e-commerce expands into interpersonal channels (e.g. instant messengers and social media).\nOriginality/value: To the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to formally implement automated adaptive selling as described in the ISTEA model in an e-commerce setting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Assessing leadership derailment factors in 360deg feedback: Differences across position levels and self-other agreement
|
[
"Leadership derailment",
"Self‐awareness",
"360‐degree feedback",
"Leadership development",
"Leadership",
"Feedback"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Due to the rapid globalization as well as the changing demographics of the workforce, many managers are promoted into positions today earlier in their careers than in the past (Bunker et al., 2002; Cappelli and Hamori, 2005). Consequently, they often derail in these roles of greater responsibilities due to inexperience and undeveloped skills (Capretta et al., 2008; Watkins, 2004). The outcomes associated with leadership derailment can be very costly. One recent study estimated that the price of CEO failures after 18 months on the job can be up to $52.5 million for large companies. In total, it has been estimated that the failure of top executives costs the US economy as much as $13.8 billion per year (Stoddard and Wyckoff, 2008).\nA review of the leadership derailment literature: Derailment occurs when leaders who were perceived to have the ability to move up the career ladder in an organization plateaued early, are demoted, or fired (Lombardo and Eichinger, 1989). Historically, managerial derailment has been conceptualized in terms of lacking critical characteristics for success. Recently, however, several researchers have suggested that derailment is more related to possessing undesirable behavior rather than lacking desirable behavior (Bentz, 1985; Dotlitch and Cairo, 2003; Gentry and Chappelow, 2009; Hogan and Hogan, 2001; Hogan and Kaiser, 2005; Rasch et al., 2008). In general, research and theories of derailment can be categorized into two types: behavioral approach and personality or trait approach (Hogan et al., 2011). The behavioral approach investigates the surface level and observable behavioral patterns associated with management derailment. The personality approach, on the other hand, focusses on the underlying schemas that can be used to explain derailment behaviors. Hogan and Hogan's (2001) theory of the dark side personality is such an example.The behavioral approach to defining derailment is aligned directly with the 360deg feedback, because this process requires individuals to rate managers based on their observations. Bentz (1985) pioneered this field of research. Beginning in the 1980s, the Center for Creative Leadership conducted a series of derailment studies. These studies produced consistent findings across time, national culture, gender, and industries (Lombardo et al., 1988; Lombardo and McCauley, 1988; McCall and Lombardo, 1983; Leslie and Van Velsor, 1996). Overall, this research demonstrated that derailed managers and executives shared one or more of the following characteristics: had problems with interpersonal relationships; failed to effectively hire, build, and lead teams; experienced difficulty to adapt or change; failed to meet business objectives; and/or possessed too narrow of a functional orientation.Lombardo and Eichinger (2004) examined the various derailment studies performed at the Center for Creative Leadership and developed a multisource assessment instrument to measure 19 derailment items that were generally considered to be harmful in a manager's career. These 19 so-called \"Career Stallers and Stoppers\" can be categorized into five major factors. The first factor is \"Does not relate well to others,\" which describes managers as insensitive, unable to adapt to differences, defensive, and unwilling to learn from others. The second factor, \"Self-centeredness,\" examines whether a manager is overly ambitious, arrogant, apolitical, lacks composure, cannot be trusted, and generally lacks appropriate ethics and values. The third factor, \"Doesn't inspire or build talent,\" involves a manager's failure to build a team and staff effectively, and possesses the tendency to overmanage direct reports. The fourth factor is referred to as \"Too narrow\" and illustrates a manager who is non-strategic, overdependent on an advocate, overdependent on a single skill, and has key skill deficient. Finally, the fifth factor, \"Doesn't deliver results\" relates to a manager's performance problems and poor administrative skills. Lombardo and Eichinger's (2004) assessment tool is used for the current research.The first objective of the current study was to empirically examine the relationship between derailment factors and overall leadership effectiveness. Since the five derailment factors are conceptualized as the negative or dark side of leadership characteristics, we would expect these behaviors would inhibit individuals from being effective leaders. We therefore hypothesize:H1. The five factors of derailment characteristics will be negatively correlated with overall leadership effectiveness.Derailment across position levels\nMethod: Sample\nResults: The zero-order correlations among all variables are presented in Table II. As can be observed, nearly all the inter-rater correlations for derailment ratings among \"other rater sources\" - boss, peers, and direct reports - were statistically significant. In contrast, over half of the correlations between self and other rater sources were not statistically significant, and all were relatively small in effect size. This finding suggests that \"self\" tended to be less congruent with others on derailment ratings than among other rater sources.Overall leadership effectiveness as rated by boss was significantly and negatively correlated with the five derailment factors as rated by peers and DRs. However, leadership effectiveness was significantly correlated only with self-ratings on one derailment factor - \"Doesn't deliver results\" (r=-0.16, p<0.05). Further, the effect size of this correlation was relatively smaller than the correlations of boss rating of leadership effectiveness with the five derailment factors rated by peers and DRs. In sum, derailment ratings provided by peers and direct reports, but not self, supported H1.One-way ANOVA was conducted to examine how the ratings on the five derailment factors were different across the three management position levels. The results are presented in Table III. The first three factors (\"Doesn't relate well to others,\" \"Self-centered,\" and \"Doesn't inspire or build talent\") indicated significant mean differences across positions. Thus, H2 was partially supported. One observation is noteworthy. The differences between low and middle management were relatively smaller than the differences between middle and high management. These results suggest that derailment particularly is a concern in the transition from middle management to high management.Hierarchical regression was used to test the interaction between derailment factor and position level in predicting overall leadership effectiveness. A separate set of five hierarchical regressions were conducted for each of the three rater sources - peers, DRs, and self. Table IV presents the results. Of the total 15 regressions analyses, only one interaction term was statistically significant (peers rating of the fourth derailment factor, \"Too narrow,\" b=0.11, p<0.05). The other one was marginally significant (direct reports' rating of the third derailment factor, \"Doesn't inspire or build talent,\" b=-0.07, p=0.08). Overall, the results did not support H3.Tables V and VI present the results of the ten polynomial regression analyses. We first investigated rater sources and derailment factors for similarity and overall pattern, and then we examined the unique findings among these analyses. Five out of the ten regression analyses generated no significant a1, a2, a3, and a4. This finding suggests that the amount of agreement or disagreement between self and other raters is not related to leadership effectiveness. In these cases, leadership effectiveness is related primarily to others' (but not self) ratings of the derailment factors, as indicated by the correlation and hierarchical regression analyses.The regression on self-peers ratings of derailment factor V (Doesn't deliver results) generated a significant a1. This pattern of relationships is illustrated in Figure 1. The 3D response surface graph indicates that in-agreement high ratings (i.e. high ratings on the derailment factors by both rater sources - self and peers) were associated with low ratings of leadership effectiveness (back-left corner). In contrast, in-agreement low ratings were associated with high ratings of leadership effectiveness (front-right corner). This finding provided some support for H4a.Four regression analyses generated significant a4s. They are regressions on self-peers ratings of derailment factor III, and self-direct reports ratings of derailment factors I-III. Figure 2 illustrates this pattern of relationships using parameters generated from the regression on self-direct reports ratings of derailment factor III (Doesn't inspire or build talent). Again, the 3D response surface graph aids the interpretation. Along the perfect agreement line, high ratings (i.e. high ratings on the derailment factors by both rater sources - self- and direct reports) were associated with relatively lower ratings of leadership effectiveness (back-left corner). In contrast, in-agreement low ratings were associated with relatively higher ratings of leadership effectiveness (front-right corner). This finding also supported H4a.Figure 2 also helps compare under-ratings with over-ratings. On the perfect disagreement line, self-over-ratings tended to be associated with relatively higher levels of leadership effectiveness than self-under-ratings. For example, individuals at the right-back corner, an extreme case of self-over-rating (2 for self, -2 for direct reports), received a high rating (4.46) on leadership effectiveness. In contrast, individuals at the left-front corner, an extreme case of under-rating (-2 for self, 2 for others) received a relatively lower rating (3.88) on leadership effectiveness. These findings supported H4b, in that self-under-ratings were associated with lower overall leadership effectiveness than self-over-ratings.\nDiscussion: There is an emerging consensus among management and leadership scholars that leadership failure can be conceptualized in two distinct ways. The first way posits that leaders fail because of leadership incompetence (i.e. leaders lack important positive characteristics or abilities to succeed). The second way contends that leaders may possess undesirable qualities that cause failure. According to this latter perspective, failure reflects an outgrowth of dysfunctional behaviors that can erode efficacy of managers and executives over time. The 360deg feedback process has been widely adopted by organizations to help managers and executives enhance their leadership effectiveness. However, a review of the scientific literature indicates that the vast majority of the research on 360deg feedback has focussed exclusively on the positive characteristics of leadership. The so-called dark side of leadership has received relatively little attention in scholarly research. We sought to fill this void in the current study by investigating management derailment factors in 360deg feedback.It was found that derailment factors rated by peers and DRs were significantly correlated with leadership effectiveness. In contrast, self-ratings of derailment factors had little relationship with overall leadership effectiveness. Further, when we examined the inter-rater source correlations of ratings on derailment factors, we observed that there were relatively stronger correlations among boss, peers, and DRs. Self-ratings of derailment factors had weak and mostly non-significant correlations with boss, peers, and DRs ratings. These results suggest that self is the least accurate rater source in 360deg feedback, reinforcing previous research findings (e.g. Eichinger and Lombardo, 2004; Dunning et al., 2004).We also found that mean ratings of some derailment factors differ substantially across management position levels. In general, managers in high-position levels were rated higher than managers in low-position levels on these derailment factors. Consequently, the likelihood of manifesting the derailment factors increases along the organizational hierarchy. It should be noted that the increased derailment rating is assessed from the observers' perspective. The finding does not necessarily mean that derailment grows as a manager moves up the corporate ladder. Although there are some explanations to support such a trajectory (e.g. reinforcement by past success, less feedback received by high-level managers), to truly test the growth theory would require taking a longitudinal approach to track a manager's career and assess the amount of derailment factors she or he has at different career stages. Further, the 360deg feedback takes a behavioral approach to assess managers' derailment factors. Individuals rate managers based on their observations of the behaviors. As managers move up the organizational hierarchy, they likely adjust their behaviors in response to the changing job environment. Managerial jobs become tougher and more complex from low- to high-position levels. Derailment is the interactive outcome between managers and the corresponding job environments. Therefore, although the current study found increased derailment ratings along the organizational hierarchy, we should not assume that high-level managers developed more of the characteristics related to derailment than lower level managers.This study investigated whether the relationship between derailment and leadership effectiveness is moderated by position levels. Research investigating management transition suggests that the critical skills contributing to leadership efficacy differ across management positions. In addition, there is evidence suggesting that derailment factors are more harmful for high management positions than low ones (Gentry et al., 2007). However, the current study failed to find differential relationships between derailment factors and leadership effectiveness across positions. Gentry et al. (2007) observed that the self-observer gap on derailment ratings widened as one climbed the organizational hierarchy. We conducted a follow-up analysis to examine how self-observer discrepancy on derailment ratings varied across position levels. Table VII presents the results. Overall, self-ratings were lower than the average of all others' ratings. Although one-way ANOVA analyses did not indicate statistically significant differences across position levels for many of the derailment factors examined in this study, the self-observer discrepancy increased from low to high management levels. Self-observer discrepancy usually is viewed as a sign of lack of self-awareness (Church, 1997). Self-awareness is a crucial feature of effective leadership. The findings of this study support the notion that it would be especially important for high-level managers to enhance their self-awareness to prevent derailment.Finally, the present study investigated how self and others ratings of derailment factors jointly influence leadership effectiveness. Several regression analyses found a significant effect of self-other agreement. In general, agreement at higher levels (both self-ratings and others-ratings are in agreement that the managers display the derailment characteristics) is related to lower ratings of leadership effectiveness, than agreement at lower levels (both self-ratings and others-ratings agree that the managers do not display the derailment characteristics). Second, self-under-rating of derailment factors is related to lower leadership effectiveness than over-rating of these factors. This pattern is consistent with typical findings from the traditional 360deg feedback research (e.g. Atwater and Yammarino, 1992; Sala, 2003). Traditional 360deg feedback research has focussed on positive characteristics, whereas the current research examined negative leadership characteristics. While self-under-ratings of positive leadership characteristics are more correlated with higher effectiveness than over-ratings, under-rating of negative leadership characteristics are more associated with lower effectiveness than over-ratings. Thus, underestimating one's derailment potential appears to be more harmful than overrating it.Implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aimed to examine the relationship between 360deg assessment of leadership derailment factors and leadership effectiveness, differences across position levels, and impact of self-other agreement.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The data were from an archive of 360deg feedback (N=523). Boss ratings of leadership effectiveness were regressed on leadership derailment factors as rated by other rater sources (e.g. peers and direct reports). Polynomial regressions were conducted to examine the impact of self-other agreement.\nFindings: - As hypothesized, derailment factors had statistically significant negative correlations with leadership effectiveness. Higher-level managers were rated higher on derailment factors than lower-level managers. In-agreement high ratings of derailment factors (i.e. rated high by both self and others) were associated with lower effectiveness than in-agreement low ratings (i.e. rated low by both self and others). Self under-ratings of derailment factors (i.e. self ratings lower than others' ratings) were related to lower effectiveness than self over-ratings (i.e. self ratings higher than others' ratings). It also was found that self ratings were less accurate than ratings from other rater sources.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Leadership derailment induces significant direct as well as indirect costs to organizations. The 360deg feedback process can be used to help managers enhance their self-awareness of derailment potential. Findings of this study can be used to help interpret 360deg assessment results.\nOriginality/value: - Past research on 360deg feedback has focused primarily on positive leadership characteristics. This study represents one of the few in the literature that empirically has examined the assessment of negative leadership characteristics in 360deg feedback.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Knowledge co-creation in Open Innovation Digital Platforms: processes, tools and services
|
[
"Digital platforms",
"Open Innovation Intermediaries",
"Open Innovation Digital Platforms",
"Knowledge co-creation",
"Interactive coupled processes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The paper aims to examine how Open Innovation Digital Platforms (OIDPs) support knowledge co-creation in interactive coupled processes - the only sort that leads to value co-creation - run among individuals engaged in innovation processes in business-to-business (B2B) markets. The Open Innovation (OI) approach suggests that firms can use respectively inflows of knowledge to accelerate their internal innovation processes and outflows of knowledge to expand their markets, by making available knowledge, intellectual property (IP) rights and/or patents to help partners to innovate (Chesbrough, 2006). The approach highlights for firms the need of a new approach to strategy (Chesbrough and Appleyard, 2007) to increase the permeability of their organizational boundaries (Dahlander and Gann, 2010; Zobel and Hagedoorn, 2018) by enabling knowledge exchange with external knowledge sources.\n2. Towards a framework for knowledge co-creation: 2.1 Digital platforms for Open Innovation\n3. Research methodology: Taking into account the novelty of the phenomenon to be investigated and the inductive nature of the research questions, this study adopts a qualitative, case-based method that enables the exploration of a phenomenon within its context, using a wide range of data sources (Yin, 2003). The case-based method is preferable in situations in which \"the main research questions are 'how' or 'why' questions [and] a researcher has little or no control over behavioural events and the focus of the study is a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real-world context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context may not be clearly evident\" (Yin, 2014, p. 216). The case selected is the Open Innovation Platform Regione Lombardia (OIPRL), a digital platform developed by the Italian Public Institution Regione Lombardia to support OI processes involving individuals acting in the engagement platform as representatives of firms, institutions, universities and research centres rather than as private citizens.\n4. Findings: 4.1 The case study: Open Innovation Regione Lombardia\n5. Discussion: This case study sheds light on how the OIPRL facilitate and supports knowledge co-creation through its processes, tools and services.\n6. Conclusions: The theoretical contributions of this paper can be summarized as follows. First, the research on interactive coupled OI processes has received little attention in the literature until now (West and Piller, 2014). This study enriches this stream of literature, focusing on knowledge co-creation through interactive coupled processes, especially in B2B markets. Second, past studies have investigated OI platforms as virtual environments in which different entities are concretely involved in knowledge transfer and integration processes to solve specific OI challenges (Sawhney et al., 2003). This paper suggests that OIDP can be considered as a specific kind of OII that facilitates and supports firms in their efforts to define and implement interactive OI coupled processes to co-create knowledge.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how Open Innovation Digital Platforms (OIDPs) can facilitate and support knowledge co-creation in Open Innovation (OI) processes. Specifically, it intends to investigate the contribution of OIDPs-oriented to successfully implement all the phases of interactive coupled OI processes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper carries out an exploratory qualitative analysis, adopting the single case study method. The case here investigated is Open Innovation Platform Regione Lombardia (OIPRL).\nFindings: The case study sheds light on how OIPRL supports knowledge co-creation through its processes, tools and services as a co-creator intermediary. In its launch stage, the platform simply aimed at giving firms a tool to \"find partners\" and financial resources to achieve innovative projects. Now, however, the platform has developed into an engagement platform for knowledge co-creation.\nResearch limitations/implications: One limitation lies in the particular perspective used to perform the case study: the perspective of the digital platform itself. Future research should focus on the individuals engaged in the platform to better investigate the processes, tools and services used to implement the OI approach.\nPractical implications: The paper suggests ways in which OIDPs could be used by firms for effective exploration, acquisition, integration and development of valuable knowledge.\nOriginality/value: The study conceptualizes the role of OIDPs in shaping knowledge co-creation, assuming that the platforms act as Open Innovation Intermediaries (OIIs). Specifically, OIDPs can be observed to function as \"co-creator intermediaries\" that define, develop and implement dedicated processes, specific tools and appropriate services for supporting knowledge co-creation activities.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Antecedent factors of maternal identity among primiparous Thai teenage mothers
|
[
"Maternal identity",
"Primiparous",
"Teenage mother",
"Structural equation model"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Maternal and child health problems have long been a crucial health topic, particularly regarding primiparous teenage mothers. Developing maternal skills for the first time is a complex process that relies on physical, emotional and cognitive maturity in order to better develop the abilities of a competent mother. Mothers who are more emotionally developed are more likely to take better care of their babies whereas primiparous teenage mothers who do not clearly identify with their role of motherhood do not enjoy such positive results[1-4].\nMethods: Study design and participants\nResults: A total of 353 participants between 14 and 20 years of age participated in this study. Approximately 70 percent of subjects were late adolescents, had attained secondary school, were homemakers, had spouses and were living together or with their own family. Almost 80 percent reported having an unplanned pregnancy. About 70 percent were the infant's caretakers, and more than one half relied on their own mothers to shape their maternal role (Table I).\nDiscussion: Five antecedent factors within three categories affected MI: environment, i.e. BF and SS; mother, i.e. SE and ST; and infant, i.e. IT. The hypothesized model fitted the empirical data. However, regarding the model parsimony, four hypotheses were deleted due to being non-statistically significant. The relationship among the set of factors in the model are discussed as follows.\nConclusion and recommendation: The result of this study indicated that the study model could be considered to promote MI among primiparous teenage mothers 4-12 months after delivery. This study offers policy makers who are involved in maternal and child health the research findings to support the establishment of a policy to promote MI and reduce strain amongst primiparous teenage mothers in the first year after delivery. Additionally, a program of activities could be introduced within communities to increase the self-esteem of teenage mothers. Furthermore, balanced family functioning should not be overlooked and a father's responsibility must also be given due attention as a means of offering emotional support and taking a share in child-rearing responsibilities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Maternal identity (MI) is the attainment of maternal role adaptation. Though the role of the motherhood is expected to be achieved, teenagers, who are still developing their personal identity, do not always clearly identify or align with their role of motherhood. The purpose of this paper is to determine the structural relationship among a set of variables, infant temperament (IT), strain (ST), social support (SS), self-esteem (SE) and balanced family functioning (BF) influencing MI and to test the model using the empirical data.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 353 primiparous Thai teenagers of infants aged 4-12 months. A self-administered questionnaire comprised six scales with Cronbach's a coefficients ranging from 0.81 to 0.93. The structural equation modeling method was employed to test the validity of the model undertaken using Mplus Software.\nFindings: The model fit the empirical data well (kh2/df=2.17, CFI=0.92, TLI=0.91, RMSEA=0.06, SRMR=0.05). The MI could explain 62 percent of the variance through its set of variables. Three antecedents, i.e. IT, ST and SS, had a direct effect while SE and BF had an indirect effect on MI. The IT had the highest total effect on the MI, while ST was a mediator among other study antecedences concerning the MI.\nOriginality/value: The model adequately fit the data among teenage mothers one-year postpartum. Promoting MI should strongly diminish strain and encourage positively perceived infant temperament, self-esteem, social support and balanced family functioning.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Strategic responses to institutional pressures for sustainability: The role of management control systems
|
[
"Sustainability",
"Institutional pressures",
"Management control systems",
"Strategic responses"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A key challenge faced by organisations in today's rapidly changing environment is to design and implement management practices that capture mounting institutional pressures for sustainability (IPS) from multiple stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, regulators, non-governmental organisations, and others (Bansal and Roth, 2000; Horisch et al., 2014; Baker and Schaltegger, 2015). These stakeholders put enormous pressures on organisations to pursue high standards of environmental and social responsibility - whether it is to reduce their carbon footprint, mitigate their impact on land degradation, prevent abusive labour practices, or comply with human rights standards. If not addressed in an appropriate and timely manner, these issues could result in critical financial, physical and reputational risks. For instance, in 2013, the collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh caused 1,134 deaths and over 1,650 injuries. This catastrophic collapse and several other tragedies of this nature raised serious concerns about unsustainable management practices in many organisations, particularly in developing countries. The way organisations should respond to these IPS has therefore become a major determinant factor of the effectiveness of addressing sustainability challenges and gaining social legitimacy.\n2. Theoretical framework: This study argues that organisations use MCS to strategically respond to IPS. As depicted in Figure 1, IPS consists of three pressures, namely coercive, normative, and mimetic sustainability pressures (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). Prior studies have employed institutional theory to examine organisational responses towards sustainability related practices conceptually (e.g. Jennings and Zandbergen, 1995; Delmas and Toffel, 2004), and empirically (e.g. Bansal and Roth, 2000; Bansal, 2005; Delmas and Toffel, 2008). Oliver (1991) suggests that organisations may respond to this IPS by using any of the five strategies: acquiescence, compromise, avoidance, defiance, and manipulation. This study proposes that these strategic responses are supported by three fundamental elements of MCS: communicating objectives, monitoring performance, and motivating to accomplish goals.\n3. Research method: 3.1 Sri Lanka as a research context to study sustainability implications\n4. The case study: 4.1 Sustainability practices at AMO\n5. Discussion: Tables II and III summarise the case study findings. Table II provides a detail analysis of the use of MCS in strategically responding to IPS, with details on IPS, strategic responses and respective tactics, relative use of MCS, and some examples to support the propositions. Table III depicts examples of sustainability control systems related to MCS within AMO.\n6. Conclusion: To enhance our understanding of the role of MCS in sustainability this study argues that organisations use MCS in strategically responding to IPS. More specifically, it explores what forms of IPS can influence sustainability practices, and how organisations respond to IPS, and how MCS supports strategic responses to IPS. The analysis shows that AMO appears to have an intrinsic and glowing approach to sustainability. The case study suggests that AMO actively responds to IPS using acquiescence, compromise, avoidance, defiance, and manipulation strategies. The results not only reveal that formal MCS play an important role in complying with IPS, but also in more active responses, including compromise, avoidance, defiance, and manipulation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of management control systems (MCS) in strategically responding to institutional pressures for sustainability (IPS). Drawing on institutional theory (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983) and strategic responses to institutional pressures framework (Oliver, 1991), the study argues that organisations strategically respond to IPS using MCS.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected by interviewing sustainability managers of a large-scale multinational apparel manufacturing organisation with its headquarters in Sri Lanka.\nFindings: The study finds that organisations actively respond to IPS using acquiescence, compromise, avoidance, defiance, and manipulation strategies. The results not only reveal that formal MCS play a critical role in complying with IPS, but also in more active responses, including compromise, avoidance, defiance, and manipulation. The findings highlight that organisations use MCS as a medium to respond strategically to IPS, and in turn, the use of MCS has important implications for organisational change and improvement.\nPractical implications: The study has implications for Western organisations, finding that suppliers committed to sustainability in Asia strategically respond to IPS as a means of strengthening outsourcing contracts, instead of blindly accepting. Findings indicate that organisational changes and success seem to be a function of strategically responding to IPS rather than operating an organisation by neglecting sustainability challenges. The organisational ability to use MCS in strategically responding to IPS has the potential for long-term value creation.\nOriginality/value: This study provides novel insights into the MCS, strategy and sustainability literatures by exploring different uses of MCS tools in strategically responding to IPS. More specifically, it shows how the use of MCS tools varies in supporting strategic responses, and with respective IPS. In doing so, it enhances our understanding of the importance of the use of MCS in dynamics of institutional change and practical variances in strategically responding to IPS.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Consumer additive manufacturing or 3D printing adoption: an exploratory study
|
[
"Manufacturing industry",
"Disruptive innovation",
"3D printing",
"Additive manufacturing",
"Technology adoption",
"Manufacturing technology"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The additive manufacturing (AM) industry has grown substantially over the recent years. Worldwide revenue consisting of all AM products and services grew by 25.9 percent corporate annual growth rate to $5.165 billion in 2015 (McCue, 2016). A segment of the entire AM industry is consumer 3D printing, i.e. those selling for less than $5,000. The average selling price of consumer 3D printers in 2013 was $1,208 vs $90,370 for a professional-grade, industrial system (Wohlers Associates, 2014, p. 125). Since the inception of AM, some 30 years ago, a total of 66,702 industrial systems were sold by 2013. In 2013, 72,503 consumer 3D printers were sold, thus surpassing in one year the total number of industrial systems sold since 1984 (Wohlers Associates, 2014). The growth in consumer 3D printer sales has been high. The 72,503 consumer printers in 2013 compares to an estimated sales of just 355 3D printers in 2008 and over 100 percent growth compared to 2012. By 2015, sales of consumer printers had risen to above 278,000 which represents almost 300 percent growth compared to 2013 sales. Figure 1 shows the sales of consumer 3D printers since 2008 based on Wohlers Associates (2014). It should be noted that sales figures have to be treated with caution because \"Sales of many 3D personal printer arenon-traditional and difficult to track, especially with all of the small start-up companies around the world that are now producing machines [...]. Because of the way they are sold, it is difficult to estimate sales by calendar year\" (Wohlers Associates, 2014, p. 124).\n2. 3D printing developments: The more appropriate technical term for 3D printing is AM. In January 2012, ASTM International Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies approved a list of seven AM process categories with names and definitions. These seven categories are: material extrusion, material jetting, binder jetting, sheet lamination, vat photopolymerization, powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition (Wohlers Associates, 2014, p. 28). A short description of three of the techniques is provided in Table I.\n3. Methodology: To explore the adoption of consumer-level 3D printing and its potential impact two research questions were formulated. The first dealing with the aspect of consumer adoption of this new technology and the second dealing with the potential impact on manufacturing industries:\n4. Results: In this section the results are presented. Findings for the first research question are shown in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 while the second research question is covered in Section 4.3.\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Consumer adoption of 3D printers\n6. Conclusions: With the increasing media attention on 3D printing and often statements of the disruptive nature, the purpose of this study was to explore what underlies the development of the consumer 3D printing industry and gain insight into future development and its potentially disruptive impact on the existing manufacturing industry. Related to this, two research questions were formulated: How \"customer friendly\" is the consumer 3D printing process? And, how competitive are consumer printed products?\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what underlies the development of the consumer 3D printing industry and gain insight into future developments and its potentially disruptive impact on the existing manufacturing industry.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A combination of approaches was followed. Initially a consumer 3D printer was purchased to gain first-hand experience as part of a practical research case study. Results were discussed with manufacturers and additional information was sought, and triangulated, via a survey and an exploratory bibliometric study.\nFindings: Many characteristics are in place to identify consumer 3D printing as a potential disruptive technology for the manufacturing industry. For example, the cost of consumer 3D printing is lower than for traditional manufacturing. However, the current adoption rate is low and the user friendliness and technological capabilities need to improve.\nResearch limitations/implications: The main limitation is the exploratory nature of the study which does not allow generalizations.\nPractical implications: If developments and adoption patterns continue, then traditional manufacturing industries, distribution channels and the transportation sector may become threatened.\nSocial implications: Technological advances in consumer manufacturing can potentially threaten several economic sectors, which can lead to loss of jobs and affect budgets of states of countries that depend on sales tax.\nOriginality/value: One of the first studies to employ experiments in combination with other methods to gain insight into adoption patterns and the disruptive nature of consumer 3D printers specifically, rather than industrial 3D printers or new business models as a result of 3D printing technology.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The Kansas story: a sea of Koha green on the plains
|
[
"Collaboration",
"Libraries",
"Koha",
"ILS",
"Kansas",
"Open source"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntro to Koha ILS: Koha was born in 1999, on the cusp of the new millennium. The project came from frustration with the current crop of integrated library system (ILS) products on the market at the time and the prices that the vendors were charging for those products. A group of folks in New Zealand took the opportunity to create a new ILS, one that was based on open-source principles and used a distributed, eventually world-wide, developer community to create and extend their new software, which they called Koha (a Maori word meaning \"gift\"). That group - a combination of staff from the Horowhenua Library Trust and Katipo Communications - began the process of writing the software they wanted, but could not find anywhere else, that year. On January 3rd, 2000, the software was released to the world for the first time (Koha Community, 2015).\nKansas library system structure: Kansas has seven regional library systems established by law in 1965. Member libraries remain administratively independent. Each regional system operates independently under its own board, which has budget-setting and policy-making authority. Kansas is unique in that regional library systems have tax-levying authority, and rely comparatively little on state funding or membership fees (quite the contrary - member libraries receive grants from the regional systems).\nKoha support options: A key part of running an open-source system is deciding how to support the software. The software license itself is free, but libraries commit to costs for the learning curve, migration, hosting, support, developments and customizations. Some libraries support Koha internally with local library staff, some pay external developers to develop enhancements and fix bugs and some pay a third-party vendor for hosting, support and development.\nCentral Kansas Library System: Background\nNortheast Kansas Library System: Background\nSoutheast Kansas Library System: Background\nHow all three systems work together today: Courier\nConclusion: Even with the ups and downs that all three systems have had in choosing, implementing and administering Koha, all three plan to stay with the product for the foreseeable future. Each of the systems learned how to manage an open-source product in conjunction with a vendor. Learning how to decide what to expect from the vendor versus what to expect to have to pay for, in terms of development, was something that systems had to do to effectively manage their consortia. Figuring out the structure of the local support team was another lesson that had to be learned; knowing how much staff time to devote was not obvious when the project started, but was something that each system had to work out as they learned more about the software and the demands it would make on their staff. Finally, the systems each learned that collaborating among themselves was truly beneficial. They shared rules, the text of reminders to member libraries, notes from meetings and much more as they learned to work together effectively.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Three of the seven regional systems in Kansas report on the history and use of the open-source Koha integrated library system (ILS) in their regions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Each of the systems wrote up their experiences and then they collaborated on sections that discussed how they work together to achieve success with this product.\nFindings: Each of the systems will continue to use the Koha software, and there are a few stand-alone instances of Koha already in place in Kansas. Development and advocacy of the product will be continued by all three of the systems.\nOriginality/value: This is a rare instance of three separate consortia coming together to work on improving everyone's experience with an open-source ILS. The authors feel that the experiences they have had with this software are of value to anyone considering making use of it.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Improving patient care and clinical governance through the utilisation of a clinical information system
|
[
"Information systems",
"Information management",
"Clinical governance",
"Mental health services"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Clinical governance is the framework by which National Health Service organizations are held accountable for continuously improving and maintaining high standards of patient care. A key component of the clinical governance process is clinical audit. (Oyebode et al., 1999) The process of audit is the principal method used to monitor quality. Inextricably linked to this is health informatics, defined by the Department of Health(2002) as:The knowledge, skills and tools which enable information to be collected, managed, used and shared to support the delivery of health care and promote health (Department of Health, 2002).Reliable information and effective knowledge management are essential if a Trust or clinical service is to meet the objectives set out by clinical governance.\nHealth care data quality issues: The Audit Commission, (1995, 2002) examined the state of information, data quality and its management within the NHS. A wide range of operational and governance measures to improve the status and effectiveness of information management were identified, as well as what was required from clinicians, managers and the NHS to ensure standards improved.The Audit Commission(2004) published a further report on the key messages and lessons learnt from the two previous data quality programmes, and highlighted issues concerning data quality. While there was evidence of standards improving, the state of systems in mental health care Trusts was found to be far from adequate. The report highlights, that trusts who use information poorly or who have poor data quality, are unlikely to be in a position to provide services efficiently, effectively and economically. It goes on to state that a core requirement for effective governance is the development of appropriate information systems, of which data quality should be an important dimension.\nReasons for inadequate data quality and information management: Lack of clinical input has been cited as a major factor in the failure of information technology in health services (Heathfield and Wyatt, 1993). While many patient administration systems are in existence, clinicians believe the main function of these systems is to provide information that supports management and administrative functions rather than being of clinical use (Lelliott, 1995). An additional factor is the failure to take into account the social and professional cultures of health care organisations and to recognise that the education of clinical and administrative staff is an essential precursor prior to the implementation of any new information system (Littlejohns et al., 2003).\nMeeting the challenge: If information management, data quality and information technology are to succeed within health care, past reasons for inadequate data need to be addressed. The Department of Health (1998) information strategy document identifies an additional component for the success of information technology in the NHS. This involves the development of a long-term information culture throughout the wider professional community in the NHS and to ensure all health care staff develop a deeper level of understanding concerning the link between good information and effective service delivery.There is evidence that mental health services are learning from past failures. The involvement of clinicians in England in the development of the mental health minimum data set (MHMDS) ensures that a standardised approach to the collection of mental health data means that data will be meaningful and useful at all levels. Incorporating national data sets as part of electronic patient records will ensure that data quality and usage continues to improve.The following data items: diagnosis; new NHS number; and ethnic coding, were highlighted by The Audit Commission, 2004 as contributing to poor data quality in mental health Trusts.These three data items are recorded as part of the (MHMDS). They are also recorded as part of the Psychosis Clinical Information System (PsyCIS) which has been implemented in Greater Glasgow.The new NHS number is not used in Scotland; in its place is the Community Health Index number (CHI), a unique identifier for all people registered with a GP in Scotland.This paper describes how through clinical leadership an information culture has been established and data quality has been improved within the mental health partnership of NHS Greater Glasgow. Ensuring a patient administration system supports clinical functions, has meant that information from the system does not solely relate to corporate governance, performance management and service planning. It also provides meaningful clinical data which can be used to inform practice.\nThe Glasgow Psychosis Clinical Information System (PsyCIS): Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) were established in Greater Glasgow during the 1990's. The clinical management of patients with psychosis is a central task for these teams. Prior to the design of PsyCIS and identification of all patients with psychosis on the caseloads of the 16 CMHTs across Greater Glasgow to be entered onto the system, there was no mechanism for monitoring the long-term follow up care of this patient group other than on a case-by-case basis by individual clinicians and their teams. Useful insights remained buried in case notes and patient administration systems. Consequently it had not been possible to make evidence-based judgments about how well such patients were being managed, or whether particular approaches to care were achieving better outcomes than others or if particular patient characteristics were predictive of future prognosis.Established in June 1999 and developed by a steering group of consultant psychiatrists and primary care information service staff, PsyCIS was the vision of Dr Laurence Gruer (Consultant in public health medicine) and Dr Denise Coia (Clinical adviser: mental health, Greater Glasgow NHS Board). The underlying philosophy was to create a robust electronic system for monitoring the long-term follow up care of patients in the Greater Glasgow area with a diagnosis of psychosis.Table I Lists the ICD 10 (WHO, 1992) diagnostic categories included on the system.\nMethodology: The PsyCIS steering group agreed a number of clinically and socially important data sets for recording on the clinical information system from which it is possible to monitor key aspects of the long term follow up care of this patient group. These are listed in Table II.Two research nurses were employed to conduct a retrospective medical case note audit to capture this data on as many patients as possible with a diagnosis from Table I, being cared for by the 16 adult CMHTs of the then Greater Glasgow Primary Care Trust.Data was collected over a 42-month period, from February 2002 to August 2005. The research nurses were supported by a project co-ordinator and three project administrators.Prior to the research nurses commencing the case note the administration team visited each CMHT to ensure that the caseload details on the patient administration system were accurate.This provided the consultant psychiatrists at each of the 16 CMHTs with an opportunity to update ICD ten diagnoses for their patients which the administration team would enter on the patient administration system. Once inactive cases were taken off and diagnoses entered on to the system, the caseload was refreshed and the research nurses worked from these lists to identify patients with an inclusive diagnosis from Table I.The percentage of team caseloads with any diagnosis recorded ranged from 30 per cent to 75 per cent. If a patient did not have a diagnosis on the system or an abbreviated diagnostic code, then their case notes were checked by the research nurses to minimise the likelihood of any patient with a diagnosis from the inclusive list being missed.Where a diagnosis was unclear, a clinical consensus was reached between the research nurses and the responsible consultant psychiatrist.In total more than 8,000 case notes were audited and 4,438 patients were identified as having a psychotic illness from the inclusive diagnosis list. All 4,438 patients had data collection forms completed by the research nurses and these were entered onto the PsyCIS system by the administration team.Following the completion of the retrospective case note audit, all CMHT's continue to provide information on all new cases of psychosis as well as annual update information on patients already on the system.Management of the system was the responsibility of the project co-ordinator. After each CMHT's data was collected a number of routine check audits were carried out to maintain data accuracy and integrity.Data was retrieved from the system by the information services department, the project co-ordinator and members of the administration team. This data was then sorted and analysed by the lead research nurse to produce reports for individual consultants, teams and managers. These reports provide a comparison between the clinician's or team's patients on the system with those of the rest of the city.\nFindings: The quality of information about patients with psychosis receiving long term care in Greater Glasgow as a result of the involvement of clinicians in the design and ongoing evaluation of the clinical information system:*The annual incidence rates for each type of psychosis can be calculated.*The prevalence of each type of psychosis for patients (18-65) is known for the health board area.*It is possible to map how well patients are doing through the annual update of information about patient's current clinical status, treatment and circumstances.*It is possible to compare and contrast patients in numerous ways; evaluating different forms of treatment; comparing outcomes for similar groups of patients in different parts of the health board area. Consequently the system is potentially a powerful research.*Resource allocation can be facilitated according to need.*Coordination of mental health registers between primary and secondary care has been established.*Psychotropic medication usage for different patient groups can be determined.*There is a better understanding of the circumstances and management of patients from ethnic minorities.*Clinical governance can be supported through data analysis and further audit.*Information available can also be used for education and training.*Local performance management is facilitated.\nCost: It would be difficult to provide an estimated cost for establishing a system like this. An electronic patient administration system suitable for recording clinical data was already in use. This would be a considerable cost if an organisation's current systems were not flexible enough to incorporate this type of information. The work carried out by information service staff would be difficult to cost as this resource was utilised on an as required basis, while other services external to the project that were factored into the work plan were never used.Low ICD-10 diagnosis recording on the patient administration system increased the length of time required by the research nurses to complete the retrospective case note audit.\nConclusion: High quality data, information management and information technology are essential for improved patient care and effective clinical governance. Better utilisation of information is increasingly seen as a way to ensure that services are provided more efficiently, effectively and economically.Better information to support the work of the NHS is a key priority of the information strategy outlined for the modernisation of the NHS. (Department of Health, NHS Executive, 1998) Reducing clinician cynicism about distorted management priorities regarding information and the establishment of an information culture through education, training and development are seen as essential if the obstacles to improving data quality, information management, and information technology are to be overcome.The example of PsyCIS demonstrates that by involving clinicians in the design and ongoing validation of specific data collection, the result is an information system which provides a demonstrable practical contribution to the day-to-day care of patients. To create a culture where information is viewed in this way, it is essential to demonstrate the role and benefits of information in the delivery of patient care. If this is achieved, then clinicians are more likely to view the development of information management skills as an essential part of their continuing professional development to ensure effective delivery of care.If the establishment of an information culture is to be successful within health care, clinicians should be involved in the design and ongoing evaluation of information systems that are a support to clinical care. In addition information systems should be adaptable enough to incorporate not only nationally agreed data sets, but also data sets which may be pertinent at a local level. By applying these principles the result will be high quality data that facilitates improved patient care, clinical governance and performance management.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to provide an overview of how the involvement of clinicians in the design and implementation of an electronic clinical information system has contributed towards more effective clinical governance, while improving the care of patients with a diagnosis of psychosis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A data collection form was designed by a consultant in public health and a group of consultant psychiatrists to facilitate and standardise the data to be collected and stored on the information system. Two research nurses conducted a retrospective case note audit to record specified data on all existing patients from an inclusive diagnosis list in contact with CMHTs.\nFindings: - The establishment of PsyCIS has increased the understanding of the nature and prevalence of psychosis in Greater Glasgow for patients aged 18-65. As well as giving some insight into how the needs of this patient group are being addressed, it has also provided clinicians with the ability to benefit from their collective experience on the treatment and support of this patient group.\nPractical implications: - To ensure excellent data quality and information management systems, it is essential to involve clinicians in their design and validation. The primary goal of information should be to aid clinical practice and patient care. Well designed datasets will also provide information that can inform clinical governance as well as the management of services and resources.\nOriginality/value: - This paper supports the view that clinical audit and electronic clinical information systems are imperative for effective clinical governance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Paper mill's distribution efficiency to emerging East European markets
|
[
"Data envelopment analysis (DEA)",
"Emerging markets",
"Distribution",
"East Europe",
"Paper mill"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: According to Hamalainen and Tapaninen (2011) Finnish paper industry failed to forecast in the early 2000 changes in the transportation costs to the main West European markets, and was also not able to foresee forthcoming paper demand change. It seems that paper companies did not accept or noticed the definite and fast changes in European markets during the time - digitalization was in the end very harmful in this decade. This is not surprising as operations in paper industry have long been managed with the principle of having efficient production operations (mills having the lead), and albeit this results in large batch sizes within operations overall (Koskinen and Hilmola, 2008). It is not surprising to find that total amount of pipeline inventory from starting of paper production line and ending to customer serving warehouse is 90-120 days or even higher. There exists numerous research works completed (e.g. Kanzian et al., 2009; Windisch et al., 2010; Karttunen et al., 2012, 2013) from the efficiency of wood harvesting or residual gathering as well as transporting raw materials efficiently to the factory (pulp production). However, in this industry distribution operations of end products, and supply chain management are taking their early steps (Koskinen, 2009). Situation is not easy to manage as other phases are driven by mass production and in distribution individual orders should be promptly, with short lead time and cost efficiently delivered to customers. As end products themselves have been under tremendous price pressure for decades, it does not make distribution easier. To have efficient distribution (lower transport costs per tonne), it is required to have some scale and fill-rates in transportation devices (like trucks and railway wagons), but again on the other side of the token is the requirement of customer flexibility with customized paper reels (e.g. dimensions or quality) and small weekly lot sizes. New technologies and especially adaptation of information technology to traditional transportation logistics sector will enable fitting this demanding efficiency and flexibility requirement (Tsekouras et al., 2011).\n2. Role of emerging markets in paper industry - literature review: Studies about global paper demand have been published regularly over 30 years. One of the first studies, Buongiorno (1977) forecasts the consumption of major forest products. A year later, Buongiorno (1978) investigated income and price elasticities in the world demand for newsprint, printing and writing papers, and paperboard. Buongiorno (1978) was followed by several studies (e.g. Wibe, 1984; Baudin and Lundberg, 1987; Rasi et al., 1999; Chas-Amil and Buongiorno, 2000; Simangunsong and Buongiorno, 2001; Kangas and Baudin, 2003; Turner and Buongiorno, 2004; Li et al., 2006; Hujala and Hilmola, 2009; McCarthy and Lei, 2010; Michinaka et al., 2011) basically using the same theoretical background.\n3. Demand of paper products in different markets: Paper production is sharing vast of similarities with production of cars and computers (PCs and laptops). Production overcapacity is global, and in the first place it was located just in wrong place (old west), but now overcapacity has significantly increased with massive investments completed to China. Investments have not been made only by leading west headquartered companies, but numerous Chinese originating companies are now included in the TOP100 list of paper industry (Rodden et al., 2012). Capacity supply has led to the situation, where it has been extremely difficult to achieve any financial results with pure paper production in recent decade. Also as additional problem in the sector has been the constant decrease in demand for end products in the developed economies since the late 1990s. Mostly the reason is the rapidly increased use of internet, which has led to lower demand of communication papers (see e.g. Hetemaki, 2005; Hujala, 2011; Hamalainen, 2011a). As an example from described ongoing changes in this industry is the globally operating Norwegian paper producer Norske Skog (2009, 2013, 2014), which has produced annually losses every accounting period during the last nine years (2005-2013), and revenues lost during the troublesome period reach above one third. Shareholder value lost is therefore extremely severe, above 95 per cent.\n4. Used DEA model: Evaluation of transportation efficiency to emerging eight East European paper markets (same group of countries, which were analysed in previous section regarding to imports and consumption) was accomplished with two DEA (based on seminal work of Farrell, 1957) efficiency measurement models (Figure 3). In larger model distance to markets (mostly via road, only containing short Gulf of Finland sea leg) was included together with three other input factors. Distance to markets was measured with two internet map services, Google Maps (2014) and Via Michelin (2014). A difference between these two services in the shortest road distance between Finland and capital cities of each respective country was minimal, in the range of few per cent. For this study we used the distance of Google Maps (2014) service.\n5. Empirical data analysis: All eight east European countries\n6. Conclusions: Previous research has been lacking case studies and large-scale empirical works from how emerging East European paper markets were and are being served by European paper manufacturers. As was illustrated with second-hand macro data from Risi (2014), these markets have experienced quite significant growth in the observation period of this research work (years 2002-2009). It is of course so that other Asian markets have done similarly, like China, and having massive absolute volumes. However, in the case of China, these markets could not be served simply by exporting activity from Europe as capacity of paper manufacturing built in China has reduced imports nearly similarly as what happened in digitalized USA.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: European paper industry has been struggling with margins and profitability for more than decade time period. At typical in markets of west, paper product demand is at long-term decline, mostly driven by continuously increasing internet use. However, in emerging markets demand still exists, and in Europe numerous small markets in east have even some growth available. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors analyse in this research work with longitudinal data (period of 2002-2009) from one large Finnish paper mill and data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, how distribution efficiency to selected eight East European markets has evolved.\nFindings: In general distribution efficiency has improved, but this has taken place in step-wise manner rather than being linear year-to-year development (year 2006 found to be the threshold). Reason is mostly in better management of transportation costs, and in particular lower monthly deviation of these costs. It is surprising that case paper mill has been able to manage transportation costs in rapidly increasing energy cost environment so efficiently. Maybe European Union enlargement of 2004 and 2007 has had its effects on distribution efficiency.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research is limited to the deliveries of one paper mill located in Finland. Also East European markets in the early periods of this study were emerging papers markets, and distribution practices were clearly evolving.\nPractical implications: Based on the study East European paper market distribution should give more attention on transportation cost control, and trying to find solutions to minimize it with low monthly fluctuation.\nOriginality/value: Very few studies exist from East European distribution issues, and particularly that of paper industry. Also used quantitative method of DEA is relatively new in this context and gives valuable insights for the distribution efficiency development.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Modern innovation management theory and the evolving US lighting industry
|
[
"United States of America",
"Production innovation",
"Manufacturing industries",
"Decision making",
"Product adaptation"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The 150-year history of the US lighting industry is marked by both technological innovation and market structure shifts. This paper uses lighting industry case studies to demonstrate that two disruptive innovation theories not only explain innovation, but are robust enough to span changes in market structures. The innovation theories - which emphasize the roles of absorptive capacity and disruptive innovations in new product development - help explain companies' transitions between technologies. But how well do we understand transitions that combine technological innovations and changes in market structures? This research addresses the question of whether those innovation theories remain valid descriptors when both technologies and market structures change overtime.One theory being tested is that absorptive capacity is key to the ability of companies to innovate and capture new technologies. Absorptive capacity is defined as the ability of a firm to recognize the value of new, external information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990). Several studies demonstrate the importance of absorptive capacity, especially for companies trying to speed commercialization of new products or harness new waves of innovation (Tsai, 2001; Jolly and Therin, 2007). Most literature on absorptive capacity is neutral or silent on the subject of market structure, and generally assumes either constant or competitive market conditions.A second theory under examination is that disruptive innovations can provide toeholds for small companies, even those without great absorptive capacity. Authors differ about why innovations often surprise large, incumbent firms with established research and development (R&D) facilities. Some authors (Henderson and Clark, 1990) explain the miscues through taxonomies of technology, while others consider how the discontinuous nature of disruptive innovations can displace older technologies and elude incumbent firms (Christensen, 1997; Hargadon, 2003). Again, much of the literature cited and described in detail below assumes constant or competitive market structures.Both of these theories are necessary because they attempt to explain two sides of innovation. Absorptive capacity focuses on the institutional mechanisms behind innovation, including organizational learning (Zahra and George, 2002; Landes, 2003; Nelson and Nelson, 2002). Disruptive innovation theory, in contrast, focuses on individual actors' roles, perspectives, and competitive advantages in developing new technologies (Demuth, 2008).The lighting industry is a particularly good arena in which to further test these theories' explanatory power because the industry generated several successive, disruptive innovations, during which time the market structure also changed significantly. Historical company case studies in this paper illustrate risk management practices and changes in market structure through the development of four successive technologies: incandescent light bulbs, fluorescent light bulbs, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFBs), and light emitting diodes (LEDs). During this period, the industry expanded from monopoly to oligopoly to today's more competitive market. These case studies buttress innovation management theories that suggest the importance of absorptive capacity for large companies and the importance of disruptive technologies for small companies. They also show that these theories retain their explanatory power for transitions that involve simultaneous technology changes and market structure shifts.\n2. Background and literature review: This section provides a brief historical background of the lighting industry and examines prior literature on absorptive capacity and disruptive innovation theories. The industrial background provides a useful base from which to compare how companies behave in response to disruptive innovations. Because the companies and innovation efforts are compared using a risk management framework, this section will also explain the risk management theories supporting the framework. Finally, this section reviews the modern innovation theories that this paper evaluates using lighting industry examples ranging from the incandescent bulbs of 1880s to the LED lamps of the past decade.Industrial background\n3. Methodology: A test of the resilience of innovation management theories to changing market structures requires examination of an industry that, overtime, experienced both disruptive innovations and major market structure changes. The lighting industry was selected as an ideal research subject because of its well-documented history of innovation and its gradual evolution from monopoly to competitive market. Compelling parallels between Edison's experiments and today's LED innovators, along with the environmental and infrastructure effects of the industry added both interest and current topicality. Company comparisons use a risk management framework because, regardless of decade or technology, innovators repeatedly had to manage common technical, market, and financial risks.This study uses mostly secondary sources for early industry history, including the well-documented development of incandescent bulbs. Prior historical research of the lighting industry includes several key biographies of Thomas Edison and studies of development of incandescent bulbs in the 1880s. Sources such as Burke (1995), Israel (1998), Bazerman (1999) and Hargadon and Yellowlees (2001) help describe Edison's early lighting design efforts and establishment of a nearly monopolistic business structure. Further research extended the industrial history to include sales figures, the creation of a lighting industry oligarchy and fluorescent bulb development in the 1930s (Bright, 1949; Bright and Maclaurin, 1943; Reich, 1987; Bijker, 1995; De Vries and Boersma, 2005). Together, these and other sources cited in the findings describe how early industry structure alternately spurred and impeded innovation in incandescent light bulbs. Prais (1974) supported this work with further demonstrations of how patents and licensing arrangements helped companies intentionally delay key lighting developments to avoid product cannibalization and market losses.The modern history of the industry, specifically the last three decades which includes the development of CFBs and LEDs, requires primary data because the seminal industrial histories were published before - or otherwise do not include - the developments of the last three decades. Primary sources include company data, industry news and sales figures, trade journals, and department of energy reports. Together, they are used to describe CFB design and rising sales, start-up LED companies, and developments in the LED market that may be compared and contrasted with earlier industrial developments.\n4. Findings: The findings in this section are divided by innovation. They include incandescent lights, fluorescent lights in both their traditional and compact forms, and LEDs. Each case begins by describing the innovation itself and the industry structure at the time. The cases then demonstrate the technical, market and financial risks faced by innovating companies, and finish by highlighting the key findings about absorptive capacity and disruptive innovation.Incandescent light bulbs\n5. Conclusions and implications: The findings from the lighting industry are illuminating in several ways. First, they suggest that absorptive capacity remains important regardless of market structure, which in this case changed overtime almost as radically as the technologies themselves. Second, they support the theory that disruptive innovations can create opportunities for new entrants and expand the theory by demonstrating how small companies made breakthroughs in both competitive and non-competitive markets. Finally, they suggest several avenues for future research by uncovering notable patterns and similarities in the way companies from the 1880s to the early 2000s managed their innovation risks.While the need for absorptive capacity has been advocated in academia and industry for decades, this study shows that absorptive capacity was in fact necessary for over a century, and that absorptive capacity is not just advantageous in one type of market. Absorptive capacity theory is supposed to span technological change because it is about innovation. The findings above demonstrate that absorptive capacity remains important even as market structures change from monopolies to free markets. For example, monopolistic gas companies lacked absorptive capacity on incandescence and fell to an entrepreneur named Edison. Later, GE's oligarchic cartel leveraged its absorptive capacity to capture the emerging fluorescent technologies, allowing it to remain dominant in the lighting industry. Most recently, in a competitive market, Philips partnered with and purchased smaller innovators in a concerted effort to build its absorptive capacity and capture the emerging LED market.The concept of disruptive innovation is also meant to span technological change, but this research showed that it also spans market structure changes overtime. For example, the study showed that an entrepreneur developed the incandescence that disrupted a gas lamp monopoly, that incumbent firms reluctantly developed the fluorescence that disrupted an incandescence cartel, that several companies developed the CFBs that disrupted a weakening oligopoly, and that a multitude of LED manufacturers disrupted a relatively free-lighting market. These cases illustrate how taking advantage of disruptive innovation has been useful in a wide variety of market structures.The findings also demonstrate that disruptive innovation takes different forms. Some of these case studies demonstrated the tendency of companies to reduce market risk by making new products resemble old products or by meeting previous market standards. For example, early incandescent light bulbs were intentionally designed with low wattages to resemble gas lamps, CFBs entered the residential lighting market only when they were modified to fit into existing light sockets, and the LED market expanded only when developers mimicked bulb-like products with clusters of individual LEDs. In contrast, several LED companies adopted a strategy of pure differentiation and sought market entry by making lighting products distinctively dissimilar from previous generations, as in the case of wallpaper-embedded lights. Further exploration of this dichotomy between differentiation and mimicry among disruptive innovations, ideally in one industry overtime, may yield useful results for both researchers and practitioners of technology management.As case studies, these examples cannot prove innovation theories. However, by showing their applicability over long periods and changing conditions, this research expands the reach of innovation management theory and has implications for today's innovating companies. Regardless of market structure changes overtime, absorptive capacity remains especially important for incumbents, and exploiting disruptive innovations remains especially important for new entrants. The innovation management theories are a useful framework for explaining changes in the lighting industry, and examination of the lighting industry adds to the potential breadth and applicability of these innovation management theories.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to use a series of disruptive innovations in the 150-year history of the US lighting industry to test whether two key innovation management theories retain their explanatory power as market structures change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Historical case studies of four successive disruptive lighting innovations are used: incandescent light bulbs, fluorescent light bulbs, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFBs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Descriptions of each innovation include the new technologies, the evolving market structures, and how the innovating companies managed their risks during the transitions.\nFindings: - This paper finds that two contemporary theories on absorptive capacity and disruptive innovations retain validity and remain broadly applicable even as market structures change overtime from oligopoly and cartel to free market competition.\nOriginality/value: - By juxtaposing historic incandescent and fluorescent bulb innovations in constrained market conditions with modern CFB and LED innovations in free market conditions, this paper expands understanding of the lighting history to include the past two decades. It also expands the applicability of innovation theories by showing that they apply to various and changing market structures.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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Resource utilization in surgery after the revision of surgical fee schedule in Japan
|
[
"Efficiency",
"Japan",
"Resource efficiency",
"Surgical reimbursement system",
"Fee schedule revision",
"Surgeons’ efficiency"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: We previously reported a study that evaluated the Japanese surgical reimbursement system in terms of resource utilization using data envelopment analysis (DEA). By comparing the efficiency scores calculated from DEA, we evaluated the equity of the reimbursement scale in terms of resource utilization. We have demonstrated that the Japanese surgical reimbursement system failed to reflect resource utilization and was unequal among surgical specialties (Nakata et al., 2015). This observation was based on the previous fee schedules before the revision. DEA has been widely used to measure health care resource utilization. It is useful in evaluating multiple inputs and outputs in a variety of health care entities (Hollingsworth and Peacock, 2008; Ozcan, 2008). However, there has never been any study that used DEA to evaluate the Japanese fee schedule except our previous one (Nakata et al., 2015).\nMethods: The Teikyo University Institutional Review Board approved our study. Anonymity of the data was strictly maintained by de-identification by the research team. We intentionally used similar methods of data collection, analysis framework and statistical analysis so that we can compare the results with those of our previous study (Nakata et al., 2015).\nResults: We analyzed 2,816 surgical procedures performed by 102 surgeons during the study period. In total, 29 deaths were observed within one month postoperatively during this period, and were excluded from our analysis.\nDiscussion: We demonstrated that the surgeons' efficiency scores in the operating rooms remain significantly different among their surgical specialties even after the revision of fee schedule in April 2014. This means that the Japanese surgical reimbursement scales remain unequal among surgical specialties in terms of resource utilization despite the revision of surgical fee schedule; surgeries that utilize a large amount of resources were not reimbursed highly accordingly.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the current surgical reimbursement system in Japan reflects resource utilization after the revision of fee schedule in 2014.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors collected data from all the surgical procedures performed at Teikyo University Hospital from April 1 through September 30, 2014. The authors defined the decision-making unit as a surgeon with the highest academic rank in the surgery. Inputs were defined as the number of medical doctors who assisted surgery, and the time of operation from skin incision to closure. An output was defined as the surgical fee. The authors calculated surgeons' efficiency scores using data envelopment analysis.\nFindings: The efficiency scores of each surgical specialty were significantly different (p=0.000).\nOriginality/value: This result demonstrates that the Japanese surgical reimbursement scales still fail to reflect resource utilization despite the revision of surgical fee schedule.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Ingredients for building HR's reputation through the currency of trust: An organizational odyssey of inspiring confidence in HRM systems
|
[
"Intention to remain",
"Organizational citizenship behavior",
"HRM system strength",
"HRM process",
"Organizational competence"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: To be able to lead their organization in a positive people-focused direction, Human Resources (HR) teams are tasked with mastering the delicate art of inspiring the collective confidence of the community of organizational members. A research paper by de la Rosa-Navarro et al. (2019) explores the effects of multiple dimensions of Human Resource Management (HRM) system strength on the reactions of employees within an organization, specifically on their organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and their intention to remain (IR) working for the organization. These HRM system strength dimensions are distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus, and the interrelation of their effects on one another is also focused on. Data for the study were gathered from the survey responses of HR managers and non-HR employees working in 102 four-star hotels in Spain, each of which had at least 50 employees. HR managers rated the level of HRM strength, whereas the non-HR employees rated the extent of their OCB and IR.\nUnderstanding elements of a strong HRM system: Due to the huge decline that their industry experienced in the last financial crisis, Spanish hospitality businesses are now keen to optimize their HRM systems as a proactively defensive measure in readiness for a subsequent financial crisis arising. An HRM system can be understood as an array of strategically focused practices, yet a shift toward a dynamic approach advocates thinking of HRM processes as being composed of active elements that emit messages to employees that influence their behavior in line with the organization's cultural expectations. The work of HR teams is also affected by the perceived level of organizational competence. This concept relies on trust from employees that the organization knows how to successfully operate, and experiencing this trust builds employees' self-esteem and satisfaction about being a part of such an organization.\nUnpacking the concept of HRM strength: The following three dimensions of HRM strength were identified by the study:\nThe HRM system dimension results: Self-rated responses to survey question prompts such as \"Employees are regularly informed about the initiatives taken by the HR department\" and \"In general, the HR staff is met with appreciation in this organization\" revealed the following results, that:\nTaking action: Based upon their findings, the study's authors make the following recommendations to HR Managers and senior managers who seek to boost their pan-organizational influence through the construction of HRM systems:\nCommentary: The review is based on \"Disentangling the strength of the HRM system: effects on employees reactions\" by de la Rosa-Navarro et al. (2019), published in \"Employee Relations.\" This research paper concentrates on exploring the elements of a strong HRM system: namely consistency, distinctiveness of messaging, and consensus of employee reactions. These latter two elements combine to form a hybrid reputational dimension for an organization's HR team. The results from respondents working in Spanish hotels reveal that a strong HRM system consisting of these interdependent elements does generate greater employee commitment and engagement. HR managers and leaders are therefore advised to add value by building their reputation in line with these trust-inducing principles.\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 research paper concentrates on exploring the elements of a strong HRM system: namely consistency, distinctiveness of messaging, and consensus of employee reactions. These latter two elements combine to form a hybrid reputational dimension for an organization's HR team. The results from respondents working in Spanish hotels reveal that a strong HRM system consisting of these interdependent elements does generate greater employee commitment and engagement. HR managers and leaders are therefore advised to add value by building their reputation in line with these trust-inducing principles.\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"
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] |
Enigma of KAIZEN approach in manufacturing industry of Northern India - a case study
|
[
"Kaizen",
"Manufacturing industry"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The manufacturing industry has experienced an unprecedented degree of change in the last three decades, involving drastic changes in management approaches, product and process technologies, customer expectations, supplier attitudes as well as competitive behavior. In today's highly dynamic and rapidly changing environment, the global competition among organizations has led to higher demands on the manufacturing organizations (Ahuja et al., 2006). Most of the companies are currently encountering a necessity to respond to rapidly changing customer needs, desires and tastes. To compete in this continuously changing environment, these companies must seek out new methods allowing them to remain competitive and flexible simultaneously, enabling their companies to respond rapidly to new demands. In order for these companies to remain competitive, retain their market share in this global economy, satisfy both external and internal economy, and satisfy both external and internal customers, continuous improvement of manufacturing system processes has become necessary. Competition and continuously increasing standards of customer satisfaction have proven to be endless driver of organizational performance improvements. The KAIZEN or CI approach constantly seeks to identify and implement ongoing enhancements in a firm's products, services and processes (Singh and Singh, 2010). As a result, continuous improvement of manufacturing system processes has become necessary.\nLiterature review: Jonsdottir et al. (2014) analyzed how certified organizations support continuous improvement: whether continuous improvement is handled like a formal project; who is responsible for carrying out continuous improvement projects; and which project management tools are mainly used for these projects. It is concluded that actions supporting CI of certified organizations are not at all handled as formal projects. \"Just-do-it\" actions could be part of CI projects; thus, there is no need to use formal PM. Cachay and Abele (2012) conducted study to investigate the development of problem-solving competencies among shop floor workers during a target-oriented continuous improvement process with the use of learning cells. The research results so far obtain suggest that application of developed methods should be studied further in the industrial setting. To this end, longer term studies should be undertaken in order to obtain further differential results. Lonica et al. (2012) conducted the study on reengineering and continuous improvement. The objective of the study consists in bringing the meaning of these two approaches into the personal life development. There were applied several tests that deal with the personality, the taste for risk, self-fulfillment through career, etc. According to the results of this study, for execution jobs, the Levinson model is left shifted by six years and for management jobs, the Levinson model is right shifted by six years. Savino and Mazza (2014) provided some general principles to integrate environmental management system and quality management system development and suggested an implementation of continuous improvement, which addresses, analyzes, prioritizes and measures activities within the Deming wheel. Under industrial management perspective, this study provides an interesting opportunity to evaluate and to implement the Deming wheel, suggesting a practical outline of activities that should be conducted within the PDCA cycle. This study suggests that the following future practical investigations are needed: an assessment of the core resources for an IMS, a classification of continuous improvement capabilities of firms and how to measure the attitudes of firms for continuous improvement. Tseng et al. (2006) investigated the effects of continuous improvement and cleaner production on the operational performance. A total of 223 responses were obtained after the distribution of questionnaire. The direct and indirect influences of independent variables on dependent variables were tested by structural equation modeling technique. The results indicated that the continuous improvement might not be able to directly improve the operational performance. However, continuous improvement played a significant role in cleaner production implementation.\nIntroduction to the industry and selection criteria of manufacturing industry: The company was started in 1938 to capture the customer requirement of lamps and tubes. Compact fluorescent lamp is energy efficiency CFL that uses 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent light bulbs and lasts up to ten times longer. CFLs radiate a spectral power distribution that is different from that of incandescent lamps. It is a great alternative to traditional lamps as it helps to emit brighter light by consuming lesser energy. As a result, a CFL bulb is considered to be less stressful on eye. The Philips 23 W bulb has a lifetime of 6,000 hours. There are two popular color temperatures: cool day light (7,000-7,500 k) and warm white (2,700-3,200 k). There are three popular base types: B22, E27 and E14. The industrial units selected for conduction of the case study have been selected on the following basis:\nMethodology adopted and research framework: The study has been carried out in the Indian manufacturing industry, manufacturing Lamps and Tubes, that has successfully implemented CI methodology or has made sincere efforts for adapting CI strategies. The objective of the study is to investigate the contributions of CI strategies and approach toward realization of manufacturing benefits for enhancing performance of the company. The study involves investigation of contributions of successful CI approach toward accruing manufacturing performance improvement in the manufacturing enterprise. The methodology employed in the present study has been depicted in Figure 1.\nData analysis: This section describes the reliability analysis of input and output parameters, statistical analysis for the proposed research which has been performed to validate the data, and results obtained from statistical analysis.\nImportant benefits achieved from KAIZEN implementation: Analysis is done on the basis of 14 main benefits including the following: extent of improvement in competitive image, improved customer relation, reduction in scrap, improvement in productivity, reduction in inventories, increase in profit, improvement in overall equipment effectiveness, improvement in worker motivation, improvement in team work, improvement in manpower utilization and efficiency, improvement in employee trust in management, improvement in product, improvement in quality, improvement in frequent deliveries and also on the basis of other benefits of KAIZEN. The important benefits achieved from KAIZEN implementation are determined from the value of mean and level of significance has been tested on the basis of t-test. Table IV shows that Student's t-test has been applied to different benefits of CI approach.\nResult discussion of correlation CI tools and benefits of CI approach: Table V shows that the highest positive values of correlation coefficient are significant at 5 percent level, which means that the claims are justified. R2 value signifies how much percentage of dependent variables is explained by the independent variables taken together. F-value signifies whether R2 adjusted is significant or not. All values are significant. The highest positive correlation coefficient is found between the element \"Total productive maintenance\" and the benefit \"Organization\" (r=0.676127). It reveals that proper equipment maintenance and sustained operator involvement are most effective in achieving the goals of the organizations or total productive maintenance plays a vital role in achieving the goals of the organizations; the highest positive correlation coefficient is found between the element \"FMEA\" and the benefit \"Employee\" (r=0.663884). It shows that FMEA highly aims at increasing productivity or it is concluded that the manufacturing organizations are using the elements of FMEA that form a part of KAIZEN for increasing productivity and reducing rejections; the highest positive correlation coefficient is found between the element \"Customer Orientation\" and the benefit \"Customer\" (r=0.73598). Continuous feedback from the customers is highly helpful to know about the demands of the customers. Translating the customer requirements at the design stages of the product and identifying the key performance indicators through the continuous feedback from customer play a vital role in customer satisfaction.\nProblem formulation and results of case study: The present research work has been done at ABC Company of Northern India to minimize the wastage of coating powder used in CFL tubes during manufacturing, hence saving the cost to company. The wastage of powder affects the production efficiency of plant. This small wastage of 30-50 mg produces large effect because when we multiplied the cost of wastage per shell to the No. of CFL produced in a year, it becomes very large. Problem is faced in CFL 12 line which is a 23 w tube. In this line, the wastage of fluorescent powder is seen because powder is poured in shell manually. There are many reasons which result in wastage, such as pre-heating of shell, operator error, pressure of fluid, etc. (Figure 5).\nConclusions and limitations: For achieving \"manufacturing excellence\", industry must exploit all available CI strategies to supplement resource planning for greater quality of the product. The present study has outlined the significance of CI approach as a vital factor for enhancing manufacturing performance in the manufacturing organization. The study critically reveals the contributions of CI strategic implementation for achieving manufacturing performance improvement through quality initiatives in the manufacturing industry of Northern India. It can be concluded that CI strategies including failure mode effect analysis, total productive maintenance, productivity improvement, discipline at work place, just-in-time and statistical quality control through holistic CI implementation program can significantly contribute in harnessing incremental improvements in the organization, thereby providing a sound platform for the organization to compete effectively in the dynamic environment. Thus, in today's competitive environment, CI approach can prove to be an effective global strategy for Indian manufacturing organizations, rendering firms a consistent enhancement of performance in terms of achieving manufacturing performance improvement. It can be concluded that decrease in temperature from 130degC to 100degC of pre-heating reduces the boiling of fluid on tip of the shell but also causes improper dryness of coating which results in wet coating. Increased pressure of fluid through blow gun provides better results because there is a negligible amount of fluid flow in reverse direction. When pressure is set to be 0.65 kg/cm2 instead of 0.6 kg/cm2, the fluid penetrates 185 mm inside the shell which is the highest point in ring of shell. We are limited in inclusion of additional theoretical questions related to constraints in achieving manufacturing performance improvement because of some literature constraints and requirements. Generalization of CI tools is limited, but the study does contribute to the literature on the further development of sophisticated CI methodology in organizations. Moreover, this study is limited only to the Northern Indian manufacturing Industry.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to uncover the significance of KAIZEN technique in manufacturing environments.\nDesign/methodology/approach: KAIZEN is a management approach focused on incremental improvements in operations. Different elements of KAIZEN are being utilized by manufacturing industry to improve the performance of current manufacturing system processes. This study attempts to evaluate the performance of different elements of KAIZEN in manufacturing industry of Northern India. The importance level of different elements of KAIZEN, important benefits achieved after successful implementation of KAIZEN approach and benefits occurred after implementation of different elements of KAIZEN have been identified. Questionnaire survey in the case company has been performed and the most important element of KAIZEN has been implemented.\nFindings: Results explicitly depict that failure mode and effective analysis is the most important element of KAIZEN. Results indicate the net savings of rupees 422,208 annually after implementing KAIZEN technique in a case company.\nOriginality/value: The paper demonstrates the practical application of KAIZEN technique showing how it can bring real breakthroughs in saving cost in the manufacturing industry.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Brand management in a situation of an economic crisis: Methods of strengthening the brand value in the scope of emerging markets
|
[
"Emerging markets",
"Branding strategies",
"Brand management",
"Brand value"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. The crisis: a theoretical background: A crisis represents \"a low probability, high impact situation that is perceived by critical stakeholders to threaten the viability of the organization\" (Pearson and Clair, 1998, p. 66). Economic crises are closely linked with the concept of the business cycle and are also called crisis cycles (Mattick, 1981). Although so far there been carried out many studies on the business cycle, however, successive periods of expansion and contraction of the cycle remains an unexplained mystery. However, not all periods of recession are classified as crises that relate to contractions in which real business power is decreasing, nor a period of slow growth (Sharma, 1999). Therefore it is difficult to predict and assess the impact of these economic crises.\n2. The nature and importance of the brand: Product brand is an element or a composition of multiple components containing a certain content, which are expressed by a variety of symbols, both linguistic (words and phrases), ideographic (numbers and letters), iconic (graphics, drawings, photographs) as well as audio (melody, music). These elements communicate symbolic content representing the features and functions of the product. Thus, the brand can be a name, term, sign, symbol, design or combination thereof, designed for signage, recognition and identification of the company's offer and to distinguish it in a positive way from other competing products. This distinction is based on functional and/or symbolic benefits delivered to the customer, based on which it is possible to build ties of loyalty to the brand (Kall, 2001; Altkorn, 1999; Dibb et al., 1994; Kotler, 1994). Branded products should not be only luxurious and selectable products, but also products purchased in a routine and standard way. According to some studies, beneficial brand image is always useful to achieve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Sometimes the impact of a success of the brand is so strong, that makes the product or a service is called with a particular brand. It is generally accepted that brand loyalty consists of both attitudinal and behavioral dimensions (Koo, 2003). Branded goods are generally associated with well-known producers (sellers) and - despite higher prices than similar unbranded products - therefore attract much more interest, excitement and confidence of buyers.\n3. Determinants of shaping brand value: Strong and positive associations distinguishing strong brands from weak brands, and thus influencing purchasing decisions, play the essential role in the perception of a product as being of a good brand. Associations accompanying the brand and determining its strength can be divided into two groups: associations of brand with the product category (brand awareness) and the connotations associated with the image of the brand (Kall et al., 2006). Table I shows the characteristics of both categories and their role in the creation of brand strength.\n4. Instruments strengthening the brand in a crisis situation: Contemporary conditions for enterprise operations are characterized by considerable uncertainty and risk. The global financial crisis, faster and more frequently changing customer decisions, the progress of technology, the unification and standardization of styles, actions and brands mean that for businesses it is increasingly difficult to effectively motivate the customer to buy their products and to build a loyalty bond with him. At the same time, the propensity for saving, growing in the time of crisis, makes the customers' choices more thoughtful and rational. On the other hand, it turns out that the crucial factor in the purchasing process of customers is the brand of the product. The importance of brand in purchasing decisions of customers has increased by 20 percent in recent years (since 2006) (Starczewska, 2012). Customer choice is based on the value of positive associations with the brand of the product which you can trust and in which customers are involved. Below there are the characteristics of strategic marketing efforts used by the companies that are aimed at increasing the degree of customer loyalty and maintaining or strengthening the image of the brand in the time of crisis.\n5. Research results in the scope of brand value in 2010-2014: The turbulence in the business environment caused by many factors (financial crisis, decline in customers' income, uncertainty, intensity of competition and others) left a lasting mark on the perception and meaning of the essence and significance of brands in marketing activities of enterprises. The events of the crisis and recession period have questioned the credibility of some brands, others could be led to destruction. It seems that brand managers need to re-examine some of the mysteries of the brand that came with the escalating crisis situation. Among these mysteries one should mainly point to (Schultz, 2009):\n6. Conclusions and discussion: Certainly, it can be concluded that brands are characterized by long-term value for customers. Many well-known brands that were abandoned due to short-term financial problems or bad market situation, were successfully re-introduced to the market by new owners based on a previously worked out image (e.g. Frugo in Poland).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present modern marketing tools used by today's businesses to maintain or strengthen the value of their brands in the conditions of deteriorating economic situation. The specific purpose is an analysis of activities that might be attempted by companies in emerging markets in order to increase the strength of their brands.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper presents the determinants of the development of brand value. An analysis has also been made of activities connected with the development of the brand based on the experience of the best brands in the world. Considerations are based on secondary sources, from national and international journals, books, magazines and specialist reports, as well as were supported by research results of the most valuable brands in the world.\nFindings: The paper provides the insight of marketing activities, that may favor building brand value in the time of recession. It was suggested that recession may be a good time for some companies to invest in the brand. However, today's competition conditions are forcing companies to used more modern marketing techniques in order to build a positive brand image. In addition, customers increasingly expect to be able to engage in brand and wish to influence its image.\nPractical implications: The paper includes implications for companies in emerging markets, through which it is possible to effectively manage brand value in the time of crisis. These proposals are an important course of action for companies from emerging markets, which tend to increase the strength of its brand.\nOriginality/value: Due to the fact that the considerations in the paper relate to general proposals for action, the results can constitute a starting point for in-depth research in the future. An interesting issue would be to assess the effectiveness of the proposed activities in emerging markets.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The Internet of Things and convenience
|
[
"Personalization",
"Convenience",
"Ubiquitous computing",
"Internet of Things",
"Alpha convenience",
"Silent gossip"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The Disney/Pixar movie Wall-E (2008) presents a future scenario with people permanently docked into mobile entertainment modules. Everything in their lives is handled by computers. Clearly, this is convenience gone too far. But when, really, is it too much for our own good?\n2. CTA: CTA should be understood as a proactive approach in contrast to conventional Technology Assessment (TA) (Genus, 2006; Rip et al., 1995; Schot, 1992; Schot and Rip, 1996). While TA deals with retrospective assessments of technology, CTA attempts strategic intervention. Although the impact of technology cannot be fully foreseen, some trends and consequences can be anticipated. Such foresight is valuable in both public debate, which potentially could guide implementation (Rip, 2001), and policy formulations, which determine the path for future directions. The underpinning idea is that the implications are too broad for technological development to be left solely in the hands of technologists. Technologist are commonly concerned with the production of functional devices, which nevertheless, as a by-product, construct societal instruments and, indeed, contribute to future societal states, hence, the need for the engagement from social scientists.\n3. The IoT and similar concepts: The IoT, probably coined in 1999 (Ashton, 2009) was initially little more than an adoption of ubiquitous computing to the technology of the internet. With time, this notion has been considerably broadened. The original interpretation referred to the opportunity to identify objects with radio tags or barcodes. This enabled an aggregation of internet catalogues allowing one to see where any individual object is situated. Although that remains the core meaning of the IoT, as discussed later in the paper, the concept has since been expanded to include both the opportunities of technological development and parallel visions brought forward through other concepts.\n4. Earlier critical reflections: The IoT and associated concepts, mentioned above, have met limited criticism. Most scrutiny has been directed toward ubiquitous computing but even this has been surprisingly sparse. The brunt of the literature has been situated in the technological realm, i.e. working to manifest technological visions. The First International Conference on the Internet of Things, held in 2008, was one of the very first attempts to invite papers that addressed \"non-technical topics,\" however, this invitation was met with rather low number of submissions (Jakobs and Williams, 2008). In the same year, van Kranenburg (2008) wrote a general critical discussion of RFID tags connected to ambient intelligence.\n5. The value drivers of the IoT: The obvious challenge for CTA is that technologists seldom are concerned with larger societal visions. For the current paper, we are indebted to the work of Fleisch (2010), which has served to pinpoint various specific usages of the IoT. In his article, Fleisch (2010) presents seven value drivers that the IoT can contribute to business processes. In the following, we will review these in order to clarify how specific forms of increased convenience can be developed.\n6. Exploring alpha convenience: As becomes evident when reviewing the seven value drivers, creating applications utilizing the IoT is a multifaceted project. There are myriads of opportunities targeting any perceivable aspect of our lives. Technologists typically work in a piecemeal manner, targeting individual patterns of behavior with the aim of making our daily lives more efficient. However, taken together and as a cumulative global drive powered by the need for technologists to find funding for their particular skills, any area that requires some form of human effort will have a bull's eye painted on it. The possible problems associated with the seven value drivers are summarized in Table I.\n7. Alpha convenience and gossiping technology: Already today, the web is populated by widgets, gadgets and applications that automatically exchange information about users. This is most clearly evident when shopping. The PayPal account or credit card vendor will communicate automatically with the site selling goods. This is, however, only one obvious example. Most of our actions on the web will generate a flurry of gossip between websites and between diverse gadgets. This development is accelerating as applications are becoming \"smarter.\" Many web-based services are now \"mashups\" that have drawn content from different sources.\n8. Alpha convenience and personalization: Alpha convenience, as enabled by the sixth and seventh added value of the IoT (above), seems to require that a multitude of computers will recognize each individual and adapt services accordingly. When a person enters a new environment, s/he is instantly recognized and resources customized. Compared to current practices of mobile internet access, this is a far more elaborate technology. The process is eerily akin to that of users accessing an adaptive webpage such as Amazon.com. The smart room allows \"things\" connected to the user to communicate with the things of other users as well as permanent and temporal things situated in that environment.\n9. Alpha convenience and the disempowered smartphone owner: Rainie and Wellman (2012) identify a triple revolution of contemporary societies, consisting of social revolution, internet revolution and mobility revolution. Similar interpretations of modern societies are common in social science. Clearly, several aspects of alpha convenience are already in place. However, while the mobility revolution has made internet access possible for just about anyone at anyplace and anytime, alpha convenience pushes the envelope. It is important to clearly identify the difference between our current smartphone-based mobility and alpha convenience. Such differences concern the central positioning of artificial intelligence in the development of IoT.\n10. Concluding discussion: can we opt out of alpha convenience?: We have discussed several vital problems that tend to be ignored in technological discussions in the extreme forms of convenience that in this paper have been called alpha convenience. We have argued that the relocation of power from the things we carry with us, i.e. smartphones, laptops, pads, etc., to things in an intelligent environment generates a number of significant problems. Most of these are already present in our current highly digital lives, but alpha convenience will tend to introduce new dimensions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and engage with connections between the evolving technology of the Internet of Things (IoT) and notions of convenience. In particular, the concept of alpha convenience is introduced in order to articulate the broad scope of Internet \"any-everything\" connectivity, here called \"alpha convenience.\"\nDesign/methodology/approach: The recommendations of Constructive Technology Assessment are followed in order to evaluate technology before implementation. The seven value drivers articulated by Fleisch (2010) are utilized in order to envision-specific aspects.\nFindings: Three critical aspects relating to alpha convenience are identified and discussed: gossiping technology, personalization and the disempowered smartphone user. It is argued that extreme forms of convenience shift traditional areas of human agency onto technology. It is also noted that alpha convenience tends to develop as ubiquitous feature of future society, making it difficult, if not impossible, to opt out.\nResearch limitations/implications: The paper focusses on one powerful concept, although the IoT is merely one of several terms used to deliberate the role of next-generation information technology and society. Notable competitors include semantic web, ubiquitous computing, pervasive computing and ambient intelligence.\nSocial implications: The IoT is predicted to be an intrusive feature into everyday life and the paper identifies important aspects.\nOriginality/value: This is the first critical discussion of the IoT and convenience. The paper aims at conceptual innovation. Overall, there is a substantial lack of critical scrutiny of the emerging ideas of the IoT.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Land value capture strategies in PPP - what can FM learn from it?
|
[
"Facilities management",
"Value assessment",
"Public private partnerships",
"In-kind contribution",
"Land value capture",
"Urbanism"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Public private partnerships (PPPs) have been a motivational tool for the introduction of private sector involvement in the provision of public sector services, especially in transport sector. Transport services and infrastructure bear multiple positive socio-economic impacts, improve competitiveness and support business development. Different alternative (innovative) entrepreneurial models of partnership with an effect of improved accessibility were introduced by Roumboutsos and Salaj (2013), showing the concept of exploiting the business opportunity that accessibility projects provide. One of the alternatives and additional source of infrastructure financing is known as \"value capture\". It corresponds to \"capturing\" the value of benefits of transport infrastructure and services on adjacent land and other property development-related activities. This approach has been used by various localities in a number of countries (Lari et al., 2009; Kemp et al., 2013).\nMethodology and instruments: Basic and structure\nConclusion: The present paper presents the sustainable valuation model of an in-kind contribution as a possibility for investing in better community development and new facility service opportunities. The paper contributes to the discussion of capturing the value of benefits of transport infrastructure and services on adjacent land, which could be included in PPP models. Taking into account that the national authorities are politically open to new financial investment models, which could contribute to economic sustainability, we discuss new land investment model for value capture strategy that could be attractive for wider group of private investors. In the article, we follow the idea that a private investor would enter into it if he could also participate in the profits, which come from changes in the value of the land during the lifetime of a project.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Value capture seeks to generate revenue by extracting a portion of the gains in the value of land and property that result from improvements to transportation networks. The paper aims to present the opportunities for facilities management (FM) on the level of participating more actively in the development of new area to help building a competitive and healthy area with high quality for residence, business and spare time. A framework also includes life period land valuation in the land value capture (LVC) for the assessment and revenue models for public private partnership (PPP) type of investments in the way to identify additional private profit so as to attract landlords to join the project.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Land valuation for expropriation is a useful method, which can be evaluated through the life period of the infrastructure. The value capture strategies are identified and respective policies are evaluated. Periodically, market value assessment of land within the value capture model is designed, by which the private partners could be attracted.\nFindings: In the paper, LVC shows how the relation to increase value of land can bring competitive areas and as such give new opportunity for FM.\nOriginality/value: Capturing land value and widening the internalisation of external positive impacts enhances the perspective of project assessment and PPP financing models. This model may be used by public and private sector parties involved in PPP arrangements to improve project evaluation and the base of project finance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The linkage between supply chain integration and manufacturing improvement programmes
|
[
"Supply chain management",
"Strategic manufacturing",
"Operations management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Starting from the seminal work of Skinner (1969), a wide number of studies have recognised manufacturing as a potential source of competitive advantage, leading to the development and success of manufacturing strategy as a relevant field in operations management. Manufacturing strategy has traditionally focused on the internal operations of manufacturing firms, in particular, on those concerned with the physical transformation of materials and the assembly of products.More recently, the management of the supply chain has become one of the key issues for many companies. A number of economic and business trends determined the need to widen the managerial focus from a traditional functional perspective to a more transversal one, and from the inside of the company to the set of actors that interact in order to develop and produce products for the final customer (Christopher, 1992; Cooper et al., 1997). In this light, companies are increasingly looking for competitive success not only through the integration of internal business processes and strategic alignment of internal functions, but also through the integration and alignment of inter-company processes.A large number of contributions to the OM literature are now focused on how companies should integrate their activities with customers and suppliers, and how supply chain management practices should be aligned with the company strategy. However, companies are still putting a lot of effort into improving their internal operations by adopting advanced manufacturing practices. While these practices and their relationship with performance have been widely studied in the past (for a recent review see, e.g. Dangayach and Deshmukh, 2001) the relationship between supply chain integration and manufacturing improvement programmes has been rather neglected so far. The identification of joint patterns of manufacturing and supply chain strategies would allow a better understanding of the mutual implications of the two. This paper aims to explore this issue on an empirical basis using a sample of 297 European manufacturing companies.\nResearch background: Supply chain integration\nResearch aims and hypotheses: Despite the examples given above, there is still a need for a comprehensive study to assess the type of linkage and coherence between the choices made regarding supply chain integration and the internal manufacturing improvement programmes.This paper will address this issue, considering in particular two manufacturing improvement programmes - lean production and ERP systems - and two upstream integration dimensions, namely the integration of information flows - i.e. the exchange of information about demand forecasts, production plans and delivery dates - and the integration of physical flows - i.e. the redesign of the supply base and the coupling of systems through techniques such as Kanban, VMI, consignment stock and co-location.The overall research proposition is that supply chain strategies and manufacturing strategies should be linked and coherently selected. On this basis, specific hypotheses will be tested:H1. The adoption of lean production practices is associated with higher levels of integration of both information flows and physical flows with suppliers.\nMethodology: Sample\nResults: The results of the hierarchical regression analysis for the adoption of information sharing are shown in Table VI.Model 1, which includes only control factors, does not show any significant relationship between the variables. However, both independent variables have a significant impact on information sharing, when each one is considered separately (models 2 and 3). Considering them together, consequently, allows improvement of the relevance of the model, but only lean production remains significant (model 4; b=0.371, p<0.001). This is due to the fact that the two independent variables are correlated, and consequently the significance of ERP in model 3 was in reality due to its correlation with lean production. The highest level of the R2 is reached by model 4; model 5, including also the combined effect of lean production and ERP, does not provide any significant improvement to the model. This means that the two variables have no significant joint effect.As far as the control variables are concerned, some of them become significant when considering also other variables, due to their mutual correlation. In particular, the adoption of information sharing is influenced by the number of suppliers, with a negative relationship (b=-0.170, p<0.01): the lower the number of suppliers, the higher the level of integration. Also the position in the supply chain has a significant influence: the less a company sells to manufacturers (and consequently the more it sells directly to distributors and end-users, i.e. the more it is downstream in the supply chain), the more information sharing is adopted (b=-0.143, p<0.05). The number of employees, the variation in the number of suppliers and the degree of vertical integration have no significant effect on the dependent variable.The results of the hierarchical regression analysis for the adoption of redesign and system coupling are shown in Table VII.Model 1 shows that in this case some control factors have a significant impact when considered alone, in particular the number of suppliers and its change; however, results change when other variables are included. Also, in this case both lean production and ERP have singularly a significant impact on the dependent variable (models 2 and 3); however, only lean production holds a considerable (b=0.547) and significant (p<0.001) impact on redesign and system coupling when they are considered together (model 4). Model 5 shows that they do not have a significant joint effect; for this reason, the best model is the fourth. In this case the effect of control variables is different from the previous: the number of employees has only a marginal influence (b=0.093, p<0.1). The percentage change in the number of suppliers instead has a significant, negative impact on this supplier integration dimension (b=-0.164, p<0.005); this means that a reduction of the supply base has a positive effect on the level of integration. The position in the supply chain has the same influence as in the previous model (b=-0.131, p<0.05). The number of suppliers and the incidence of purchasing costs have no significant impact on the level of integration.\nDiscussion: The research hypotheses are discussed on the basis of the results of the regression analysis presented in the previous section.Hypothesis H1\nConclusion: One of the dominant topics in the supply chain literature has been integration along the chain, but firms are not always successful in achieving higher integration. One of the reasons behind the failure of external integration programmes has been the lack of internal integration within the firm (Rosenzweig et al., 2003). For this reason, most manufacturing companies are today facing the problem of integrating supply chain and manufacturing strategies to optimise operations throughout the value chain.This paper supports with empirical evidence the existence of a link between two supply chain integration dimensions - integration of information flows and integration of physical flows - and the adoption of the lean production paradigm. Empirical results are strengthened by the fact that control variables only have a limited influence on the links explored. This indicates that the relationship between supply chain integration dimensions and lean production programmes may be valid in a wide range of contexts, independent of specific contingent or structural variables.We can conclude that the adoption of internal integration practices influences external integration, thus confirming the need for a coherent approach in order to succeed in this direction. It should be remarked that previous studies have already shown the strong impact of supply chain integration on both operational and business performance (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001; Rosenzweig et al., 2003; Cagliano et al., 2004). For this reason, the extension of the lean paradigm to the supply chain can lead to improved performance.In contrast, the introduction of ERP systems does not seem to be related to any supply chain integration dimension. This could be a weakness for those companies that rely heavily on inter-company processes to create value, since they can achieve internal information integration through ERP systems (which are heavily adopted), but remain isolated from suppliers, thus limiting the benefits of the heavy investments made. In this light, the adoption of web-based technologies is expected to support these companies in better exploiting the advantages coming from the adoption of ERP at the company level.It should be noted that while the lean production paradigm was developed almost 20 years ago, and consequently there has been quite a long time to extend it to the supply base, ERP systems have been developed more recently, and their extension outside the firm started only lately. The implementation so far has been within the company boundaries and there is still no strong impact on supply chain integration, which will probably come afterwards. However, a misalignment remains, since the need for information integration is already evident, and a coherent implementation of ERP could allow an easier and more effective extension to the supply chain.A number of managerial implications can be drawn from the research presented in this paper. These concern the importance of planning internal and external operations strategies coherently. In line with what is suggested in the literature, the evidence clearly shows that lean integration practices can indeed be adopted both within and outside the firm. Our results do not permit prescription of an extension of ERP systems along the supply chain; however, some hypothesis in this regard can be formulated with the support of the literature. In order to better exploit the advantages of internally integrated information systems, in line also with the needs of advanced production systems, they could be extended towards suppliers. This is probably not easy, due to the need for standards, infrastructure, etc; however, modern internet-based tools are now available to help bridge this gap (Cagliano et al., 2003).The limitations of this paper concern, first of all, the reliability of the construct used to measure redesign and system coupling, as already explained. Besides, this paper did not investigate the impact of the joint adoption of internal and external integration practices on firm performance, which could provide better evidence of the need for a comprehensive strategy. As a consequence, further research could better investigate the results coming from the joint adoption of internal and external integration practices, in particular in terms of operational performance. Besides, the relationship between ERP systems and supply chain integration needs to be further investigated, in order to understand the reasons for the \"missing link\" highlighted in this paper.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - While the attention of most OM scholars has shifted to supply chain management, there is still a need to understand how supply chain strategies are linked with internal manufacturing strategies. The literature shows some studies in this field, but a deep investigation of the linkages between these two areas is still missing. The purpose of this study is to investigate on an empirical basis the relationship between two supply chain integration dimensions - the integration of information flows and the integration of physical flows - and two manufacturing improvement programmes - lean production and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Evidence is drawn from a sample of 297 European companies from the third edition of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. Data are analysed using exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression.\nFindings: - Results show that the adoption of the lean production model has a strong influence on the integration of both information and physical flows along the supply chain, while no significant influence emerged from the adoption of ERP.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Findings open up new research questions about the missing link between ERP and information integration along the supply chain. Further developments concern the investigation of the impact of consistent adoption of internal and external practices on performance.\nPractical implications: - The paper provides managers with clear evidence of the need for consistency between internal and external integration.\nOriginality/value: - This paper contributes to research by providing empirical evidence of the link between manufacturing and supply chain integration practices.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Exploring virtual mental practice in maintenance task training
|
[
"Computer based learning",
"Training evaluation",
"Training climate"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Mental practice can best be understood as a type of training or preparation in which participants engage in the cognitive rehearsal of a given task before, after or between opportunities for task performance. For example, athletes may spend time visualizing the sequential steps necessary for performance in their sport or musicians may mentally rehearse the bars and verses along with accompanying finger placements between lessons. Although several historical meta-analyses and literature reviews have established varied positive relationships between mental practice and task performance (Driskell et al., 1994; Feltz and Landers, 1983), to the best of the authors' knowledge, few mental practice studies assess the influence of the organizational context on perceived training efficacy, and fewer still utilize interactive virtual reality as the mechanism for the manifestation of cognitive imagery, especially among first responder populations. The purpose of this applied study was primarily to determine the general utility of and participant reaction to a virtually displayed mental practice maintenance task via a preliminary training evaluation. In so doing, the authors also attempt to address two larger theory-based research questions using a specific first responder sample. Specifically, the study explores the degree to which virtual reality mental practice may be associated with perceived emergency response efficacy in a first responder sample and the kind of impact that training climate might have on the perceived usefulness or utility of this mental practice exercise.\nMine rescue teams: Underground coal mine rescue teams comprise highly trained and skilled miners who follow a prescribed regimen of classroom and hands-on training. They prepare themselves to enter an underground mine after an emergency event to perform rescue and recovery activities. Mine rescue teams generally comprise seven members. One team member remains at the \"fresh air base\". When a fresh air base is formed, it serves as a relatively safe established location for the base of operations for the team and is used to facilitate communication between the team and the command center, which is located outside the mine. Five of the team members methodically explore the mine by orders from the fresh air base. The seventh team member, \"the benchman\", inspects, assembles and tests the team's closed-circuit breathing apparatus prior to the team entering the mine.\nMental practice overview: One solution to overcome barriers to effective mine rescue team benchmen training may lie in mental practice methodologies. Mental practice, similar to many learning or psychosocial concepts, has a complex and nebulous past. Referred to by several names such as motor imagery, mental rehearsal, imaginary practice, covert rehearsal, conceptualization or mental imagery rehearsal (Rogers, 2006), the general thrust of the concept was allowing performers to train or practice tasks between formalized training sessions as a supplemental form of training, especially if training was infrequent or costly. Although historically the concept appears to have been used mostly in stroke rehabilitation (Braun et al., 2006; Nilsen et al., 2010), surgical technical skills (Arora et al., 2011), athletic performance (Murphy, 1994) and musician rehearsal (Freymuth, 1994; Bernardi et al., 2013), in recent years, the technique seems to have branched out to include diverse applications such as e-learning of pilot safety skills (Kearns, 2010) and Swedish solider military performance (Fjellman, 2010).\nVirtual reality mental practice: The authors also suggest that virtual reality can serve as a tool to support mental practice. In fact, Hinshaw (1991) discusses this difference as mental practice with internal vs external imagery, and although a particular meta-analysis found a stronger link between internal imagery mental practice and performance, the author asserts that virtual reality provides interaction-based external imagery. Although imagery alone seems enough to produce an effect on performance, such images are static. For complex cognitive and psychomotor tasks, mental practice may need to involve an interaction component. Indeed, in a computer-assisted mental practice study in stroke rehabilitation, Gaggioli et al. (2006) suggest that in tasks that are cognitively demanding or where mentally projecting imagery may pose difficulty because of task complexity, virtual reality may serve as a mental practice tool. Rizzo et al. (1998) also argue that virtual reality provides imagery that is difficult to artificially represent in other neuropsychological assessments. From a logistical perspective, computer-based virtual reality may also serve as an optimal delivery format, given the prevalence of personal computing devices and remote location of mines and their rescue teams, and that computer programs can have a wide and immediate distribution mechanism (e.g. online downloads, CDs, thumb drives, email attachments, etc.).\nTraining climate: Importantly, in the above discussions regarding the effectiveness of mental practice, the organizational context appears to be missing. One related noteworthy construct is training climate, which can be defined as trainee-perceived support from differing levels of the organization for formal and informal training and development activities (Tracey and Tews, 2005). Training climate can be conceptualized as a training-specific type of perceived organizational support (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002), especially given the established links between perceived organizational support and trainee perceptions of training quality (Russell et al., 1985). Although more individual-centered constructs such as training motivation and intent to learn certainly have an effect on skill acquisition during training sessions, training climate encompasses a broader perspective by investigating the organizational context into which trainees are meant to transfer acquired knowledge, skills and/or abilities after training sessions. Indeed, although many variables certainly influence the effectiveness of training efforts, previous research has demonstrated that training climate is instrumental in preparing individuals for formal application of knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAOs) and in achieving learning objectives (Tracey et al., 2001).\nMethod: Participants\nResults: Training evaluation\nDiscussion: The purpose of the present study was to perform training evaluation and investigate the role of training climate on perceived utility of a mental practice exercise utilizing virtual reality technology to teach mine rescue benchmen proper benching practices. Both research questions received moderate support, with overall findings generally supporting a mental practice framework for benchmen, and perceptions of and results from this mental practice may vary with respect to supportive workplace environments.\nConclusion and practical implications: The most apparent practical implication from the current study relates to the now-developed BG 4 software[1]. The BG 4 Benching Trainer software can be used by members of composite mine rescue teams between hands-on training sessions to help maintain their procedural skills. The module is also an ideal supplemental training tool that can be used to train benchmen and team members for new apparatus. The BG 4 Benching Trainer software supplements hands-on training in maintaining cognitive skills by giving trainees the opportunity to use procedural knowledge to assemble the apparatus and test it, along with declarative knowledge used in examining components for flaws. The BG 4 Benching Trainer software also helps trainees sharpen and maintain their motor skills by mentally practicing benching the apparatus.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to a general understanding of mental practice by investigating the utility of and participant reaction to a virtual reality maintenance training among underground coal mine first responders.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR) developed software to provide opportunities for mine rescue team members to learn to inspect, assemble and test their closed-circuit breathing apparatus and to practice those skills. In total, 31 mine rescue team members utilized OMSHR's BG 4 Benching Trainer software and provided feedback to the development team. After training, participants completed a brief post-training questionnaire, which included demographics, perceived training climate and general training evaluation items.\nFindings: The results overall indicate a generally positive reaction to and high perceived utility of the BG 4 benching software. In addition, the perceived training climate appears to have an effect on the perceived utility of the mental practice virtual reality game, with benchmen from mines with more positive training climates reporting greater perceived efficacy in the training's ability to prepare trainees for real emergencies.\nOriginality/value: This paper helps to broaden current applications of mental practice and is one of the few empirical investigations into a non-rehabilitation virtual reality extension of mental practice. This paper also contributes to the growing literature advocating for greater usage of accurate and well-informed mental practice techniques, tools and methodologies, especially for occupational populations with limitations on exposure to hands-on training.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Brand engagement in self-concept: a comparative study in Austria, Italy and Poland
|
[
"Brand engagement",
"Self",
"Consumer behaviour",
"BESC",
"Cross-country differences"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The notion that brands become part of consumers' extended selves has been well established in the psychological and marketing literature (Escalas and Bettman, 2003; Lisjak et al., 2012; Reimann et al., 2012). Research on the extended self is one of the trends of studies of consumer-brand relationships (Fetscherin and Heinrich, 2015). Increasing interest in this field was observed after 2010 when the Marketing Science Institute (MSI, 2010) included consumer engagement among the priority research directions for the future. Researchers have developed and introduced a number of different constructs describing diverse relationships with brands (Fetscherin and Heinrich, 2015). Among these which have received the most attention are self-brand connections - the extent to which individuals have incorporated brands into their self-concept (Escalas, 2004; Escalas and Bettman, 2003), consumer-brand identification - a consumer's \"state of oneness with a brand\" (Stokburger-Sauer et al., 2012) and customer-brand engagement - how customers could cognitively valence and emotionally and/or behaviourally react towards all brand activities (Hollebeek, 2011). All of these constructs aim to measure relationships between a consumer and a particular brand. In contrast, brand engagement in self-concept (BESC) is defined as a consumer's general propensity to include important brands as part of the self-concept (Sprott et al., 2009). Thus, BESC is a characteristic of a single individual that can affect the relationship with brands. This construct represents a generalized view of brands in relation to the self (not brand specific), and it comprehensively reflects reality because consumers can integrate many different brands into their self-concept.\nBrand engagement in self-concept: Over the past 20 years, branding research has paid increasing attention to several forms of customer-brand relationships (Aaker et al., 2004; Fournier, 1998), such as self-brand connection (Escalas, 2004; Tan et al., 2019), brand love (Batra et al., 2012) and brand attachment (Whan Park et al., 2010). More recently, many scholars have investigated the concept of brand engagement (Brodie et al., 2011; Hollebeek, 2011), focussing their efforts on defining the construct with its drivers and consequences and developing its measures. Brand engagement is defined as \"the level of an individual customer's motivational, brand-related and context-dependent state of mind characterised by specific levels of cognitive, emotional and behavioural activity in direct brand interactions\" (Hollebeek, 2011, p. 790). However, other specifications of brand engagement have been developed.\nCultural and economic differences in brand-related consumer behaviour: Consumer behaviours are closely related to lifestyle and culture (Solomon et al., 2010). A growing interest in investigating cultural influences on consumer behaviour has provided much evidence supporting this thesis. Culture influences perceptions of brands (Aaker et al., 2001; Torelli et al., 2012), meanings of branded products (Strizhakova et al., 2008) and advertising effectiveness (Gould et al., 2000; Zhang and Neelankavil, 1997). Moreover, culture affects more tangible aspects of consumption, such as the consumption of luxury goods (Wong and Ahuvia, 1998) or consumer responses to price information (Lalwani and Shavitt, 2013).\nCurrent study: comparisons between Austria, Italy and Poland: In this study, we explore differences among consumers from Austria, Italy and Poland in terms of BESC scores. Economic development and materialism as a facet of consumer lifestyle were the most important selection criteria for this study. Furthermore, the countries under study represent different cultural clusters in Europe - Italy belongs to the Latin cluster, Austria belongs to the Germanic cluster and Poland represents an Eastern European country. In spite of the fact that the selected countries are members of the EU and represent Central-European countries, they differ in many indicators associated with economic development and consumer lifestyle. As will be shown further, these variables play an important role in consumer-brand relationships. Among Austria, Italy and Poland, there are stark contrasts in a number of demographic and economic variables, e.g. with respect to population (Austria 8.7 million, Italy 60.6 million and Poland 37.9 million) but also with respect to other areas, such as income and household consumption expenditure. In Austria, the annual gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016 was higher (US$50,924 per capita) than in Italy (38,581) and Poland (27,094; OECD, 2018).\nMethod: Participants\nStatistical analyses: We analysed the results using IBM SPSS Statistics software, version 22 and Mplus software, version 7.0. Firstly, we explored missing values and descriptive statistics. Secondly, measurement invariance across countries was tested. We examined the factor structure of the BESC scale for each country separately. Considering the multivariate non-normality estimate, the model was tested using maximum likelihood estimation with robust standard errors. To assess the model fit, we used: Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square (S-B kh2), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI) and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR). RMSEA and SRMR values less than 0.08 and CFI values greater than 0.90 indicate an acceptable model fit (Schweizer, 2010). After the fit of the model was established, we used the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA). Measurement invariance was tested by fitting a sequence of increasingly restrictive models:\nDiscussion: The aim of the present study was to investigate cross-country differences in BESC, assessed with the BESC scale, among consumers from three European countries: Austria, Italy and Poland. Before the comparison was undertaken, the measurement invariance of the scale across the three countries was tested. The results provided evidence for partial scalar measurement invariance, allowing for appropriate cross-group comparisons (Steenkamp and Baumgartner, 1998). It is not surprising, as partial scalar invariance is a frequent result in measurement invariance studies (Putnick and Bornstein, 2016). Our results showed that Polish consumers scored higher on BESC than consumers from Austria and Italy. In addition, consumers from Austria obtained higher results on BESC than consumers from Italy. Our findings support the idea that consumer-brand relationships could be associated with rapid economic growth. In particular, the study results corroborate Wallstrom et al. (2010) research, which indicated that expressing oneself through brands is specific for consumers in economically growing countries. The findings also seem to be consistent with Flynn et al. (2011), who argued that, because consumers are exposed to increasing levels of marketing influence as their economy grows, their new purchasing power and access to branded goods might stimulate increasing use of brands as the means of self-identification. The observed cross-country differences are in line with the results of studies on materialism, in which materialism has been found to be positively correlated with BESC (Alden et al., 2016; Sprott et al., 2009). Still, it is important to distinguish between BESC and materialism. As Goldsmith et al. (2012) point out, BESC is related to the acquisition of specific, branded goods that embody one or more important elements of the self, whereas materialism involves acquiring possessions in general.\nFuture research and limitations: As with all research efforts, this study is not free of limitations. Firstly, we focussed on only three European national markets, which means that the results relate only to these countries and cannot be generalized to other markets. Generalizability to countries beyond the three studied here should be investigated. In future research, it is worth considering not only European countries but also the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Secondly, the study was based on data from convenience samples which is a common methodological solution in many scientific research studies. This technique of sampling has limitations in terms of representation and bias. Given that this research was the first to investigate cross-country differences in BESC after providing evidence for measurement invariance of the BESC scale, we encourage future efforts to replicate these results using representative samples from more countries. Thirdly, our study focussed only on cross-country differences in BESC, so future research is needed to evaluate cross-country differences concerning psychological or marketing antecedents and consequences of BESC, that could better explain motivations at the basis of BESC cross-country differences and consequences of BESC dissimilarities. Our conceptual focus is on materialism and economic growth. However, it is possible that other consumption-related factors (e.g. hedonism, individualism) may similarly encourage (or discourage) consumers to engage brands in self-concepts. Likewise, future research could broaden our findings by examining the degree to which insecurity could influence consumers' BESC. Indeed, the literature suggests that secure relationship attachments (Arndt et al., 2004) offer protection from existential fears; in this vein, insecurity could affect the propensity of individuals to engage brands in their concept. As traditional sources of security are family, community and religion (Rindfleisch et al., 2009), security and, thus, BESC could change depending on the country's culture.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The study aims to shed light on cross-country comparisons of brand engagement in self-concept (BESC) among consumers from European countries and to link presumed differences with country-level economic growth and materialism. This study contributes to the literature on the customer-brand relationship and provides implications for international branding strategies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This observation study explored levels of BESC in three European countries. Questionnaire data were collected from consumers of Austria (N = 302), Italy (N = 431) and Poland (N = 410) with the purpose to make cross-country comparisons of BESC among consumers.\nFindings: The results provide evidence for partial scalar invariance of the BESC scale. Cross-country comparisons of latent means reveal that Polish consumers score higher on BESC than consumers from Austria and Italy. Moreover, Austrian consumers score higher on BESC than Italian consumers.\nResearch limitations/implications: Culture as a contextual factor of BESC should be studied further. The findings should be replicated with non-convenience samples in additional cultural contexts to improve the generalizability of data. Structural equation modeling could be used to investigate psychological drivers of BESC differences.\nPractical implications: The findings coming from the cross-country comparisons of BESC are of practical relevance to marketing managers: they should tailor their branding and communication strategies accordingly.\nOriginality/value: So far, the understanding of cross-cultural and cross-country differences in consumer-brand relationships has remained limited. This study adopts a rigorous approach to cross-cultural research enriching the literature on BESC from a cross-country perspective.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
A decade of health assessments in Appalachia: Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) data from Roane Medical Center, 2005 vs 2015
|
[
"Public health",
"Critical access hospital",
"HQA",
"Roane Medical Center",
"Tennessee"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: While health care quality in the USA has been found to be uneven and sometimes inadequate (Jencks et al., 2003; McGlynn et al., 2003), standardized assessments are useful to provide valuable information for crafting and implementing meaningful quality improvement programs (Galvin and Milstein, 2002). Some researchers have observed that care for some seriously ill patients shows unacceptable variation even when objective improvements occur at the end of an assessment period (Krumholz et al., 2000; Burwen et al., 2003; Spertus et al., 2003). In any case, to enable valid quality comparisons over time, preferred characteristics of evaluation instruments include uniformity and constancy. As hospital expectations have expanded and increased in sophistication, transparency in institutional performance markers has become an expected mandate (Tran and Adler, 2015). Findings from such quality audits can help the health delivery team improve quality of care and patient safety (O'Connor et al., 2016).\nMethods: Index facility\nResults: When referenced against selected averages computed from all Tennessee hospitals reporting in 2015 (n=112), the study hospital performed at or above state standards in 29 of 37 process of care measures (78.4 percent). Specifically, RMC's performance on prompt evaluation of left ventricular function, administration of most appropriate antibiotic for pneumonia patients (and pre-operatively for surgery patients), optimal time for intraoperative thrombus prophylaxis, as well as administration of b-blockers for myocardial infarction at RMC were all higher compared to both Tennessee and US average (see Table I). An exception to this trend was noted in the interval required to transfer RMC patients with chest pain to an outside hospital, a parameter where longer wait times are not desirable.\nDiscussion: Appalachia remains one of several regions in the USA often identified as medically underserved (Finerman et al., 2003; Collins, 2016) and its formidable health care needs have been described previously (Moscovice and Stensland, 2002; Shively and Shively, 2012). Against this background, hospitals have confronted the challenge of diminished reimbursement, high expenses, limited staffing, and other financial hardships in a variety of ways. Since the last published report on RMC (Pope et al., 2006), a particularly severe global recession has placed additional stress on organizations offering crucial health services in the region (Weston-Cox, 2012; Sweeney and Knudsen, 2014). RMC remains classified as a short-term acute care hospital situated in a rural, small, remote \"critical access\" hospital region. Several health care institutions in Appalachia have adapted to near-catastrophic economic conditions to offer care for vulnerable populations during uncertain times (Sills et al., 2013).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe standardized clinical process of care and quality performance metrics at Roane Medical Center (RMC) and compare data from 2005 to 2015.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Information was extracted from a nationwide sample of short-term acute care hospitals using the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) database, evaluating multiple parameters measured at RMC. HQA data from RMC were matched against state and national benchmarks; findings were also compared with similar reports from the same facility in 2005.\nFindings: Information collected by HQA expanded substantially in ten years and queried different parameters over time, thus exact comparisons between 2005 and 2015 cannot be easily calculated. Nevertheless, analysis of process of care data for 2015 placed RMC at or above state- and national-average performance in 64.9 percent (24 of 37) and 56.5 percent (26 of 46) categories, respectively. RMC registered superior process of care scores in heart failure care, pneumonia care, thrombus prevention and care, as well as stroke care. While RMC continues to perform favorably against state and national reference groups, the differences between RMC vs state and RMC vs national averages using current reporting metrics were both statistically smaller in 2015 compared to 2005 (p<0.05).\nResearch limitations/implications: Perhaps the most significant interval health event for the RMC service area since 2005 was a coal ash spill at the nearby Tennessee Valley Authority facility in December 2008. Although reports on environmental and health effects following one of the largest domestic industrial toxin releases reached a number of important conclusions, the consequences for RMC in terms of potential added clinical burden on emergency services and impact on chronic health conditions have not been specifically studied. This could explain data reported on emergency department services at RMC but additional research will be needed to establish causality.\nPractical implications: While tracking of care processes at all US hospitals will be facilitated by refinements in HQA tools, longitudinal evaluations for any specific unit will be more meaningful if the assessment instrument undergoes limited change over time.\nSocial implications: Appalachia remains one of several regions in the USA often identified as medically underserved. Hospitals here have confronted the challenge of diminished reimbursement, high expenses, limited staffing and other financial hardships in a variety of ways. Since the last published report on RMC, a particularly severe global recession has placed additional stress on organizations offering crucial health services in the region.\nOriginality/value: As a follow-up study to track potential changes which have been registered in the decade 2005-2015, this is the first report to provide original, longitudinal analysis on RMC, an institution operating in a rural and underserved area.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Competing logics: financialisation and a Dutch cooperative bank
|
[
"Institutional change",
"Financialisation",
"Boltanski and Thévenot",
"Cooperative banks",
"Historical case study",
"Separation thesis"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Since 2008, a debate has raged in society as to who was responsible for the global financial crisis (GFC) and what changes the financial sector should undergo to prevent any recurrence. Wall Street, \"the City\" (i.e. New York), and individual bankers have been blamed for a range of economic problems. As a result, there has been increasing interest in the interaction between individual employees and the organisation or sector in which they work. To what extent can individuals be held responsible for an organisation's actions and how can a whole economic sector be reformed? (Purnell and Freeman, 2012; Van der Zwan, 2014).\n2. Institutional change, norms and banking: Harris and Freeman (2008) argued that the separation thesis in economics and management science has had serious negative consequences. The notion that economic and organisational \"facts\" can be studied without taking account of ethical values or norms can be counted among the factors that facilitated the GFC. The authors suggested that the GFC was triggered by decision makers who believed that normative notions are irrelevant to markets.\n3. Historical analysis as a research approach: Although B&T sit within a structuralist tradition, they also go several steps further and make action - and therefore also interpretation - the cornerstone of their understanding of society. Their work is comparable to my interpretative historical approach in this paper (Vaara and Lamberg, 2016). Historical analysis approaches are becoming increasingly common and complex in management science and organisation theory, and provide a window onto established knowledge from the past as well as the present. History may be considered a form of latent knowledge (Suddaby, 2016).\n4. Case study setup: financialisation and a cooperative bank: 4.1 Data\n5. Institutional pressure leads to internal discussions on organisational values during the Wijffels era: The debate on Rabobank's cooperative identity between 1985 and 2000 is an interesting example for studying the impact of institutional change on an organisation. The debate was led by Herman Wijffels (2004), chairman of the executive board from 1986 to 1999, and it focused on corporate identity and the role of cooperative banks in a modern market economy. Wijffels is still regarded as a visionary leader - a banker with \"broad vision\", as one newspaper eulogised at the end of his tenure at Rabobank. He had a distinctive vision for the future and was known for his desire to discuss social values and engage in serious debates with regard to sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Under his leadership, an extensive consultation was carried out within Rabobank to discuss the bank's principles and the role of its cooperative structure.\n6. The peak moment: towards the \"Rabobank group\" in the Smits era: In the year 2000, the executive board was responsible for managing the bank and the management board represented members' interests. The management board was expected to strengthen the relationship between the central organisation and the member banks - although the executive board also contributed in this regard. The central and local supervisory boards were additionally established to meet certain Dutch legal requirements. This bottom-up structure in which the local banks control the central organisation is typical of cooperatives.\n7. Stabilisation: bankers decide (Bert Heemskerk era): 7.1 Bankers on the board\n8. Discussion: institutional change and research in business and society: This case study illustrates how discussions concerning the governance structure of an organisation tend to be normative in nature. Subjecting the story of Rabobank to a historical analysis offers value for business and social research. Taking a long-term view reveals that such discussions are primarily driven by temporary norms, e.g. an assumption made by politicians and central banks that publicly listed banks are more successful.\n9. Concluding remarks: I have explored how institutional change relates to corporate practices and the role that individuals within organisations can play by engaging in dialogue to re-examine the governance structure. This is valuable for crisis management theory and management history, and serves to highlight the potential dark side of management (Schwarz, 2015). It suggests ways of achieving narrative unity (Stutz and Sachs, 2016) in the face of different market interpretations (see Figure 3).\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of the Dutch cooperative Rabobank to understand how the structure of an organisation determines how individual employees validate norms within that organisation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data over an approximately 10-year period starting 25 years ago are analysed, and the value of relating a historical analysis and narrative approach to ethical and institutional theories in economics and management science is demonstrated.\nFindings: Regulation in the banking sector appears to have a strong normative aspect. The choice between state and private ownership is based on ideology. The author argues that the private ownership model was based primarily on an ideology surrounding economic efficiency, but that in fact there are other logics that also promote economic development. This contributes to the understanding of the interaction between sector standards, organisational structures and the values of organisations and individual employees. The structure of an organisation enables key employees to deviate slightly from the organisation's prevailing norms in response to pressures from the wider environment, and those individuals thereby become symbols of that organisation.\nOriginality/value: The perspective on management history put forward in this paper enables assessing the distinction between normative notions in institutional environments and the organisation as a whole as represented in its governance structure and narratives that key employees disseminate about the organisation. This in turn helps us to understand the interaction between sector standards, organisational characteristics and values represented by individual employees. The author reveals the strong normative impact of banking regulation in line with an older ideological model focused on economic efficiency rather than market logics and the interests of society.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Competitive intelligence: a research model tested on Portuguese firms
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Portugal",
"Management strategy",
"Information management",
"Competitive advantage"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Recent decades have witnessed the emergence of the knowledge economy as a major research area (Cozzarin and Percival, 2006; Felman et al., 2006; Percival and Cozzarin, 2008; Suire and Vicente, 2008). Indeed, after the critique of models based on perfect competition and its chief assumptions, particularly regarding the idea that information was free and costless (Hayek, 1945), it was only a question of time before the rise of the knowledge economy and its establishment became a key issue in economics and business. Therefore, the control and use of knowledge (Yeung, 1994; Cassiman and Veugelers, 2002; Fritsch, 2004; Cozzarin and Percival, 2006; Schmiedeberg, 2008; Suire and Vicente, 2008; Weber and Khademian, 2008), specifically its appropriate management through the discovery process, has become a determinant dimension of the modern competitive atmosphere for firms and countries alike, and as a consequence, the role of information has evolved from minor relevance to the highest importance (Brody, 2008; Fleisher and Wright, 2009). This has meant a major rupture in economic thinking, with deep implications not only for knowledge management, but also for many other areas (for example, in the field of international business networks and economic diplomacy; Bayne and Woolcock, 2003).In practical terms, firms operating in the market as well as governments are now closely involved in the creation and management of information useful for economic and business purposes, for example at a European, national or regional level. The case of the Lisbon strategy, based on the expansion of the knowledge economy and its management, is particularly illustrative of these concerns. Moreover, with the emergence of a tougher business environment, firms and governments have increasingly recognized the significance of competitive intelligence on a global scale as a basic instrument for improving their chances of success, if not survival (Chen, 2005). Although there are many definitions of competitive intelligence in contemporary practice and among scholars, none of them has yet achieved universal acceptance. According to Fleisher and Wright (2009), most of the definitions that have appeared over the years have been nothing more than semantic changes in language and emphasis. Competitive intelligence, often substituted by other terms or expressions such as economic intelligence, business intelligence, territorial intelligence, sometimes also called economic and competitive intelligence, is:[...] an activity of strategic management of information that aims to allow decision makers to forestall the market trends and moves of competitors, identify and evaluate threats and opportunities that emerge in their business environment, circumscribing actions of attack or defence that are more appropriate to the development strategy of the organization (Jakobiak, 1991).In spite of subtle differences or national tastes, in the context of this paper, \"competitive intelligence\", \"economic intelligence\" and \"economic and competitive intelligence\" may be used as inter-changeable terms.A systemic approach is necessary in order to ensure that the process leading to competitive intelligence as an important strategic asset for firms and countries encompasses appropriate stages. The creation of sophisticated, well-structured systems has become one of the main features of the competitive intelligence process. As noted by Chen (2005), firms have started to invest heavily in competitive intelligence, which is used to assist in the course of entrepreneurial activity, particularly for the purposes of international competitiveness. In addition, for some authors (Aguilar, 1967; Daft et al., 1988; Brouard, 2006), through environmental scanning, another synonym of competitive intelligence, an organization monitors information from the external environment that is relevant to its internal environment. Therefore, strategic uncertainty arising from environmental factors pushes organizations to seek information and to try to diagnose accurately the conditions that prevail in the environment (May et al., 2000). The greater the uncertainty, the greater the amount of time and resources organizations devote to environmental scanning (Milliken, 1987).Contrary to its increasing importance (Prescott and Bhardwaj, 1995; Fuld, 2006; Blenkhorn and Fleisher, 2005; Kinsinger, 2007; Wright and Calof, 2006; Fleisher and Wright, 2009), there has been little empirical research related to the conditions necessary for effective use of economic and competitive intelligence by firms (Tao and Prescott, 2000). Accordingly, we know very little about internal organizational structures, systems, practices and characteristics that enable organizations to manage such an instrument (Prescott and Bhardwaj, 1995; Isaac et al., 2009). While several studies have systematically described and analyzed competitive intelligence practices in some countries (Powell and Allgaier, 1998), little is known about others, this being the case in Portugal. Taking into account this perspective, our paper aims to expand the literature on the economics and management of economic intelligence and to provide new insights for promoting this research area. More specifically, based on a sample of Portuguese firms, the primary objective of the study is to evaluate practices of competitive intelligence and to identify the variables (attributes) that increase the probability of their adoption. In doing so, we also seek to make a contribution to the design of entrepreneurial and public policies with potential for economic intelligence, bearing in mind not only the case of Portugal, but also to draw some conclusions of more general validity. We expect that this work will open the way for new investigations in the field, for example when involving state diplomacy, employers' federations, and international negotiations.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. The next section describes the theoretical foundations and the state of competitive intelligence practices through the relevant literature. Section 3 begins with formulation of the hypotheses that were tested, followed by presentation of the mixed logit model used in this research; as far as the latter is concerned, we also explain our methodological choice for this model. In Section 4, first, we introduce the sample and the data selected for analysis, next, the variables and measures used in the questionnaire are characterized, and finally, we present in some detail the empirical findings of the research, showing the experience of Portuguese firms in the sphere of competitive intelligence. In the last section, we discuss the findings and draw the main conclusions, limitations and implications of the study.\n2 Literature survey: Current society is characterized by the production of diverse forms of leverage over organizations, such as the speed of technological transformation, the acceleration of competition and demographical dynamics (Portes, 2005). Consequently, organizations need to develop strategies in order to fit into the environment, where responsiveness, alertness, decision making, and speed are all important (Ruhli and Sachs, 1997).Recently, knowledge management modifies, and is modified by, the way firms organize their work and main procedures (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Terra, 2005; Marouf, 2007). This last author considers that:[...] traditional firms organized according to industrial paradigms that are \"taylorist\" or bureaucratic do not present favorable conditions for knowledge management (in spite of the best strategies, software solutions and the existence of positions such as an executive of knowledge management).In the light of this, firms must rethink the organizational alternatives that best allow them to seize market opportunities in the new global era (Catinat, 1998). In fact, knowledge is a valuable resource in an organization. In this sense, competitive intelligence, as a mechanism for the sharing of knowledge, can be one of the most important assets that a firm can adopt (Bloodgood and Salisbury, 2001; Grant, 2006; Gray and Meister, 2006; Sher and Lee, 2004).In a competitive intelligence system, the logic leading to an understanding of the firm from its decisions and strategic planning is a dimension to be taken seriously into account. Bournois and Romani (2000, p. 21) concluded in a study of French firms that most of the leaders targeted considered that the basic reason for investment in strategic and economic intelligence lay in the concern about \"survival and development\" that would come through improvement of added value to the client. They showed that large firms \"essentially had as main strategic objectives the development of new products (25.5%), the development of new markets (19.1%) and internationalization (13.9%)\".Within this context, a characteristic that must be underlined, highlighting the importance of the perspective of entrepreneurial innovation and competitiveness, is undoubtedly the promotion of a cooperation culture, because \"the conventional view that business is only competition is changing through the idea of cooperation, where firms look for ways of exploring the potential of partnerships\" (Levitas et al., 1997; Ruhli and Sachs, 1997; Franco, 2003). This means that \"cooperation is critical\" for the development of \"strategic partnerships\", and very important for innovation of products and services. Moreover, cooperation pertains to the requirements of the \"knowledge economy\", and is strengthened by the new \"styles of work\" of a relatively young generation accustomed to \"cooperative technologies\".As a consequence, a relevant attribute of an economic and competitive intelligence system gives credit to different types of approach, particularly those that respect entrepreneurial culture. Bournois and Romani (2000) also refer to the importance of entrepreneurial culture in terms of values shared by wage-earners and their degree of support to strategic aims. With regard to entrepreneurial culture, some characteristics must be pointed out:[...] how far wage-earners trust the executive board, the bureaucratic intensity of the functioning of the organization, innovation ability, employees' pride in belonging to the firm, and personnel participation in future projects.Therefore, implementation of a competitive intelligence policy requires a strong cooperative involvement. The firm thus appears as a space of identity, i.e.:[...] in a context where competitive intelligence becomes more and more a collective dynamics that allows the firm to take positions in the market, the social body of the firm appears as a strategic resource for economic success, to the extent that no firm leader can accept to be without such means of regulating action (Meyer, 1998).In this sense, we must consider that internal networks incorporate leaders, wage-earners, executives and non-executives, groups of experts, and other contributors. To summarize, many authors (Baumard, 1991; Marchand et al., 2000; Levet, 2001; Phanuel, 2004) claim that there is no competitive intelligence without mobilization of individuals, of human resources, i.e. without a collective dimension.In identifying the factors of success in competitive intelligence, it is crucial \"to take into consideration not only the critical factors of the society, but also all those that relate to the main operational divisions and functional directions\" (Jakobiak, 2002, p. 59). Through this procedure, we understand the relevance of the forms of internal coordination and the typology of relationships that are internally set regarding the competitive intelligence system.Knowledge of information technology is also a prerequisite for natural implementation of the concept of competitive intelligence. Indeed, the latter uses instruments related to information and communication technology (ICT). The \"propensity for the solution of problems by technologies may lead to a phenomenon of isolation (the information bubble) which breaks the logic of realism and openness in competitive intelligence\" (Archard and Bernat, 1998). From this, we may conclude that a suitable equation of the technological dimension in a firm presupposes the existence of a critical internal mass, particularly in terms of qualifications and competences. Then again, some experts point out as one of the main features of economic intelligence the fact of its being based on the exploration of open resources, i.e. \"the volumes of necessary information to implement a project are available between 80% and 90% in public sources\" (Combs and Moorhead, 1992).Competitive intelligence consists of collecting and interpreting economic information with a view to economic action, either immediate or future, and individual or collective purposes (Paturel and Levet, 1996). Consequently, its strategic dimension lies in research, reception, exploration, and decision-action. Moreover, academic definitions emphasize the active, dynamic and collective dimension of competitive intelligence, i.e. a set of underlying characteristics of the network attribute. Therefore, competitive intelligence would be distinct from strategic vigilance, which is only one of its parts (Lesca, 1994; Rouach, 1996; Larivet, 2002). Similarly, vigilance, protection, and leverage are equated in a framework of the network strategies: constitution and use of experts' networks, safety networks, and leverage or knowledge networks (Phanuel, 2004).With regard to the relevance of public policies in a system of competitive intelligence, a subject touched upon in the context of our inquiry, it must be noted that it is based on \"criss-crossed influences of states and firms\" (Carayon, 2003, p. 17). Furthermore, it is presently the role of agents of the state as well as territorial collectivities to promote the political, economic, social, scientific, and cultural interests of national communities in the new spaces where the struggles for influence are permanent between partners/competitors. For Fleisher (1999), however, public policy can be inherently difficult to define and generally entails a complex interplay of values, interests and resources. Chelly (2003) also identifies two levels of the economic intelligence effect: micro-economic and macro-economic. In relation to the latter, four distinctive elements can be identified which give economic intelligence a more global perspective:[...] implementation of the practice of leverage and lobbying; mobilization of a broader set of actors inside and outside the firm; a collective culture of information; and more than a mere application of a methodology (Chelly, 2003, p. 4).Nevertheless, the application of such distinctive elements does not eliminate the participation of the state and public authorities. It must be stressed that for public policies to bring benefits, the functions of economic and competitive intelligence must be placed into the realm of the state. Indeed, through their transversal and sector policies, public authorities often play an increasing role in facilitating firms' access to markets and the potential benefits of globalization.\n3 Hypotheses and research model: In this section, we present the main assumptions that will be tested in our research, as well as the foundations and justification of the mixed logit model that was selected for use in this study.3.1 Hypotheses\n4 Method and empirical findings: After proposing the hypotheses to be empirically tested and the research model, the next step is to identify the sample, data, variables, and measures. In the last point of the section, we will also show the results of the research.4.1 Sample and data\n5 Discussion and conclusions: The final section of the paper is devoted to the discussion of the results that were obtained through our empirical research, followed by the conclusions, in which we present the implications and limitations of the study, as well as the way in which it may be developed in future work.5.1 Discussion of hypotheses\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to evaluate the practices of economic intelligence used by Portuguese firms and to identify the attributes that may increase the probability of their adoption.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A questionnaire was designed and addressed to the CEOs of Portuguese firms. The authors used the mixed logit method to select a number of significant variables that influence the use of economic intelligence by firms in the sample.\nFindings: - From the results, the authors concluded that firm size, information and environmental scanning connected to the markets, social networks, economic diplomacy and public policies, namely clusters and industrial policies in the context of competitive intelligence, were some of the attributes relevant in this study. It is concluded that the probability of firms adopting competitive intelligence practices lies in two spheres: in orientations of business policy and strategy and in public policies that improve business context in the perspective of competitive intelligence.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The different categories of attributes that explain the existence of economic intelligence practices are relatively limited when compared with studies made outside Portugal. This derives from specific factors tied to Portuguese entrepreneurial culture.\nOriginality/value: - This paper contributes to the literature on this area of research. One of the innovations introduced here was the design of a conceptual model proposal integrating business and public policy approaches connected to the competitive intelligence and, consequently, the capacity to formulate entrepreneurial strategies and public policies geared for the adoption of competitive intelligence procedures.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Drivers of long-term savings behavior from the consumers' perspective
|
[
"Attitudes",
"Relationship quality",
"Social context",
"Subjective norms",
"Long-term savings"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Putting money aside for future expenses in contrast to immediate consumption is an important trade-off for nearly every individual. Sufficient savings ensure smooth consumption over time (Modigliani, 1986; Ulkumen and Cheema, 2011). Especially in times of financial turmoil, the amount saved for the long-term gains relevance and directly affects a household's present and future budget. In addition, the consumer's peers are affected by long-term savings since wealth is typically bequeathed to one's progeny. Thus, the decision to save depicts an important process due to its effects on an individual's and family members' lives.\nTheoretical background: In fundamental microeconomic theory, the process of saving is strongly linked to consumer choice theory in an intertemporal setting (Varian, 2003). The microeconomic perspective as well as Friedman's (1957) and Modigliani and Brumberg's (1954) contributions to savings research imply rational behavior. According to Friedman's (1957) permanent income hypothesis and Modigliani and Brumberg's life cycle theory of saving (1954), rational individuals are capable of determining their optimal savings rate. Following these theorems, a lot of savings research has been based on the concept of utility maximization (e.g. Leland, 1968; Sandmo, 1970; Hayashi, 1982; Kimball, 1990). Specifically, Leland (1968) and Sandmo (1970) introduced the concept of uncertainty regarding an individual's savings behavior. In the event of uncertainty, individuals form their savings decisions according to expected utility theory, which has been widely recognized as a normative model in the context of rational behavior (Kahneman and Tversky, 1979). However, the expected utility theory was criticized as early as 1953 by Allais (1953) with his well-known counter examples. Following Allais' criticism, the overarching principle of rationality has been contested by many behavioral-oriented researchers as well (Mullainathan and Thaler, 2000). Most notably, Kahneman and Tversky (1979) delineated limitations of the rational behavior concept and proposed the prospect theory as a more realistic, behavior-oriented framework (Kahneman and Tversky, 1979; Thaler, 1985). In the context of savings, Thaler (1994) stated that the life cycle model of savings, which subsumes the theoretical contributions of Modigliani and Brumberg (1954) and Friedman (1957), does not adequately reflect the actual savings behavior and the model should be enriched with behavior-oriented concepts. Shefrin and Thaler (1988) applied the findings of behavioral economics directly to the works of Modigliani and Brumberg (1954) and developed the behavioral life cycle hypothesis. They included the three behavioral features of self-control, mental accounting, and framing as limiting factors of rational behavior in the savings context. Subsequent research has included different behavior-oriented concepts to further explain savings behavior. Ameriks et al. (2003) stated that attitudes and skills toward financial planning affect an individual's savings rate. They concluded that a higher propensity to plan financial issues results in increased wealth accumulation (Ameriks et al., 2003). In line with these findings, Gough and Sozou (2005) showed that savers differ regarding attitudinal and behavioral traits. Adding to that, Funfgeld and Wang (2009) revealed five attitudes (anxiety, interest in financial issues, decision styles, need for precautionary savings, and spending tendency) to classify an investor's savings behavior. Based on Glasman and Albarracin's (2006) findings, such attitudes toward savings have a direct effect on savings behavior.\nConceptual model and hypotheses development: Social context\nMethodology and study design: Research design and sample description\nResults: As our analyses reveals all of the hypotheses are supported. Regarding H1a, H1b, H3a, and H3b, which assessed the paths from relationship quality and from subjective norms to perceived anxiety and perceived importance, we can confidently reject the null hypothesis of no significant influence. Thus, a well-established relationship between the savings institution and the consumer considerably reduces perceived anxiety (b=-0.286, p\nDiscussion: As the literature review has shown, savings research has left traditional microeconomic paths and increasingly included insights of behavioral economics. However, very little research has been dedicated to the social context and the underlying attitudes that drive long-term savings (Funfgeld and Wang, 2009). This study makes several contributions to the existing literature. First, we contribute to the still unexplored field of long-term savings. Our research follows a behavioral economics approach by proposing a theoretical framework that includes social context, savings attitudes, and self-reported long-term savings. Second, we delineate the influence of the social context on long-term savings. While subjective norms have only been included in savings research regarding general social pressure, preceding studies have not examined the influence of relationship quality with the savings institution on long-term savings decisions. We found a strong influence of relationship quality on savings attitudes i.e., a positive effect on perceived importance and a negative impact on perceived anxiety. Moreover, we found a positive relationship between subjective norms and perceived anxiety as well as perceived importance. Accordingly, on the one hand, the perceived social pressure induces anxiety but on the other it enhances the consumer's perceived importance of savings.\nManagerial implications: The study results reveal that a well-established relationship with a financial intermediary such as a bank or an insurer reduces perceived anxiety toward long-term savings and enhances perceived importance. Both of these aspects in turn positively influence long-term savings. Thus, a sustainable partnership between the consumer and the savings institution, based on satisfaction, commitment, and trust, affects the attitudes toward long-term savings and ultimately increases long-term savings. Consequently, banks and insurance companies should try to reduce perceived anxiety by appearing as a trustful partner, showing empathy for the consumer's anxious feelings, and by offering high-quality and personalized service. Additionally, emphasizing the importance of savings to the consumers' future, for example, by using projected retirement savings charts, is another way to indirectly induce long-term savings. Moreover, financial services institutions should focus on relationship quality itself to increase its effects on long-term savings attitudes. Relationship marketing initiatives such as loyalty programs, tangible rewards, and interpersonal communication can be implemented to raise the quality of the consumer-provider relationship (De Wulf et al., 2001). As De Wulf et al. (2001) suggested, such marketing activities increase perceived relationship investment, which is a direct antecedent of relationship quality. In addition, financial advisors should be incentivized not only to sell savings products but also to maintain a high standard of relationship quality. As Crosby et al. (1990) emphasized, sales personnel can positively influence relationship quality by relational selling behaviors such as mutual disclosure, cooperative intensions, and contact intensity. Therefore, financial services institutions should highlight the importance of relational selling behaviors to sales employees, provide adequate training to adopt such behavioral initiatives, and reward a financial advisor's endeavor to increase relationship quality, which will ultimately affect long-term savings behavior.\nTheoretical implications and future research propositions: In our research, we adapted the theory of reasoned action to explain the relationship between attitudes and behavior. Future research should draw on our findings and include the concept of perceived behavioral control as introduced by Ajzen (1985) within the theory of planned behavior. This construct delineates the level of control an individual perceives regarding the behavior in question. Based on external influences, such as an employer's predefined retirement plans or the performance of private investments dedicated to the long term, an individual might not take complete control over the whole long-term savings process. Thus, this constrained volitional control is likely to play an important role in long-term savings theory.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to delineate the impact of social context and savings attitudes on consumers' self-reported long-term savings and discuss how these drivers can be influenced to increase an individual's savings rate.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An online survey was conducted among 993 German savers. A structural equation model quantified the influence of the social context and an individual's attitudes on long-term savings behavior, as stated by consumers.\nFindings: Both social context constructs - subjective norms and relationship quality - exert a significant influence on the savings attitudes of perceived anxiety and perceived importance, which in turn significantly affect long-term savings. Furthermore, the results of a mediation analysis indicated that the social context only has an indirect effect on long-term savings.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study was conducted in Germany only. Therefore, the results may not apply across cultures. In addition, the salient belief structures, access channels used, and savings product categories were not part of this study.\nPractical implications: The results showed that financial institutions can influence an individual's attitudes toward long-term savings by providing a satisfying and trusted relationship. The positive effect on savings attitudes will translate to an increased long-term savings rate. According to the analysis, financial service providers can only have an indirect effect on long-term savings behavior.\nOriginality/value: This paper delineates the impact of the social environment on long-term savings. This relationship has not been investigated in previous research. In addition, the influence of the social context within the attitudes-behavior framework for long-term savings is expounded.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Can credit rating agencies play a greater role in corporate governance disclosure?
|
[
"Corporate governance",
"Credit rating agencies",
"Corporate governance statement",
"Financial third-parties"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: When making their investment decisions, investors use a variety of measures to assess where they should invest their resources. With the current trend being to focus on what is colloquially termed \"ESG\" (environmental, social and governance) criteria, mainstream investors have made clear that the most important element for them is the Governance criteria, with a recent survey suggesting that nearly three-quarters of respondents find \"Governance [to be] the main factor incorporated\" (CFA Institute, 2017, p. 5). It has been noted in the literature that a short-term approach was taken towards the concept of Governance in the lead-up to the Financial Crisis (McCluskey, 2012, p. 26), and as such, legislators and regulators have since aimed to address this issue. The European Commission (EC), in focusing upon the information companies provide to the marketplace with regards to their compliancy with corporate governance regulations, have enforced that where companies deviate from governance codes, they must give details as to why (EC Directive 2006/46/EC). However, there have been a number of problems identified since this approach has been taken. Whilst companies have, by and large, failed to comply with the spirit of the regulatory endeavour, it has also been noted that there is an insufficient framework that surrounds the compliance-related regulations, with the EC being unable to clearly identify who may take responsibility for monitoring and the private marketplace being recognised as inadequate for providing a private solution; there exists in the marketplace specialist agencies who provide such monitoring services, but they have been found to lack the relevant expertise and resources to meet such a massive task (McCluskey, 2012, p. 27).\n2. The corporate governance statement: a regulatory agenda: The EC, in detailing a 2006 Directive which has since been worked on and amended, stated that:\n3. The role of the credit rating agencies: CRAs, in general, provide opinions on the creditworthiness of a given entity (corporate, sovereign or financial instrument) but within their analyses are a number of particular elements which make up the cumulative rating they provide. With the growth of the \"ESG\" concept within the sector, the leading rating agencies have been at pains to declare that they do indeed incorporate ESG considerations into their analyses, particularly now that they have aligned with the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) movement initiated by the United Nations in the wake of the Financial Crisis (both S&P and Moody's are signatories). In addressing concerns that the agencies do not incorporate ESG into their rating methodologies enough, Standard and Poor's (the leading CRA) stated that \"ESG factors are analysed at various points in ratings methodology\", although environmental and social aspects are not routinely incorporated into assessing the business risk profile (Principles for Responsible Investment, 2017, p. 20). In relation to corporate governance, which is what we are concerned with here, S&P noted that \"management decision making and the effectiveness of board oversight are further reviewed and assessed with the management and governance modifier in our ratings methodology\" (Principles for Responsible Investment, 2017, p. 20), which has a number of connotations. The first is that it is clear that the CRAs do indeed incorporate ESG into their methodologies, but it is interesting to note what S&P has decided is pertinent governance information; the disclosure of these practices does not seem to be factored in. However, before we look at this important issue further, there is an error in the literature that needs to be highlighted.\n4. Using an existing framework: Leaving aside the deficiencies within the proxy advisor industry for one moment, there is plenty that could be done within the ratings industry to positively affect the issues identified by the EC. With investors putting pressure on the agencies to adapt their methodological approach and, in truth with the CRAs seemingly taking some notice, there exists an opportunity now to enact meaningful change in the sector. With the move by the leading agencies to incorporate ESG further into their analyses with the hiring of specialist ESG analysts (and through targeted M and A strategies - S&P's recent purchasing of \"Trucost\" alludes to this further), it is not unimaginable that the leading agencies could add the concept of corporate governance disclosure to their methodological approaches. If they were to do so, the aspects of the underlying dynamic that exists between investors, issuing companies and the CRAs could have a positive effect upon the quality of the corporate governance statements. Imagine for one moment that corporate governance disclosures were factored into ratings in a systematic manner; what may happen is that issuing companies could have their ratings negatively affected if they deviate from a corporate governance code but then subsequently provide insufficient information for why they chose to do so - alternatively, a company could have their credit rating enhanced if they deviated but provided sufficient information for their decision. This altered approach would fall neatly into the EC's insistence that solutions to the problems identified fall within the \"spirit\" of the comply or explain directive, and it would also potentially develop a pathway for the financial system to move away from the short-termism that has been identified as plaguing the marketplace. Whether the agencies would make this methodological alteration and communicate this thoroughly to the marketplace is, in truth, unknown, but the potential for this to take place does exist, and more importantly, it would represent a practical solution to the issue of unsatisfactory corporate governance disclosures.\n5. Conclusion: The EC's objectives of improving the quality of corporate governance statement disclosures is indeed a very important one, because the community needs the \"comply or explain\" principle to be fundamentally incorporated into the financial fabric within the community. However, whilst the EC has been hinting at incorporating a public solution to the problem, there is merit to the suggestion that a private or at least a \"hybrid\" solution would be more practicable. In presenting the idea that the CRAs could adapt their methodologies to incorporate the quality of CG statement disclosure into their methodological processes, this article has endeavoured to offer that \"hybrid\" solution. However, the task of implementing the comply or explain regulatory framework should be viewed from as wide a perspective as possible, with the emphasis being on the concept of a framework; there is no reason why the CRAs and proxy advisors could not both incorporate this aim into their methodologies, because it is clear there is an appetite amongst investors. Whilst these financial third-parties may claim that extra resources would be needed to conduct and incorporate such analyses, the long-term understanding may be that the third-parties would become even more integral to the financial system, which would further ensure their continued successes. Yet, the most important aspect is that the EC's objective of establishing the \"comply or explain\" principle would be given the \"teeth\" it is lacking currently, which has been noted to be one of the largest impediments to its successful implementation.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The European Commission (EC) is currently examining methods to increase the effectiveness of corporate governance disclosures. This paper aims to examine whether the credit rating agencies (CRAs), both on account of their influence within the marketplace and also their methodological approach to rating Governance, may have a greater role to play in the EC achieving those particular objectives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper is based upon a normative methodology, upon which the issue is contextualised and a proposal is put forward regarding a methodological alteration that can be instituted by the CRAs.\nFindings: The paper finds that the CRAs may have a much greater role to play in meeting the objectives of the EC. Whilst the EC is focusing upon regulatory monitoring, the paper finds that there is a potential for a more efficient model within which the CRAs adapt their methodologies to include corporate governance disclosure into their rating processes.\nOriginality/value: In presenting the idea that the comply or explain principles put forward by the EC are proving to be somewhat ineffective, the paper contributes to the field by suggesting there are private endeavours which may add a sense of impact to disclosure proceedings, rather than the purely public regime being envisioned.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Liquidity=Diversity
|
[
"Financial forecasting",
"Financial institutions",
"Governance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nNorthern rocked: Sometimes it is fun to move from the specific to the general, commenting along the way about what a wonderfully intertwined world we inhabit and the various epiphenomena involved. The collapse of Northern Rock is one specific from which we can move along to the general credit crisis and beyond to liquidity in the abstract. Let us look at some specifics:*By 2006 Northern Rock, a mid-size UK mortgage lender, captures 20 percent of UK new mortgages by doing what everyone has stated for two decades should be done - borrow on liquid global capital markets to give consumers great deals.*The UK financial community congratulates itself on a decade's successful tripartite approach to regulation and monetary policy - a single regulator in the Financial Services Authority (FSA) that has consistently claimed it is not running a zero failure regime, an \"independent\" central Bank of England, and HM Treasury handling national finances.*Northern Rock starts having liquidity problems.*Everyone blames imported US credit crisis problems.*Then everyone blames the tripartite approach to regulation (appearing on television to say they knew all along it would end in tears these past ten years, hmm).*Then everyone knows what Northern Rock should have done - built a larger retail deposit base so it was less reliant on global capital markets.So, the conclusion? Northern Rock's mistake was to not take advantage of UK consumers on the deposit side where the costs of switching are enormous (Martin and Mainelli, 2003). Strange. There are some niggling details, for instance, that Northern Rock was not so much securitizing its mortgage book as setting up revolving credit, however, the initial specifics should generate some queasiness amongst risk professionals. There are some serious casualties from this collapse, such as confidence in the British government, UK deposit insurance and the separation of regulation from \"lender of last resort\", i.e. the division in responsibilities between the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England.Interestingly, despite never running a \"no fail\" regime, the FSA was accorded almost too much status. Perhaps it would have been better for the FSA to publicize the half dozen or so failures in the UK financial markets every year than to have all the chickens come home to roost in one go. Public ignorance of the risk of failure led to a conflict with the FSA's objective of \"maintaining confidence in the financial system\". The FSA itself became a single point of failure. It may be a mistake to put all your regulatory eggs in one basket - the FSA is tarnished by any single failure, whereas the plethora of entangled US institutions provides plenty of room for each to crow about its successes while sloughing off failures. On the other hand, the plethora of institutions reduces innovation and market attractiveness.Then we move to some generalities being bandied about the credit markets:*oligopolistic credit rating agencies had become a single point of failure in the US credit markets;*through credit tranching, the credit markets had perverted the \"flat\" distribution in any specific rating, e.g. AAA, such that all AAA credits were concentrated at the very low end of the confidence band, e.g. bunched at 95.0001 percent to 95.1000 percent certainty instead of being uniformly spread in a range from 95.0 percent to 100.0 percent certainty;*the credit rating agencies had conflicts of interest in both consulting and rating, with their consultancy work intensifying the bunching;*the credit rating agencies were not transparent, e.g. declaring their respective consultancy and rating fees (Mainelli, 2003);*the credit rating agencies' methodologies were flawed and had insufficient data histories to rate credit (Onstwedder and Mainelli, 2000/2001).So, the conclusion? Well, the US system required ratings for investment in order to make the US financial system safer by ensuring that certain public interest investors, e.g. public pension funds, were constrained in their investment strategies. So, safety led to hazard led to disaster. And it is not over. Continued speculation includes:*Basel II risk weightings are based on credit ratings, so Basel II must be flawed and one solution is just to increase capital requirements for banks;*monoline, or credit enhancement, insurers are wobbly and could lead to more failures;*markets will have more fitful starts and seizures, leading to continued pricing problems and making mark-to-market problematic;*credit squeezes will lead to housing market collapses;*Asian savings must be accommodated in global markets, and their currencies delinked from the dollar, leading to further wobbles;*currency crises are inevitable;*bad news from banks will only eke out over a long period as banks announce write-downs strictly in line with each other, in order to avoid being singled out by shareholders for a fire sale.\nSlippery liquidity: Apparently we call this a \"liquidity crisis\". More often than it should be, \"liquidity\" is discussed in a way that is simply synonymous with monetary policy, private equity lending, credit derivatives or the yen carry trade. These Alice in Wonderland conversations with slippery meanings remind me of the liquid joke where a policeman stops a minister for speeding. The policeman smells alcohol on the minister's breath and sees an empty wine bottle on the floor. The policeman asks, \"Sir, what have you been drinking?\" And the minister says, \"Just water.\" The policeman asks, \"Then why do I smell wine?\" The minister looks down at the bottle and says, \"Good Lord, He's done it again!\" Perhaps the joke should be about a central banker chatting about the money supply.The Financial Times was quite cutting (Financial Times, 2007). \"Central bankers have drowned the world in it, oil producers are awash with it, while an excess of it distorts everything from treasury yields to the copper forward curve. Yet overnight this all-powerful force can vanish, causing markets to tumble. Is the word \"liquidity\" at risk of joining \"more buyers than sellers\" and \"profit taking\" in the pantheon of vapid financial jargon? ... The confusion begins when this sensible concept of liquidity is used as the explanation for falling markets. Investors' shifting preferences for liquid assets are clearly important for prices. But the observation that prices have fallen because it is hard to execute an asset sale at the expected price is a tautology.\"The Bank of England developed, and publishes in its Financial Stability Report, a financial market liquidity indicator incorporating bid-ask spreads, return-to-volume ratios and liquidity premia. A continuing debate is whether, and how, to incorporate a wider view of asset valuation in controlling money supply than current consumer-price-index-biased views.Another set of holes arises from what are called \"dark liquidity pools\". Dark liquidity pools are backwaters, often overlooked pools of capital separate from the main trading markets. These pools can exist within a large financial institution or among a group of financial institutions trading outside public exchanges. A well-functioning market is one that provides efficient price signals through a \"price discovery\" process, smoothes the exchange of ownership, and reduces the risks involved in transferring assets or rewards. Trading \"off market\" is considered to be \"parasitic\" on price discovery. Here, I am afraid I cannot resist a little ditty of my own, based on Jonathan Swift's construction around a flea:So, financiers observe, small poolssuck larger pools' liquidity;yet tinier pools drain other drops,and so on to aridity.Professor Avi Persaud has very insightful and influential thoughts on liquidity, particularly his articulation of \"liquidity black holes\". A physical black hole is a region of space formed from the collapse of a star, where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape after falling past the event horizon (the \"edge\" of the black hole). A liquidity black hole is a region in finance, where liquidity is falling so rapidly that nothing, not even a large financial institution, can escape after prices start to fall. Everything dries up. Avi says \"a liquidity black hole is where price falls do not bring out buyers, but generate even more sellers\". Avi points out that this definition is easily falsified. Normal price falls do not increase sellers, they increase buyers, while in a liquidity black hole price falls cause an increase in sales flow. People pay close attention to the total volume traded as an indicator of confidence in a market. This is rather strange as one can easily imagine that confidence in a market should lead to less trading. Perhaps the opposite of Avi's liquidity black hole is the financial analogue of a supernova, a \"liquidity white bubble\", where price rises do not bring out sellers, but generate even more buyers.Liquidity black holes bear a strong resemblance to bank runs, where depositors seeking to take their money out of a solvent bank, which they perceive might fail, precipitate a crisis that attracts other depositors to withdraw their funds which leads to certain failure. \"And when average opinion comes to believe that average opinion will decide to turn assets into cash, then liquidity may be confidently expected to go to zero.\" (Janeway, 2005). People head for the door, in German, Torschlusspanik. According to the FT, \"When John Maynard Keynes described a \"mania for liquidity\" in 1931 - the US was running out of safe-deposit boxes - he meant it in this sense.\" (Financial Times, 2007.) Naturally, the ones who precipitate the crisis have their cash, while the laggards are left penniless. As Brandon Davies points out, in a black hole \"He who panics first, panics best\", while in a white bubble I say, \"He who smugs first, smugs best.\"\nTrading on ice: So, only liquid is solvent? There is an old phrase that \"liquidity begets liquidity\" meaning, simply, that once some people start trading, more people will join them. This phrase is often used to explain away monopolistic problems with exchanges. The assumption is that a successful, and beneficial, exchange will inexorably draw all relevant trading to its increasingly liquid market. Michael Milken said, \"Liquidity is an illusion. It's always there when you don't need it, and rarely there when you do.\" Most traders claim that more liquid markets are better than less liquid markets for everybody. Not surprisingly, while they last, liquid markets are better for traders. In liquid markets traders can conclude many deals with concomitant commission. In illiquid markets traders have fewer trades and more risk. However, a number of economists question the notion that liquidity is inherently good or bad. O'Hara summarizes Keynes', Tobin's, and Summers' criticisms as \"liquidity begets instability.\" The ability to buy and sell easily might drive short-term markets and exacerbate market changes, i.e. inducing liquidity crises. At a recent City fund manager luncheon I heard that \"old, overheating liquidity story\", which one assumes ends with all of finance boiling away. Liquidity is like most things, good in moderation, but bad in excess or deficit.Persaud and others point out that there are a number of problems with the structure of today's markets that do increase our susceptibility to liquidity disruptions:*interlinked global markets - liquidity problems now reverberate across markets and borders and there is greater correlation among asset classes;*more rigorous and regular benchmarking - constant appraisal induces people to track benchmark indices in similar ways and need to buy or sell at identical times;*regulatory rationalization - common strategies, credit policies and margin requirements lead to similar sales frenzies to maintain capital adequacy;*information systems commoditization - using similar analytics and computer systems increases the likelihood of similar trading strategies and investment approaches.Our global system for the dispersion of risk, from credit agencies and pension funds to prime brokers and hedge funds, may contribute to creating too much liquidity which in turn leads to risk.\nBiodiversity: What might we recommend? Perhaps, not a lot. It is a bit like one of Canute's courtiers writing a policy document recommending the extermination of astral black holes, \"first stop supernovas from forming ... \" Perhaps liquidity black holes are another immutable feature of the universe. As long as there are markets it is likely that there will be liquidity crises. Yet, not all is defeatism. I subscribe to the idea put forward by Persaud and others that increased diversity in financial markets would lower the risk of liquidity black holes. Investors would exhibit a range of behaviors, so sellers are more likely to meet buyers in part, and be more patient. In addition to stressing more work on control and measurement of the money supply, I would summarize some potential recommendations as:*Heterogeneity - encouraging the broadest possible range of investors, from individuals, to corporations, investment managers, insurers, share clubs, gamblers or hedge funds, into multiple markets - this increases the odds of chance encounters as well as the odds of sticking things out.*Measurement - a number of fractal measures or biodiversity indices could be researched to help investors distinguish a deep and diverse liquidity pool from a deep and homogeneous one. I wonder if we can find better analogies for liquidity in measures such as digital television signal quality, pond life or quantum physics, from which we can measure choppiness, gaps and uncertainty, than some of the more common continuous physical functions.*Market structures - some adjustments to market structures might reduce the risk of black holes, such as advanced encryption systems for anonymous and confidential trading, including the exchange of inventories and buy/sell intentions. I also wonder about encouraging markets where trading is done in a fixed size, e.g. one share at a time without large block/bulk trades and their price impact problems. Or even markets where trade orders are randomized in time and position before being matched.At a recent dinner discussing Northern Rock, one commentator wanted to give a bunch of \"grey panthers\", i.e. a bunch of retired brokers and market makers, a \"license to lunch\", i.e. to get paid for snitching back to the regulators on irregularities. It is a rather appealing idea. Sadly though, the admission is that formal systems for openness and market transparency are not working, and returning to self-regulatory organizations or an \"old boys' club\" is better than the current segregation of regulation. Perhaps regulation itself is the problem? Until we introduce competition in regulation, e.g. regulation via standards markets and kitemarks, or competition between FSA and FSB, enormous gaps such as Northern Rock will always appear. Only competition will keep regulators on their toes. Regulators are no different to other workers. But the assumption that they are different leads us to exclude competition as a means of controlling them to achieve objectives. Yet it works everywhere else.So what have we learned? We see that the characteristics of liquid markets are resilience, depth and tightness. We can visualize the idea of \"discovering the supply and demand curves\" - the curves may not be smooth, nor continuous; they may have a wide band of uncertainty. In normal circumstances, liquidity risk=the odds of being surprised that the supply or demand curve is not where you thought. We also know that black holes and white bubbles fundamentally change the nature of liquid markets - where sellers draw in more sellers, or buyers draw in more buyers, the price drops, or rises, precipitously. Finally, we believe that liquidity risk might be reduced in markets that encourage diversity of participants. The paradox? More diversity might well mean less regulation rather than responding to current calls for more.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to offer a commentary on recent failures in financial markets.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The approach is that of critical commentary on the present situation.\nFindings: - Current market dynamics reinforce the fact that there are few greater issues for financial institutions than governance and control systems.\nOriginality/value: - The paper shows that financial institutions are still seeking to find the correct balance between risk and reward among the forces of financial innovation.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Study shows organizational learning has a significant effect on both job satisfaction and organizational commitment at Indonesian palm oil company
|
[
"Organizational learning",
"Indonesia",
"Employee performance",
"Organizational commitment",
"Palm oil"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A new study has shown how organizational learning has a significant effect on both job satisfaction and organizational commitment at a large state-owned palm oil (CPO) producer in Indonesia. The study of the experiences of 130 employees in the PTPN XIII company also indicated that organizational learning has no effect on employee performance. However, the data also revealed that job satisfaction and organizational commitment have a positive influence on employee performance.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The author was motivated to focus on the palm oil sector because it is essential to the Indonesian economy. He wanted to discover how to improve performance\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author focused on employees of class III-IV who have the authority to manage the natural and HR resources of PTPM XII. He formulated five hypotheses to test on 130 class III to IV employees. His first three hypotheses tested the effect of organizational learning on job satisfaction, organizational commitment and employee's performance. His fourth and fifth hypotheses tested the effects of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on employees' performance.\nFindings: Results revealed how organizational learning has a significant effect on both job satisfaction and organizational commitment at the large state-owned palm oil (CPO) producer. The study also indicated that organizational learning has no effect on employee performance. However, the data also revealed that job satisfaction and organizational commitment have a positive influence on employee performance.\nOriginality/value: Indonesia is the biggest palm oil producer in the world and the Government wants to improve the state sector's performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Evaluating digital piracy intentions on behaviors
|
[
"Digital piracy",
"Intentions",
"Behavior",
"Theory of the mind",
"Method variance",
"Frequency of past behavior",
"User studies",
"Electronic media"
] |
[
{
"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.Digital piracy (DP) continues to perplex service marketers producing easily-replicable digital products such as music (IFPI, 2009), movies (Castro et al., 2009), software (BSA, 2009), etc. DP is defined as the consumption of illegal copies of digital services (Taylor et al., 2009). Academic studies have produced mixed results concerning the impact of DP practices on service marketing, with some articles generally supporting a negative influence (Rob and Waldfogel, 2006; Zentner, 2006; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2007), while others suggest a neutral or even positive influence (Bhattacharjee et al., 2006; Chellappa and Shivendu, 2005; Chiang and Assane, 2009; Jain, 2008; Peitz and Waelbroeck, 2006; Smith and Telang, 2009). Taylor et al. (2009) and Castro et al. (2009) both call for marketing communication strategies to attenuate the practice in service marketing practitioner responses. Critical to assessing the efficacy of these marketing communication strategies will be measuring their impact on DP behaviors.\nI. The research model: Figure 1 presents the conceptual research model assessed herein (also see Table I). The first relationship (H1) involves the argument that desires mediate many antecedent influences on the formation of behavioral intentions (Perugini and Bagozzi, 2001; Taylor, 2007) in accordance with the theory of the mind (Malle and Knobe, 2001). The second hypothesis assesses the direct influence of DP behavioral intentions on observed DP behaviors (H2). The final set of relationships (H3 and H4) involves the impact of frequency of past DP behaviors (hereafter referred to as FREQUENCY) on desires and intentions. Perugini and Bagozzi (2001, 2004) originally hypothesized FREQUENCY as a means of capturing potential subconscious influences, and were generalized to DP by Taylor et al. (2009). Two studies are undertaken to assess the research model.\nII. Study 1: Study 1 first presents a three-step framework to address the measurement issues germane to this context (De Jong et al., 2010; Podsakoff et al., 2003; Steenkamp et al., 2010; Taylor and Ishida, 2010; Tourangeau and Yan, 2007). Step 1 represents traditional classical test theory, including the assessment of reliability and validity (Hair et al., 1998). Step 2 calls for the assessment of measurement invariance as a means of assessing potential measurement error. Measurement invariance refers to measurement equivalence across populations (and their subgroups). Step 3 tests for potential measurement error related to common method variance (Podsakoff et al., 2003; Tourangeau and Yan, 2007; De Jong et al., 2010; Steenkamp et al., 2010). Williams et al. (2010) propose the Comprehensive CFA Marker Technique as a means of addressing many of the potential issues related to shared variance associated with the use of self-reports (e.g. respondents' consistency motifs, transient mood states, illusionary correlations, item similarity, and social desirability bias).A. Analyses, sample and measures\nIII. Study 2: A. How study 2 extends study 1\nIV. Overall discussion and implications: DP research to date has typically focused on self-report data, and often assumed that intentions possess strong predictive validity of behaviors in this context. However, recent meta-analyses make clear that such an assumption can be tenuous. The two studies reported herein first verify a strong predictive relationship between DP intention formation and subsequent behaviors. Second, the relative contributions of the desire to engage in DP behaviors and FREQUENCY reported by Taylor et al. (2009) are validated in two independent samples. Finally, a new finding is the multidimensional nature of FREQUENCY in this context based upon newly reported methods of exploratory factor analysis using structural equation modeling. The two dimensions appear to have differential effects on desires and intentions related to DP, and merit consideration in future DP-related research.A. Practitioner implications\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to assess how well digital piracy self-report intentions predict actual digital piracy behaviors in service marketing research.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Study 1 collects 321 surveys to investigate potential measurement issues related to digital piracy intention formation. Study 2 replicates Study 1 based on a separate sample of 267 respondents, and additionally links digital piracy intentions to directly observed digital piracy behaviors across a peer-to-peer network.\nFindings: - The results first validate a strong predictive relationship between self-report intentions and observed digital piracy behaviors (R2=0.36). Second, common method bias and measurement error do not appear to threaten the veracity of reported results. Third, a social psychological model of how digital piracy behaviors emerge is validated based upon the folk theory of the mind. Finally, a two-dimensional conceptualization of frequency of past behaviors is identified based upon exploratory factor analysis using structural equation modeling.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The research reported here relies on experimental methods of measuring peer-to-peer network activity. Future research might consider the motivational and attitudinal antecedents to digital piracy intention formation.\nPractical implications: - The results afford service marketers assurance that self-report measures of digital piracy behavioral intentions can serve as predictive measures of future behaviors. This helps make the collection of data in this context both achievable and practical. Also, a methodological framework is identified to strengthen measurement models associated with this type of research.\nOriginality/value: - The research provides a first effort to empirically relate behavioral intention data to unobtrusively observed digital piracy behaviors across peer-to-peer networks.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
What cliff is your business headed for? Are you listening and are the right people talking?
|
[
"Development",
"Learning",
"Organizational learning",
"Leadership development",
"Organizational change and learning",
"Strategic learning"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: GSK and bribery in China, Libor manipulation and Barclays, horse meat masquerading as beef in the European supply chain, emissions testing in Volkswagen (VW) and safety breaches in BP. What do all of these things have in common, apart from them being events that the respective leaders would rather we forgot? They all represent \"Unknown Known\" cliffs that organizations have fallen off. While I have recently written about four different cliff edges that may lie ahead of a currently high-performing business (Ballman, 2016), this article deals with one category and it just so happens that all of the examples given above fall into that one category - that of the unknown known, by which I mean that the threat/bad behavior wasn't known about at the top of the organization, yet it must have been known about by someone or someone(s) deep within.\nUnknown-known cliffs: The unknown-known cliff is an interesting challenge. Organizations are big and complex things these days, and it is amazing how much knowledge there is within any business that is hard to access. What may on first appearance be bolts from the blue are quite often known about by some people in the business well ahead of time. If only the right attention was given to the right facts, more cliffs might be avoided. In my experience, there are three main reasons that this information does not get through to the people who need to know:\nConclusion: Even the most successful businesses can be headed toward a cliff. Some of these are genuinely hard to predict, but others could be avoided because somewhere, deep down in the business, a technician of some sort knows that the problem exists. The challenge is to create a culture that ensures the vital information gets through and is attended to. This often requires changing the culture of the organization to one where leaders really listen and those they lead feel safe to speak up. Unfortunately, the demanding and no-nonsense style of many of our leaders gets in the way of that process. The boss who does not tolerate failure will hear about a potential one only when it is too late to do anything about it. If we only listen to those who \"can do\", we are probably hearing less than half the story. So, seek out the Cassandras in your business and start listening to them.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper addresses one particular type of cliff edge - \"Unknown Knowns\" that organizations are often headed for and suggests ways in which it can be avoided.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper reports lessons learned through the author's experience and draws on relevant literature.\nFindings: Apparently unforeseen cliffs are actually well known about, deep in the organization, well ahead of time and either nobody is talking or nobody is listening.\nPractical Implications: People need to change their cultures to ensure that the \"Cassandras\" (people who can be seen as \"negative\" and problem rather than solution focused) are genuinely listened to.\nOriginality/value: New scandals break every month. At the time of writing, the latest is Volkswagen (VW) emissions testing, itself a classic example of an unknown-known cliff.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Assessing building performance in residential buildings using BIM and sensor data
|
[
"Smart buildings",
"Building performance",
"BIM for facilities Management",
"Sensor data"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Maintenance and better general management of housing stock has been a national policy in the UK for several decades. An estimated 10 per cent (2.4m) of households in England are managed by housing associations and funded through government (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2017). Repair and maintenance of housing association properties is a routine activity as assets age and falls to organisations commissioned and managed by local authorities. Publicly funded organisations, such as social housing landlords, are under increased pressure to reduce costs of repair and maintenance activities. The three most common causes of wear and tear in buildings occur through impact from weather, occupants and moisture generated from wet areas within buildings, such as kitchens and bathrooms (Chong and Low, 2006). Such failure in buildings during use compared to initial design benchmarks can lead to a variety of issues and problems for both occupants and owners. By better understanding issues such as material of construction, type of occupants and how and where energy is used, there is an opportunity to investigate methodologies for understanding building performance against design recommendations and benchmarks.\nMethodology: The project began with qualitative interviews with stakeholders at the social housing partner organisation to understand current maintenance regimes. These were thematically analysed and a set of prioritised stakeholder information needs and were derived from them. Use case scenarios based on the information needs and on building design and performance industry standards were developed and tested within the project. An analysis of the building in-use data required to test the scenarios was carried out by the project team. The data were categorised according to the performance metric they were measuring, along with the feasibility of capturing them assessed by the availability of technology, precision and accuracy, and cost. From this, a sensor infrastructure for in-use monitoring was defined. A set of tenants across seven properties were recruited for the study and sensors deployed within their apartments. A sensor agnostic platform was developed that allowed data of any type (for example real-time temperature data or static occupant data) to be linked to the spatial data of the building model. Data visualisation techniques were used to display the real-time building performance data in the context of the spatial building model.\nFindings: Use case requirements\nDiscussion: The data visualisation platform provides two clear contributions to monitoring building performance and understanding factors that contribute to performance gaps. These are:\nConclusion: The study set out to understand the range of data that can be capture and measured to develop a framework for in-use performance data capture for domestic housing. The user-centred approach to understanding the current performance issues in domestic housing presents a methodology for capturing a set of use cases that provide an informed set of information requirements. Further analysis of these requirements highlighted ten key data sources for understanding in-use building performance data. These include:\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Buildings and their use is a complex process from design to occupation. Buildings produce huge volumes of data such as building information modelling (BIM), sensor (e.g. from building management systems), occupant and building maintenance data. These data can be spread across multiple disconnected systems in numerous formats, making their combined analysis difficult. The purpose of this paper is to bring these sources of data together, to provide a more complete account of a building and, consequently, a more comprehensive basis for understanding and managing its performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Building data from a sample of newly constructed housing units were analysed, several properties were identified for the study and sensors deployed. A sensor agnostic platform for visualising real-time building performance data was developed.\nFindings: Data sources from both sensor data and qualitative questionnaire were analysed and a matrix of elements affecting building performance in areas such as energy use, comfort use, integration with technology was presented. In addition, a prototype sensor visualisation platform was designed to connect in-use performance data to BIM.\nOriginality/value: This work presents initial findings from a post occupancy evaluation utilising sensor data. The work attempts to address the issues of BIM in-use scenarios for housing sector. A prototype was developed which can be fully developed and replicated to wider housing projects. The findings can better address how indoor thermal comfort parameters can be used to improve housing stock and even address elements such as machine learning for better buildings.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Cash holdings and corporate governance: theory and contrary evidence from hotel firms
|
[
"Corporate governance",
"Growth",
"Investments",
"Cash",
"Agency problems",
"Cash flows"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Hotel corporations make major capital investments to maintain the quality of existing properties, develop new hotel properties and acquire existing hotels. In general, hotel firms can finance their investments through internal funds (i.e. cash and cash flows), external funds or a combination of internal and external funds. However, the conflicts of interest between managers (i.e. chief executive officers [CEOs]) and shareholders can significantly impact firms' financing strategies, which further influences firms' cash management, dividend and investment policies, as well as the firm value (Madanoglu and Karadag, 2016; Altin et al., 2016; Harford et al., 2012; Hua et al., 2012).\n2. Theoretical framework and hypotheses development: In their seminal work, Modigliani and Miller (1958) introduced the irrelevance theorem, postulating that firms' future earnings and the risk of firms' assets firm value, and that financing and investment decisions are independent from each other. However, contradictory theoretical arguments have been made, and extensive empirical literature has provided evidence showing that firms highly depend on cash and cash flows for investments (Jensen, 1986; Franzoni, 2009; Myers and Majluf, 1984; Kaplan and Zingales, 1997; Almeida et al., 2004; Bebchuk et al., 2006). Essentially, two main theoretical arguments proposed against the irrelevance theorem have suggested that the conflicts of interests between bondholders and shareholders and between managers and shareholders play a major role in firms' financing decision.\n3. Methodology: Ordinary least square analysis may generate spurious relationships if the error term is correlated with independent variables. A spurious relationship may also arise due to an omission and/or possible endogeneity of independent variables in the model. In general, the determinants of investments, such as firms' financial policies and investment opportunities, are not observable, and the relation between investment and internal funds might be endogenously determined (Kaplan and Zingales, 1997). Therefore, the analyses are conducted by using three-stage least square (3SLS) analysis to account for possible endogeneity problems that may arise due to the unobservable effects of firms' financial policies and investment opportunities and to eliminate firm specific heterogeneity in the model.\n4. Empirical results: This section presents the results of multivariate analyses that examined the effects of cash flows on hotel firms' investments (i.e. capital expenditures) and cash holdings. The analyses were conducted using the 3SLS analysis method to account for the possible endogeneity problem between cash, cash flows and investment.\n5. Robustness analysis: Supplementary empirical tests were conducted to investigate the robustness of the findings from the main empirical tests described above. The results from the examinations of the effects of cash flows on well- and poorly governed hotel firms' investments and cash holdings showed that well-governed hotel firms depend more on cash flows for investments and keep more cash than poorly governed hotel firms. These results are contrary to the free cash flow theory's predictions and empirical results found in mainstream corporate finance literature, which investigates firms' investment and cash holdings behavior without focusing on a specific industry (Franzoni, 2009; Denis and Sibilkov, 2009). Therefore, hotel firms' dependence on cash flows for investments and cash holdings was further investigated using an alternative corporate governance proxy. Specifically, the presence of a staggered board of directors was used to further examine the free cash flow theory's postulations. Bebchuk and Cohen (2005) investigated the effect of presence of a staggered board on firm value and found that firms with a staggered board of directors tend to have significantly lower firm values:\n6. Conclusions: In a frictionless world, firms can finance positive NPV projects with either internal or external financing, that is, the source of the financing is irrelevant to investment decision. However, CEOs might prefer to use internal financing over external financing due to the conflict of interests between CEOs and shareholders, which affects firms' cash holdings, investments and dividend policies. Typically, CEOs of hotel firms whose incentives are aligned with shareholders are likely to distribute the excess cash to shareholders after all investments with positive NPVs are undertaken. However, misaligned CEOs of hotel firms could use internal funds to make investments that increase their compensations because CEOs are the main decision-makers of financing projects with internal funds. Therefore, shareholders strive to reduce agency problems by aligning CEOs' incentives and preventing them from wasting firms' resources on inferior investment projects.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which the quality of corporate governance mechanisms and growth opportunities affect agency problems in hotel firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The effects of cash flows on investments and cash holdings were analyzed using three-stage least square analysis to determine the extent to which agency problems are due to the quality of corporate governance in hotel firms.\nFindings: The findings showed that the effects of cash flows on investments and cash holdings were greater in well-governed hotel firms than in poorly governed hotel firms. These effects were also greater in low-growth hotel firms than in high-growth hotel firms. However, the results from a concurrent examination of the quality of corporate governance and growth opportunities showed that poorly governed hotel firms with low-growth opportunities are exposed to agency problems.\nResearch limitations/implications: These results suggest that neither corporate governance mechanisms nor growth opportunities alone indicate agency problems. Theoretical implications are discussed within the realms of free cash flow theory and growth hypothesis.\nPractical implications: High-growth hotel firms should retain all of their cash and cash flows to undertake value-increasing projects when they become available. Shareholders' wealth is more likely to be maximized in high-growth firms regardless of the quality of corporate governance.\nOriginality/value: Although various aspects of corporate governance have been investigated in hospitality literature, previous studies did not examine the concurrent effects of corporate governance and growth opportunities on agency problems.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Creativity in entrepreneurship education
|
[
"Entrepreneurialism",
"Education",
"Students"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper contributes to our understanding of entrepreneurial behavior by showing that creativity is an important antecedent of entrepreneurial intentions. By entrepreneurial intentions we mean \"a conscious state of mind that directs attention (and therefore experience and action) toward a specific object (goal) or pathway to achieve it (means)\" (Bird, 1989, p. 8). Several empirical studies have found that a person's intention to become an entrepreneur offers the best predictor of her actually engaging in entrepreneurship in the future (Delmar and Davidsson, 2000; Krueger et al., 2000). Building on more general models, entrepreneurial intentions are typically considered to be formed by a person's attitude toward entrepreneurship, prevailing social norms attached to entrepreneurship, and the person's level of self-efficacy.A factor that previously has not been considered in intention-based models is creativity. Yet entrepreneurship and innovative behavior have long been associated with creativity (Amabile, 1996; Nystrom, 1993), and recent literature suggests that creative individuals are more likely to engage in entrepreneurial behavior (Ward, 2004). To the best of our knowledge, this conjecture has not yet been tested empirically. This paper offers the first comprehensive test of the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intentions. We investigate three graduate programs in entrepreneurship with the common attribute of training exercises in creativity and in generation of new ideas. To this end, we draw upon established theories of career choice and entrepreneurial intentions. We use a well-established creativity test to measure students' creative dispositions, at the same time testing prior known antecedents of entrepreneurial intention.We found that high scores on the creativity test yielded a strong positive effect on entrepreneurial intentions, findings which are substantiated through various statistical models. We offer theoretical implications for research on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions. Specifically, the study indicates that creative disposition should be added to models of entrepreneurial intentions. We also discuss practical implications for curriculum development in entrepreneurship programs, an area where empirical research is much needed.\nTheory and hypothesis development: Entrepreneurship research has long examined the vast impact of personal history and social context on the propensity to engage in entrepreneurship by starting one's own business (Katz, 1992). Previous research illustrates that the theory of planned behavior can be used to predict employment status choice intentions (Kolvereid, 1996). Employment status choice intentions were defined by Katz (1992) as \"the vocational decision process in terms of the individual's decision to enter an occupation as a salaried individual or as self-employed.\" Kolvereid (1996) argued that the greater a person's perceived behavioral control, the stronger is that person's intention to become self-employed. Perceived behavioral control in turn corresponds to perceived feasibility, one of the key factors of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy has been found to greatly influence entrepreneurial behavior (Krueger et al., 2000) and strengthening entrepreneurship students' self-efficacy is therefore seen as a key tool in entrepreneurship education to enhance students' entrepreneurial intentions (Fayolle, 2005).Entrepreneurship education in universities\nMethod: Subjects and data collection process\nResults: As can be seen in Table II, entrepreneurial intentions differed between the five student groups. The three groups of entrepreneurship students all have a higher mean score than group 4 (biomedical students) and group 5 (business students). The largest difference is between group 4 and the other groups. This indicates that type of education (i.e. engineering/business versus medicine) might also be a strong determinant of entrepreneurial intention such as being enrolled in an entrepreneurship program or not. A between-group analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences f(4)=13,21 p<0.001 from the post-hoc test revealing that the mean score for students in group 5 (business) was significantly (p<0.05) lower than for all the other groups. The mean score for group 4 (biomedicine) was, in addition to being significantly higher than for group 5, significantly lower than group for 1. We can conclude that there are some important differences between the groups investigated. We now turn to testing our theoretically derived hypotheses in multivariate regression analyses.Regression analysis\nDiscussion: One of the most interesting findings in this study is the surprisingly strong influence of our measure of personal creativity on entrepreneurial intentions. However, our results should be seen as tentative at this point, since personality theories are intended to measure broad personality constructs stable across various environments and situations, and as such are weak determinants of specific behavior (Wiklund et al., 2003). Additional research on the creative dispositions among entrepreneurship students is necessary to confirm our findings. Preferably, such investigations should consider the wide range of measures in creativity assessments (Amabile, 1996).We also found that students engaged in academic entrepreneurship programs have higher intentions to start their own businesses in the future. However, the difference between entrepreneurship students and other students is smaller than the difference between those with a business or engineering degree and those with a degree in medicine. This indicates that important differences exist between how students in various areas perceive entrepreneurial opportunities in their future profession. Also, the fact that students engaged in an academic entrepreneurship program had higher intentions to start their own business might be a result of students with high entrepreneurial intentions self-selecting into these programs. In regard to future research, we believe it might be valuable to further examine the impact of different educational choices on the students' entrepreneurial intention. Specifically, it would be of value to examine entrepreneurial role models in each educational context, since our results indicate significant differences in entrepreneurship intention between different educational fields. Entrepreneurial activity depends not only on the desirability and feasibility of entrepreneurship, but also upon the desirability and feasibility of employment (Kolvereid, 1996). Therefore, it would also be interesting to investigate whether students with higher expectations on employment regard entrepreneurship as a less desirable alternative.Limitations\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to use social cognitive theory to investigate entrepreneurial intent among participants in graduate entrepreneurship programs. Specifically, the authors test whether students' creative potential is related to their intention to engage in entrepreneurship.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Theoretically derived hypotheses are tested using multiple and ordinal regression analyses.\nFindings: - High scores on a creativity test and prior entrepreneurial experiences are positively associated with entrepreneurial intentions, whereas perception of risks has a negative influence.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The authors' theoretical predictors of entrepreneurial intention received strong support, indicating that creativity should be considered in models of entrepreneurial intentions. However, the use of intentions as dependent variable has its own weaknesses in that it may not distinguish between \"dreamers\" and \"doers\".\nPractical implications: - The findings indicate that exercises in creativity can be used to raise the entrepreneurial intentions of students in entrepreneurship education. Heterogeneity in creative styles among students also points to the problems of a \"one-size-fits-all\" approach to entrepreneurship education.\nOriginality/value: - The paper is the first to investigate the importance of creativity in entrepreneurship education and theoretical models of entrepreneurial intentions.\n",
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] |
Mobile student information system
|
[
"Students",
"Information systems",
"Mobile communication systems",
"Localization",
"Norway"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Mobile information systems are extending the possibilities for when and where to perform learning for different communities. In this paper we particularly address students. Mobile computing is also changing the way of communication between teachers and students and can be used effectively to improve instructional quality.Campus Information System for students is defined as \"An interrelated group of information resources, accessible by computer through the campus institutional external and internal web environment, that a university places at the disposal of its users to enable them to consult it and/or provide a selection of significant and relevant data, in the wide context of their university life in its academic, administrative and social senses, in order to improve student's knowledge base\" (Cobarsi et al., 2008).This study describes a system called mobile student information system (MSIS) based on mobile computing and context-aware application concepts, which purpose is to provide more user-centric information services to students. Different services are proposed in this system combining location-aware and context-sensitive information services for the students at the university. Feedback gathered from the students through a survey based on usage of early versions of the system has been guiding the directions and design of the current solution.For any student it is important to have up to date information about current exercise assignments, lectures, upcoming appointments and other daily activities. This is especially true for new students who are still unfamiliar with current routines and practices. They may also have trouble finding their way around campus, often with hundreds of different auditoriums and rooms spread across a large area. In such situations it is vital to have correct information available. Sometimes the communication of information can make use of a more active approach instead of asking the student to locate the information needed. The information can be \"pushed\" to the person concerned based on his profile, requiring less effort and intervention from the user. Examples of these can be updates about class, courses, automatic e-mail notifications, reminders from friends, schoolmates, or similar.\n2. Related work: A large number of context-based mobile services have been developed over the last years, in a number of different domains, such as tourism (Kabassi, 2010; Yu and Chang, 2009), friend presence (Petersen et al., 2010), shopping (Hella and Krogstie, 2010).MyCampus (2005) is a Semantic web environment for context-aware mobile services aimed at enhancing everyday campus life at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). myCampus utilize semantic web technology to provide services to its users, by accessing and processing contextual information such as location and personal preferences. A central element of the myCampus architecture is its use of Semantic eWallets that support the automated discovery and access of contextual resources.MIT Mobile Web (2009) is providing a similar solution. This solution provides the services like News, Events, Shuttle track service, campus map, people directory, and mobile access to MIT course management system. This solution utilizes mobile web technology to provide these services. The solution is provided for iPhone especially, but also available for other smart phones.Harvard Mobile (2010) is another solution developed by Harvard University. This solution is based on web technology and provides services like news, events, course updates, map and a directory of people.\n3. Presentation of MSIS: A fully functional prototype, named \"MSIS\", has been developed and successfully tested at the NTNU campus. The main purpose of the system is to offer a number of mobile services that can assist students in their daily activities. MSIS consists of three parts: a lightweight client application for deployment on mobile devices, a web-based portal, and a backend server which provides database storage, business logic, and a number of public web services. The mobile application offers a friendly user interface to the various services offered by the system. An account profile is associated with each user, which is used for authentication and storing of personal preferences. The web portal allows basic administration tasks through a web browser, such as editing personal information.The services offered by MSIS includes a search tool for rooms and buildings on campus with integrated maps and geographical positioning, a dynamic schedule service providing up-to-date information of weekly lectures, a news and announcements service, collaboration service, e-mail service and mobile access to learning resources.Services of MSIS\n4. Description of evaluation with some main results: Preliminary survey\n5. Conclusion and future work: It is believed that the students at NTNU would benefit from more personalized and targeted information by the mobile services such as provided by MSIS. There is work in progress to expand the location functionality of wireless network coverage in and around campus, and ongoing initiatives such as the \"Wireless Trondheim\" (Andersen et al., 2007) are working to extend it even further, proving functionality such as what we have experienced with as a publically available service, as a campus guide. Although we see several similar services, they are mostly providing general information, not targeted to the individual student being integrated with standard channels of information.\n",
"role": "user"
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{
"content": "Purpose: - A mobile student information system (MSIS) based on mobile computing and context-aware application concepts can provide more user-centric information services to students. The purpose of this paper is to describe a system for providing relevent information to students on a mobile platform.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research followed a design science approach, including surveys to argue for the relevance of the system and evaluation of different versions of the system using a mobile system acceptance model (MSAM).\nFindings: - It was found that the intention to use such services is high, in particular relative to services providing information based on localization and the personal schedule and interests of the student.\nOriginality/value: - Several mobile systems exist that provide generic campus information for students and this paper describes one of the few systems of this sort of personalization which have been evaluated.\n",
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"We work like ants...we avoid being troublemaker": An exploratory inquiry on resilience of Chinese street vendors in the urban village
|
[
"Self-employment",
"Entrepreneurial resilience",
"Informal entrepreneurship",
"Rural–urban migrant",
"Street selling",
"Underground economy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: street vending phenomena and rural migrants in urban villages: The most ubiquitous marker of Third World urban poverty is the proliferation of slum populations. Alike many developing countries undergoing urbanization and modernization, urban villages or villages-in-the-city appear as transitional neighborhoods accommodating a large magnitude of urban poor in China (Du and Li, 2010; Wu, 2012). Given escalating urban-rural gaps as the aftermath of economic reforms since 1980s, metropolitan Guangzhou as one of China's coastal cities has attracted approximately 3m migrant workers from rural hinterland in search of economic opportunities (Huang et al., 2014; Xue and Huang, 2015). For rural-to-urban migrants, residence in urban villages is a preferred and in most cases the only affordable choice since they are \"denied the local hukou or household registration status and therefore excluded from urban citizenship treatment in their adopted city\" (Du and Li, 2010, p. 94). The repercussions of such hukou policy and residential segregation exacerbate systemic inequalities between migrant and urban household (Wu, 2012). Many rural migrants and their families have been compelled to take up a wide range of informal economic activities in villages-in-the-city, ranging from home-based small-scale production, to selling household items, vegetables, cooked food and second-hand goods on the street. Witnessing a rapid growth of urban informal employment in recent decades, the number of urban street vendors is estimated to be 19.5m in China and over 407,000 in Guangzhou (Xue and Huang, 2015). Given processes of socio-spatial exclusion of subordinated groups, such as street vendors, the homeless, beggars and sex workers have been observed in contemporary cities spurred on by neoliberalism around the world (Huang et al., 2014), street vending have long received considerable research and policy attention (Bhowmik, 2005).\n2. Conceptual framework: resilience and entrepreneurship: This study was informed by resilience theory (Connor and Davidson, 2003) and entrepreneurial scholarship (Rauch and Frese, 2000). Social science research conceptualized \"resilience\" to describe individuals who adapt to achieve positive outcomes in the face of ongoing adversity (Fraser et al., 1999). Theoretically distinct from the term \"resiliency\" referring to invariant personality trait, resilience is a dynamic response to a multiplex of biological, psychological, social and other environmental influences (Fraser et al., 1999). Aligning with Ungar's (2011) social ecological paradigm, resilience strategies represent how resilience operates at the interplay between levels of individual, community and society where resilience capability is contingent on how individuals are situated in particular ways in their environment. Albeit critiques of resilience theory exist regarding its conceptual inconsistency and variations in operational definitions across empirical research (Luthar et al., 2000; Fletcher and Sarkar, 2013), such diversity and iterative argumentations are essential to extend the knowledge of \"resilience\" as a nascent construct in legitimizing its contribution to sociological scholarship on vulnerable population. Yu and Zhang (2007) validated Connor and Davidson's conceptualization of resilience as hardiness, resourcefulness and purposefulness among Chinese population. Subsequently, resilience of Chinese rural migrant workers was investigated on a quantitative psychological basis (Wong and Song, 2008). In the field of informal economy, street vendors' capacities \"like ingenuity, industriousness, and the ability to reinvest the profits from economic activity,\" though not being framed as \"resiliency,\" are considered conducive to labor productivity and wealth generation (Coletto, 2010, p. 147). Optimistic liberals may uphold that rural-urban migrants' informal economic activities possess autonomous capacities for growth among urban poor through their own indigenous enterprise (Hart, 1973). Compared to extant qualitative inquires on resilient vendors' practice against state power in the Global South, e.g. Mexico (Cross, 1998; Crossa, 2009), Thailand (Walsh, 2010), India, South Africa and Peru (Roever, 2016), few articles have been focused on street vendors' resilience strategies by an explorative approach in the urban context of post-socialist China (Reid et al., 2010).\n3. Purpose: This study unpacks and repacks rituals, behaviors and cultural practices of marginalized street vendors in an urban village of Guangzhou City. Chinese vendors represent varied demographics, socioeconomic status and life trajectories with a long history of being oppressed and regulated by the government (Reid et al., 2010). Through a qualitative lens to (un)regulated street hawkers reflecting an underlying population of rural-to-urban migrants, this study aims to contextualize their practice pattern, work ethic and concerns on survival. The research questions guide an investigation as to:\n4. Methods: This study is a descriptive and exploratory ethnographic study involving semi-structured interviews and naturalistic observations to capture realistic views of street hawkers. Permission to conduct this study involving human subjects was obtained from Chinese University of Hong Kong Research Ethics Board prior to the research commencement and all participants provided written informed consent. Ethical considerations, including confidentiality, anonymity and rights of rejection were informed to participants.\n5. Findings: stories of street vendors: Notwithstanding stories of stallholders in the regulated market could be categorized into marketplace trading rather than street commerce, as regulated market and open-air business have considerable overlap and \"street vendors are not a homogenous group but are composed of various sectors, such as fixed-stall vendors [...] and mobile sellers\" (Wongtada, 2014, p. 60), this paper attempts to describe the resilience of both kinds of trading as a whole by highlighting peculiar characteristics comparably in a pattern of answers to research questions. Participating vendors aged from early 20 to 50 with multiple kinds of merchandise, including delicatessens, fruits, cellphone accessories, infant clothing and daily goods. Six out of eight vendors were female. Participants' informal trading experiences varied from an average minimum of two months to maximum of seven years with a majority practicing more than one year, which indicates the sustainability of their business. As non-Guangzhou citizens, they shared a common status as registered rural households from neighboring agricultural counties or provinces. Data presented in Table II were categorized into six overarching themes crystallizing resilience strategies and entrepreneurship. The exchange rate calculation was $1=CNY6.05 yuan when the research conducted.\n6. Discussion: Resilience practices refer to resources and activities drawn upon to manage, overcome and effectively handle significant life challenges (Ungar, 2011). In sum, the findings demonstrate that Chinese street vendors espouse subtle strategies centering on purposefulness, resourcefulness and hardiness, which are instantiated by family obligation, sales tactics, merchandising techniques, technology application, trading flexibility, moral sentiment and mutual assistance network. As such, vendors are both enacting and constructing resilience in the specific processes, resources, contexts and actions that enabled amelioration of adverse events, encapsulating impoverishment, cost inflation, contingent loss, fierce competition, market uncertainty, intensive workloads, municipal inspection and arbitrary governance practice of village cooperatives. The themes stress vendors' actual resilient practice of bouncing back from setbacks, which \"situates resilience as fluid, complex and contextually responsive process\" (Wexler et al., 2013, p. 394). Strategic connotations of resilience among underprivileged vendors resonate with the qualitative literature that resilience is a process rather than a static personal trait and it requires ongoing efforts with internal thoughts and interactions with others (Newsom and Myers-Bowman, 2017). The empirical results also offer some important insights for sociologists by revealing similarities with studies on street vendors' human agency (Boels, 2014), survival strategies (Bromley, 2014) and counter-attempts of marginalization (Flock and Breitung, 2016).\n7. Limitation: Owing to a relatively small sample size, the finding does not provide an exhaustive overview of resilience strategies, nor is it a thorough representative of diverse street hawkers across China's numerous villages. For example, ethnic minorities street traders, i.e. Muslim Uygur vendors from Xinjiang Province, remain to be explored. The insight on street vending policy is a tentative articulation to encourage further investigations. There are unavoidable challenges in translating the data from Chinese to English since the direct translation of some phrases and idioms is not possible. Future research guided by quantitative survey design on street vendors' entrepreneurial resilience would be desirable to corroborate whether our results are maintained or any gender-specific differences exist. Finally, complex relations between formal and informal vendors, their perceptions concerning rural-to-urban migration, divergence or convergence of their resistance practice are important pointers that deserve deeper inquiries.\n8. Conclusion: The present paper attempts to gain insight on the limited empirical studied area of resilience strategies on street vending. The voices of street vendors as a marginalized sub-group of rural migrant population in China were valued. It provides a frame of reference in which to examine the interaction of resilience theory from the field of psychology and entrepreneurship thesis from business management contexts and potentially serves as a catalyst to enrich the existing literature with an integrated perspective to comprehend the resilience strategies of both unregulated and regulated street vendors to secure their livelihoods. Supported by the results of this research, the integrated perspective is likely to inform the provision of social services for empowering rural migrants and the proposition for revisiting the street vending policy explicitly criminalizing informal trade. As a street vendor asserted, \"We work like ants [...] we avoid being troublemaker.\" To counterweigh negative prejudices, street vendors had to justify their survival business and rehabilitate their image. For more than a decade, traders had perceived vending as their right, entitlement and as the solely honest way of earning money in contrast to prostitution or stealing (Rekhviashvili, 2015). The antagonistic understanding of the informal economy is so predominating that it obscures structural problems undermining social justice and equality whereas the spirit of self-reliance among street entrepreneurs is ought to be respected.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore resilience strategies of Chinese street vendors in a shifted regulatory policy environment from a strength-based and entrepreneurial perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing upon nine in-depth interviews and naturalistic observations in an urban village of Guangzhou, China, the study empirically investigates how unregulated sidewalk-based hawkers struggle to survive against socioeconomic adversities compared with regulated vendors' operations in a legitimate transitional market.\nFindings: Mirroring a sub-group of rural-to-urban migrants, street vendors espouse subtle strategies centering on purposefulness, resourcefulness and hardiness, which are instantiated through family obligation, sales tactics, merchandising techniques, technology application, trading flexibility, moral sentiment and assistance network. As such, street entrepreneurs are both enacting and constructing resilience in response to specific challenging contexts including impoverishment, operating cost inflation, contingent loss, fierce competition, market uncertainty, intensive workloads, municipal inspection and arbitrary governance practice of village cooperative organization.\nResearch limitations/implications: Notwithstanding its limited generalizability, the result sheds light on crystallization of street vendors' resilience and informs social services and policy remedies.\nOriginality/value: The study provides a frame of reference to examine the interplay of resilience theory from psychology and entrepreneurship thesis from the field of business management by adding new evidence to the research on \"entrepreneurial resilience\" and potentially serves as a catalyst to enrich existing literature with an integrated perspective to comprehend the coping process of these necessity-driven micro-enterprise operators. The antagonistic understanding of informal economy is so predominating that it obscures structural oppression undermining social justice, whereas the spirit of self-reliance among street entrepreneurs is ought to be respected.\n",
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] |
Brand-building efforts in high and low performing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
|
[
"Branding",
"Emerging market",
"Small business",
"Brand building",
"Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction and background: Evidence from the small business literature suggests that growing enterprises adopt market and brand orientations to a greater extent than stable or declining ones (Reijonen et al., 2012). There have also been findings pointing to the contribution of branding on the sales performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (Hsiao and Chen, 2013; Agostini et al., 2015). However, literature on the nature and degree of brand-building efforts in SMEs is not resolutely known, although research has shown possible differences in brand management practices in high- and low-performing SMEs (Berthon et al., 2008). It is also unclear how much of SMEs performance can be attributable to their brand-building efforts. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine brand-building efforts within SMEs in an attempt to understand the extent to which such efforts are undertaken in high- and low-performing enterprises. The paper contributes to the literature in threefolds. The first is to identify brand-building efforts undertaken within SMEs in an emerging market setting. The second is to examine the degree to which such efforts are carried out in both high- and low-performing enterprises. Third, the paper seeks to assess the impact of the brand-building efforts on the performances of high- and low-performing enterprises.\nBrand-building perspectives: Several brand-building models have been put across in the marketing literature (see for instance Keller, 1993; Aaker, 1996; Burmann et al., 2009; Centeno et al., 2013). Yet a key question that arises is whether such models and frameworks are applicable and fit all business contexts (Hirvonen et al., 2013). It has arguably been recognized that the concept of branding is even more difficult to understand and put into practice by SME managers (Epure et al., 2009), attesting to the relatively little emphasis placed on the subject in SMEs (Gabrielsson, 2005; Ojasalo et al., 2008). Perhaps, the natural contexts of SMEs and large organizations, from which processes and behaviours can be understood rather than measured, could also explain such scholarly disparities (Mowle and Merrilees, 2005; Horan et al., 2011). The discrepancy in branding between SMEs and large organizations has been noted in the literature (Berthon et al., 2008; Spence and Hamzaoui Essoussi, 2010). Accordingly, brand-building efforts also differ from the perspective of the two categories of firms. However, according to Abimbola and Vallaster (2007), SMEs appear to have some advantages over large companies, due to the flexible structures and processes in SMEs that enable them to integrate various parts of the enterprise in the branding process.\nBranding and SME performance: Generally, the growth of small enterprises serves as a vital measure of performance and success (Carton and Hofer, 2006; Eggers et al., 2013), especially when the survival of several SMEs appear wavering in most countries (Lee et al., 2012). Evidence from the branding literature, however, suggests that SMEs who develop and implement strong branding efforts are able to realize both financial (such as sales revenue and profit margin) and non-financial performance benefits (Abimbola, 2001; Wong and Merrilees, 2005; Hsiao and Chen, 2013; Asamoah, 2014). According to Renton et al. (2015), enterprises which move up the ladder from minimalist to integrated brand orientation increase their chances of a higher performance. Literature recognizes that brand-focussed SMEs are able to achieve a distinct performance advantage over rivals who are not brand-focussed (Berthon et al., 2008).\nMethodology: Research design and measures\nResults and analyses: Profile of the enterprises\nDiscussions and conclusions: The paper investigates brand-building efforts and performance of SMEs. Using Keller's (2013) scarcely examined theorization, the study explored and confirmed the measures for brand-building efforts on SMEs' performance. It also examined the extent to which the brand-building efforts are peddled in high- and low-performing enterprises. The results and analyses presented in this paper advance theoretical and empirical research in branding and small business performance in several important ways. First of all, results of the research data from 430 SMEs in an emerging market highlight that positive relationships exist between the brand-building efforts and enterprise performance. Keller's theorization of brand-building efforts is used as a central model for the study, given its ability to umbrella most branding approaches proposed in mainstream marketing literature (Aaker, 2008; Kapferer, 2012). Evidence from extant studies suggests that the brand-building efforts examined in this paper are typically studied in isolation and also scarcely explored in the SME literature. The current study synthesizes these brand-building perspectives and streamlines them in four key areas for assessing the brand-building and performance for SMEs.\nImplications and limitations of the study: Findings from the study make modest contributions to the literature on branding as well as in small business and enterprise development, offering some implications for both theory and practice. Results from the study indicate that brand-building efforts indeed have relationships with enterprises' performance in varying dimensions. The findings are also in accord with previous suggestions that high-performing firms implement high levels of branding efforts as strategic marketing tools than low-performing ones. As one of the preliminary studies to examine Keller's (2013) brand-building theorization in an SME setting, the study progresses the literature by synthesizing various brand-building efforts proposed by scholars into four composite approaches for small businesses. It will be interesting, therefore, to carry out similar studies in other contexts/settings to corroborate the measures as well as their interdependencies. Literature generally hints that western-developed models may not be applicable in emerging market settings due to their unique economic, consumer and other market characteristics (Sheth, 2011). Evidence from this paper, however, presents palpable evidence which may be consistent with studies conducted in western contexts as well as those with economic and market conditions similar to the current study setting.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine brand-building efforts within small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an attempt to understand the extent to which such efforts are undertaken in high- and low-performing enterprises.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study uses data from 430 SMEs in an emerging market. After evaluating scale measures with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, multiple stage analyses involving cluster analysis, ANOVA and hierarchical regression with sub-group analysis were used to examine the theoretical relationships among the constructs.\nFindings: Findings from the study identify four composite brand-building efforts that influence SMEs' performance. These are implemented in varying extents, culminating into proportional levels of performance within high- and low-performing SMEs. Significant differences with regard to profit margin, market share, sales volume, customer base and new product success are also exhibited in the two enterprise segments.\nOriginality/value: The results provide evidence to issues of research and managerial interest, offering insightful implications to the academic and practitioner communities. The paper offers a preliminary attempt to progress literature by synthesizing various brand-building efforts under four broader theorizations in SMEs setting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Religious expression in the workplace: why flexibility enhances its management
|
[
"Discrimination",
"Diversity",
"Religion",
"Workplace",
"Religious expression"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Few topics are more divisive than religion. You would have to search hard to find another issue with the same unrelenting ability to polarize views. History books provide ample testimony to that fact.\nReligion at work: It is therefore hardly surprising to find religious freedom to be a major challenge in the workplace. Determining how, when and in what circumstances workers should be permitted to engage in religious expression is a conundrum facing many organizations. Granting such freedom needs to be balanced against the needs and rights of other employee groups.\nForms of religious expression: Religious expression comes in a variety of different guises. One of the more obvious examples relates to dress and personal appearance. Specific items of clothing and jewelry or other religious symbols are worn by Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, etc., as an integral part of their religious identity. In many instances, they are considered to be mandatory.\nToward effective management: Given the inherent complexities of these issues, how should companies act with regard to religious expression at work? Employers are obviously bound to act in accordance with the legal position. Beyond that though, it would make sense to:\nComment: The review is based on \"Managing workplace religious expression within the legal constraints\" by Hambler (2016). The author provides a balanced account for and against religious expression at work. Case laws are used to illustrate the different scenarios discussed and suggestions how to effectively manage the issue will be of considerable value to practitioners.\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: Few topics are more divisive than religion. You would have to search hard to find another issue with the same unrelenting ability to polarize views. History books provide ample testimony to that fact. It is therefore hardly surprising to find religious freedom to be a major challenge in the workplace. Determining how, when and in what circumstances workers should be permitted to engage in religious expression is a conundrum facing many organizations. Granting such a freedom needs to be balanced against the needs and rights of other employee groups.\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"
}
] |
Industry clockspeed's impact on business innovation success factors
|
[
"Business innovation success",
"Competitive intelligence",
"Strategic leadership",
"Management of technology",
"Innovation process",
"Industry clockspeed",
"Competitive strategy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: While many organizations have derived substantial benefits from business innovation, success implementing the required changes is far from assured, with many organizations also reporting disappointing results due to missed objectives, unexpectedly high costs, and turmoil caused by the changes. Besides the continuous need for organizations to re-invent themselves and for developing new products and services (O'Sullivan, 2003), over the past decade the main emphasis worldwide has been on improving quality. To satisfy their need for innovation, many companies have adopted total quality management (TQM) or similar quality improvement methodologies that call for a continuous effort to improve products, processes, and operations to better satisfy customer needs. The required changes may also call for employee empowerment in decision making, a team approach to identify, prioritize targets for improvement, including changes to organization values and culture. Although there has been a significant amount of success with TQM, managers have realized that in many cases there is need for more dramatic improvements in productivity, competitiveness and profitability. This can be accomplished by major paradigm shifts which focus on value-added activities as well as other underpinnings for successfully implementing the concept of business process reengineering (BPR) (Goll and Cordovano, 1993; Teng et al., 1994; Caccia-Bava et al., 2005).Regardless of the change methodology being employed, the factors important to innovation success or failure are many, but most authors would agree that the change process has to bear certain characteristics. Many researchers have looked to improvements in strategic leadership as critical to developing an organization environment conducive to innovation (Waldman et al., 2001; Williams, 2004). To help define and prioritize important problems and opportunities to the organization, many have proposed competitive intelligence (CI) programs as important to company success (Guimaraes and Armstrong, 1998a; Vedder and Guynes, 2002; du Toit, 2003; Tarraf and Molz, 2006). Further, effective management of technology (MOT) is thought to be a critical requirement for successfully implementing most modern business changes (Beattie and Fleck, 2005). While these propositions are exceedingly important, the existing literature contains little empirical evidence supporting them. As called for in the study by Guimaraes and Armstrong (1998a), while these constructs are well established among scattered groups of academic researchers and practitioners, much can be done to empirically test these propositions. Some of these constructs have been addressed by narrow groups of academic researchers and almost completely ignored by others studying the management of innovation, despite their importance among practicing managers. For example, despite its critical importance for organization innovativeness and absorptive capacity, strategic leadership has been substantially ignored by the academic circles researching the management of technology and innovation. Even more surprising has been the academic researcher community's neglect of CI as an important determinant of business innovation success, at a time when large numbers of managers from many companies have formed a professional association and created a special journal to specifically address issues important to this area. Similarly, some researchers of business innovation have addressed special characteristics of the innovation process as an important factor for implementation success, but many other researchers of innovation management have ignored this construct altogether. Last, despite the increasing acceptance of industry clockspeed as a potentially important influence on the need to innovate, as well as on the entire process of business innovation, very little empirical research is available addressing clockspeed as a factor in business innovation success (Carrillo, 2005; Meijboom et al., 2007; Nadkarni and Narayanan, 2007; Weijermars, 2009). Thus, it might be particularly important to academic researchers and practicing managers alike to test an integrated model which brings together these major factors potentially important to effective implementation of business innovation. That was the primary objective of the field test discussed here.\n2. Theoretical background and proposed hypotheses: 2.1 Dependent variable - business innovation success\n3. Study methodology: This section provides an overview of the field-test data collection procedure, a brief description of the sample demographics, a detailed discussion of how the variables were measured, and the data analysis procedures.3.1 Data collection procedure\n4. Results: Table III lists the means and standard deviations for the main research variables. As a group, in comparison with their main competitors, the companies in the sample are thought to be performing above average in the areas of implementing business innovation, and management of technology. On the other hand, on the average the companies in the sample are thought to be performing below average in the areas of charismatic leadership, competitive intelligence, and having the specific characteristics of change process needed for success in business innovation. The relatively large standard deviations indicate significant differences along all the major variables from company to company.To test H1-H4, Pearson's correlation coefficients were computed and presented in Table III. All four independent variables show a direct relationship to success in business innovation, as defined in this study. Thus, based on these correlation coefficients, all four hypotheses are found significant at the 0.01 level or better. Because of the possibility of collinearity among the independent variables, a stepwise multivariate regression analysis was conducted to assess the extent to which each independent variable incrementally contributes to explaining the variance in the dependent variable. Table IV shows that, dependent on the sequence in which the independent variable entered the regression equation, competitive intelligence explains 34 percent of the variance in innovation success, followed by the features of the innovation process, strategic leadership, and management of technology. Each independent variable makes a contribution to that effect at a significance level below 0.05.4.1 Results regarding clockspeed as moderating variable\n5. Conclusions: The results provide strong evidence regarding the importance of strategic leadership, competitive intelligence, management of technology, and specific characteristics of the company's innovation process to the success of business innovation regarding products, business processes, organization structure, and organization culture. Given the importance of effectively implementing business innovation in these days of hyper competitiveness, it behooves top managers to do whatever they can to improve their company's performance in the areas of competitive intelligence, strategic leadership, management of technology, and characteristics of the process used to implement the necessary innovations.Regarding CI, there are some major implications from this study results. To improve their CI programs, managers need to consider the collection of market intelligence based on the six areas addressed in this study: the traditional industry competitors, emerging competitors, traditional customer needs and wants, non-traditional customer needs and wants, relationships with business partners, and new product or service development. The importance of any one of these areas may be relatively higher or lower, and in some cases some of these sources may be irrelevant, depending on the company's specific industry sector, line of business, products, and processes being considered. Good performance in these areas, whenever applicable to the company's industry sector and lines of business, are likely to lead to more effective implementation of business innovations. Also, before embarking in major programs for business innovation such as TQM and/or BPR, which are supposedly market driven, the implications for company strategic competitiveness from these changes should be validated with CI information, rather than superficial guesswork by top managers or BPR consultants more focused on the innovation process instead of the strategic reasons for change. At the very least, the market reaction must be carefully considered by any team charged with projects involving significant innovations to business processes, products, and/or the organization itself. As our sample indicates, on average companies are performing below average in this area most important to successful business innovation.In the area of strategic leadership there are also several implications that can be derived from this study. Charismatic leadership (showing determination while accomplishing goals, inspiring confidence, making people feel good around you, communicating expectations for high performance, generating respect, transmitting a sense of mission, and providing a vision of what lies ahead) is on average and as a whole relatively scarce in industry today, and judging by its nature it should be difficult to develop. Nevertheless, managers must try, particularly in high clockspeed industry sectors (Guimaraes et al., 2002) requiring continuous innovation. Also apparently important for successful business innovation but less scarce than charismatic leadership, transactional leadership (taking action if mistakes are made, pointing out what people will receive if they do what needs to be done, reinforcing the link between achieving goals and obtaining rewards, focusing attention on deviations from what is expected, and rewarding good work) by its nature should be easier to develop. Pawar and Eastman (1997) proposed that transactional leadership is more relevant within an existing organization environment instead of one attempting to implement changes. Katz and Kahn (1978) argued that charismatic leadership may be more relevant where organization change is important, but that both types of strategic leadership are potentially important. Our results indicate that for successful business innovation both types of leadership are important.To improve technology management while implementing business innovation, managers must look at company performance in terms of its technology leadership position in its main industry sectors, knowledge of how to get the best technology available, effective use of specific technologies, and benchmarking the use of specific technologies against the company's main competitors or best-in-class target organizations. An important requirement to accomplish these objectives is the clear definition of the more important technologies necessary to support the company's main products and business processes, and technologies which will enable the structural and cultural changes considered important to improve company competitiveness. Another important requirement is management recognition that the implementation of each of the various technologies deemed important to the organization is dependent on specific success factors. The success factors for the various technologies have been identified and discussed elsewhere (Guimaraes et al., 1992; Udo and Guimaraes, 1994; Yoon, Guimaraes and Clevenson, 1995; Yoon, Guimaraes and O'Neal, 1995; Guimaraes and Igbaria, 1997; Yoon et al., 1998) and are considered beyond the scope of this paper.Further, to improve the likelihood for innovation success, top managers must ensure that their company's change process bear the desirable characteristics studied here: all significant changes must conform to company objectives, all affected departments participate in the change process, individual employee input is considered important, customers input is considered important, business partners input is considered important, managers ability to balance risk taking with cost/benefit, ensuring that clearly defined measures to monitor progress exist, that innovation objectives and progress are clearly communicated, and that the innovation management teams respond quickly and effectively to required change. These guidelines must be widely disseminated and enforced by project managers responsible for significant business innovations.The effect of industry clockspeed on innovation success is significant. Thus, the above recommendations regarding strategic leadership, competitive intelligence, and management of technology are particularly important for companies operating in high clockspeed industry sectors. The only independent variable which is equally important to low and high clockspeed industries are the prescribed characteristics for the projects implementing the business innovations. This could be related to the finding by Perrons and Platts (2005) that industrial clockspeed did not play a significant role in the success or failure of a particular outsourcing strategy for radical innovation.5.1 Study limitations and research opportunities\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The literature prescribing important determinants of innovation success is grouped into four main areas encompassing strategic leadership, competitive intelligence, management of technology, and specific characteristics of the company's innovation process. Further, industry clockspeed has been considered to be a possible moderator for these determinants of innovation success. While these major areas of study may indeed be important to enhance company innovation and competitiveness, the existing literature on each area is not being shared by researchers in the other areas. That has led until now to the study of models relatively narrow in scope and primarily focused on the particular research area. This study aims to test these constructs as a set of determinants of innovation success and the possible moderating effect of industry clockspeed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A field test using a mailed questionnaire to collect a relatively large sample has been used to test the proposed model. To eliminate possible multicollinearity among the independent variables, a multivariate regression analysis was used.\nFindings: - The results provide clear evidence about the importance of industry clockspeed as a moderator of the relationships between strategic leadership, competitive intelligence, management of technology, and specific characteristics of the company's innovation process with company success in business innovation. Also, the company's change process as defined here is equally important to low and high clockspeed industries for successfully implementing business innovations.\nResearch limitation/implications: - Despite the relatively broad scope of the proposed model, other factors may also be important and should be included in future studies.\nPractical implications: - The items used for measuring the main constructs provide further and more specific insights into how managers should go about developing these areas within their organizations.\nOriginality/value: - While the study is grounded in the literature of what until now have been four separate areas of knowledge, it proposed an integrated model for these areas important to business innovation, and empirically tested the model.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Understanding location-based services users' privacy concern: An elaboration likelihood model perspective
|
[
"ELM",
"LBS",
"Privacy concern",
"Privacy policy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Mobile internet has been developing rapidly in the world. For example, a recent report indicated that the number of mobile internet users in China has exceeded 656 million, accounting for 92.5 percent of its internet population (710 million) (CNNIC, 2016). Faced with the great market, service providers have released a variety of mobile services, such as mobile instant messaging, mobile games, mobile payment and location-based services (LBS). These services can be classified into four categories: information, communication, entertainment and transaction. Among various mobile services, LBS can acquire a user's location and push the relevant information and services to the user based on his or her location. This may help improve user experience and facilitate his or her behavioral intention (Zhou, 2013). Thus, LBS are deemed the killer application of mobile business (Dhar and Varshney, 2011). Typical LBS include emergency evacuation, mobile navigation, location check-in and location-based advertisements.\n2. Research model and hypotheses: 2.1 LBS user adoption\n3. Method: The research model includes six factors. Each factor was measured with multiple items. All items were adapted from extant literature to improve content validity (Straub et al., 2004). These items were first translated into Chinese by a researcher. Then another researcher translated them back into English to ensure consistency. When the instrument was developed, it was tested among ten users that had LBS usage experience. Then according to their comments, we revised some items to improve the clarity and understandability. The final items and their sources are listed in the Appendix.\n4. Results: Following the two-step approach recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), we first examined the measurement model to test reliability and validity. Then we examined the structural model to test research hypotheses.\n5. Discussion: As listed in Table III, among five independent variables, privacy policy has the largest effect (b=-0.206, p<0.001) on privacy concern. This result is consistent with Zhao et al. (2012). This suggests that users rely on the central cues such as privacy policy to alleviate their privacy concern. Privacy policy provides much information on the collection, storage and usage of users' location information. Users may scrutinize it to grasp the main points of service providers' privacy practices. Thus, service providers need to present a well-written privacy policy to users. As mobile devices have small screens, privacy policy may need to be concise and short. In addition, service providers need to comply with their statements listed in the privacy policy.\n6. Theoretical and managerial implications: From a theoretical perspective, this research draws on ELM to examine LBS users' privacy concern. As noted earlier, although extant research has identified a few determinants of privacy concern associated with using LBS, it has seldom examined the influence processes of these external factors on privacy concern. In other words, the underlying mechanism that external factors affect privacy concern remains a black box. This may hinder our understanding of privacy concern mitigation. Based on ELM, this research found that privacy concern receives a dual influence from both central cues and peripheral cues. Central cues include privacy policy and information quality, whereas peripheral cues include reputation and privacy seals. This suggests that both central route and peripheral route coexist in shaping privacy concern. In other words, users simultaneously consider the arguments embedded in the messages and information cues to mitigate their concerns on information privacy. Thus, future research may need to take both development routes into consideration when examining privacy concern. This research also responds to the call by Dinev (2014) that privacy research can be conducted from an ELM perspective. Second, we found that privacy control moderates the effects of both central and peripheral cues on privacy concern. More specifically, privacy control strengthens the effects of central cues (privacy policy) on privacy concern, whereas it attenuates the effects of peripheral cues (privacy seals) on privacy concern. This indicates that privacy control may affect an individual user's evaluation of his or her ability and motivation to process privacy information, both of which reflect the elaboration likelihood in the ELM. The results also disclose the context under which external factors affect privacy concern and extend existing research that has seldom considered the moderators of privacy concern. Third, ELM has been used to examine user behavior in the contexts of document management systems, electronic health records and e-finance marketplaces. This research generalizes it to an emerging mobile service: LBS. In addition, previous research on ELM has mainly considered the enabling effects of external factors on user trust and adoption, whereas our research examined the inhibiting effects of both central and peripheral cues on privacy concern. This enriches extant research on ELM.\n7. Conclusion: Due to the collection and utilization of location information, LBS may arouse users' privacy concern, which further negatively affects their behavior. Drawing on ELM, this research examined LBS users' privacy concern. The results disclose the influence routes of external factors on privacy concern.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to draw on the elaboration likelihood model to examine location-based services (LBS) users' privacy concern.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on the 266 valid responses collected from a survey, structural equation modeling was employed to examine the research model.\nFindings: The results indicated that privacy concern receives a dual influence from both central cues and peripheral cues. Central cues include privacy policy and information quality, whereas peripheral cues include reputation and privacy seals. Privacy control moderates the effects of privacy policy and privacy seals on privacy concern.\nResearch limitations/implications: The results imply that service providers need to consider both central and peripheral cues in order to mitigate users' privacy concern associated with using LBS.\nOriginality/value: Although previous research has found the effect of privacy concern on user adoption of LBS, it has seldom examined the influence processes of external factors on privacy concern. This research tries to fill the gap.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Futures construction in public management
|
[
"Futures",
"Foresight",
"Public policy",
"Strategic management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: This article is interested in how governments construct futures through the practice of foresight. We present and define foresight, discuss its merits and its limits, and we consider challenges to implementation in public management. Canada is used as a case study to demonstrate general public sector foresight practices.\nForesight: The futures studies field (Sardar, 2010) encapsulates foresight - at times referred to as strategic foresight - and, is concerned with prospects, trends and possibilities. Broadly defined, foresight is a \"deliberate process of expanding awareness and understanding through futures scanning and the clarification of emerging situations\" (Slaughter, 1995, p. xvii). Foresight does not seek to predict the future. Rather, it attempts to identify drivers of change to detect potential futures. At its most basic, foresight is both intuitive and deliberate. Foresight is intuitive because it is based on assumptions about the future (Aligica, 2005). It is deliberate because it is a scientific process anchored in social science methodologies.\nForesight and public management: Foresight is conducted in the public, private (to identify market trends (Schwartz, 1991)) and not-for-profit sectors. We are most interested in government foresight. The discipline of public management has paid little attention to foresight. Public management, most notably public policy studies, has tended to be backwards looking (Scharpf, 1997). One of the rare attempts to consider foresight in public management was made in a special issue of Public Administration Review (O'Leary and Van Slyke, 2010), which focused on the future of the discipline. There are some rather obvious advantages to foresight in public management; policymaking has always been about making choices now to solve real or perceived societal problems, so as to generate positive change at a later date. Foresight projects are strategic in that actors should reflect, respond and act according to findings.\nForesight in Canada: Canada is neither a leader in terms of foresight, nor is it at the bottom of the list. Though foresight practices in Canada have not been as elaborate as in other countries such as The Netherlands or Singapore, there have been attempts within the federal government to adopt and integrate best practices, and to expand above and beyond a single policy field. The experience of smaller and more integrated governments like that of The Netherlands or Singapore probably would be hard to replicate and generalize. Canada, as such, is a good case study in that its experience allows for foresight's strengths and weaknesses in practice to be identified.\nChallenges to foresight in public management: There is a gap between what futures experts would like to see and what governments do. Foresight practices in the public sector often tend to be narrower, focusing on a single policy field. PHC's efforts represent an attempt to expand foresight's reach and possibilities. Accepting that foresight can deliver more for the public sector than that which currently takes place, what are the main challenges to the implementation of foresight best practices?\nConcluding remarks: This article has considered the role of foresight in public management. Foresight is assumed, especially by futures experts, to be essential to good governance. Government foresight tends to be more restricted, within specific policy fields so as to be as policy relevant as possible. Such a strategic approach to foresight may well be what is possible, especially with a departmental-based structure. Canada's experience, through the PHC, demonstrates possibilities and some of the limits of foresight such as the need to overcome departmental boundaries, political impediments and the difficulties that governments have in conducting policy work. Put simply, governments conduct foresight, though clearly they do not maximise the instrument's benefits.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This exploratory article aims to define foresight and consider its use in public management. Impediments to foresight best practices are also discussed.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research is based on the literature, including both primary and secondary sources. Canada serves as a case study to discuss foresight practices.\nFindings: Foresight has the potential to be useful from a governance perspective. Foresight practices, however, are limited by the need to overcome departmental boundaries, political impediments and, arguably, governments' abating policy capacity.\nResearch limitations/implications: The purpose of this article is to introduce foresight limiting to an extent the depth of the analysis. Canada is neither a foresight leader nor at the bottom of the list. Conclusions drawn from this case are, despite differing political and administrative contexts, representative of problems faced by many governments in using foresight.\nOriginality/value: The field of public management has paid little attention to foresight, though governments do make use of this instrument. This article is one of the first to consider foresight, not from the perspective of the futures field, but from that of the discipline of public management.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Biases in appraisal land price information: the case of Japan
|
[
"Real estate",
"Smoothing methods",
"Market value",
"Japan"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The Japanese property market has often been criticized as lacking reliable information and transparency. Both domestic and foreign investors regard this as an obstruction to development in this area, in spite of a recent surge of the securitized real estate and Japanese real estate investment trust (J-REIT) markets. Improvements in land price information are considered necessary to avoid confusion and raise market awareness. However, at the same time, more and more real estate price information is now becoming available. Consequently, the real estate market itself now appears somewhat confused because market participants cannot fully evaluate the quality of the enormous volume of information now available.One requirement for fully functioning real estate markets is the ability to measure risk, especially the risk related to price. It is critical for public bodies to make efforts towards enabling information disclosure so that risk measures can be calculated. In this regard, it is essential to understand the errors in the information made available, particularly in the government's Published Land Prices based on appraisal (which we will describe below). Because it is unlikely that full transaction information will become available in the near future, the government's Published Land Prices will remain important. Accordingly, the problem of errors in the available market information such as the Published Land Prices remains serious.This problem, commonly known as \"valuation error\", has been studied extensively in Japan and elsewhere. Cole et al. (1986) and Jefferies (1997), for example, checked the statistical difference between transaction prices and appraisal values. Likewise, Crosby (2000) presented an international comparative study of the impact on valuation accuracy by different social structures across different countries, and Geltner et al. (1994), Geltner (1997, 1998), Bowles et al. (2001) dealt with the impact of appraisal error on real estate indices and identified a time-lag structure in appraisal-based indices.In Japan, investigations are concentrated on the government's Published Land Prices, which are based the Published Land Price Survey (PLPS) conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT). The Published Land Prices are based on appraisals made by qualified appraisers throughout Japan. The coverage of the PLPS is very wide and unparalleled anywhere elsewhere in the world. Hidano (2003) revealed time lags in the index based on the Published Land Price (PLP).As well as the technical aspects of appraisal practices, the independence of appraisers is also a serious concern. For instance, Gallimore and Wolverton (1997), Kinnard et al. (1997) and Wolverton (2000) identified the bias possibly caused by the client and fee structures based on appraisal values.The purpose of this paper is to investigate valuation error in the Japanese property market. In the next section, we summarize the different types and characteristics of the land price information available in Japan and explain their statistical meanings. This is followed by a comparison of a transaction price based index with an appraisal-based index. The appraisal-based index is based on the Published Land Prices. After comparing the historical price changes, we investigate the magnitude of valuation error with a transaction price based hedonic model.\nTypes and characteristics of land price information in Japan: There are several types of information available on land prices. It is therefore necessary to make it clear what \"land price\" means, what kind of information is available and the characteristics of the information.Transaction price and comparables\nPrecision of real estate price indices: empirical analysis: The purpose of this section is to analyze the statistical characteristics of the land price information available in Japan. In order to analyze land price trends accurately, we need to observe a transaction price based index that reflects differences in the quality of different sites. In this section, we estimate a land price index for the Public Land Price using a hedonic approach as in Shimizu and Nishimura (mimeo) and analyze its possible bias.Database construction\nStructural change and magnitude of valuation error: 1975-1999: Structural changes: pre-bubble, bubble, and post-bubble periods\nConclusion: In this study, we have summarized the information on land prices in Japan and then examined the Published Land Price, which is based on appraisal and considered as the most comprehensive land price information. We have found several characteristics summarized in the following way:* The published price based index follows the transaction price based index with a time lag during the period of the bubble economy. This is clearer in the case of commercial land. The index is highly \"smoothed\" and hence shows different peak periods and growth rates across several periods.* The ratio of published land index to transaction price index show the magnitude of \"valuation error\". The ratio for commercial land in three core Tokyo wards was 80.84 percent in 1975 and dropped to 46.40 percent by 1981. Then, the ratio rose in 1982 and 1983, reaching 69.55 percent. However, it increased again after the bubble to 104.24 percent in 1993. In 1999, the published price was larger than the transaction price index by approximately 20 percent.* With regard to the residential area, it was 92.85 percent in 1975 and dropped to around 60 percent by 1980. Then it rose, as with commercial land, around 1983. Although it kept to about 80 percent during the bubble years (78.44 percent in 1986), the ratio increased even more in 1992 during the bust years and was 115.5 percent in 1999.In this paper, we have identified some fundamental problems with the Japanese land price information. This is especially clear given the serious problems encountered with the Published Land Price Survey. This is important since the Survey, as a basis for authorized appraisal practice in Japan, affects other land-related information in many respects. In countries with sophisticated real estate finance markets, transaction-price information is often available in the public domain. This enables market participants to make their decisions on the basis of their own risk profile, backed with better-informed research. Thus, the disclosure of land price information that is currently kept inside public administrations is urgently required.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to investigate the nature and magnitude of the distortion in appraisal land price information according to change in the market, with a special focus on the Government's Published Land Prices.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In Japan, there is an item of land price information, so-called Koji-Chika (PLPS: Published Land Price Information System), that is a survey of fair market value by the qualified appraisers. The valuation error of this land price information was analyzed using the following method. First, hedonic price indices were constructed based on both actual transaction prices and the Published Land Prices, they were then compared to detect possible distortions in the governmental price information. Also the possibility of structural change in the Japanese real estate markets was studied and its effect on price indices was considered. Analysis of the Tokyo metropolitan area in Japan took place between 1975 and 1999\nFindings: - Large and systematic discrepancies between actual transaction prices and the Published Land Prices were identified, which might suggest that there are serious problems in the governmental information system. It is believed that it is necessary to consider this issue in the context of the entire real estate appraisal system in Japan.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Limitations stem from the nature of Japanese data. Future research will seek to look at values on an IPD index.\nOriginality/value: - The land market in Tokyo experienced a so-called Bubble economy, and the rapid rise and fall of the land price were generated for this period.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
The use of virtual tours for cognitive preparation of visitors: a case study for VHE
|
[
"Crowd safety",
"Communication technologies",
"Artificial intelligence",
"Religion",
"Saudi Arabia"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Virtual reality is also known by various terms: virtual environments (Barfield et al., 1995), artificial reality (Foley, 1987, Krueger, 1991), spatial immersion (Kalawsky, 1998). Full definitions of virtual environment (VE) are desirable according its highlight or application. It would seem that each researcher represents their own views of virtual reality and there is always a difference between the physical, virtual environment and virtual reality. Anyhow, we prefer to use the term virtual environment rather than virtual reality because the property of sensory-immersing is not yet applied.This paper has main issue of using VE for virtual tours and may simply define VEs as a representation of the actual world in three-dimensional graphical world. It means the VE built will model a real environment so closely that the model is \"virtually the same as real\" and enables virtual tours. The virtual tours could be used to improve health and safety through preparatory familiarisation for visits or habitation to unfamiliar sites.Witmer et al. (1995) demonstrated that spatial skills learned in a virtual environments can transfer to real-world settings if the virtual environment adequately represents important land-marks and cues. However, we do not know what would be important, for example, in a visually cluttered environment. Waller et al. (1998) differentiates this problem into two fundamental components: interface fidelity and environmental fidelity. The interface fidelity involves the control mechanisms of navigation. The environmental fidelity involves the stimulus itself. The project does not only include all interested in the interface, but also the environment and the interaction between the two with the end result being the desired training effect. Meanwhile the project goal is to achieve training transfer with \"adequate\" virtual environment structure and functionality.Howarth (1994) suggests that the VE can help to improve techniques for health and safety training. The improved techniques can be found in ergonomic assessment of workspace layout, for the simulation of potentially dangerous environments. Moline (1995) indicates several areas where patient care can be assisted by VR techniques. One example is dentists using 3D eyeglasses to divert a patient's attention during dental operations. In medical science, 3D visualisation is used for the purpose of education and diagnosis. Jonghee et al. (2002) visualise 3D images structures of the larynx.In safety concern, a project utilised interactive virtual reality scenes at a railway station (Cozens et al., 2003) helped a public facilities designer to meet safety requirements. The VE system can also be used for problem-based learning (Maher, 1999) and create their own meaning (Clark and Maher, 2001). Moreover, the 3D virtual space, as opposed to 2D, enables a combination of different media and provides a more beneficial training experience (Deuff et al., 2005).Louka and Balducelli (2001) claim that VR-based training is principally well suited to situations where spatial and cognitive skills are important. In respect of the virtual tour, the main objective of our virtual environment system built is path finding by commanding spatial skills. However, the object in VEs can be positioned, oriented and scaled using direct and indirect manipulation techniques. Hopefully from amenity location anticipation, users may have such a strong position and orientation knowledge that they will survive to avoid the crowd and to escape in case of an emergency when they might experience it in a real environment.The area of Jamarat, one of the main ritual sites during the Hajj in which Muslims stone the devil during the annual pilgrimage, was taken as a case study. A virtual Hajj environment (VHE) of the Jamarat area was built. The area was selected because this surrounding area always has a crowd density of 3.59 people per m2 or even greater and becomes high-risk for safety. According to Still (2000), danger level density (the body ellipse) is at this figure and beyond danger level density when the figure is greater than 3.59 people per m2. In addition, they present with limited experiences but they have the same mission to comply all Hajj sequential step requirements.The density figures may not be surprising related to the statistical data that each year about two million Hajj pilgrims from every corner of the world perform Hajj (Hajj and Umrah Statistics, available at: www.hajinformation.com/). The vast number of attendance and the profound spiritual aspect of Hajj require the high knowledge of ritual procedures and details of the Hajj environment. Additionally, most of them are first time visitors as Hajj is a once-only compulsory deed within whole Muslim life. Therefore, it is very beneficial for them if they are priory trained using virtual environment of the hajj real world. Some Hajj events attribute safety concerns regarding crowd features, Jamarat for example, when pilgrims perform the ritual of throwing the stones (pebbles).This paper discusses the principles of virtual environment creation and information extraction from available sources regarding the Jamarat area in Mina, Makkah. The development of Al-Jamarat environments will be used for training purposes of Hajj pilgrim candidates to avoid any possible fatal distraction. In 1994, a stampede near Jamarat Bridge killed at least 270 pilgrims. In July 1990, when 1,426 overcrowded pilgrims were trampled or asphyxiated to death in a tunnel in Mina (BBC News, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ accessed 5/2004). The Ministry of Health reported that the death toll, as a result of the stampede on 4 October 1998 in the area of Al-Jamarat in Mina, had risen to 118 after 11 victims died in hospital (Saudian Embassy, available at: www.saudiembassy.net/ accessed on 5/5/2004). Al-Jazeera reported, seven pilgrims injured have died in a stampede to throw stones at pillars representing the devil in Mina, near Makkah. The figure raised the toll to 251 killed during the event of the pilgrimage (Al-Jazeera News, available at: http://english.aljazeera.net/ accessed 5/5/2004).The Al-Jamarat VE is a digital simulation of real hajj environments in which users are able to do a virtual tour. The tour enables the users to feel that they are \"present\" within the environment and are able to interact with the simulation by navigating and moving within the scene. The VE can bring simulation-based training environments closer to real-Hajj experience. Rather than watch the simulated world through a desktop window, Hajj candidates are immersed in a 3D computer simulation of their work environment, where they can improve their skills through practice on navigation tasks.\nTechnologies involved: The technology used to explore digital, 3-D worlds does not include sensory-immersing devices and real time. It means, the users would have different speeds between actual walking view and screen view if a walking pad is used to control the VHE. The development of the VHE has intentionally used low-cost hardware and software. Therefore, the most common virtual reality systems and their associated interface devices, like an ordinary mouse, will be used to control and manipulate the virtual world.VRML software\nThe environment structure and functionality: Understanding the components and their relationship of a VE could be described in many ways. However, three components could be main components grouping to all 3D virtual reality systems: imagery, interaction and behaviour (Foley, 1987; Wann and Mon-Williams, 1996). The research may consider that a VE consists of four building blocks, i.e. objects, interaction including navigation and exploration, point light-view, and imagery including topography. Here, the term topography is being used to refer to all aspects of layout in VE. The objects within the layout are made up of combinations of shapes, colours and textures.Virtual objects\nRepresenting and modelling Jamarat environments: Modelling could be the most time consuming and challenging aspect of developing virtual environments. Therefore, detail and performance of the environment must be optimally balanced based on our target platform. The VHE must describe objects that involve in the model representation.Method\nConclusion: In this paper we presented our virtual tour system of the Al-Jamarat area to immerse users. The immersed environment gives the user a realistic 3D perspective, well suited to enhance training and understanding. The defining nodes and interest points in the system make the users for all time correctly knowing the orientation and immediate decisions to escape from abnormal and/or critical crowd situations. The system allows the user to enjoy a virtual tour and offers the opportunity to acquire spatial skill and location orientation of the environment during the training process. The system transcends the traditional boundaries of interactive virtual environment (IVE) and provides the users to fulfil their wandering willingness. It will enhance the cognitive training media and also has some benefits to overcome the real world attributes that hinder people to physically involve wherein real space.The 3D representation of the site is mostly obtained using low cost hardware and software. The virtual training is a very cost-effective alternative to standard pre-assigned training of any task or operation. The significant feedback from the users (pilgrim candidates) that they need VR systems equipped with VR hardware but at low cost facilities. Input device for desktop VR was mouse-based which is not suitable for them in respects of physically experiential amenity location and they suggested a walking pad to be used. On other words, virtual experience is not able to replace real world experience. However, the users trained in virtual environments indicate that they show better spatial skills than those trained for the same time in the real environment. Therefore, virtual reality is very robust in prior field training but cannot substitute real world training.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to explore the issue of using virtual tours to improve health and safety through preparatory familiarisation for visits to the swarming area. The main objective of the virtual environment system is path finding by commanding spatial skills.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Provides a case study of the area of Jamarat. One of the main ritual sites during the Hajj, in which Muslims stone the devil during the annual pilgrimage, will be unveiled from a virtual reality perspective and visual analytics.\nFindings: - The virtual environment built may help people interested in a virtual tour of the environment but have no opportunity to go due to limitations or may facilitate participants in pre-departure preparation of a dangerous environment.\nPractical implications: - This paper's main issue is using virtual environments for virtual tours and discusses the principles of virtual environment creation and information extraction from available sources using a case study.\nOriginality/value: - The development of the case study environment will be used for training purposes of the Hajj pilgrim candidates to avoid any possible fatal distraction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Institutionalization to internationalization: The transformational dynamics and outward foreign direct investment of state-owned enterprises
|
[
"Disinvestment",
"Internationalization",
"Institutionalization",
"State-owned enterprises",
"Corporatization",
"Outward foreign direct investment"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: State-owned, public sector enterprises or government corporations (hereafter, SOEs) are created, owned, and managed by governments of the country. They play a vital role in the economic development of the country, welfare maximization of the society, and market functioning of the commercial businesses (Atkinson and Stiglitz, 1980). They usually operate in large-scale industries such as the mining, oil and gas, steel and heavy machinery; public utilities such as the transport, electricity, gas, water, and irrigation-linked infrastructure projects; services such as the banking, insurance, postal and telecommunications; defense; space. Unlike some developed economies in the American and European continents, SOEs are key economic drivers and institutional navigators in several Asian, Latin American, and African countries, for example, China, Malaysia, India, Brazil, and Russia. They are indeed national champions in the heavy industries such as oil and gas (Reddy and Xie, 2017) and biggest employers in emerging economies (see Table I in the next section). Importantly, they are a visible source in the market for cross-border capital flows over the past decade, which has sparked the academia, press, and world organizations to investigate:\n2. SOEs: definition and performance: 2.1 Definition\n3. The transformational dynamics of SOEs: In this section, we discuss the transformational dynamics of SOEs - institutionalization to internationalization. Figure 1 shows an overview of policy changes in the operationalization of SOEs in three major phases. The first phase is the need, establishment, administration, and performance of SOEs. The second phase is the policy remedies to poor performance, disinvestment, and corporatization of SOEs. The third phase is a contemporary debate on SOEs' Go Global strategy and its motives and consequences.\n4. Research design: Grounded in the exploratory setting and qualitative research guidelines, the study adopted a triangulation approach to support theoretical framework and generalize research findings. For the social sciences literature, triangulation is a technique to generalize research findings to a larger population by garnering data from multiple sources (Yin, 2003; see relevant studies on this approach, Lai et al., 2015; Reddy et al., 2016c; Mazon et al., 2017). While scholars suggested different types of triangulation, we defined our triangulation from the data standpoint. Our data technique was archival sources, such as the UNCTAD FDI stat/World Investment Reports. Additional information - country-wise geographic, economic, institutional, and innovation indicators - accessed from authentic sources, including the World Bank Development Indicators, Doing Business Report (World Bank, 2017), Global Competitiveness Report (WEF, 2017), the Index of Economic Freedom (THF-WSJ, 2017), and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, 2017).\n5. Results: 5.1 Outward FDI projects undertaken by state-owned MNEs: country share\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Contributions\n7. Conclusion: Academic scholars, press and policy organizations around the globe have noticed the prominence and speed in the internationalization strategy of state capitalism, though the market for outbound FDI by SOEs has been descended after the financial crisis. It is because several host countries have tightened their regulations with regard to the foreign ownership and direct state intervention in extractive industries and raised concerns over their national security. Through transformational changes pertaining to the tax system, investment regulations, and governance practices, SOEs would help national governments to initiate sustainable development programs in the home country and host country as well. This study concludes that \"resources security to meet the home market demand; organizational slack and state-backed financial support; informational, geopolitical and institutional rivalry gains through an efficient mechanism of investment diversification\" are more likely luring the Bears (SOEs) to go global.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the most interesting research question of the past decade - What Lures the Bears? Leveraging the public sector management and international business strategy literature, the paper first presents an overview of the transformational dynamics of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in three major phases - institutionalization, privatization, and corporatization, and internationalization. Then, it analyzes geographic patterns and industry trends of the outward foreign direct investment (FDI) projects announced by SOEs over an eight-year period.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Grounded in the exploratory research such as inductive and deductive logic, the study proposes theoretical constructs, and discusses several findings based on the data accessed from highly cited archival sources, such as the UNCTAD FDI stat/WIRs, the World Development Indicators, Doing Business Report, Global Competitiveness Report, the Index of Economic Freedom, the Academic Ranking of World Universities, and the Fortune Global 500.\nFindings: Based on an analysis of global market trends (a sample of over 20 countries and five industries), the study highlights that SOEs from Asia and Europe have been greatly expanded into developed markets, thus to secure natural resources, to acquire strategic assets like technology, and to leverage the developed financial markets and better investment environment. Therefore, SOEs' outward FDI strategy and overseas performance was driven by institutional transitions, resource security, home market development and government legitimacy may contribute to the competitive advantage of their home country.\nPractical implications: The study offers several implications for the policymakers of the governments in emerging economies and bureaucratic management of SOEs. It recommends that state ownership pattern and bureaucratic system of SOEs need to be reexamined, revised, and corporatized in the changing dynamics of the multinational business environment, thus to secure resources, acquire technological know-how, and compete in home and global markets.\nOriginality/value: As a response to academic calls on the globalization, performance and governance mechanisms of SOEs in and out of emerging economies, this paper draws a unique presentation of the transformational dynamics of SOEs - establishment to internationalization.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Functionality of pizza ingredients
|
[
"Pizza",
"Lycopene",
"Anticancer fighting food",
"Convenience foods",
"Fast foods",
"Nutrition"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The food industry has gone through many changes in the past two decades, mostly due to the development and implementation of new technology to meet growing consumer demands for convenience products. Current consumer trends bode well for companies able to develop healthy foods that taste good, are good for people, and are also good for on-the-go eating. Only 60 percent of all meals today are prepared and eaten in the home, largely because the increasing number of two working parent and single-parent households means less time to cook. Pizza, one of the most commonly purchased items in retail food stores, has maintained its market share through the changing nature of the processed foods industry and even grown in popularity. With pizza being one of the more popular consumer foods, pizza markets in Europe, America, and other continents have been boosted by the trend towards international cuisine and convenience foods. As a result, pizza production has been increasing at unprecedented momentum, and is expected to increase further in the next decade in response to a growing world population (Lemki and Ferris, 2001).Pizza is one of the most world-famous Italian dishes because of its simplicity, taste, and nutritional value. Pizza is a round oven-baked pie made with crisp yeast dough, which in the past was covered with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and a variety of other ingredients. Now, it can be covered with a variety of savoury ingredients that may include sauces, meats, vegetables and cheeses. The market now offers a vast array of pizza to suit all palates and meal occasions with different shapes and flavours and, more recently, health attributes and is available all year-round. This versatility, together with their acceptance as a healthy and nutritious food, has led to its widespread popularity across all population subgroups. America is the new pizza renaissance leader in the world and is exporting technology of pizza production and promotion on an ever-increasing basis (Pierce, 2006).\nTypes of pizza: Pizzas are available in various styles. It is generally seen at common pizza chains, pizza crusts topped with apples or cherries, or corn meal crusts topped with different types of vegetables, sauces, cheese, and other stuffs. The most popular styles of pizza are:* Traditional crust pizza. The crust is not too thick and not too thin. It is made by rolling the dough into a round circle then topping it with sauce and cheese.* Deep dish pizza. A thin crust and dense toppings usually characterize deep-dish pizza, also known as pan pizza. Baking time tends to take longer. However, one slice might make a meal for many people.* New York style pizza. Typically the thin crust allows faster cooking but less dense toppings.* Calzone. This is basically a stuffed pizza crust. The uncooked crust is filled with traditional toppings then folded and baked.* Pizza bread. The French bread loaf is usually sliced down the centre into two halves. The sauce, cheese and toppings are then placed on the flat, sliced surface.* Bagel Pizza. Made much like the French bread pizza but with bagel slices instead.* Sweet pizza. A dessert form of pizza which is topped with a variety of nuts, candid fruits, citrus and sweet flavourings.* Frozen pizza. It is popular because of its ease to prepare. This is perfect food for the person that hates to cook but wants a cheap and inexpensive pizza. Montgomery (1969) quoted that frozen pizza has the greatest penetration among all frozen prepared foods. Benner (1983) reported USDA standards for frozen pizza that it must contain at least 12 percent cheese, and meat pizzas contain at least 12 percent cooked meat. Wilmes (1987) studied the frozen pizza product with a special baked pastry shell produced from dough containing a specified mixture of high and low protein wheat flours. The dough also contains 10-17 percent solid fat having melting point in the range 48-53degC, and is mixed in such a way that the fat remains in solid pieces prior to baking. After baking and topping with pizza sauce the product is frozen. Subsequently, final re-baking by the consumer gives a crust, which is tender inside and crisp on the bottom. The market for frozen pizza accounts for approximately 19 percent of the sales for all prepared foods.\nFunctional, medicinal, therapeutic and nutritive value of pizza: While some people look at pizza and perceive it to be low in nutritional value, published data (Silvano et al., 2006) indicate that just the opposite is usually true. Most pizzas are actually quite high in nutritional value. They offer a good source of protein, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, and they are fairly low in caloric density. The protein content of pizza often appears to range from about 10 percent to just a little more than 14 percent. Due to the fact that the majority of this protein comes from the cheese and meat toppings, this protein is of a high nutritional quality, which is important to growing children. Research has shown that the fat content of most pizza rarely exceeds the 10 percent level. On top of all this, because vegetable oil, olive oil, and oil-based shortenings are commonly used in the crust formulation, pizza and pizza products (calzone and bread sticks) are good sources of polyunsaturated fats, with only modest cholesterol contributions (through meat and cheese toppings) to the diet. Pizzas are quite high in complex carbohydrates, primarily from starches, making it a good energy food. On the other hand, pizzas tend to be low in fibre content. This is especially true when regular white pizza flour is used in making the crust. When a whole wheat or multi-grain flour is used, however, the fibre content of the pizza can be improved significantly (Ghosh and Kanawjia, 1986).Anon. (1974) reported that pizza supplies 30 percent of the US Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of vitamins A, C, B2, and Calcium and protein. It contains 50 percent of the RDA of Vitamin B1 and 35 percent of iron. Martin (1977) observed that pizza ranks extremely high in wide spectrum of nutrients; rich in protein and Calcium (fulfil 127 percent daily needs); an excellent source of iron (supplies 50-55 percent of daily requirements); provides 30 percent needed niacin; contain 26-42 percent adult vitamin A quota; provides 900-1150 calories/pizza. Scientists in Italy (Silvano et al., 2006) have found that a regular consumption of pizza may reduce the risks of cancer to the digestive tract. They also found that the people who ate the most pizza had the fewest cases of cancer. In a group of nearly 8,000 there were 598 cases of oral and pharyngeal cancer. Out of this group, 310 ate no pizza at all, 213 occasionally had pizza. Only 75 were regular pizza eaters. The results for colon cancer followed the same trend. Out of 1,225 patients with colon cancer, the number who ate no pizza was 503. Those who ate pizza up to three times a month had 473 of the cases of colon cancer. Regular pizza-eaters were 59 percent less likely to contract cancer of the oesophagus, and 26 percent less likely to develop cancer of the colon.\nBasic ingredients of pizza: Several ingredients can be used for the production of bread, the most important of which are flour, yeast and water. As soon as dough is properly baked into bread, a product with superior quality and sensory features occurs. Fresh bread usually presents an appealing brownish and crunchy crust, a pleasant roasty aroma, fine slicing characteristics, a soft and elastic crumb texture, and a moist mouthfeel. The pizza industry is very large all over the world, thus there are many toppings varies from country to country. The toppings that can be put on pizza:* Vegetables: tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, olives, onion, chillies, garlic, broccoli, Asparagus (Sharma and Caralli, 2006).* Meats: pepperoni, bacon, ham, ground beef, salami, and chicken.The functional role of essential pizza ingredients are discussed in the following sections.Flour\nConclusion: In the past it was commonly believed that pizza was not really a healthy food. Part of the reason for this is that it was put in the same group as other fast foods, such as hamburgers and fries. This is a major misconception, as pizza can actually be a highly nutritional meal. Recent research on the nutritional aspects of the pizza showed that the production of pizza has to be increased, as in the past years; preference and acceptability for consumption of pizzas have increased. With the many health benefits of pizza, it can no longer be viewed in the same light as other fast foods.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to review the types of pizza and the functionality of basic ingredients of pizza with special focus on the effects of pizza toppings on health.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Phenomenological research has raised awareness and increased insight into the role of various pizza ingredients and health benefits of different pizza toppings and consequently pizza is called a \"functional food\". The approach is based on observation of the online research, a close watch on the pizza industry, analysis of research papers in journals, and brainstorming research on the effect of packaging on the quality of different pizza ingredients with a co-researcher for four years.\nFindings: - The changing life patterns and food habits of people and their preferences have catapulted the market to grow for convenience and fast foods. Pizza is one of the most popular family foods worldwide and has gained widespread consumer acceptance as a healthy and convenience food. It is a multi-component product with composite number of toppings. It provides an array of nutrients in significant amounts, in relation to its energy and fat content, making it a nutrient-dense food. It is cheap and can be delivered in a very short time. In particular, pizza supplies 30 per cent of the USA recommended daily allowance of vitamins A, C, B2, calcium and protein. It contains 50 per cent of vitamin B1 and 35 per cent of iron. Furthermore, pizza has anticancerous effects beyond the basic nutrition it provides, because of the potent antioxidant lycopene present in tomatoes.\nOriginality/value: - This paper offers a holistic view that would guide a reader to identify the beneficial effects of pizza.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Using push-pull winescape attributes to model Australian wine tourist segmentation
|
[
"Australia",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Wines",
"Market segmentation",
"Survey research",
"Conceptual/theoretical",
"Tourism management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Wine tourism is growing exponentially as a niche tourism market (Qiu et al., 2013). Initially focused on wine production, the wine industry has reconfigured itself to include experiential (Bruwer and Alant, 2009) and touristic aspects of its offerings (Williams, 2001). Wine tourism occurs when there is visitation to vineyards, wineries, wine festivals and wine shows, where the primary motivating factors for visitors are grape wine tasting and/or experiencing the attributes of a grape wine region (Hall et al., 2000). In Australia, the experience of \"good food and wine\" at leisure (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2016) is a discernible trend.\nReview of the literature: The segmentation concept\nMethod: Research sites\nResults: Study 1 - purifying the push-pull winescape instrument\nDiscussion and implications: Greater insights into the wine tourist at the winescape are imperative for smaller wine producers whose best access to the domestic retail and export markets is through direct selling at the cellar door. Although wine segmentation studies have explored demographics, socio-economics, geographics, multiple types of tourism, wine involvement, interest and knowledge, motivations, sensation-seeking attitude and behaviour, culture, values and lifestyle, an integrated approach, which concurrently incorporates the push-pull winescape attributes, vital in segmenting wine tourists and profiling their behavioural intentions in situ, has not been extensively considered until now.\nLimitations and future research: A delimitation of the current study is its focus on only one winery per wine region and its relatively small sample sizes. However, the selection of each winery was appropriately justified for its representation of the wine region in the qualitative stage of the study. Further, sample sizes addressed the criteria for conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Nevertheless, it would be opportune for future studies to appoint a cross-section of wineries in each wine region and larger sample sizes to validate the use of the post hoc descriptive methodology in segmenting wine tourists and predicting their behavioural intentions in situ.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The study aims to introduce a comprehensive segmentation instrument that incorporates the push-pull winescape attributes, providing a new perspective of the wine tourist profile and explaining their behavioural intentions in the Australian winescape.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A literature review, focus groups and expert panels generated an extensive list of push-pull winescape attributes. Pen-and-paper surveys conveniently sampled 739 wine tourists at three wineries across three wine regions in Australia. Adopting push-pull winescape attributes as the segmentation base, cluster analysis identified four segments, namely, inspireds, self-drivens, market-drivens and inerts, and their behavioural intentions were examined.\nFindings: Inspireds demonstrate both self- and market-motivation. Self-drivens exhibit self-motivation but limited market-motivation, whereas Market-drivens characterise market-motivation but limited self-motivation. Inerts are limited in both market- and self-motivations. At the Swan Valley, all four segments were identified, with Inspireds being the most willing to revisit and recommend to others and Inerts, the least willing. At the Barossa Valley, only two segments emerged. Again, Inspireds and Inerts were the most and least willing to revisit and recommend to others respectively. Finally, at the Yarra Valley, three segments were identified. Market-drivens were most willing to revisit and recommend to others, followed by self-drivens and lastly, by inerts.\nResearch limitations/implications: A comprehensive push-pull winescape segmentation base of wine tourists is introduced, which provides a more sophisticated profile of wine tourist segments than otherwise would be attained with conventional measures.\nPractical implications: New insights into who the wine tourist is and what it is they seek from the winescape are vital to smaller wine producers whose best access to the domestic retail and export markets is through direct selling at the cellar door.\nOriginality/value: The empirically tested 18-item push-pull winescape instrument presents a comprehensive segmentation approach, which profiles wine tourists and predicts their behavioural intentions based on an extensive investigation of push-pull winescape attributes.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Factors inducing knowledge creation: empirical evidence from Thai construction projects
|
[
"Knowledge management",
"Knowledge creation",
"Construction operations",
"Communication technologies",
"Thailand"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent times, construction projects have turned into a more complicated, dynamic and interactive scenario. Project managers are constantly required to speed-up reflective decision-makings on time. Knowledge therefore is noted to be one of the most important resources contributing towards managerial decision-making and enhancing the competitive advantage of organizations carrying out such projects (Carrillo et al., 2004; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 2004). Knowledge has been described as information, which has been used and becomes a part of a person's knowledge-based experience and behavioral patterns (DeTienne and Jensen, 2001). Individuals have different knowledge-based capacity and experience, thus leading to different problem solving approaches and decision-making. When choosing a construction project manager, knowledge and experience are significant (Ogunlana et al., 2002). Project managers must therefore be capable of knowing how to use, manage, and utilize such knowledge.In the construction industry, professional knowledge such as skill, invention, and other creativity are addressed as human assets, which an organization can utilize for innovation and improved business performance (Bahra, 2001; Kluge et al., 2001; Moungnoi and Charoenngam, 2003). Knowledge is now increasingly seen as an organizational asset rather than as in the past, a simple raw material within the process based industry. In spite of possessing financial integrity, many companies are still limited in their growth due to turnovers and absenteeism of essential personnel in the organization.The costs of attracting, recruiting, and retaining talented employees are expressive (Bahra, 2001; Kamara et al., 2002). This is further complicated by the fact that in the coming years, the construction industry is expected to loose a large portion of its skilled and knowledgeable workforce. Conversely, there is no single strategy in place, to handle construction management problems that arise. One of the most effective and powerful tools for strengthening industrial and organizational competition is through systematic identification, in the best practice of knowledge utilization and distribution. Knowledge interactions between and amongst project teams and organizations have been in place in different forms during the course of construction project execution. Apprenticeship and mentoring are the most common on-site tools leading to records and the transfer of knowledge from one person to another (Gamble and Blackwell, 2002).\nBackground: Knowledge management is a fundamental process for managing organizations. It is described as a very people-dependent activity and largely information technology-independent (Davenport and Prusak, 2000; Armbrecht et al., 2001). Knowledge management has however been defined in different ways. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) addressed the interaction between explicit knowledge, which can be articulated in formal language (such as grammatical statements, mathematical expressions, specifications, manuals), and tacit knowledge, which is hard to articulate with formal language thus leading to the creation of new knowledge. The combination of these two categories makes it possible to conceptualize four modes of conversion:1. Socialization mode involves sharing and creating tacit knowledge through direct experience.2. Externalization mode involves articulating tacit knowledge through dialogues and reflection.3. Combination mode involves systemizing and applying explicit knowledge and information.4. Internalization mode involves learning and acquiring new tacit knowledge in practice.Tacit, explicit, individual, and social knowledge are all available to construction teams. Unknowingly, different forms of knowledge exist within and among individuals and teams in all construction projects. Tacit and explicit knowledge for example may exist at an individual, or social (team) level. The most valuable form of knowledge is that which is tacit as it is closely related to highly complex engineering tasks and individual mental models. Tacit knowledge is developed and internalized by the individual or group over a long period of time. It exists in a form that is difficult to directly convert and reproduce into a document or database and thus, cannot be easily passed on or transferred to others. However, such knowledge can be made explicit by means of externalization and embedded in an organization's products or services. Thus, concepts, images, and written documents become the basis of new knowledge (Krogh et al., 2000; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 2004). When a team member experiments with a new solution for a given task, leading to better task definition or results, the member can share such explicit knowledge through documentations or training programs with other team members. This knowledge thereafter becomes part of the team's social knowledge.New knowledge is most often created only within a given context and most forms of tacit knowledge is reflective of an individual's perception. The difference in perception exists at all kinds and levels of engineering, depending on the prevailing circumstances. Differences in perceptions and experiences of construction engineering create a variety of behavioral responses (Ogunlana et al., 2002). Generally, all groups of construction engineers show differing perceptions as they apply both management and technical assessment approaches. Among the numerous management dilemmas, significant variation in the perception of actual problems has been demonstrated. It clearly points towards unique capabilities and approaches by individual engineers to comprehend the same phenomenon. Accordingly, each takes effective actions in order to solve the problem in a different ways. Similarly, whenever and wherever there is a misperception, humans have a tendency to behave in differing and unique manners. Therefore, understanding the means of capitalizing on different behavior styles related to psychology will help increase a project teams' chances of success (Charoenngam and Maqsood, 2001; Culp and Smith, 2001).Several studies have been conducted on the factors influencing knowledge management in organizations. These were classified into four groups:1. Related to the relationship between influencing factors (Bennett and Gabriel, 1999).2. Related to relationship between influencing factors and the knowledge creation process (Szulanski, 1996).3. Focused on a linkage between influencing factors and organizational performance (Simonin, 1997).4. Focused on linkages among influencing factors, the knowledge process, and organizational performance (Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal, 2001; Gold et al., 2001; Lee and Choi, 2003).Synthesis of previous studies yields a missing linkage between knowledge factors and the knowledge creation process during the course of construction execution and therefore this study is aimed at clarifying these relationships and exploring this proposed linkage.\nProblem investigation and research objectives: Construction projects are independent and defined as temporary organizations with specific objectives, detailed tasks, restricted time, and budgets to deliver a one-of-a-kind-product such as buildings (Oglesby et al., 1989; Carrillo, 2004). Project teams, including the project managers and team members, are responsible for execution of each construction project. Once a project is completed, project team members disperse from the construction project either for other employment opportunities or get re-appointed for other subsequent projects. Knowledge is embedded in such individuals and transferred among team members while in one project team. It is typically transferred from seniors to juniors and disseminated only within the group. However, over time, the value of knowledge can transform instantaneously and unpredictably (Kluge et al., 2001). Knowledge, competencies, and skills built up by the project team members therefore need to be shared and applied directly during the course of execution, thus facilitating its retention within the organization following completion of the project, and thereafter, become available for use in subsequent projects.Due to the limited scheduled time allocated for project execution, the speed of decision-making is a crucial factor as it influences the effective actions and reactions of defined phenomenon and problem solving. Therefore, management based on direct experience and tacit knowledge provides a means that allows construction engineers to adopt construction concepts and clarify contextual relations between the existing knowledge and prevailing situation. The inherent knowledge creation process and problem solving actions undertaken by construction engineers are based on varying heuristics and past experiences, in addition to individual competencies of problem solving. However, the practice of knowledge management in Thai construction projects is unlikely to be on its top agenda due to certain limitations. It is important to note that senior personnel play a dominant role in the utilization of knowledge. Thus, in order to fully comprehend the knowledge creation process within construction projects, an assessment of knowledge factors is required in order to capture such practical limitations. Therefore, this research aims to examine the influence of knowledge factors on the knowledge creation process during the execution of construction projects at the level of on-site work.\nResearch approach: As stated above, this research aims at identifying the relationship between knowledge factors and the knowledge creation process, as perceived by construction managers. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework in which the notion of the knowledge creation process, which has created greater awareness in knowledge management literature, is adopted. The system in theory deduces that individual and organizational factors as sources of existing knowledge, can be regarded as inputs into the system. Individual factors are considered in terms of competency or skills whereas organizational factors encompass structure (vision of leadership), corporate culture (incentive, trust, collaboration) and information technology (IT) infrastructure. Knowledge plays an important role in formulating and identifying the ability of an organization or project team to be creative. The constructs of the knowledge creation processes have been discussed in various contexts. Typically, knowledge processes include activities such as creation, sharing, storage, and usage (Lee and Choi, 2003). The knowledge creation process addressed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (2004) was regarded as a continuous process whereby individuals and groups within a firm and between firms share tacit and explicit knowledge. In order to focus this research, the following hypothesis was tested:H1. There is a relationship between each knowledge factor and knowledge creation process.\nKey findings and discussions: Effects of knowledge factors on overall knowledge creation process\nConclusions: This research addressed the concerns of practicing knowledge management in construction projects by examining the relationships between knowledge factors and the knowledge creation process composed of socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. A framework was employed to test these relationships and the empirical evidence supports the relationships. Findings from this study confirmed that three selected factors (IT, incentive, and individual competency) affect the overall knowledge creation process in Thai construction projects.This research established evidence on how construction project teams adopted the knowledge creation process to improve its project performance. Thai construction managers are seen to place emphasis individual competency or tacit knowledge. Their flexible thoughts and engineering techniques were elements of tacit knowledge fundamental to foster knowledge management and creativity. The strength of knowledge management rests on the vision and aspiration of construction managers in applying creativity in on-site knowledge practices. By having appropriate and attractive incentives, competent project teams were brought in to utilize and generate new knowledge in the form of problem solving. In order to make knowledge visible, the competency in using IT to convert conceptual ideas and package knowledge into obvious activities must be inherent. IT is seen to facilitate the knowledge creation process by capturing knowledge in real time and thereafter, making it accessible for future use. IT greatly benefits construction projects in that it speeds up the project team's decision making process and thus shortens the product life cycle. The knowledge creation process is seen to facilitate the improvement of project performance. In conclusion, successful execution of construction projects requires that project managers to consider the above-mentioned three important factors.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This research is aimed at examining the relationships between knowledge factors and the knowledge creation process in construction projects, paying particular attention to on-site work.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The design of this research is cross-sectional and uses a blended methodological approach of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research model includes the following variables; six knowledge factors: vision of leadership, trust, collaboration, incentives, information technology (IT) support, and individual competencies; and four knowledge creation processes: socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. Survey data from 70 construction projects in Thai construction firms, obtained by means of a questionnaire developed by the researcher, were collated and analyzed. As a means of testing the model, regression analysis techniques were used to analyze the data.\nFindings: - Consistent with previous empirical evidence, three knowledge factors affected the knowledge creation process: incentives, IT, and individual competencies. It was noted that these factors overlay the knowledge creation process at all execution stages of on-site construction.\nOriginality/value: - This research is expected to contribute to a better understanding of important knowledge factors and knowledge management research in Thai construction that is still at an infancy stage. In order to build a knowledge creative culture, construction project executives need to support and maximize the value of human assets (individual competencies). Furthermore, facilitating IT-supported knowledge management in construction projects needs to be considered and emphasized needs to be placed on productive work and gain a competitive advantage.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Managerial intuition across cultures: beyond a "West-East dichotomy"
|
[
"Intuition",
"Cognition",
"National cultures",
"Narratives"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Managerial intuition: Research on intuition in management has intensified within the past decade due to changes in the business environment. Use of the analysis and logic alone was not enough to deal with the volatility of the market. Intuition became embedded in various theories: personal judgment and decision-making style (e.g. Simon, 1987; Sinclair et al., 2002), personality trait (e.g. Myers, 1978; Behling and Eckel, 1991), cognitive style (Allinson and Hayes, 1996) and source of knowledge (e.g. Laughlin, 1997; Sadler-Smith and Shefy, 2004).These variations in conceptualizations of intuition in some cases resulted in discrepant conclusions. This paper discusses existing research on intuition and intuitive cognitive style across cultures of Anglo-American and East-Asian origins. It introduces the history of the evolution of the concept of intuition within philosophy and psychology, allowing for better understanding of its various conceptualizations. It presents results of existing empirical and theoretical studies in the area of cultural and cross-national comparison of \"intuitiveness\" and tries to look for reasons for the discrepancy among them. The studies trigger methodological argument and critique of the concept of cognitive style. It is also argued that a study that aspires to compare two cultures may need to take a broader picture of both of them into account. Epistemological and ontological issues dominant in two or more cultures may widen this picture significantly. Therefore, by demonstrating approaches to science pursued by East Asian scholars, Chinese in particular, a change in the way managerial intuition across cultures is approached is proposed and the related methodological issues are discussed.Western theory of intuition outside management science\n2. Research on Western vs Eastern intuitiveness: Management studies found that Japanese, Singaporean, Hongkongese, Taiwanese and Indonesian are less intuitive than British and North Americans (Abramson et al., 1993; Allinson and Hayes, 2000; Savvas et al., 2001). Another body of research covering some previous studies as well as those from disciplines other than management (all of which I will call here \"traditional\") indicated that East Asian nations (Chinese and Japanese in particular) are more intuitive than the Western ones, without, however, comparing the two explicitly (Nakamura, 1964; Yukawa, 1973; Nisbett et al., 2001; Norenzayan et al., 2002; Needham, 2004). This shows an acute opposition of the findings between the two bodies of research. The main distinguishing factor between the two bodies of research - \"managerial\" and \"traditional\" - is of the epistemological nature. The two differ in the perception of the concepts on which their paradigms rest, definition of intuition and culture, and its construction, methodology applied and population taken into account. The traditional study presents more variety of approaches to the phenomenon of intuitiveness of East Asians and Westerners. It analyzes intuition as a source of knowledge, a way of understanding of the world (Nakamura, 1964; Yukawa, 1973; Needham, 2004), a cognitive process (Nisbett et al., 2001), a reasoning system (Norenzayan et al., 2002), and an epistemological question (Needham, 2004; Redding, 1980). Within management studies, intuition is conceptualized as cognitive style preference (Abramson et al., 1993; Allinson and Hayes, 2000; Savvas et al., 2001).Various definitions for an intuitive person and the way they are constructed is another element within the scope of epistemological differences between the studies. In management studies the intuitive manager was assigned a number of characteristics: ability to see how details form patterns, perception without use of senses, appreciation for imagination, theoretical and abstract concepts (Abramson et al., 1993; Weintraub and Heinemann, 1998), willingness to make immediate judgment based on feeling, propensity to nonconformity, to an open-ended approach and to random methods of exploration, and ability to deal with ideas requiring overall assessment (Allinson and Hayes, 1996; Savvas et al. 2001). In contrast, traditional studies characterize intuitiveness not as a set of abilities, but rather link occurrences of intuition to concrete practices. For instance, Nakamura (1964) observed that the Chinese tended to explain events and give answers to questions about phenomena in a metaphorical way, which stimulated intuitive understanding. In Chinese science, intuition obtained through contemplation was favored more than formal reasoning, as a trustworthy mode of inquiry (Yukawa, 1973; Northrop, 1944, cited in Redding, 1980). Breen (1990) described the Chinese as intuitive by demonstrating the way in which they make presentations. In some cases, the traditional studies present a contrary view to the one presented by management studies. For example, Nakamura (1964) and Norenzayan et al. (2002) define intuitiveness by propensity for direct perception of concrete, as opposed to management intuitivist's inclination towards an abstract experience and theoretical concepts (Abramson et al., 1993; Weintraub and Heinemann, 1998, p. 62).One more aspect arising from paradigmatic differences is the variety of methodologies used. Management science, aiming at model testing, applied mostly self-report surveys (Abramson et al., 1993; Parikh et al., 1994; Allinson and Hayes, 2000; Savvas et al., 2001). The traditional studies, due to their interdisciplinarity, presented greater variety of approaches. Frequently, they did not even relay on any paradigm, and did not aim at comparing the \"level of intuitiveness\" explicitly or at checking the correctness of the results. The traditional studies sought to build up holistic understanding of the notion of the intuitive person heuristically. Consequently, intuition was explored by analysis of language (Nakamura, 1964), religion (Nakamura, 1964; Yamaguchi, 1969), scientific developments of a given community (Needham, 2004), as well as economical and ecological factors (Nisbett et al., 2001). Nakamura (1964), for example, carried out a comprehensive examination of the reasoning of the Chinese by investigating their way of thinking about concrete, empirical questions, involving value judgments and questions of values in ethics, religion and aesthetics. Breen (1990) approached an intuitive judgment by designing a phenomenographic study and linking intuitive decision-making style of the Chinese to the nature of the Chinese language.Methodologies of the two groups of studies differ also with respect to the populations and time intervals that were taken into account. Traditional studies referred to the general population or, in some cases, to the scientific or religious one of the mainland China and Japan, often taking a historical perspective. Management research focused on contemporary managers, usually investigating countries, where inhabitants of Chinese origins constitute the majority of the population. Irrespective of culture, managers differ in many ways from the overall population of the countries which they represent. They constitute a cast of people characterized by better education, used to working in various cultural environments, leading lives characterized by an above-average standard and, in most cases, above-average levels of stress. All these aspects are not without influence on the mental life of an individual.\n3. Implications of the use of cognitive style concept in cross-cultural research: One of the differences between the two bodies of research mentioned is the way they conceptualize intuition. The management research represents an example of inclination of Western mainstream science towards categorization (cognitive styles as categories), abstract ideas (cognitive style models) and universality (assumption of universal validity of mental life across cultures (Teo and Febbraro, 2003)). The next few paragraphs present a critique of the notion of cognitive style, limitations of which might have caused the inconsistencies of results in various studies mentioned. The investigations, being the object of the present discussion, are an illustration of the more general confusion over cognitive styles reported in the literature (Sternberg and Grigorenko, 2001). One of the explanations for this state is the nature of style concept, involving both cognitive and affective elements (Sternberg and Grigorenko, 2001). However, another reason for the perplexity could be found in the historical studies of theory and methodology of Western psychology (e.g. Danziger, 1997).From metaphor to de-contextualized model\n4. Toward story-based practice in management science and practice: The traditional, universally designed psychological tests in cross-cultural research seem to pay insufficient attention to the cultural context (in various meanings of this word) in which managers act. Danziger (1997) observes that phenomena produced through the application of psychological tests, questionnaires and rating scales constitute only a set of artifacts, not natural phenomena. The latter are not concerned with cultures, whereas, the former are cultural constructs (Danziger, 1997). Cognitive style is a cultural construct originated in the Anglo-American psychology. Other cultural groups, if not influenced by the Western science, developed different linguistic forms for describing the experience of mental life of its members.Therefore, as an alternative to the quantitative instrument of psychological investigation, Danziger (1997) proposes analysis of language. However, he emphasizes that language can act as the carrier of concepts only when deployed by its users in specific discursive context (Danziger, 1997). This condition is met by the narrative mode, which \"leads to conclusions not about certainties in an aboriginal world, but about the varying perspectives that can be constructed to make experience comprehensible\" (Bruner, 1986, p. 36). Comprehension of these varying perspectives by the means of narration can lead to an improvement of communication and cooperation between representatives of different cultural groups without being caught into the trap of naming the particular differences.\"Eastern thought\" and narratives\n5. Conclusions: In this paper, presentation of the discrepancy of the results of the studies in intuitiveness became a starting point for the discussion of methodological issues. Management science joined a number of other disciplines which for many years had been trying to explain the phenomenon of \"dichotomy between an intuitive East and analytic West\" (Allinson and Hayes, 2000). However, instead of recognizing and describing its distinctiveness in relation to the managerial activity, it entered directly to the phase of model testing by the means of cognitive style theory. The paper proposes that the generation of more qualitative data, by the means of narratives, is now necessary. Narratives appreciate the local context, forms of knowledge and language. All these aspects link closely to the phenomenon of intuition. For that reason, application of narratives in cultural research on managerial intuition may bring a number of new insights to the discipline.In practice, stories affect both, academicians and practitioners. On the one hand, stories as a form of analogy, may encourage inter-disciplinary and creative way of generating scientific knowledge about phenomena, they may influence researchers to look for inspiration beyond the narrow confines of their own discipline, and develop expertise in areas in which one may not be familiar (Tsoukas, 1993). On the other hand, owing to its capacity to articulate and explain one's identity to others and to oneself, they are important tools to be used in management training and development and in multicultural team management. Applied to the area of study of intuitiveness of East Asian and Western managers, it could result in enriching the field as well as the general understanding of intuition, its status in relation to the notion of \"cognitive style\" and its significance for the theory and practice of education and training in the twenty-first century.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Studies investigating intuition from a cultural and cross-cultural perspective have a long tradition in various disciplines but, due to the increased internationalization of business, an understanding of the mental lives of other cultures became one of the priorities of management practitioners and theoreticians. Cultures of Anglo-American and East Asian origins have drawn particular attention. However, an analysis of management research studies and those in other disciplines shows that the former do not back up the \"intuitive East versus analytical West\" pattern set by the latter. The article aims at discussing this discrepancy, its origins as well as the implication for the managerial practice.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The article provides an overview of the various concepts of intuition and methods of measuring it across cultures. It seeks to understand how various epistemological assumptions incorporated in the research affected the results obtained. An aspect under particular scrutiny in the article is the concept of cognitive style, which is employed frequently in management studies.\nFindings: - One explanation for inconsistent results is a premature effort of management science to test a hypothesis generated by other disciplines, applying different conceptualizations, definitions, methodologies as well as populations. The conclusion is that the cross-cultural research in management is in need of a more exploratory research, paying attention to the specificity of management context and local knowledge.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The article proposes that a methodology that potentially has a capacity to meet these requirements is the narrative approach. Possible implications of this observation are discussed in the context of multicultural teams management practice.\nOriginality/value: - The article provides useful information on managerial intuition and methods of measuring it across cultures.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
An anomaly detection method to improve the intelligent level of smart articles based on multiple group correlation probability models
|
[
"Internet of things",
"Clustering",
"Anomaly detection",
"Intelligent level"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As human beings enter the network era, the phenomenon of intelligence is becoming more and more extensive and complex. The individuals, enterprises, governmental agencies, smart equipment and articles in the physical space are becoming more and more intelligent in future Web-based industrial operation systems and social operation management patterns (Chai et al., 2017). The smart article is a kind of intelligent subject in CrowdIntell Network (Wang et al., 2019). And the smart articles have one or more functions and abilities to solve problems and complete tasks, which can assist other intelligent subjects (such as people) to complete certain transactions. In CrowdIntell Network, the smart articles mainly include intelligent monitoring equipment, intelligent transportation equipment, intelligent communication equipment and other intelligent auxiliary equipment.\n2. Related work: To the best of our knowledge, there are varied abnormal detection methods, mainly as classification based, nearest neighbor based, clustering based, statistical and others. They are displayed in Figure 6:\n3. Problem settings and outline of proposed approach: 3.1 Collection plan of monitoring data\n4. MGCAD: our anomaly detection approach: 4.1 Data pre-processing\n5. Experimental evaluations: 5.1 Data preparation\n6. Summary: In CrowdIntell Network, the smart articles such as sensors can assist to realize a comprehensive, real, correct and synchronous projection from the real world to the cyber space, and ultimately realize the transaction between Digital-selfs. To better understand the operation status of equipment, it is very important for equipment managers to detect abnormal equipment quickly and accurately. At the same time, the faster and more accurately the sensors can detect the abnormal data, the higher its intelligent level is. In this paper, we have employed MGCPM to model the latent correlation between the monitoring data sequences and the anomaly degree of the single point. Extensive experimental results show that our method has better performance than previous methods.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to detect abnormal data of complex and sophisticated industrial equipment with sensors quickly and accurately. Due to the rapid development of the Internet of Things, more and more equipment is equipped with sensors, especially more complex and sophisticated industrial equipment is installed with a large number of sensors. A large amount of monitoring data is quickly collected to monitor the operation of the equipment. How to detect abnormal data quickly and accurately has become a challenge.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors propose an approach called Multiple Group Correlation-based Anomaly Detection (MGCAD), which can detect equipment anomaly quickly and accurately. The single-point anomaly degree of equipment and the correlation of each kind of data sequence are modeled by using multi-group correlation probability model (a probability distribution model which is helpful to the anomaly detection of equipment), and the anomaly detection of equipment is realized.\nFindings: The simulation data set experiments based on real data show that MGCAD has better performance than existing methods in processing multiple monitoring data sequences.\nOriginality/value: The MGCAD method can detect abnormal data quickly and accurately, promote the intelligent level of smart articles and ultimately help to project the real world into cyber space in CrowdIntell Network.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Improving the house of quality with maximum difference scaling
|
[
"Quality function deployment",
"House of quality",
"Voice of the customer",
"Customer requirements",
"Maximum difference scaling",
"Stated importance ratings"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Six Sigma is a powerful framework for managing internal processes, customer satisfaction, and profitability (Herman et al., 2006). Since its inception, Six Sigma practitioners have always stressed the importance of understanding customer requirements, translating this understanding into action plans which are aligned with key business processes to satisfy the customer (Perry and Bacon, 2007). Research has shown that Six Sigma is an effective tool to improve business performance, with many Six Sigma practitioners demonstrating relatively higher organizational performance (Summers, 2007).Quality function deployment (QFD) is an effective quality tool often implemented within the Six Sigma framework (Bhote, 1997). While today this occurs frequently, QFD is a commonly used quality tool on its own and it also has a much longer history of implementation relative to Six Sigma. QFD seeks to bring the voice of the customer into the process of designing, developing, improving, and manufacturing products and services. Developed in the 1970s, QFD has helped many organizations design and redesign products that improve customer satisfaction and profitability. QFD is a management process that requires relevant customer data, which is then translated into internal or operational specifications for designing and developing products and services (Enriquez et al., 2004). The voice of the customer guides the entire QFD process (Kim et al., 2005).Continuous improvement is a core value of Six Sigma and QFD. While QFD has had remarkable success all over the world, a stream of academic research has been actively examining this technique and looking for continuous improvement opportunities within the QFD method (Enriquez et al., 2004). For example, academic research has examined research methods and their limitations for examining the importance of customer requirements within QFD (Kim et al., 2005). Research has also examined the lack of segmentation within QFD, suggesting that segmentation may lead to improved performance (Killen et al., 2005). While QFD is a powerful tool, research needs to critically examine this tool and to put forth suggestions for continuous improvement efforts, especially as new research methods and technologies are developed.QFD is focused on gathering, understanding, and using the voice of the customer. Determining attribute importance scores is a key element of all QFD activities. If inaccurate importance scores are generated for customer requirements, then the entire house of quality is built upon a weak foundation. Yet many of the research methods used to determine customer requirements have serious research limitations (Garver, 2009). Chrzan and Golovashkina (2006) empirically examined six research methods for examining the importance of customer requirements and they selected maximum difference scaling (MD) as the most valid research method. MD is a relatively new technique that has not been discussed or implemented in the QFD literature, and its introduction for appropriate use in QFD projects is the purpose of this article.This paper puts forth MD to more accurately indentify importance scores for customer requirements. In addition to providing more actionable and accurate importance scores for customer requirements, MD allows practitioners to create need-based segments for a given QFD project (Garver, 2009), a need recognized by QFD researchers.To achieve this purpose, an overview of QFD will be presented. Current research methods used to determine the importance of customer requirements will be discussed, as well as the absence of need-based segments in the QFD literature and practice. Then, MD will be introduced as a relatively new research technique that delivers more accurate importance scores of customer requirements and facilitates the formation of need-based segments. An empirical example applying MD will be demonstrated, comparing and contrasting the results to more traditional methods. Finally, implications, future research, and final conclusions will be presented.\n2 Literature review: An overview of QFD will be presented, along with a discussion of traditional research methods used to determine the importance of customer requirements. Need-based segmentation will then be discussed, followed by the introduction of MD.2.1 An overview of QFD\n3 Results: 3.1 Importance analysis - stated importance ratings\n4 QFD implications: The purpose of this manuscript was to introduce MD to the QFD literature, demonstrating its value and implementation in a QFD study. Due to page limitations, this article will not provide details on the remaining steps in the QFD process. However, it is important to discuss some key implications that will arise when employing MD into the QFD process.First, given previous research on importance research methods (Chrzan and Golovashkina, 2006) and the results from this study, MD offers some advantages compared to traditional stated importance ratings, as well as other traditional methods for determining importance ratings. Providing significantly more discriminating power, MD allows researchers to have a more valid view of the relative importance of customer requirements (Chrzan and Golovashkina, 2006).Second, MD results allow researchers to identify need-based segments, a key activity that should drive business strategy (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). As discussed in the literature, ignoring need-based segments can provide a biased and misleading perception of the marketplace (Garver et al., 2008; Garver, 2009; Orme, 2010). As evidenced in this study, career services now understand that there are four types of customers with each segment placing significantly different importance values on different customer requirements.The most significant implication is that relying on traditional stated importance ratings would have resulted in different QFD outcomes (i.e. different service configurations). Even though both methods agreed on the two most important customer requirements, there were other significant differences among the two methods and how they rank the importance of customer requirements. Furthermore, relying solely on overall averages of the importance of customer requirements would have resulted in creating new services for the average customer, who does not exist. By employing segmentation analysis, QFD practitioners can now design products and services tailored to meet the needs of a specific segment and not the \"average customer\".4.1 Moving forward in QFD projects\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to put forth maximum difference scaling to more accurately identify importance scores for customer requirements, which will also allow need-based segments to be recognized and utilized within the QFD process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - An overview of research methods to explore customer requirements are discussed, followed by survey data analysis of customer requirements which compares and contrasts stated importance ratings to maximum difference scaling results.\nFindings: - The results from this study suggest that maximum difference scaling offers some advantages compared to traditional stated importance ratings, as well as other traditional methods for determining importance ratings. Providing significantly more discriminating power among customer requirements, maximum difference scaling allows researchers to have a more accurate and valid view of the relative importance of customer requirements as well as the ability to form need-based segments.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Limitations of all research methods are discussed, including those limitations of maximum difference scaling.\nPractical implications: - The method put forth in this article provides practitioners with an improved methodology for determining the importance of customer requirements.\nOriginality/value: - While maximum difference scaling has been proposed and tested in other fields, this is the first article of maximum difference scaling being applied to a QFD project.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Meta-attitudes and the local formation of consumer judgments towards genetically modified food
|
[
"Attitudes towards science",
"Regional self‐interest",
"Structural equation modelling",
"Attitude formation",
"Consumer behaviour",
"Consumer attitudes",
"Genetically modified food",
"Food technology",
"Spain"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Public opinion data reveals that European consumers seem to be persistently concerned about the use of genetically modified (GM) foods (Gaskell et al., 2006), which partially explains the Europeans moratorium on GM food. While Europeans seem to value some biotechnology applications, especially in medicine, food related applications exhibit different behavioral reactions. These reactions occur in spite of efforts to communicate their potential benefits. Indeed, after the commercialization of Recombinant Bovine Sematoropin (BST) in 1994, a growth hormone, the US milk production from cows treated with BST increased from 15 percent in 1994 to 35 percent in 2001 (Chakraborty, 2005). Hence, consumer reaction in Europe might be driven by other features, which that overshadow potential benefits of GM food.Consumer attitudes toward GM foods are found to be explained by a combination of risk and benefit perceptions associated with this new food generation (Moon and Balasubramanian, 2001, 2004; Grunert et al., 2003; Onyango, 2004; Hossain and Onyango, 2004). However, general attitudes towards science and biotechnology have been disregarded as standing behind specific attitudes towards GM food (Lahteenmaki et al., 2002; Bredahl, 2001). Moreover, perceptions of risk and benefits are based on different elements such as a general attitude towards science, knowledge, trust, education and values, among others (Chen and Li, 2007; Saher et al., 2006). Hence, we hypothesize that meta-attitude, namely, general attitudes towards science and technology, influence consumer acceptance of GM food.In any case, attitudes toward GM food in Europe are widely divergent among countries and regions within countries. In fact, few regions have tried to establish GM-free zones using Article 19 of Directive 2001/18/EC, which allows authorities to specify conditions of consent including the protection of particular ecosystems/environments and/or geographical areas. This implies that such zones can be excluded from GM marketing consents if a scientific case is made demonstrating that the GM product in question poses a particular risk to the area. Directive 2001/18/EC will be amended as a result of a new proposal voted by the EU environment ministers on June 2011. This proposal aims at allowing member states to decide on the restriction or prohibition of GM crops cultivation of authorized GMOs[1]. Therefore, it remains as an empirical question whether attitudes in GM free regions are different or, more specifically, follow a different structural causal model that those of GM producer regions.Given the important policy implication of a better understanding of the behavioral mechanisms behind the acceptance of GM food, this study employs a structural equation approach to examine data from a representative sample of the Spanish population in 2001[2]. Particularly, this article puts forward several hypotheses on the influence of general meta-attitudes (towards science and technology) underpinning behavioral explanations for consumer judgments of acceptance towards GM food. Second, given that Spain is a significantly heterogeneous country with GM free and GM producer regions, we examine whether the underlying structural model explaining GM food attitudes are different among respondents in these two regions. Finally, we explore a set of hypothesis regarding the influence of age, gender, and other related factors, as well as the reliability of survey respondents.The structure of the article is as follows. The next section is devoted to the theoretical foundation of the models underlying attitudes towards GM food and a set of empirical hypothesis are outlined. Then, the third section explores the heterogeneity of GM attitudes and regulation. Section four is devoted to data and methods while section five reports the results. We end with some concluding remarks.\nTheoretical framework: Perceived benefits and attitude towards science and technology\nHeterogeneity GM food attitudes: regulation in Spain: As stated in the literature, a further important relationship among the different stages of a consumer attitudinal process is their association with socio-economic and demographic attributes such as age, ethnicity, residence and income level, which are found to be directly related to consumers' attitudes towards GM food. These relationships are supported by Costa-Font and Mossialos (2005); Hossain et al. (2003); and Veeman et al. (2005). Furthermore, Siegrist (2000), and Grimsrud et al. (2004) relate gender differences with benefit perceptions. These studies consistently find that women perceive lower benefits and are less likely to accept gene technology than men. Moreover, some of them revealed that young and middle age, less affluent and those who live in suburban areas are more concerned with GM food. On the other hand, Frewer et al. (1998) revealed no significant gender differences among respondents with high level of environmental concern. Therefore, this article has attempted to examine whether age and gender are important determinants of Spanish consumers GM food benefit perception. To this end, the full population has been segmented into two groups regarding gender (males and females) and into three groups regarding age (18-35, 36-56 and +56-years-old).We assume that:H7. Age is a relevant individual attribute shaping consumers' GM food benefit perceptions. That is, older people trust less in new food technologies such as GM food.H8. Gender is a relevant individual attribute shaping consumers' GM food benefit perceptions. Specifically, females trust less in new food technologies such as GM food.On the basis of previous literature, population can be segregated in three main groups regarding GM food attitudes and intentions, namely:1. anti-GM food or pessimistic;2. risk-tolerant or information searchers; and3. GM-accepters or optimistic.Yet, different compositions of such groups within a specific society determines final country acceptance of GM food. On this basis it has become apparent that in the US and some European countries such as Spain and Portugal among others, the population is found to be broadly more tolerant to GM food as compared to France or the Nordic population. Indeed, Huffman et al. (2004) observed that, prior subjective beliefs affect bidding behavior of people for food items that might be genetically modified. Therefore, in this study we have segmented the sample in two groups based on consumers intentions towards GM food (willing to consume and not willing to consume), in order to show that previously defined attitudes towards a market product vary the process of perception of its associated benefits.We assume that:H9. Previously characterized attitude towards GM food can alter the building process of GM food benefit perception.Finally, in Spain, several regions have reacted to the authorization of commercially grown GM varieties, granted by the central government since 1998. The Parliament of Castilla la Mancha, Andalucia and Balearic Islands asked the central government in 2000 to declare a moratoria on trials and commercial GM crops until risk assessment is done for crops and food that contain GMOs until an international protocol guarantee their safety. In parallel the Basque and Asturias declared itself GMO-free and joined the European Network of GMO-free regions.The Spanish crop area currently devoted to GMOs is mainly located in Aragon, Castilla la Mancha and Catalunya are the major producers of GM maize in Spain. Thus, we segmented the sample between consumers living in GM free (Asturias, Baleares, Canarias, Galicia, Castilla-Leon, La Rioja, Murcia, Pais Vasco and Valencia) and GM producer regions (Andalucia, Aragon, Castilla-la Mancha, Catalonia, Extrmadura, Madrid and Navarra) in order to detect if GMOs regional policy affect their GMF benefit perception process.We assume that:H10. The GM food benefit perception process differs between consumers of GM free and producer regions within Spain.Past studies have examined attitudes towards biotechnology and science in Spain. However, a deeper analysis of attitudes towards GM products is needed given the complexity of the issue. To this end, a multivariate approach is used in this article and is one of the main contributions. Results from this research allow us to derive some policy implications on how to manage the information that presumably affects the evolution of the market for GM food in Spain.\nData and research methodology: The sample\nResults: Measurement model (confirmatory factor analysis)\nDiscussion: The motivation of these articles is grounded on exploring the influence of meta-attitudes, attitudes towards science and the environment, in explaining specific consumer judgments of GM food. In this article, we test the causal and empirical validity of a behavioral mechanism to explain evidence of skepticism towards genetically modified (GM) food.From exploring the causal empirical model, we found that individuals' interest and information towards either science or the environment are key factors in defining their perceived benefits associated with scientific and technological applications, supporting H1 and H2 of the analysis. This finding is important for policy makers in directing future communication strategies regarding scientific and technological applications. Results show that a positive approach towards science and technology is positively related with science and technology benefit perception (H3). This result exhibits the relation among what is know as \"subjective knowledge\" and attitude towards a behavior, stated by some studies such as Lusk et al. (2004). Indeed, \"subjective knowledge\" depends on an individual's general values and this makes people search information from diverse sources - consumer organizations, environmental groups and scientists among others. Therefore, more effective risk-benefit communication strategies are needed regarding new scientific applications, such as GM food.This study also supports a link between positive attitudes toward biotechnology and the perception of benefits associated to either GM medical applications (H4) or food applications (H5). However, consumers do not perceive GM technology as being a one-dimensional skill. Therefore, no significant relation has been detected between the acceptance of GM medical applications and GM food applications (H6). Consequently, different risk-benefit communication strategies must be developed for each GM application.In addition to the behavioral mechanism, this study also considers the relevance of individual values and social elements in constructing this mechanism. For that, a multi-sample analysis has been performed. We segmented the sample by: consumer intentions towards GM food; consumer of GM-free and GM producer regions; gender and age. Results indicate that for the multi-group analyses, the measurement instruments are at least partially invariant for almost all cases - not for GM-free and GM producer regions. First of all, no main gender heterogeneity was detected in this study (H8), just for the relation between science benefit perceptions and environment approaches. Regarding to respondents age (H7), two main behavioral mechanism groups were defined: less than 56 and more than 56-years-old. The main difference is the positive, instead of negative, relations of consumers approach towards the environment and its perceived benefits of science and technology. That is, older people who are more interested and knowledgeable about nature do still perceive benefits associated to science and technology, the contrary happens for younger people. Furthermore, some heterogeneity was detected regarding consumer previous characterized attitude towards GM food (H9). For this case, consumers that are more willing to consume GM food do reveal stronger relations between the behavioral construct benefit perception of science and technology and attitudes and benefit perception towards GM food. Finally, no main results can be reported regarding the structural relations of GM free and producer regions since measurement invariance among these groups is not supported (H10).The model developed in this study examines only one side of the complex process that underpins individuals' purchase intentions towards GM food. An extension of the model definition could be undertaken with the introduction of additional latent variables such as, GM food subjective knowledge, labeling information, risk attitudes, social behavior regarding GM food and purchase intentions towards GM food. Although the model developed in this study highlights the relevance of general values (meta-attitudes) in shaping individuals behavior, our findings call for a future research to explore alternative explanations. As one of the main limitations of this study it is worth mentioning the use of externally designed data that restricts the availability of existing constructs including subjective knowledge and consumer purchase intentions.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - In explaining the mechanisms that explicate individuals' acceptance of genetically modified (GM) food, one mechanism that has been largely ignored in the growing body of current research lies in the influence of \"meta (wider) attitudes\" such as the general attitudes towards science. This article, drawing on survey evidence from Spain, aims to examine the causal relationship between attitudes towards science and attitudes towards GM food.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The research employs structural equation modeling and explores this association by using sub-samples made of regional groups that have GM agriculture.\nFindings: - The results suggest specific behavioral mechanisms in explaining GM consumer attitudes involving attitudes towards science whilst medical and food applications appear to have no (or mild) significant connection in the formation of attitudes towards GM food. Significant influence from age and previously characterized attitude in the formation of structural models is found.\nPractical implications: - The article has implications for a better understanding of the behavioral mechanisms behind the acceptance of GM food.\nOriginality/value: - This article puts forward several hypotheses on the influence of general meta-attitudes (towards science and technology) underpinning behavioral explanations for consumer judgments of acceptance towards GM food.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Teratogenic potential of traditional Malaysian vegetables (ulam) in the zebrafish model
|
[
"Labisia pumila",
"Premna foetida",
"Sauropus androgynus",
"Zebrafish phenotypic",
"Cancer pathway",
"Ulam"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The incidence of cancer cases in Malaysia increases every year in which it is a concern to the government as well as the local community. It is estimated almost 90 to 100,000 people living with cancer at any time in Malaysia. The five top common cancers in Malaysia are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lungs cancer, cervical cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer (GetDoc Malaysia, 2017). Therefore, cancer study is carried out to seek for the cure of cancer and treatment to the disease.Malaysia is a tropical country and its climate facilitates the growth of many traditional Malaysian vegetables or ulam. Traditionally, immature leaves of wild plants are used to serve as ulam (Raji et al., 2017). Mansor (1988) has stated that Malaysia has more than 120 ulam. Ulam is consumed in raw or boiled form and usually eaten as side dishes with rice-based meal by the locals, mainly Malays, from generation to generation, because of its flavorful taste and nutritional value (Reihani and Azhar, 2012). Besides, ulam is also used as a traditional source of health supplement and medicinal agent (Raji et al., 2017). It is believed by the local people that ulam is rich in antioxidants.Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a tropical freshwater fish that belongs to the minnow family of Crypinidae and order of Crypiniforms. Zebrafish is used in medical research as its development is similar to the development of mammals, especially human since they have 70% similar to human gene code and 84% similar to human disease gene (Zulkhernain et al., 2014). Zebrafish embryos are transparent and have rapid embryo development. The application of zebrafish model in cancer research has significant implications in signaling pathways, transcriptional regulatory mechanisms, cellular transformation, tissue differentiation and tumor initiation that is critical for comparative animal models (Shive, 2013). These features are at advantage for teratogenicity screening and comparative cancer research. In view of the homology between embryogenesis of zebrafish and carcinogenesis of human, the specific cancer pathway can be postulated, when the phenotypic defects in the development of zebrafish embryos caused by the carcinogens are recognized. The cancer-related pathways that involved in the teratogenicity of zebrafish embryo are bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), Notch, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) etc. (Williams and Hong, 2016; Zulkhernain et al., 2014).Despite the long history in the local community, ulam has not been fully evaluated for its teratogenic potential in cancer research, especially in the model of zebrafish embryo. The present study aims to determine the teratogenic potential of ulam, such as Cosmos caudatus (ulam raja), Gynura procumbens (sambung nyawa), Labisia pumila (kacip fatimah), Phaleria macrocarpa (mahkota dewa), Polygonum minus (kesum), Piper sarmentosum (kaduk), Premna foetida (bebuas) and Sauropus androgynous (cekur manis). Besides, the study also targets to determine the lethal effect of ulam against zebrafish embryo.\nMethods: Preparation of plant extraction\nResults: Teratogenic and toxicity effects of eight ulam\nDiscussion: This study is the first report on eight Malaysian ulam being tested for its toxicity and teratogenic effect using zebrafish embryo model. Phenotypic defects of the zebrafish embryos were identified to relate the possible cancer pathway(s) that the respective ulam might involve. Apparently, among the eight ulam, only three ulam, namely, L. pumila, P. foetida and S. androgynus, have shown positive teratogenic effect. The rest of ulam tested (C. caudatus, G. procubens, P. marcocarpa, P. sarmestosum and P. minus) did not alter the development of zebrafish embryogenesis. Although P. marcocarpa was reported to have anticancer potential on certain cancer cell lines (Faried et al., 2007) and have showed high toxicity in the present study (LC50 of 89.95 ug/mL), this plant was found to have no teratogenic effect on zebrafish embryo model.L. pumila is a popular medicinal herb for post-partum treatment among the Malaysian community. Major components in the extract of L. pumila are gallic acid, alkylresorcinols and flavonoids, which are responsible for antioxidant and cardio-protective activities (Chua et al., 2011; Dianita et al., 2015). Recent reports have proven that the extract of L. pumila has anticancer effect on cell lines (Pihie et al., 2011) and anticarcinogenic effect on mouse skin model (Karimi et al., 2016).At low concentration (0.3, 1 and 3 ug/mL) in FET, L. pumila gave the effect of yolk sac edema and pericardial edema on the embryos. Interestingly, the size of edema was decreasing with an increase of L. pumila concentrations. This might be due to the physical behavior of the extract which produces non-monotomic drugs responses. The self-associated organic molecule that turns into colloidal particle can change their behavior in biological assay drastically (Owen et al., 2014). Interestingly, our result was not in agreement to the previous report whereby L. pumila was reported to not show significant teratogenic effects up to 1,000 mg/kg on mice (Chua et al., 2012). However, Jamaludin et al. (2015) have found anti-proliferative activity of L. pumila against in vitro prostate cancer cell line.P. foetida is used as traditional medicine in Asian communities to treat cough and fever (Wiart, 2000), and the leaves are used for treatment of Malaria, worms, constipation, liver and spleen problems (Quattrocchi, 2012). Recently, flavonoids isolated from P. foetida, namely quercetin, apigenin and kaempferol were reported to be responsible for anti-LDL oxidation and anti-platelet aggregation (Dianita and Ibrahim, 2019). Its fractionated extract was tested against brine shrimp with low lethality (LC50 of 832 ppm) (Samadi and Lajis, 2000).In the present study, P. foetida induced yolk sac edema and pericardial edema on zebrafish embryo in relatively dose-dependent manner although it was relatively non-toxic (LC50 of 322.43 ug/mL). The extract mimicked the classical-response relationship where a drug is considered ineffective at low concentration and reach maximum efficacy at higher concentration (Owen et al., 2014). The abnormalities of pericardial edema and yolk sac edema could be associated with cancer pathways - VEGF (vascular endothelium growth factor) or retinoic acid - in zebrafish phenotype assay. The VEGF involves a network of signaling pathways that are responsible for promoting endothelial cell growth, migration and survival from pre-existing vasculature (Hicklin and Ellis, 2005); thus, it has been linked with tumor growth and angiogenesis. Meanwhile, retinoic acid pathway involves in transcriptional and hemostatic regulators with functions that are often compromised early in neoplastic transformation (Connolly et al., 2013).This is the first report on toxicity of P. foetida evaluated by using zebrafish embryo model. Previously, several studies had reported cytotoxic activities of other species from the genus of Premna (i.e. Premna tomentosa, Premna latifolia, Premna integrifolia, Premna oligotricha and Premna schimperi) using various methods such as MTT assays on cancer cell lines, brine shrimp lethality test and cancer (EAC and DLA) cells- inoculated mice (Dianita and Jantan, 2017). Our findings suggested that P. foetida has potential ability to disrupt the cancer pathway, evident by exhibiting teratogenic effect on zebrafish embryos.S. androgynus is a widely distributed tropical vegetable in Asia and has been consumed as a highly nutritious food. The plant was reported to have sauroposide, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, terpenoids, glycosides, carotenoids, thiamine, ascorbic acid and a-tocopherol (Fikri and Purnama, 2020). Steroids compounds isolated from S. androgynus showed moderate cytotoxic effect to tumor cell lines, while flavonoid compounds exhibited good inhibition on melanogenesis with low toxicity to the melanoma cells (Zhang et al., 2018). The ethanol extract of S. androgynus exhibited cell growth inhibition in fibroblasts with effect of necrosis and apoptosis (Yu et al., 2007). It was also found that aqueous extract of S. androgynus had high antioxidant activity and the shoots ethanolic extract was able to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells lines (Rahmat et al., 2003).In this study, S. androgynus was tested to be relative toxic (LC50 of 36.75 ug/mL) and able to induce yolk sac edema, pericardial edema and curve trunk at high concentrations (10, 30 and 100 ug/mL). The defect of curve trunk was not exhibited by zebrafish embryos treated with L. pumila and S. androgynous. The phenotypic changes in S. androgynus-treated zebrafish embryo suggested the inhibition on cancer pathways such as Notch, VEGF or retinoic acid. Interference on Notch pathway leads to mutations of the somites - the embryonic segments of the vertebrae body - causing an irregular segmented somite pattern in posterior presomitic mesoderm (Ozbudak and Lewis, 2008) during proliferation of blastemal cells of the embryo (Grotek et al., 2013). Previously, S. androgynus was reported exhibiting moderate cytotoxic activity towards HL-60 (promyelocytic leukemia), AZ-521 (gastric carcinoma), SKBR3 (breast cancer) and A549 (lung adenocarcinoma) cell lines and inhibition of melanogenesis (Zhang et al., 2018). Our results suggest S. androgynus possessed multiple teratogenic effects on zebrafish embryo, as compared to P. foetida at the same concentration.In summary, three ulam tested such as L. pumila, P. foetida and S. androgynus, have proven to possess the potential to disrupt the cancer pathway as observed for its teratogenic effect on zebrafish embryogenesis. The phenotypic defects induced by L. pumila, P. foetida and S. androgynus on zebrafish embryo suggest the possibility of bioactive compound(s) present in the extract. Additionally, this is the first report of these ulam showing relationship to Notch, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and retinoic acid pathways in zebrafish model. However, these finding should be confirmed with positive control, and more studies should be carefully designed considering the potential teratogenic implications of these ulam.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Traditional Malaysian vegetables, also known as ulam, are believed to have healing properties among the local community. Ulam is commonly reported to have high antioxidant content which makes it a popular food. The purpose of this paper is to determine the teratogenic potential of eight ulam, using zebrafish model. The tested ulam were Cosmos caudatus, Gynura procumbens, Labisia pumila var. alata, Phaleria macrocarpa, Polygonum minus, Piper sarmentosum, Premna foetida and Sauropus androgynous.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Methanol extract of ulam was prepared using the maceration method. Various concentrations of extracts were tested against fish embryo short-term toxicity test. The lethal concentration (LC50) and teratogenic effect of the ulam were determined.\nFindings: Among all tested species, L. pumila, P. foetida and S. androgynous showed 100% lethal effect towards zebrafish embryos at concentrations of 10 ug/mL, 1,000 ug/mL and 100 ug/mL, respectively. The three ulam have exhibited teratogenic effect on zebrafish embryos after 72 h post-fertilization. L. pumila had induced yolk sac edema at 1.0 ug/mL for normalized measurement of 108.3 +- 2.0% (which is higher than negative control, p < 0.05, median = 110.7%), while P. foetida had induced pericardial edema at 100 ug/mL for normalized measurement of 124.0 +- 4.6% (which is higher than negative control, p < 0.05, median = 124.3%). On the other hand, S. androgynus induced curve trunk at 30 ug/mL for the presence of 70.9 +- 4.2%.\nOriginality/value: The teratogenic effect of L. pumila, P. foetida and S. androgynous suggests the possible disruption in the embryogenesis in zebrafish, namely Notch, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and retinoic acid pathways. The results of ulam gave possible implications and insights on the cancer pathways involved, which could be a useful target for cancer research. This is the first report on teratogenicity evaluation of Malaysian ulam showing relationship to cancer pathways by using zebrafish embryo model.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Measuring ERP success: the ultimate users' view
|
[
"Manufacturing resource planning",
"Customer satisfaction",
"Measuring instruments",
"Measurement, testing and instruments",
"Taiwan"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are configurable information system (IS) packages that integrate several business functions. A typical ERP system may combine inventory data with financial, sales, and human resources data, allowing organizations to price products, produce financial statements, and manage human, material, and financial resources effectively (Markus et al., 2000). They evolved from standard inventory control packages to material requirements planning (MRP) and manufacturing resource planning. Indeed, they may now even be the price of entry for running a business and for being connected to other enterprises in a value chained or networked economy (Jacobs and Bendoly, 2003; Kumar and Hillegersberg, 2000; Kennerley and Neely, 2001). However, because ERP systems are complex and expensive, the decision to install an ERP system necessitates a choice of mechanisms both to determine whether an ERP system is needed and, once implemented, whether it will be successful.Today, due to the high level of organizational and technical complexity associated with the development and implementation of IS, the process may involve difficult, possibly unique, technical and managerial choices and challenges (Markus et al., 2000). Consequently, many organizations purchase their ERP systems instead of developing them in-house. With the need for rapid delivery of systems to business and the all-too-common in-house shortages of both routine and special skills, vendors and suppliers can perform important \"fill-in\" roles (Willcocks and Sykes, 2000). Indeed, most firms find that the process of moving to an ERP solution is long and complex. Thus, firms often contract externally, with the ERP developer or an external IS contractor having specific ERP tool knowledge, to provide a turnkey operation that suits the firm's needs without having to learn the intricacies and complexities of the ERP system.The result of implementing ERP in an organization does not, however, always prove successful. Many large organizations have installed an ERP system but had to abandon their implementation (Soh et al., 2000). In spite of the problems, some midsize companies are now also starting to embrace ERP. However, because of the complexity of system implementation, the effort may be expensive. Therefore, top managers are likely to require an evaluation of the success of the resulting system.Although it may be more desirable to measure system success in terms of monetary costs and benefits, such measures are often not possible due to the difficulty of quantifying intangible system impacts and isolating the IS effect from numerous intervening environmental variables that may influence organizational performance (DeLone and McLean, 1992; Jacobs and Bendoly, 2003; Kennerley and Neely, 2002). Therefore, surrogates are used. In voluntary situations, system usage can also be a surrogate measure of system success. However, ERP usage is often not voluntary, being mandated by management. In this involuntary situation, perceptual measures of satisfaction may be appropriate (Doll and Torkzaden, 1988).User satisfaction is regarded as a good surrogate measure of IS success (Seddon and Kiew, 1994). User satisfaction is the extent to which users believe the IS available to them meets their information requirements (Ives et al., 1983). Furthermore, it is assumed that improved performance will automatically follow if the system meets information needs. This does not imply that satisfaction causes performance. Performance and user satisfaction are both caused by the extent to which requirements are met (Gelderman, 1998). Therefore, Abdinnour-Helm et al. (2003) asserted that user attitudes were important to ERP implementation performance. Bendoly and Jacobs (2004) also utilized user satisfaction as a subjective measure of ERP performance.Measures of user satisfaction developed for the conventional data processing environment may not be fully appropriate for the ERP context because the ERP environment differs from those of conventional data processing systems. For instance, the predominant decision-maker for ERP implementation transits from chief information officer to chief executive officer and the IT staff role switches from implementer to advisor or supporter. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to develop a reliable and valid instrument for measuring ERP ultimate-user satisfaction. The instrument proposed in this study would be valuable to researchers and practitioners interested in implementing and managing ERP systems. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. The next section introduces the background, including the ERP implementation context and user satisfaction measure. That is followed by the section, which presents the research method. After these sections, analyses the data and the validation of the instrument are described. The last two sections discuss and conclude this paper.\nBackground: The concepts of ERP\nThe research method: Measurement tool development was divided into four phases. In the first phase, item generation, an initial measurement instrument was developed from the literature review followed by an examination of ERP characteristics and environments. The measurement instrument was examined for completeness and clarity in a series of interviews with three consultants from an ERP consulting firm and 28 ERP users from four firms. In the second phase, pilot test, 30 different respondents randomly selected from the previously interviewed firms were asked to assess whether the items were important and relevant to the ERP satisfaction construct. In the third phase, reliability and validity assessment, the revised instrument was tested using a survey of end-users. After factor analysis, an empirical test of the validity and reliability of the instrument was then conducted. Finally, 40 ultimate users participated in a test-retest process to verify instrument stability.Measures of user satisfaction in ERP\nData collection and scale purification: Survey method\nValidating the instrument: Reliability\nDiscussion: This research presents an initial effort to develop a reliable and validated measure of ERP success from the perspective of ultimate user satisfaction. We also provide support for user satisfaction as a surrogate measure of ERP success. The empirical results show that \"ERP ultimate-user satisfaction\" is a multidimensional construct. It represents an integrative measure of the satisfaction level along the three dimensions:1. ERP project team and service;2. ERP product; and3. user knowledge and involvement.The positive correlations among the three factors imply that they are interwoven and they can also be interpreted hierarchically with the three first-order factors being aspects of the higher second-order factor of \"ultimate-user satisfaction\".As shown in Table III, the above three factors jointly explained 71.5 per cent of the variance in the overall ERP ultimate-user satisfaction. The percentage of variance explained by each factor provides useful insight into the relative importance to ERP satisfaction. The percentages of total variance explained by the three factors are all above 10 per cent. This means that these three factors are important to the ultimate users in the ERP context. One must not focus exclusively on any single factor. This also implies that a measure that focuses only on the product dimension (e.g. EUCSI) seems insufficient for ERP implementation. The multiple-item measure contains support for developing and implementing the ERP system as well as the ERP product itself.More specifically, the percentage of total variance explained by \"ERP project team and service\" is highest among the three ERP satisfaction dimensions. Because ERP systems are very complex and have a massive impact on the entire organization, implementing an ERP system frequently requires an ERP project team with technical and business expertise to ensure successful implementation and solve critical issues. The team should involve a consultant group with special expertise in the implementation of the particular ERP system, key users selected from operating departments and who are generally familiar with business processes and having domain knowledge of their areas, and MID staff understanding homegrown systems. They will be responsible for BPR and adapting to the best business process standard, integration of the ERP with other business IS, and assisting employees on the new system. Therefore, \"ERP project team and service\" is the most important factor of ERP user satisfaction, i.e. ERP success. There are four important components in the dimension:1. the interaction, association, and conduct between the user and the ERP project team;2. the communication between the user and the ERP project team;3. the domain knowledge and expertise exhibited by the ERP project team; and4. the willingness and commitment of the ERP project team to support and assist user adoption of the ERP system.The \"ERP product\" is also an important factor to high levels of user satisfaction of the ERP system. The IS quality is always the important determinant of user satisfaction and perceived success in an IS context (DeLone and McLean, 2003). A system with accurate, timely, and reliable outputs may result in high user valuation. Like most IS, the ERP system quality (i.e. ERP product) is still an important driver of ERP success.\"User knowledge and involvement\" is another important component of ERP user satisfaction. Its explanation power is close to that of \"ERP product\". The component consists of users' understanding of the ERP system, their comprehension about the business functionalities and information provided by the ERP system in an integrated way, and their participation in ERP implementation. Transition to ERP systems is often combined with BPR efforts, intended to produce radical organizational change (Boudreau and Robey, 1999). Furthermore, ERP implementation usually represents a threat to users' perception of control over their work and a period of transition during which users must cope with differences between old and new work systems (Esteves et al., 2005). Users who have greater levels of involvement in the implementation stage are likely to have more direct experience, or first-hand learning with the new ERP system. This more direct experience as well as status conferred on them for ensuring an effective implementation is likely to cause them to have more positive attitudes toward the ERP implementation (Abdinnour-Helm et al., 2003).\nImplications and conclusions: Though ERP is now considered to be the price of entry for running a business (Jacobs and Bendoly, 2003; Kumar and Hillegersberg, 2000; Kennerley and Neely, 2001), ERP implementation still presents a challenge and a complex and expensive mission (Luo and Strong, 2004). Therefore, management needs mechanisms to evaluate whether ERP implementation is successful. Although the bulk of the system success literature is concentrated on a successful measure of management IS and end-user computing systems, little explicit attention has been devoted to the issue of developing an instrument for measuring ERP success. This study employed a rigorous scale development procedure to establish an instrument that measures ERP success from the perspective of ultimate-user satisfaction. The contributions and implications of this study includes the following.Identifying the \"ERP ultimate-user satisfaction\" construct that is a multidimensional construct. The results enhance our understanding of the nature and dimensionality of ultimate-user satisfaction for ERP implementation. This study provides considerable support for three factors measuring ERP ultimate-user satisfaction:1. ERP project team and service;2. ERP product; and3. user knowledge and involvement.The three factors should not be considered in isolation from each other; rather, they should be viewed as mutually reinforcing elements of ERP ultimate-user satisfaction. Hence, the ERP ultimate-user satisfaction construct represents an integrative measure of the level of users' perceptions of ERP implementation along these three dimensions.Offering a proof-by-analysis that ultimate-user satisfaction is closely related to perceived ERP success. This study finds that there is a significantly high correlation (0.73) between ultimate-user satisfaction and ERP-system success. Practitioners or researchers can employ ultimate-user satisfaction as a measure of system success in an ERP environment. Since, users may be reluctant to allow performance measurements for fear of job loss and objective measures of ERP success implementation are not available, the user satisfaction measure may be regarded as a non-threatening means of evaluating ERP success (Abdinnour-Helm et al., 2003, Somer et al., 2003). Assessing user satisfaction about ERP systems can help identify organizational readiness for massive change. Once identified, organizations can tailor their implementation efforts to ensure a critical mass of positive effort and enhance the probability of success (Abdinnour-Helm et al., 2003).In addition, the ERP success measure developed in this study is a first step toward building a much-needed body of knowledge on ERP success. The ERP ultimate-user satisfaction construct provides a valid measure upon which future research can build. For instance, researchers can investigate many antecedents and consequences of ERP ultimate-user satisfaction. Use of a standard instrument will help ensure an equitable comparison of results across studies allowing for an accumulation of knowledge. Besides, researchers can avoid the time-consuming task of developing a new instrument each time an evaluation of user satisfaction is required.Providing a useful instrument for managers for implementing and diagnosing ERP systems. The \"ERP project team and service\" and \"user's knowledge and involvement\" are important factors for ERP success, yet they have to be based on good \"ERP products\". Therefore, combined together, the three dimensions reflect the successful extent of a firm's ERP implementation. Therefore, managers should not only take account of the quality of ERP products, but also pay attention to the ERP project team and service, and to improve user's knowledge and involvement. This study offers a useful instrument that can be used as a diagnostic tool. Practitioners can compare satisfaction levels of their ERP systems with expected levels to understand relative goodness or badness and to take necessary corrective actions to improve them.Some limitations in this study should be noted. First, because the research was conducted in Taiwan, the findings in the study might not hold true in other countries. Thus, we need to exercise caution when generalizing our findings to other groups or environments. Second, satisfied ultimate-users alone are not omni-indicative of an effective IS system (Melone, 1990). Evaluation of ERP success still requires multiple evaluation approaches to satisfying differing evaluation objectives and requirements. This is because a number of stakeholders possess vested interests in an implemented ERP system. Therefore, developing measures from multiple perspectives from different stakeholders groups (e.g. chief executive officer, key users) are needed in the ERP context.Future research, with different samples and longitudinal studies, are necessary. The validity of a measure cannot be truly established on the basis of a single study. Measure validation requires the assessment of the measurement properties over a variety of samples in similar and different contexts. In addition, future research is needed to develop standard norms for evaluating specific ERP modules, to investigate the relative importance of the determinants of ERP user satisfaction, and to realize the relationship between ERP implementation stage and user satisfaction. It would be useful to track and assess user satisfaction throughout the entire ERP implementation process. It is anticipated that user perceptions will change over time and that experience with the ERP system will shape user reactions (Abdinnour-Helm et al., 2003). More attention also can be directed toward understanding the antecedents and consequents of user satisfaction on ERP systems.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is now considered to be the price of entry for running a business. However, ERP systems are complex and expensive, and the decision to install an ERP system necessitates a choice of mechanisms for determining whether ERP is needed and, once implemented, whether it is successful. User satisfaction is one evaluation mechanism for determining system success. This study develops a reliable and valid instrument for measuring ERP ultimate-user satisfaction.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Initial ERP system characteristics and the implementation context were investigated. Some previously validated instruments were selected for examination using rigorous interview techniques. A modified version was developed and pre-tested. The instrument was then used to administer a test to 264 Taiwanese users that interact directly with an ERP system.\nFindings: - The results suggest a ten-item instrument to measure three components of ultimate-user satisfaction in an ERP environment: ERP project team and service, ERP product, and user knowledge and involvement.\nOriginality/value: - This study has conducted a rigorous scale development procedure to establish a reliable and valid instrument for measuring ERP ultimate-user satisfaction.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Three effects of stock repurchase on rival firms in Vietnam
|
[
"Market efficiency",
"Cumulative abnormal return",
"Average cumulative abnormal return",
"Contagious-competitive effect",
"Intra-industry effects",
"Stock repurchase"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the last few decades, stock repurchase has become increasingly popular and widely used in the world stock market as well as in Vietnam. According to Vermaelen (2005), this program has a great impact on a firm's financial situation and strategies such as distributing cash to shareholders, improving earnings per share or increasing stock prices. Moreover, stock repurchase also has a certain influence on the securities market, including rival firms in the same industry. It has been proven in many previous studies such as the studies of Hertzel (1991) and Erwin and Miller (1998) that investigated all firms in the US market or the studies of Akhigbe and Madura (1999) and Miller and Shankar (2005) that examined bank and insurance firms. These studies' results showed fluctuations in stock prices or the existence of rival firms' average cumulative abnormal return (ACAR) surrounding share repurchase announcements. Based on hypotheses of contagious effect and competitive effect, stock price behavior of rival firms could be seen as a positive or negative effect, depending on each firm characteristic such as firm size, profit performance or capital ratio.\n2. Literature review: The literature regarding the impact of share buyback on rival firms has been examined in previous studies. Beginning in the 1980s, by emphasizing the relationship between capital structure and market conditions, Titman (1984), Brander and Lewis (1986) and Maksimovic (1988) developed models proving that rivals might be affected by strategic changes in the debt-to-equity ratio. The theories of Jensen (1986) and Stulz (1988) also suggested that stock repurchases were influenced by corporate governance and capital structure, which would impact rivals. In addition, results from studies by Vermaelen (1981) and Miller and Rock (1985) showed that the information signal of stock repurchases could affect rivals' stock prices.\n3. Hypotheses and methodology: 3.1 Hypotheses\n4. Sample selection and description: The analysis in this study is based on an initial sample of 681 open market stock repurchase announcements from 2011 to 2017 on HOSE and HNX in Vietnam compiled by the StoxPlus Corporation[1]. Only observations that satisfy certain screening criteria are included in the investigation. First, the sectors studied in this paper are information technology, pharmaceutical and medical, consumer goods, materials and energy (290 announcements). Hence, share repurchase announcements by finance, industry and services will not be considered. Second, the study also removes events of stock buyback announcements that occur in the same day by at least two different firms in the same industry. In addition, the study eliminates all observations in which the intended buyback number of shares is less than 0.01 percent of the total number of shares outstanding. Finally, after screening the data, there are 201 remaining observations that satisfy our criteria, as detailed in Table I.\n5. Results of event study: 5.1 Significant test for announcing firms\n6. Cross-sectional analysis of intra-industry effects: 6.1 Research model\n7. Conclusion: This paper aims to examine the effects of share repurchase announcements on the value of rival firms in the same industry by using a sample of 201 open market repurchases announced in Vietnam from 2011 to 2017. With event study, t-test and OLS regression methods, the study finds evidence to prove that there is an ACAR of rival firms when a stock repurchase is announced in the Vietnamese stock market. Moreover, this ACAR round the event date is also affected by firms' characteristics.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of share repurchase announcements on the stock price of rival firms in the same industry in Vietnam during 2010-2017.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Both event study and t-test are employed to test the effects of share repurchase announcements on rival firms. In addition, cross-sectional analysis by ordinary least square regression is also applied for investigating the heterogeneous effects due to information transfer.\nFindings: The finding shows that stock repurchase announcements result in a positive and significant valuation effect for both announcing firms and rival firms in Vietnam. Furthermore, the degree of signal to the industry is conditional on the degree of signal about the announcing firms as a contagious effect. Intra-industry effects are more favorable when profit performance of rival firms is good and when leverage of rival firms is low.\nPractical implications: Rival firms can seize opportunities surrounding share repurchase announcements in the same industry in Vietnam. However, due to firm characteristics, intra-industry effects of stock repurchases differ among industries.\nOriginality/value: By examining different methods, the paper attributes valuable results to investigate the stock price behavior of rival firms in the same industry when firms announce stock repurchase in Vietnam.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Digital transformation in entrepreneurship education centres: preliminary evidence from the Italian Contamination Labs network
|
[
"Academic entrepreneurship",
"Entrepreneurship centres",
"Entrepreneurship education",
"Digital technologies",
"Digital transformation",
"Contamination labs"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Extant research suggests that entrepreneurship centres (Cassia et al., 2014; Maas and Jones, 2017) can play an important role in stimulating entrepreneurship activities within higher education institutions (Finkle et al., 2006, 2013; Nelles and Vorley, 2011; Secundo et al., 2016). Their activity is especially relevant for increasing the visibility of entrepreneurship as a competence, a profession or as a field of study (Cassia et al., 2014; Fisher and Reuber, 2011). According to Siegel and Wright (2015), the establishment and growth of entrepreneurship centres are an emerging perspective framed within academic entrepreneurship that includes a wider social and economic benefit to the university ecosystem overcoming the traditional goal of economic revenue from research commercialization. The goals of entrepreneurship centres vary significantly between new firm creation, researching market opportunities, developing enterprising and entrepreneurship skills among students and staff and contributing to the capitalization of knowledge (Del-Palacio et al., 2008).In recent years, the infusion of new digital technologies (such as social media, Internet of things, MOOCs, 3D printing, Big Data, etc.) that are reshaping society globally (Nambisan et al., 2017) has changed the nature of entrepreneurship and managerial challenges (Gawer and Cusumano, 2014) and has largely affected the activities of entrepreneurship research centres. Digital technologies are opening up fascinating innovation opportunities and can become the dominant source for innovation also in entrepreneurship centre (Cohen et al., 2017; Urbinati et al., 2017; Yoo, 2010). Even if different studies recall and demonstrate the importance of these digital technologies as strategic for spin-offs creation, for entrepreneurship education, for licensing and research development, to the best of our knowledge surprisingly few studies have focussed on the analysis of digital technologies in the whole spectrums of entrepreneurship centres activities and processes (Rippa and Secundo, 2018).To cover this research gap, attention is focussed on a public initiative of the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR) which in 2012 financed the creation of the Contamination Labs (CLabs), that is, virtual and physical environments where university students with different background could be involved into entrepreneurial learning activities, working on the incubation of their ideas and the development of a business plan. Within CLabs, university students are involved in typical activities of entrepreneurship education such as idea generation, creative thinking, business games, elevator pitch, business plan competitions or idea challenges proposed by companies. Huffman and Quigley (2002) and Russell et al. (2008) noted that business plan competitions provide a mechanism for new business start-up and for encouraging entrepreneurial ideas (Passaro et al., 2017), talents and potential entrepreneurs. Activities such as business skills development, team building, mentoring, judges' feedback and networking represent core activities of an effective business planning competition (Russell et al., 2008). Der Foo et al. (2005) noted their role in team building by utilizing new technologies. Streeter et al. (2002), and Atchison and Gotlieb (2004) identify that such competitions offer the opportunity to develop both generic skills and entrepreneurial mindset and business knowledge competencies.The Italian experience of the CLabs provides a perfect setting for the analysis of how entrepreneurship research centres are adopting digital platforms to support a variety of entrepreneurial activities. According to the statements of the policymakers presenting the initiatives, CLabs were introduced as an initiative aiming at improving university students' entrepreneurial awareness and enterprising skills. In fact, unlike the traditional incubators and accelerators, the CLabs were intended to create a space for creative thinking and innovative project design, a \"step back\" primarily aimed to build a network that allows gathering the human capital needed for highly innovative projects (Boffo et al., 2015). From this perspective, CLabs are experimental learning projects for higher education institutions, aimed at facilitating the adoption of innovation into entrepreneurship research centres.Aimed to provide evidence about the adoption and utilization of the digital technologies within the entrepreneurship education centres, this paper presents an in-depth analysis of 12 centres located in Italian universities findings offering some insights into the strategic role of some categories of digital technologies inside the CLabs. The main results show still a weak use of digital technologies in CLabs except for social media and digital platforms, mainly used for promotion scope and communication of the entrepreneurial outputs achieved by the students.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 briefly introduces the background around the key concept of entrepreneurship centres and digital technologies. Section 3 introduces the research methodology. Section 4 presents the findings of our research. Section 5 proposes a discussion of the main findings, provides implications for theory and practices, describes limitations and future research and concludes the paper.\nEntrepreneurship education and digital technology: The entrepreneurship education missions\nResearch methodology: A qualitative approach based on multiple case study design to explore the aforementioned gap is adopted, because \"a how or why the question is being asked about a contemporary set of events over which the investigator has little or no control\" (Yin, 2009). Qualitative methods allow researchers to discover to reveal and understand relationships between variables even within complex processes and to illustrate the influence of the social context (Shah and Corley, 2006).For our purpose, a multiple case study is a valid approach since a comparison of cases' findings by replication is required to the extent of the validity of results. As stated in Eisenhardt and Graebner (2007), multiple case studies offer the opportunity to collect more information available for theory building.Our research investigates how much the Italian CLabs are adopting digital technologies to support the digital transformation of their entrepreneurship education activities for university students. About 12 case studies, extracted from the list of 17 Italian CLabs, are actually fully committed towards their activities. The multiple case study approach will provide interesting results about the actual and future revolution of digital technology that could allow within the CLabs to sustain their entrepreneurial education processes.Research context\nDiscussion and conclusion: This paper analysed whether the entrepreneurship education centres introduced by the Italian Ministry of Higher Education and Research in 2012 (the Italian Contamination Labs - CLabs) are effectively adopting the emergent digital technologies for nurturing their entrepreneurship education activities and dissemination of knowledge contamination practices among university students.An in-depth analysis of 12 Italian CLabs provided evidence about the direct role played by digital technologies in supporting and enhancing the entrepreneurial processes, as well as on their indirect role in stimulating entrepreneurship activities of nascent student entrepreneurs. The empirical analysis provides evidence about the possibilities and constraints of digital technologies for goals, governance and processes of entrepreneurship centres, enabling a better understanding of the challenges posed by the ongoing digital transformation. In particular, CLabs responding to our survey manifested a low level of adoption of digital technologies. On the one hand, social media such as Facebook are widely adopted, though their use is limited to the promotion of CLab activities. This evidence allows the identification of room for improvement, as extant literature demonstrates how social media can transform how people and organizations relate. Government organizations are experimenting with social media to communicate with their constituents, and many analysts see in these media a powerful set of tools to reinvent government-citizen relationships (Picazo-Vela et al., 2012).Technologies such as blockchain, big data, 3D printers are poorly adopted. Surprisingly, MOOC is not adopted nor considered as strategic. This evidence provides another room for improvement, given that extant literature suggests that the MOOC is a suitable platform to teach entrepreneurship as it provides tools to enable students collaborative learning as well as improve individuals affective key entrepreneurial aspects such as opportunity recognition and resource acquisition (Al-Atabi and De Boer, 2014). Indeed, MOOCs could allow many participants to enrol in entrepreneurship education (Romero, 2013) so contributing to the diffusion of wide entrepreneurial culture and mindset among the university students.The strategic vision for the future changes a little bit since such digital technologies are viewed as important for the sustainability of the entrepreneurship centre, but cultural and time constraints are highlighted as the most important barriers to the adoption of the digital technologies, confirming the difficulties in the digital transformation of the entrepreneurship education already identified in other fields (Bacow et al., 2012; Watty et al., 2016). There is the need to know more about what entrepreneurship or enterprise education actually \"is\" when implemented in practice, and the real challenge could be to embed this type of course in the universities' curriculum as a compulsory course (Volkmann and Audretsch, 2017). This is problematic because the entrepreneurial strategy for teaching entrepreneurship is the antithesis of traditional approaches to teaching. Academic assessment processes evaluate and test knowledge and skill rather than behaviour and skills, therefore widening the assessment process to accommodate behaviour is the real challenge for academic institutions, although it is a challenge that is beginning to be undertaken. Academic policy and decision-makers need to be convinced of the value in offering such entrepreneurship courses before they can be included in mainstream programmes. Arguably the faculty for such typology, of course, needs to be composed not only by university professors but especially by managers and entrepreneurs that can diffuse their entrepreneurial behaviours to establish such programmes in mainstream academia.Implications for theory\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper analyses whether the entrepreneurship education centres introduced by the Italian Ministry of Higher Education and Research in 2012 (the Italian Contamination Labs - CLabs) are effectively adopting the emergent digital technologies for nurturing their entrepreneurship education activities and dissemination of knowledge contamination practices among university students.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An in-depth analysis of italian entrepreneurship education centres provides evidence about the direct role played by digital technologies in supporting and enhancing the entrepreneurial processes, as well as on their indirect role in stimulating entrepreneurship activities of nascent student entrepreneurs.\nFindings: Findings provide some insights into the strategic role of some categories of digital technologies inside the CLabs. The main results show still a weak use of digital technologies in CLabs except for social media and digital platforms, mainly used for promotion scope and communication of the entrepreneurial outputs achieved by the students.\nResearch limitations/implications: Limitations of the study consist of the need to expand the study to all the other CLabs belonging to the CLabs Italian Network and to derive a set of \"invariance\" among the cases in terms of digital technologies support for student entrepreneurship.\nPractical implications: New ways of managing entrepreneurship centres will involve a more massive adoption of digital technologies to support and transform some processes realized inside the CLabs, even if the governance of such centres must develop new digital skills.\nOriginality/value: The originality of the work regards the contribution to the emerging role of digital technologies on the student's entrepreneurship.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Virgin Trains lines up more empowered and engaged managers: Award-winning coaching changes organizational culture
|
[
"Train‐operating companies",
"Empowerment",
"Engagement",
"Organizational culture",
"Coaching",
"Awards"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A UK train operator has saved thousands of pounds after coaching of front-line managers helped to change the internal culture at the company and encouraged them to come forward with new ideas.\nPerformance-coaching workshop: Virgin Trains was determined to improve leadership, to enable staff to feel more empowered to make their own decisions and engaged enough to be motivated to take these forward.Virgin initially hoped to develop the coaching skills and improve the leadership of 60 front-line managers. It introduced a two-day performance-coaching workshop, based on Tim Gallwey's Inner Game.The workshop draws on real business issues rather than role-plays. It helps individuals to block out interferences and tackle and solve difficult issues. It involves practical applications such as one-minute coaching and is followed up by a second workshop, six to eight weeks later, to support the new learning.The program was initially delivered by two facilitators, one from Virgin Trains and one from coaching specialist andpartnership [correct]. Feedback was positive, with delegates finding it interactive, fun and useful. The course was then offered to 200 key individuals in groups of 12, over a six-month period. Virgin Trains licensed the training from andpartnership, and six Virgin staff were trained to deliver the program in-house under a licence agreement.Since adopting its coaching culture, performance in the business has steadily improved. Virgin Trains now claims to have the best levels of customer service among long-distance train operators.Front-line staff have introduced key initiatives, generating significant additional revenue for the business. The company has seen reductions in the costs of staff turnover, customer complaints and short-term sickness since the coaching began. In addition, staff engagement has risen to 42 percent, with employees commenting that they feel listened to and respected, as well as empowered to make their own choices.\nSignificant business impact: Patrick McGrath, HR director at Virgin Trains, said: \"The performance coaching has had a significant impact on the business in terms of freeing up managers to manage rather than becoming embroiled in tasks, and also by being a support mechanism that has enabled great business ideas to come to fruition.\"Our managers are now better skilled to support the front-line teams to challenge, to take on more responsibility, to come up with and drive forward new ideas. This has been reflected in the improvements in measures such as the employee-engagement survey, increases in revenue and reductions in costs - all of which are key to our organizational strategy.\"One on-board train manager commented: \"This coaching really works; I finally got my team member to take ownership for the solution and get it delivered.\"Another Virgin manager enthused: \"This is the missing link; it has helped us to see how all the work invested in the Vision workshops can make a real difference to our teams.\"A third manager said: \"This was an excellent workshop. I can really see how it will make a practical difference with our business. I want my whole team to go through it as soon as possible.\"Virgin Trains' learning and development team won a West Midlands National Training Award for the coaching-culture project. The award recognizes and celebrates the success of Investors in People-accredited employers that have delivered exceptional business benefits to their organization through meeting the training needs of their staff. Virgin Trains is also the first train-operating company in the UK to achieve the highest level gold status in the Investors in People framework.Virgin Trains is jointly owned by Virgin and the Stagecoach Group. It calls at 43 stations - from London Euston to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Glasgow and Edinburgh - directly operating 17 of them. It employs more than 3,000 staff and runs 330 train services each day. They carry 28 million passengers a year.\nNote: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest Editor, wrote this article.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - This paper aims to describe how Virgin Trains, a UK train operator, has saved thousands of pounds after coaching of front-line managers helped to change the internal culture at the company and encouraged them to come forward with new ideas.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper explains the background to the program, the form it takes and the results it has achieved.\nFindings: - The paper reveals that, since the training, the company has seen reductions in the costs of staff turnover, customer complaints and short-term sickness. In addition, staff engagement has risen, with employees commenting that they feel listened to and respected, as well as empowered to make their own choices.\nPractical implications: - The paper demonstrates that managers are now better skilled to support the front-line teams to challenge, to take on more responsibility, to come up with and drive forward new ideas. This has been reflected in increases in revenue and reductions in costs.\nSocial implications: - The paper details a coaching initiative that has improved passenger satisfaction at Virgin Trains, and so may be helping to achieve the important social objective of getting more people to travel by rail.\nOriginality/value: - The paper reveals how the project has freed up managers to manage rather than becoming too embroiled in minutiae.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Consumer trust and distrust: retaining paper bills in online banking
|
[
"Trust",
"Distrust",
"Online banking",
"Paper bills and statements",
"Simultaneous user",
"Structural assurance"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Electronic bill payment and presentment was the first system to attempt to replace the function of paper bills and statements in providing financial information to consumers. With detailed financial information placed online, banks and billing firms intended that customers would adopt both the online payment and presentment, and stop receiving paper bills and statements in the mail.\nLiterature review: This study explores the role of paper bills in online banking and bill payment and how they may serve to support trust along with mitigating distrust for consumers when dealing with banks and billing firms. To further this investigation, this paper suggests that trust and distrust lead to different attitudes and behaviours for online bill payers (Benamati et al., 2010).\nModel and measurement items: This study will explore how online bill payers use paper bills to manage the conflict between their attitudes of trust and distrust towards banks and billing firms. The model used was the theory of reasoned action (TRA). Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) developed TRA to explain behavioural intention based on two antecedents (attitude toward the behaviour and subjective norm).\nMethodology: In order to identify the factors of trust and distrust in consumers' intention to continue using paper bills while adopting e-bills, a two-phase approach was used. Phase 1 verified the comprehension of the items being tested, as well as the conceptual notion that a person using online banking could have feelings of trust and distrust simultaneously. Phase 2 tested the proposed factors using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multiple regression analysis.\nFindings: Phase 1 - qualitative\nDiscussion: The purpose of this study was to explore the role of paper bills and statements for consumers in online and mobile banking and how they may serve to support trust along with mitigating distrust for consumers when dealing with banks and billing firms. The results of this exploratory analysis suggest that simultaneous users of paper and e-bills hold both trusting and distrusting beliefs about banks and billing firms. I consider the adoption of online bill payment and e-bills as evidence of consumers' trust in banks and billing firms while continuing to use paper bills is evidence of their distrust. Thus, these simultaneous users wish to take advantage of the benefits of paying bills online, while continuing to receive paper bills to manage their feelings of vulnerability when using online systems and dealing with the actions of banks and billing firms.\nLimitations, implications, and conclusions: There are three limitations to this study that may impact the results. First, data for the quantitative stage were collected using an online survey with Canadian online bill payers. This is a fortunate sample for the survey, as the penetration of online banking and online bill payment in Canada is among the highest in the world (comScore, 2013). Canada also has a secure and functional postal system. However, depending on the country selected, the results may vary.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of paper bills and statements in online and mobile banking and how they may serve to support trust along with mitigating distrust for consumers when dealing with banks and billing firms.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A two-phase study with 208 Canadian online bill payers. Phase 1 verified the comprehension of the measurement items being tested. In Phase 2, exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure. Regression analysis was used to identify the relationship of the factors with the intention to continuing receiving paper bills.\nFindings: Four factors for trust and distrust were identified in this study of which two (structural assurance and counted on to help) plus subjective norm predict the intention to continue receiving paper bills.\nResearch limitations/implications: Trust and distrust are shown to co-exist in this study. Consumers feel vulnerable to the risks inherent in online financial interactions, but signal their willingness to trust by adopting online and mobile banking. Consumers mitigate the distrust they have in banks and billing firms by continuing to receive paper bills and statements. This study is limited to paper bills and statements. The role of other paper documents in customer relationship management is worthy of further exploration.\nPractical implications: This research investigates the role of financial documents in the consumer-firm relationship. This study suggests that paper bills are a communication method that supports consumers' trust in the banks and billing firms and their adoption of online and mobile banking. Banks and billing firms' continued emphasis on consumers' giving up paper bills while insisting on original paper documentation in problem resolution situations, sends mixed messages to consumers, which heightens their distrust in these firms.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study to suggest that paper bills and statements have a role in influencing trust or distrust of banks and billing firms.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Bond valuation for generalized Langevin processes with integrated Levy noise
|
[
"Default-free zero-coupon bond valuation",
"Generalized Langevin process",
"Lévy processes"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The riddle of Brownian motion of particles suspended in a liquid was first solved by Einstein (Einstein, 1905), who used concepts that later received much more general and rigorous development (such as the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation, the Kramers-Moyal expansion for the transition density and its special approximation - the Fokker-Plank equation [FPE]). Similar treatment was independently produced by Smoluchowski (Smoluchowski, 1906), who contributed to much of the subsequent systematic development of the subject.\n2. Bond prices for an extended Langevin process: Definition 2.1 (Extended LP). Let r = {r(t)}t0 be a stochastic process and r = {r(t)}t0 be a deterministic function. We say that the pair (r, r) represents an extended Langevin process (ELP) if r is given by:\n3. Conclusions: In this paper, we first extend the result of Stein et al. (2016) on the generalized Langevin equation (GLE) to models with a wider class of memory kernels. Second, we obtain the closed form expressions of the CCF of the integrated short rate processes for the extended GLE models with Levy noise. Finally, we derive expressions for zero-coupon default free bond and bond option prices for several extended GLE models with different kernels. Our approach has a non-trivial empirical benefit in that bond and bond option prices are available in closed form (up to easily numerically computable integrals) to an arbitrary precision. There is no need to resort to Monte Carlo methods that have limited precision and prohibiting computational demands. This feature is of tremendous advantage for model estimation based on large panels of option data.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Recently, Stein et al. (2016) studied theoretical properties and parameter estimation of continuous time processes derived as solutions of a generalized Langevin equation (GLE). In this paper, the authors extend the model to a wider class of memory kernels and then propose a bond and bond option valuation model based on the extension of the generalized Langevin process of Stein et al. (2016).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Bond and bond option pricing based on the proposed interest rate models presents new difficulties as the standard partial differential equation method of stochastic calculus for bond pricing cannot be used directly. The authors obtain bond and bond option prices by finding the closed form expression of the conditional characteristic function of the integrated short rate process driven by a general Levy noise.\nFindings: The authors obtain zero-coupon default-free bond and bond option prices for short rate models driven by a variety of Levy processes, which include Vasicek model and the short rate model obtained by solving a second-order Langevin stochastic differential equation (SDE) as special cases.\nOriginality/value: Bond and bond option pricing plays an important role in capital markets and risk management. In this paper, the authors derive closed form expressions for bond and bond option prices for a wider class of interest rate models including second-order SDE models. Closed form expressions may be especially instrumental in facilitating parameter estimation in these models.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Bringing sensory anthropology to consumer research
|
[
"Embodiment",
"Senses",
"Experiential consumption",
"Qualitative methods",
"Multisensory",
"Sensory anthropology",
"Kinaesthetic schema",
"Bodily mimesis",
"Mindful body",
"Local biology"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Multisensory experiences are to be found everywhere in contemporary marketing. In recent decades, consumer spending on experiences has boomed (Krishna, 2012) and sensory stimulation (Hamilton and Wagner, 2014) and embodiment (Vom Lehn, 2006) have become central to the patterning of such experiences. The current study is motivated not only by the growing understanding of sensory stimuli in marketing and consumer research, branding and advertising, retail and service management and the experience of sport and virtual reality activities (Yoon, 2013), but also by the troubling paucity of research tools available to capitalise on the emerging experiential economy (Schmitt, 1999). Indeed, the senses are so richly \"interwoven in our experiences and form such complex gestalts that taking hold of them in a fully relevant manner is a major research challenge\" (Levy, 1996, p. 165). Although consumer researchers recognise the significance of understanding sensory stimulation and multisensory experiences, surprisingly little guidance exists on ways to undertake insightful fieldwork (Warren, 2008).\n2. Sensory anthropology: Sensory anthropology, with its focus on sociocultural responses to the senses (i.e. sight, sound, taste, touch and smell), has the power to highlight which senses are central or peripheral in certain contexts and, in taking a more holistic view, examine which sensations are deemed culturally valued (e.g. fitness markers) and those that are not (e.g. pollution). Sensory anthropology entails the study of the social relations of sensory experiences, acknowledging that the sensorial is experienced not only individually but also dynamically and socially.\n3. Research settings: Military-style adventure racing and ocean yacht racing present reservoirs of multisensory assemblages. These forms of racing stimulate and enliven the senses, providing contexts for investigating the translation of concepts from sensory anthropology to consumer research.\n4. Data collection: From 2011 to 2015, a wide range of ethnographic techniques were deployed to engage the senses in each of the two contexts (Table I). Ethnography at the site of the body (e.g. participant observation) allowed us to unearth meanings associated with the senses. As researchers, we learned to use our senses as well as our minds (Nichter, 2008). We focused on the techniques that were most useful for generating sensory data and observed bodily processes before, during and after the events that enliven the senses. For example, the ability to walk, sit and run with participants created affinity, empathy and belonging. In this study, running, swimming and crawling with Mudders, and balancing, twisting, pulling and rocking with sailors, helped us share and embody the step, style and rhythm of others. This social sharing of living and moving also helped us understand the multisensory nature of these experiences.\n5. Findings: sensing experiential consumption: The presentation of the findings begins with embodiment, followed by its facets, to support a holistic analysis. Each section begins with examples from adventure racing, followed by yacht racing. Illustrating the application of the embodied concepts with ethnographic data thus provides consumer researchers with insights into how to use the concepts in experiential settings.\n6. Discussion: This article presents concepts from sensory anthropology as a holistic and embodied approach for studying experiential consumption. The findings outline how consumer researchers can use embodiment and facets of embodiment (i.e. kinaesthetic schema, bodily mimesis, the mindful body and local biology) to study social practices in the consumption of experiences and illustrates how this approach can be applied in the face of methodological and data collection challenges. The data from yacht and adventure racing offer valuable insights for consumer researchers, revealing information that would not be accessible through more conventional approaches. For example, by exploring sensory modalities, we observe how manipulating and confusing consumers' senses in an activity such as Tough Mudder create a distinctive multisensory encounter that would be difficult for competing experience providers to emulate.\n7. Conclusion: The current article extends consumer research by focussing on concepts and data collection methods for delving into multisensory experiences. Alongside Cayla and Arnould's (2013) study, which details the value of ethnography for market learning, our article demonstrates the merits of sensory ethnography for experiential consumer research. Researchers can apply these concepts and methods to examine multiple sensory touch points and detect interrelated sensory registers: practices, postures, repetitive movements and spatial juxtapositions. Although sensory marketing is a well-established practice, we believe more can be done to leverage it; consumer researchers can adopt a more holistic and embodied approach to research, thereby helping firms to better understand, craft and deliver their multisensory offerings, and helping consumers to participate in more enriching, fulfilling and exciting experiences.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Multisensory stimulation is integral to experiential consumption. However, a gap persists between recognition of the importance of multisensory stimulation and the research techniques used to study the effects of such stimulation on consumption experiences. This article draws on sensory anthropology to narrow the gap.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Sensory anthropology has the potential to help consumer researchers understand multisensory stimulation and its effect on consumption experiences. To highlight this potential, ethnographic fieldwork is reported for two related experiential settings: yacht racing and adventure racing.\nFindings: It is shown how consumer researchers can apply concepts and data collection techniques from sensory anthropology to derive powerful insights into consumption experiences. A set of guidelines and examples is derived from the embodied concepts associated with sensory anthropology, namely, kinaesthetic schema, bodily mimesis, the mindful body and local biology. These concepts are used to comprehend how consumers experience sensations phenomenologically, understand them culturally and re-enact them socially.\nPractical implications: By acknowledging and engaging the senses, researchers can acquire embodied information that would not be evident from the conventional interview, survey or experimental data. Sensory anthropology adds to what is known from psychological, social and cultural sources to enable organisations to differentiate their offerings by means of the senses and sensory expressions, not only in yacht and adventure racing but potentially in many other experiential settings, such as travel, shopping, entertainment and immersive gaming.\nOriginality/value: This article offers distinct and original methodological insights for consumer researchers by focusing on concepts and data collection techniques that assist the study of experiential consumption from an embodied and corporeal perspective.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Use of electronic resources by law academics: a case study from the University of Namibia
|
[
"Academic libraries",
"Electronic resources",
"Online databases",
"Namibia",
"Law faculty",
"Usage studies"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Developments in information and communications technology (ICT) have resulted in academic libraries having to play a very important role in supporting research (Bhatt, 2014) by facilitating the widespread availability, accessibility and efficient dissemination of information resources to academic staff (Kaba and Said, 2015). Library resources are traditionally characterised by printed materials such as books and printed journals. However, Joo and Choi (2015) observed that this norm and tradition is quickly giving way to digitised works and online technologies. According to Dhanavandan (2012) electronic resources (e-resources) usually consist of e-journals, e-books, newspaper articles, dissertation theses and databases. This study adopts Isiaka and Morayo's (2016) definition of e-resources, which includes CD-ROM databases, online databases and others available via computer and networking facilities subscribed to and made available by institutions to their staff and students. Electronic resources have become a top priority in academic and research organisations, especially in developing countries; they are not only a necessity in our times, but contribute to the face value of any academic institution. Electronic resources have the advantage of being more current and sometimes more comprehensive than comparable print equivalents (Pelzer and Wiese, 2006). The University of Namibia (UNAM) library subscribes to several electronic resources including EmeraldInsight, HeinOnline, EBSCOhost, SA e-Publications (Sabinet African Journals) and Scopus, just to mention a few examples of online databases relevant to law.\nMethodology: This study used a mixed methods approach using the sequential explanatory design. A survey was used to collect data, which was complemented with in-depth structured interviews to enhance and clarify quantitative findings. Using and integrating both qualitative and quantitative methods in the same study improves the integrity, credibility and validity of the findings (Schoonenboom and Johnson, 2017).\nFindings: The initial sample size was 12; however, only nine academics responded to the questionnaire giving a 75 per cent response rate and a final sample size (n) of nine. Structured in-depth interviews were conducted with six academics once they had completed the questionnaire.\nDiscussions of findings: Level of awareness\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of e-resources by the Faculty of Law's academic staff at the University of Namibia's (UNAM's) main campus. The study aimed to determine their level of awareness of electronic resources (e-resources) available to them, how useful and effective they found these e-resources, and the challenges they face in accessing them.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A convenient sampling technique was used to select a sample of 12 law academics from the population of 17. The study used both qualitative and quantitative research methods using questionnaires and a semi-structured interview guide.\nFindings: Findings revealed that the majority of the law academics were aware of the e-resources subscribed by UNAM's library, although some were not aware of the newly subscribed international law databases. The findings further revealed that the academics used e-resources for research, publications and teaching purposes, but irregular training, bandwidth problems and limited searching skills hindered their use of e-resources.\nPractical implications: Findings could be used to inform future collection-development decisions, realignment of information-literacy training and promotion and marketing of library services.\nOriginality/value: This study has made a significant contribution in the understanding the use of electronic legal resources by law academics at UNAM. The findings and recommendations could also benefit similar academic institutions in developing countries like Namibia.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Ten steps to enterprise-wide risk management
|
[
"Risk management",
"Control systems",
"Risk assessment",
"Reports"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: What impact will increased gasoline prices have on the price of plastic? Will political instability in Latin America affect the supply of raw materials in the next six months? In the next year? In the next two years? Has global warming really changed the ocean tides, and if so, will it affect the planned wind farm off the New England shoreline? Will my secret formula for our best selling chili remain safe or will hackers be able to get through our security system? If I vertically integrate, my company's value will increase but so will my exposure to external risks. These and many other economic events lead to risks that affect business on a daily basis and are part of doing business. Companies need to build risk management into their corporate strategy and daily operations. To hold risks in check, organizations must plan to protect themselves so that only an acceptable level of residual risk remains. Each company's managers decide what their risk appetite is and what the costs and benefits are for risk avoidance or risk acceptance.The growing trend is for companies to take an enterprise-wide risk management (ERM) approach to protecting themselves against the many risks of running an organization. There is interest in accelerating the evolution of ERM as a core business process (Francis and Richards, 2007). All entities face a multitude of risks that if not identified and integrated into an overall business strategy may result in lost revenues or a business failure. Several organizations, including the US government, have made it a priority for companies to create risk and control systems that result in reliable financial reporting systems that have adequate controls. The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Research Foundation has listed the study of current practices in ERM and Performance Measurement Systems as one of its top research priorities for both operational and financial reporting. The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation Sub-committee on Risk Management states that, \"many companies and organizations have recognized the need to effectively identify and manage a combination or basket of threats and exposures facing them in today's complex, global environment\" (The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation, 1999).In the USA, the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002 (Act) (Securities and Exchange Commission, 2002) requires annual reports to contain an internal control report and for the CEO and the CFO to certify to the fairness of the public reports. The Act also requires that organizations select a control framework. In 2004, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) created the Enterprise Risk Management Framework to provide guidance for entities in developing control systems that aid organizations in managing risk. Based on this report, The IIA (The Institute of Internal Auditors, 2004) released guidelines delineating the internal auditor's role in ERM. This role includes giving assurance on the management process for reviewing the management of key risks.The purpose of this paper is to discuss the objectives of ERM, the COSO ERM Framework, and to outline ten steps to implement ERM in your organization.\nEnterprise-wide risk management: The objectives of enterprise-wide risk management are first, to develop strategic corporate objectives that are measurable, second, to identify risks that would prevent accomplishing the corporate objectives, and, third, to identify controls that would mitigate those risks. Closely linking risk management to strategy is the hallmark of true ERM programs (Francis and Richards, 2007). Risk is anything that gets in the way of an organization achieving its' objectives. Risks are inevitable and are a function of the strategic objectives and the way an organization is run. Managers put assets at risk to achieve objectives. Risk is the uncertainty of plans and decision outcomes (McNamee and Selim, 1998). It is the anxiety of unknown future events and the negative consequences of their outcomes (Irwin, 2007). ERM includes the analysis of risks surrounding the development of performance measures, critical success factors, and efficient systems based on corporate strategy and corporate objectives to influence decision making and managerial action plans. ERM activities can be performed by a management team, department, external auditors, consultants, or internal auditors.An example of a risk management process is the Australian Customs Service's six-step continuous improvement process at the operational and tactical risk management levels (McNamee and Selim, 1998):1. Risk identification. What could go wrong, how it happens, and why it happens.2. Risk analysis. Estimating the likelihood and consequences of the decision.3. The risk management solution. Various mitigation treatments, including controls.4. Evaluation and audit. Subsequent review of the effectiveness of the risk management solution.5. Performance measurement. Review of the costs of risk mitigation.6. Final review. Gleaning the lessons learned to serve as a guide for future situations.Fidelity Investment's Risk Management Department has developed a form for each of their divisions to report on a few key performance measures based on the division's objectives that tie to corporate objectives. They also report on any losses incurred and their cause. The Risk Management Department compiles this information for upper management and the Board of Directors (Gaquin, 1999).External auditors now begin their financial statement audits by examining the underlying business strategy and objectives of the organization to determine if the organization has controls in place that result in reliable financial information. Auditing firms offer a more in-depth risk assessment beyond the needs of the financial statement audit (Deloitte & Touche, 1998; Coopers & Lybrand, 1998). An example of a large auditing firm adopting a process risk-based approach is KPMG's Business Measurement Process (BMP). BMP incorporates analysis of the entity's strategy in a \"top down\" risk-based process approach for a financial statement audit (Bell et al., 1997).The IIA conducted a study, Risk Management: Changing the Internal Auditor's Paradigm (McNamee and Selim, 1998). Their research indicated a rapid change in the internal audit process from a passive and reactive control-based auditing approach to an active and anticipative risk-based audit approach. At a time when outsourcing the internal audit function is an option for an organization, the internal audit department needs to provide services that can be shown as value-added. With their knowledge of the organization and their skills in audit, research, and analysis, internal auditors should play a key role in enterprise-wide risk management. As they have been using risk models to determine which areas to audit in an organization, internal audit departments have a great deal of experience in analyzing risk.\nTen steps to risk management: The following outlines ten steps to develop a viable ERM system for any organization. The ten steps are:1. Mandate from the top.2. ERM department and buy-in.3. Decide on control framework.4. Determine all risks.5. Assess risks.6. Business units objectives and performance measures.7. Objectives and control summary.8. Monthly ERM reporting system.9. Analysis by ERM department.10. Continuously monitoring the process.It is recommended that a high-level risk officer have a separate function to oversee the development of an ERM department. Although the internal audit department can have a significant role in evaluation and monitoring the ERM system, it is management's responsibility to develop a strong ERM function that ties corporate strategy, budget, controls, and performance measurement systems to risk management.Step 1. Mandate from the top\nImplementation: The initiatives related to this mandate should be implemented initially via a pilot test. The pilot test must be successful in order to encourage participation by other units. Participants need to see that the ERM adds value to the efficiency and effectiveness of their process and is not just adding another layer of reporting. After the success of the pilot test, the initiatives can be rolled out to more units and then throughout the company.Select a test site that has the potential of a successful implementation of the ERM reporting. After three and six month periods, review the performance measures selected for the test site to determine if employee behavior has been positively or negatively modified and if the correct performance measures were selected. Look strategically at the effectiveness of the risk identification process, the risk management plan, the reports and reporting system, acceptance and understanding of risk management throughout the selected organization and the level of support from the top. Determine whether changes must be made in the implementation process before working with other units or incorporating risk management companywide. The strategic plan should be tied to a rolling budget and employees' performance evaluation and remuneration should be tied to how well they meet their units' targets.During implementation, consider the importance of the unit to achievement of corporate strategy, the perceived or actual risk to the company, the compliance environment, the location and size of the unit, and the ability to staff the ERM process appropriately. Consideration must be given to these areas as successful implementation at the local level contributes to the success of the strategy at the company level.\nConclusion: Managing risk is part of corporate governance and the ability of an entity to strategically achieve results. The ten steps listed above are a general framework that allows organizations to identify, control, and manage risks that could impede its ability to achieve their desired operating results. The cost to the entity of an ERM system is grossly out-weighed by the results and knowledge gained in evaluating, assessing, and overseeing risk to insure satisfactory achievement of identifies strategic goals over the short- and long-term life of the organization.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the objectives of enterprise-wide risk management (ERM), the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) ERM Framework, and outline a method to implement ERM in organizations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper delineates ten steps organizations can use to develop a viable ERM system for any organization.\nFindings: - It is highly recommended that a high-level risk officer with visible support from senior and board level executives has a separate function to oversee the development of an ERM department.\nPractical implications: - Although the internal audit department has a large role in evaluation and monitoring the ERM system, it is management's responsibility to develop a strong ERM function that ties corporate strategy, the budget, controls, and the entity's performance measurement systems to risk management.\nOriginality/value: - The cost to the entity of implementing and maintaining of an ERM system is grossly out-weighed by the results and knowledge gained in evaluating, assessing, and overseeing risk to insure achievement of strategic objectives over the short- and long-term life of the organization.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
The impact of innate accruals quality on the future market value moderated by dividend policy
|
[
"Innate accruals",
"Future market value",
"Dividend policy"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Elayan et al. (2016) revealed the phenomenon of an increase in capital market players' demands on the level of quality of financial statements that are getting better, as an implication of helping investors predict future companies. Lebert et al. (2019) declared that the high accruals quality paves out the investor's way to predict the prospect in the future period precisely, including determining the expected return in the future and obtaining the low cost of capital. Eskandari and Foumani (2016) suggested that the influence of useful information reflects the ability of management to influence market reactions, to create a feedback process between management and investors. Dempster and Oliver (2019) revealed that material misstatements of earnings are priced risk factors that have persistent (long-run) impacts on equity returns.Jonathan and Machdar (2018) had strengthened the previous research, when there is a phenomenon of earnings quality in Indonesia, especially using the high level of accruals. By ignoring the implication of low earnings quality, the management uses the accruals for sending a good signal. Sari and Utama (2014) found that the probability of accruals had existed, it was distinguished by efficient contracting's motive or opportunity behavior. Martinez et al. (2016) stated the management has a proclivity to cover up the high level of accruals by releasing out the meaningless disclosure, it sent out the pseudo signal about the high obedience, because of the high complexity of accounting treatment.Shah et al. (2010) showed that dividend policy has the benefit of reducing the level of risk and conflict of interest when this policy can encourage increased investor involvement in monitoring the company's operational activities. Chaudhary et al. (2016) showed that as the implication of agency theory, the dividend policy can be used as an indicator to predict the future performance, when the management sent a cash flow signal about the firm on the right track. This reflects that the dividend payout indicator acts as \"active signaling\" as a sign of management to manage the company for future period, when this policy had fulfilled the investor's expectation, it treated as \"good news\" (Brav et al., 2005). Lilian et al. (2012) stated that companies tend to implement dividend payout policies to give an excellent signal to the company's prospects, including the ability to expand in the coming period. Harymawan and Nurillah (2017) revealed that corporate reputation has a positive and significant relationship with earnings quality. This indicates that a reputable company will be encouraged to produce an earnings quality in an effort for the company to maintain investor confidence in the company so that the company's image and reputation can be maintained.Kato et al. (2002) showed that when there was an increase in dividend payments, there was a tendency for an increase in free cash flow, on the other hand, high-yield dividend payments did not reflect an increase in company performance. This one strengthened Ibrahim (2005) when found an implication of opportunistic behavior. Based on average dividend payout ratio for Indonesia listed company in manufacturing industry sector during period 2000-2018 at the level of 28.26%, then the average of growth sales at point 19.21% and net margin profit at point 20.21%, this data pointed out the dividend payout ratio has been higher than the growth of sales and earnings. The management has a proclivity to implement the high-yield dividend policy as the bird in the hand theory, it supported Baker and Powell (2015) and Wardhana et al. (2014), who stated that this policy is used to reduce the level of intensity of agency conflicts. As a phenomenon in the capital market, Nekhili et al. (2016) showed that this empirical testing used the dividend policy as a moderation variable. As a novelty in this research, the indicator for measuring the future prospect is to modify the H model, it called as future market value.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Positive accounting theory\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Sample and data collection\n4. Analysis and findings: 4.1 Primary testing\n5. Conclusion: Based on the testing that has been done, the formulation of conclusions in detail can be presented, as follows:Earnings quality through innate accruals quality has a positive effect on future market value based on equity and earnings. The existence of this positive relationship reflects an increase in the quality of accruals to help improve the ability of investors to predict prospects with high accuracy level in the future period.Dividend policies strengthen the positive influence of innate accruals quality, which is significant to future market value based on equity and earnings. The results of this test show that dividend policy encourages management to give a picture of the company's actual fundamental abilities, due to the encouragement of control to have a high level of compliance with accounting standards. With a high level of respect, this high innate accruals quality indicator can increase investors' positive perceptions. 5.1 Research limitation\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test and prove how the quality of innate accruals can make a significant contribution to the prospect of future market value for manufacturing industries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research used multiple regression method by gathering all observation data on a go public company in the industrial manufacturing sector.\nFindings: The results of this test can show that the dividend policy helps reduce the use of accruals to increase investor perceptions about the prospects of the company's future period, especially the value of earnings informativeness, including valid information about the actual fundamental conditions. These results reflect high innate accruals quality, so the use of low accruals, especially in reporting earnings.\nResearch limitations/implications: This test uses a measurement of a constant growth rate with the calculation of the indicator g in the next five-year period, and the proof has secondary data abnormalities reflecting a very high level of variation in the use of accruals. As an implication of the data that is not normal, it causes a large amount of data pruning through outlier tests. Samples that qualify for processing are 180 from 384 data.\nOriginality/value: By calculating the value of the dividend payout with the growth rate, the estimated future market price can be done with reasonable accuracy.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Environmental impact reduction as a new dimension for quality measurement of healthcare services: The case of magnetic resonance imaging
|
[
"Environmentally sustainable practices",
"ISO 14001",
"Quality management",
"Life cycle assessment",
"Magnetic resonance imaging",
"Hospital energy consumption"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The US healthcare sector contributes 7 percent of the nation's carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions (6,103m metric tons CO2eq) in 2007 (Chung and Meltzer, 2009), annually consumes 73 bn kWh of electricity in high energy-intensive healthcare facilities (Campion et al., 2012) and generates approximately 1.54 bn kg of solid waste (Thiel et al., 2015). This large contribution, in addition to overall concerns about global warming, leads to a call for the healthcare industry to reduce its environmental impact (Holmner et al., 2012; Moynihan, 2012; Cosford, 2009; Sarfaty and Abouzaid, 2015). In order to respond to these expectations, many hospitals have begun to implement environmental management systems (EMSs) (ISO 14001) with the goal of measuring and reducing their carbon footprint. Practice Greenhealth initiatives are good examples of these efforts: they have targeted green procurement, green operating rooms and environmental health improvements in the healthcare sector (Johnson, 2010). Until now, many of these initiatives have focused solely on reducing energy and water consumption and waste without connecting these efforts to the day-to-day decisions of healthcare providers.\n2. Materials and methods: The first and second stages (Figure 2) of ISO standard (ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006) were followed for the development of life cycle inventory (LCI) (Horne et al., 2009; Finkbeiner et al., 2006). The LCA process quantifies the environmental impact of a product or service throughout its life cycle, including the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, use, disposal and any transportation between these steps. Data collection took the form of observations, time studies, real-time metered power consumption, review of imaging department scheduling records and review of technical manuals and literature. These were not plug studies as such information does not focus on the actual patient needs or actual medical decisions. We measured the amount of time it took to set up the MRI room and equipment, prepare a patient to undergo MRI, process the resulting images and clean the MRI room after the procedure. Table I lists data collection categories and sources. The data were collected during four days in January 2012 in the radiology department of an outpatient facility in Wichita, Kansas. This facility uses a Siemens MRI scanner (MAGNETOM(r) Symphony 1.5T) for diagnostic purposes. The MRI components are illustrated in Figure 3, and more information about the data collection methods and study scope are provided in MRI Transparency Document (Esmaeili et al., 2017).\n3. Results: 3.1 In-hospital sources of energy consumption\n4. Discussion: Medical decisions for quality patient care represent a new dimension for hospital energy and sustainability improvement, and these efforts - if integrated with hospitals' QMSs - can result in a substantial reduction in overall GHG emissions by healthcare facilities. These improvements will come from selecting medical alternatives that provide quality care but at a lower environmental burden as well as from changes to the technological and operational procedures used in all areas of the services provided. In order to develop such energy-improvement strategies, one should first assess the sources of energy consumption, the share of each source in total consumed energy and the relationship of the consumed energy by each source to patient outcome. In the case of MRI, the required electrical energy for image creation (active energy) is a small portion of in-hospital electricity consumption, whereas the full energy needs of the patient expand beyond this direct active energy to much more significant in-hospital energy consumption (standby, idle, ancillary devices, etc.). Further, the MRI footprint then goes substantially beyond in-hospital electrical energy consumption when the loss of energy in generation and transmission of electricity and the manufacturing of consumables needed for service delivery are considered. This larger life cycle footprint is outside the hospital and represents a direct impact not just on patients receiving the MRI diagnosis, but also on the broader community (through emissions to air, water and land).\n5. Conclusion: The carbon footprint of the entire MRI service on a per-patient basis was measured at 22.4 kg CO2eq. The in-hospital energy use (process energy) for performing MRI is 29 kWh per patient for the MRI machine, ancillary devices and light fixtures, while the out-of-hospital energy consumption is approximately 260 percent greater than the process energy, measured at 75 kWh per patient related to fuel for generation and transmission of electricity for the hospital, plus energy to manufacture disposable, consumable and reusable products. The actual MRI and standby energy that produces the MRI images is only about 38 percent of the total life cycle energy. The radiology and imaging community can use the new information reported here to examine other imaging modalities and/or the influence of patient distribution on these potential energy improvements. The radiology community can also examine the consumables, utilization factor and strategies to reduce idle energy. MRI equipment companies can focus on design features that lower total energy use. The WSU research group is seeking interested radiology groups to examine potential changes to lower energy use and improve hospital sustainability programs, including the comparison of MRI equipment.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed accounting of energy and materials consumed during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The first and second stages of ISO standard (ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006) were followed to develop life cycle inventory (LCI). The LCI data collection took the form of observations, time studies, real-time metered power consumption, review of imaging department scheduling records and review of technical manuals and literature.\nFindings: The carbon footprint of the entire MRI service on a per-patient basis was measured at 22.4 kg CO2eq. The in-hospital energy use (process energy) for performing MRI is 29 kWh per patient for the MRI machine, ancillary devices and light fixtures, while the out-of-hospital energy consumption is approximately 260 percent greater than the process energy, measured at 75 kWh per patient related to fuel for generation and transmission of electricity for the hospital, plus energy to manufacture disposable, consumable and reusable products. The actual MRI and standby energy that produces the MRI images is only about 38 percent of the total life cycle energy.\nResearch limitations/implications: The focus on methods and proof-of-concept meant that only one facility and one type of imaging device technology were used to reach the conclusions. Based on the similar studies related to other imaging devices, the provided transparent data can be generalized to other healthcare facilities with few adjustments to utilization ratios, the share of the exam types, and the standby power of the facilities' imaging devices.\nPractical implications: The transparent detailed life cycle approach allows the data from this study to be used by healthcare administrators to explore the hidden public health impact of the radiology department and to set goals for carbon footprint reductions of healthcare organizations by focusing on alternative imaging modalities. Moreover, the presented approach in quantifying healthcare services' environmental impact can be replicated to provide measurable data on departmental quality improvement initiatives and to be used in hospitals' quality management systems.\nOriginality/value: No other research has been published on the life cycle assessment of MRI. The share of outside hospital indirect environmental impact of MRI services is a previously undocumented impact of the physician's order for an internal image.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Fake and pirated: do consumers care?
|
[
"Piracy",
"Counterfeiting",
"Anti-counterfeiting campaign",
"Anti-counterfeiting strategy",
"Consumer complicity",
"Illicit trade"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Most studies evaluate the efficacy of anti-counterfeiting tactics from a managerial viewpoint, almost completely ignoring consumer perceptions. Past investigations highlight anti-counterfeiting/piracy strategies, based on the stakeholders targeted (e.g. institutions, governments, employees, channel members, infringers or consumers); the technological possibilities available to authenticate real versus fake goods (e.g. holograms, radio frequency identification (RFID) and watermarks); or the strategic and operational choices companies make in fighting against counterfeiting and piracy.\nMessaging tactics used in anti-counterfeiting campaigns: Anti-counterfeiting campaigns developed for consumers involve messaging tactics ranging from using a role model that condemns movie piracy to the education of adolescents about the ethical implications of their behavior. A succinct overview of each tactic is provided in the next paragraphs.\nAssessing anti-counterfeiting campaigns: Based on this synopsis of anti-counterfeiting actions, we developed survey questions to determine the efficacy of anti-counterfeiting messages that include using a fear of legal prosecution, a role model to denounce piracy, peer pressure, linkages to organized crime and education on unethical behavior associated with consumer complicity to obtain fakes. The authors worked with Qualtrics Labs, Inc. to obtain over 400 voluntary responses from a random group of pre-screened consumers in Brazil, Russia, India, China and the USA. The survey was translated into the respondents' native languages and then back into English. Consumers between 18 and 74 years of age were reached via e-mail. The descriptive summary of the sample in terms of demographic characteristics is illustrated in Table I.\nManagerial implications: The results of this exploratory survey shed light on consumer perceptions of a few messaging themes used in previous anti-counterfeiting advertisements. These initial results are relevant for all stakeholders involved in the creation of awareness-building campaigns. A succinct summary of the results and suggestions for managerial implications is provided in Table II. A brief discussion of each strategy follows.\nFurther assessments of anti-counterfeiting messages: Forthcoming research needs to go beyond measuring consumer attitudes and intentions to obtain counterfeits. This simply tells us one side of the story. What we need to understand now is what will ultimately work to curtail it. These exploratory and descriptive findings support the importance of measuring actual consumer perceptions regarding the effectiveness of anti-counterfeiting campaigns. More in-depth research is required to measure consumer perceptions of several anti-counterfeiting campaigns. This study measured just one aspect of \"fear\" - possible legal prosecution stemming from obtaining counterfeits. A study could ascertain the effectiveness of other types of \"fear\", such as the fear of obtaining a computer virus or identity theft through malware.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of messages in anti-counterfeiting campaigns that use a fear of legal prosecution, role models, peer pressure, linkages to organized crime and education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A web survey of consumer perceptions regarding the effectiveness of different anti-counterfeiting campaigns on complicity was administered to 1,786 consumers in Brazil, China, India, Russia and the USA.\nFindings: The effectiveness of the different anti-counterfeiting campaigns varies by country. Some can be used more successfully than others to limit complicity with the goal to transform consumers from accomplices of infringers to advocates of authenticity.\nResearch limitations/implications: An unexpected finding of this study was that several of the anti-counterfeiting campaigns were perceived as effective by consumers who reside in countries, such as China, that are well known for flourishing domestic counterfeit markets. Thus, these exploratory results provide a starting point for future researchers and practitioners to create and evaluate the efficacy of messages in anti-counterfeiting campaigns in markets where counterfeits and pirated goods are readily accessible in both physical and virtual markets.\nOriginality/value: Prior research establishes why consumers accept counterfeit and pirated products and also suggests a number of strategies to decrease its occurrence, mostly from a managerial perspective. This is the first multi-country study to assess whether consumers believe anti-counterfeiting campaigns will curb product counterfeiting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
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] |
Effective nutrition labels for fast food consumers
|
[
"Product attributes",
"Relative importance",
"Conjoint analysis",
"Nutrition labels",
"Fast food"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, unhealthy lifestyle choices have been predominantly blamed for the increased percentage of obese consumers worldwide (Ravensbergen et al., 2015; Williams et al., 2015; Dumanovsky et al., 2010; Borgmeier and Westenhoefer, 2009; Paeratakul et al., 2003). In the USA, 35 per cent of the adult population is obese and in developing countries, such as South Africa, this figure is more than 40 per cent; with the main determinant of obesity being overnutrition (OECD, 2015; Puoane et al., 2002; Tathiah et al., 2013) Certain industries, offering fast (or processed) foods continue to contribute even greater risks, due to an above RDA supply of calories per serving, sodium as well as saturated and trans fats (Urban et al., 2014). Additionally, many countries currently lack the regulation to supply appropriate and effective nutritional information on menus and packaging to prompt healthier food choices for consumes (Bernhardt et al., 2015; Sharma et al., 2010).\n2. Literature review: Consumers attitudes towards nutritional labelling is known to be determined by consumer interest, knowledge, demographics and the actual label format (Grunert and Wills, 2007). These factors can be stimulated through pre-conditioning from marketing activity and is mediated by their current tastes, such as desired level of sugar or fat-content (Mesias et al., 2005). However, some product categories inherently garner exorbitant usage of nutritional labelling by consumers.\n3. Methodology: This study aimed to answer the two aforementioned research objectives by using three DCEs. This involves surveys aimed to identify the relative importance of a nutritional information method as a product cue (in the form of a health symbol) in a consumer decision making in the fast-food environment and a conjoint analysis. The DCEs method was chosen as the primary methodology as DCEs often provide a more externally valid method of extracting consumer preference and resemble a more realistic approach to choice compared to typical survey scales (Ryan and Farrar, 2000; Baker, 1998; Shepherd and Zacharakis, 1997). Analysing discrete choice measures is done using a choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis, which can evaluate preference and the importance of product attributes (Kanetkar, 2002; Wittink and Cattin, 1989). The fast-food products tested in this study are entry-level hamburgers from major fast-food restaurants, as these products are very similar in: price, size and composition (no speciality sauces, or fancy toppings), this allows for no confounding effects to occur during analysis.\n4. Findings: The complete sample of all 218 respondents had an average age of 29 years old, was slightly more affluent than expect (most likely because of the urban setting), had graduated from high school in most cases and with a roughly equal gender split, delivering a response rate of 79 per cent. The specific discrete choice models are presented in Table I, with the utility coefficients for each of the attribute levels for each of the three nutritional information models are shown in columns 1, 2 and 3.\n5. Conclusions and managerial implications: In line with the current literature available, this study confirms that health signals are indeed most likely to be effective at influence consumer choice, when they have: simplified displays, minimized redundancy, only have a single column of information and are colour coded (Grunert and Wills, 2007; Levy et al., 1996). While this approach is often applied to a typical grocery environment - this study shows that it additionally holds true in the fast-food environment, with the traffic light symbol being most effective.\n6. Limitations and future research recommendations: It would be advantageous for future researchers to examine further brands, and in further geographic settings, especially the developed world. It might be expected that the fast-food culture is easily translated from region-to-region, however, confirming this would be desirable. Expanding future fast-food focused conjoint studies to also survey respondents on their purchase intent for fast-food products would be useful in segmenting potential high-risk (or frequent consumers) from a lower-risk population, during analysis.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The fast-food market is one area which faces little regulation of visible nutritional information on menus and food packaging to encourage healthy food choices. Additionally, nutritional information's effectiveness is mostly unknown in the fast-food market. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the effectiveness of various forms of nutritional labelling methods and information by analysing the consumer decision-making process of 248 fast-food consumers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three discrete choice experiments are used to compare three popular nutritional symbol methods. Consumer preferences for these symbols are extracted using a \"choice-based\" conjoint analysis, while controlling for price and branding of fast-food products.\nFindings: It is found that a very simple \"traffic light signal\" is the best signal for suggesting healthiness, with as much as 41 per cent of the importance in consumer decision making (p<0.01), over that of product pricing and even product brand and performs better than more information laden guided daily amounts symbols and health endorsement methods (attributing 27 and 13 per cent in their respective studies). This highlights the fine balance between too much and too little food nutrition information and (most notably) how specific nutritional information methods can be even more influential on food choices than a change in product price might.\nOriginality/value: There is currently a lack of research into the use of nutritional cues on influencing fast-food choices. Additionally, most previous studies focus on the isolated effect of nutrition labels.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Antimicrobial stewardship through a one health lens: Observations from Washington State
|
[
"One health",
"Antibiotic resistance",
"Antibiotic stewardship",
"Washington State"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a global health crisis (World Health Organization, 2012) that threatens patient care, public health, agriculture, economic growth, and national security (King, 2014). It has recently attracted increasing attention from healthcare professionals, public health officials, federal governments, international agencies, the public, and food producers. Despite seven decades of warnings, AR continues to increase (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). It is clear that AR is a threat to all - healthy and vulnerable humans in high- and low-income nations, pets and animals raised for food - and that cooperative, collaborative global action is essential to mitigate this threat. The purpose of this paper is to describe Washington's statewide effort to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria from a one health perspective, and to present our findings and observations about the challenges we face.\nOne-Health antimicrobial stewardship workgroup: The One Health Antimicrobial Stewardship workgroup convened in early 2015 and meets quarterly. In addition to those represented on the steering committee, the workgroup includes representatives of local health departments; Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Cooperative Extension; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid-designated quality improvement organization for Washington; Washington State Hospital Association, academic and practicing physicians and veterinarians; physician assistants; nurse practitioners; pharmacists; microbiologists; horticultural experts; and economists.\nSurveillance and data integration workgroup: The One Health Surveillance and Data Integration workgroup is a counterpart to the One Health Antimicrobial Stewardship workgroup. Its task is to develop an integrated database for tracking resistance data from humans, animals, and the environment in Washington State. The group is compiling antimicrobial resistance data from regional isolates, including: human and animal enteric pathogens from the National Antibiotic Resistance Monitoring System; human and animal clinical isolates from local microbiology labs; isolates from environmental sources such as soil and water; and indicator species. The goal of the Washington One Health Database of Antibiotic Resistance is to provide an ongoing local data source to detect new trends in resistance and attempt to assess the impact of antimicrobial stewardship efforts across human and animal and environmental sectors in the region. In creating and analyzing such data, the database project will explore comparability of human, animal, and environmental resistance patterns. To encourage collaboration and ensure correct interpretation of results, the Washington One Health Steering Committee will oversee data use, analyses and dissemination of results from the database.\nSummary: In summary, AR is increasing due to widespread use of antibiotics, and transmission of resistant organisms in healthcare settings, in the community, via travel, and from food. International, national and state efforts are underway to combat AR. In this paper, we have described progress to date in Washington State to address this challenge from a one health perspective. Our One Health committee and workgroups have succeeded in convening key subject matter experts from the human, animal and environmental health sectors to learn, strategize, and act to combat AR. We have chosen to focus initially on increasing understanding of the current state of AR in Washington and trends over time; minimizing transmission of resistant organisms; and improving use of antibiotics in all sectors. Engaging food animal producers to learn and work with us is an important next step.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a global health crisis that is attracting focussed attention from healthcare, public health, governmental agencies, the public, and food producers. The purpose of this paper is to describe the work in Washington State to combat resistance and promote antimicrobial stewardship from a one health perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In 2014, the Washington State Department of Health convened a One Health Steering Committee and two workgroups to focus on AR, the One Health Antimicrobial Stewardship work group and the One Health Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance work group. The group organized educational sessions to establish a basic understanding of epidemiological factors that contribute to resistance, including antibiotic use, transmission of resistant bacteria, and environmental contamination with resistant bacteria and antibiotic residues.\nFindings: The authors describe the varied uses of antibiotics; efforts to promote stewardship in human, and animal health, including examples from the USA and Europe; economic factors that promote use of antibiotics in animal agriculture; and efforts, products and next steps of the workgroups.\nOriginality/value: In Washington, human, animal and environmental health experts are working collaboratively to address resistance from a one health perspective. The authors are establishing a multi-species resistance database that will allow tracking resistance trends in the region. Gaps include measurement of antibiotic use in humans and animals; integrated resistance surveillance information; and funding for AR and animal health research.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Productivity, wages, and the returns to firm-provided training: fair shared capitalism?
|
[
"Productivity",
"Wages",
"Firm-provided training",
"Internal rate of return",
"Human capital"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Despite a lack of reliable international data, it is fairly safe to say that the investments that firms make in human capital through formal training can be as high as 3 per cent of total labour costs (Bassanini et al., 2007, p. 200). Since the costs of most of these training programmes are born by firms, either directly by paying all direct costs (e.g. fees paid to training institutions), or indirectly through a loss of working time, firms are expected to capitalize on their investment in training through higher productivity. However, firm-sponsored training, whether general or firm specific, would not be worthwhile if workers were allowed to use up all of the productivity gains by receiving higher wages. The need for training investments to be worthwhile seems to be self-evident, as otherwise they would not even be considered by companies, but it remains to be seen the extent to which the productivity gains associated with workplace training are shared by both the firms concerned and their workers.\n2. Modelling: 2.1 The impact of training on productivity and wages\n3. The data: Our main source of raw data comes from Balanco Social. This dataset has been collated by Gabinete de Estudos e Planeamento (GEP) of the Portuguese Ministry of Labour, and covers all firms having at least 100 employees in the business sector of the Portuguese economy. In particular, we follow all training firms for a period of six consecutive years, from 1995 to 2000 (annual data), where a training firm is defined as one that offered at least some type of training in every single year of the period under study. In the raw sample, some 50 per cent of firms did not provide any training in at least one year of the 1995-2000 interval. These firms were excluded from the estimation sample and as a result we were left with a total of 1,030 \"training\" firms, a subset representing approximately 30 per cent of the total Portuguese business sector workforce.\n4. Results and interpretation: 4.1 The impact of training on productivity and wages\n5. Conclusions: In this paper we derive firm-level productivity and wage models as a function of workplace training. The results obtained from our model specifications indicate that an investment in training has a positive and statistically significant impact both on productivity and wages. In particular, it is estimated that one additional hour of training per worker results in a 0.12 per cent increase in productivity and a 0.04 per cent increase in wages. These two effects become stronger if the selected training variable used is the stock of training rather than the flow. Furthermore, our estimates indicate that 80 per cent of the gains in productivity are captured by firms and 20 per cent by workers.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which the productivity gains associated with workplace training are shared by both the firms concerned and their workers. The approach is both theoretical and empirical as an explicit formula for the internal rate of return for firms and workers is derived; and production and cost functions are estimated in conjunction with wage and productivity equations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors use a unique linked employer-employee longitudinal dataset with detailed information on firm formal training and run regression models to obtain the determinants of the internal rate of return to firm-sponsored training. Analysis of training costs is also provided as well as the econometric framework required to control for firm heterogeneity.\nFindings: The results obtained from the model specifications indicate that an additional hour of training per worker results in an increase of 0.12 per cent in productivity and 0.04 per cent in wages, or an increase of 0.16 and 0.08 per cent, respectively, if one uses firm training as a stock variable. It is also found that 82 per cent of the gains in productivity are captured by firms and 18 per cent by workers. Given the training costs, it is obtained an IRR of 13 per cent for firms and 33 per cent for workers at sample means.\nPractical implications: Training investments are good otherwise they would not even be considered by firms. However, knowing with greater accuracy the gains captured by firms (and workers) is critical for policy makers in their decision-making process. The estimates found in the paper shows that firm training is a genuinely worthwhile investment for all participants.\nOriginality/value: The authors derive an explicit formula for the internal rate of return to firm-sponsored training and provide workers' and firms' shares of the productivity gains using firm-level data. Another original contribution is that the gains enjoyed by firms are computed as net gains, that is, net of the training costs on the one hand, and net of all the gains accruing to workers through higher wages on the other.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
How leader networking, external monitoring, and representing are relevant for effective leadership
|
[
"Networking",
"External monitoring",
"Representing"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The boundary of modern organizations has become blurred with the increased movement of people, resources, technology, and ideas around the globe (Gulati, 2007). To meet the challenges of an inter-connected global economy, organizations are becoming flatter, members are more demographically diverse, and people are increasingly required to work in groups and collaborate with others both inside and outside their organization (Marrone, 2010). These trends are evident in today's multi-national corporations as well as in government organizations that need to collaborate with other organizations to provide services and solve increasingly complex public problems, including human and drug trafficking, terrorism, and climate change (Bryson et al., 2006). In such a networked environment, it is not enough for managers to pay attention to the internal operation, maintenance, and health of their workunit, it is also necessary to communicate with and engage with external stakeholders to obtain resources, support, assistance and information to achieve their organization's mission (Davis et al., 2012; Johansen and LeRoux, 2013; McGuire and Silvia, 2010).\nExternal monitoring: External monitoring involves searching for information that may help to address a particular need or issue, identifying people or groups inside or outside of the organization who may support or oppose the activities and objectives of the leader's workunit, gathering information to better understand the needs of current and prospective clients, and keeping informed about relevant technological developments, changes in the political environment, and behaviors of competitors and collaborators (Yukl, 2012; Marrone, 2010). These activities are sometimes referred in organizational studies as \"environmental scanning\" (Miles et al., 1978) or \"scouting\" (Ancona and Caldwell, 1992; Druskat and Wheeler, 2003). Research has shown that the extent to which top managers are able accurately describe their external environment is an important determinant of performance, especially when the organization operates in an environment that is dynamic and highly competitive (Bourgeois, 1985). At the workunit level, information acquired through external monitoring can be used to resolve a problem, to persuade members to support a project or a course of action, and influence superiors to provide necessary additional resources (Ancona and Caldwell, 1992; Druskat and Wheeler, 2003; Marrone et al., 2007).\nRepresenting: Representing involves lobbying for resources, approval and support, promoting the group's reputation and advancing its interests, negotiating formal and informal agreements with other groups, and coordinating inter-group activities (Yukl, 2012). This external behavior also includes some political tactics that leaders use to influence decisions and shape perceptions and beliefs of people inside and outside the organization (Pfeffer, 1981). Ancona and Caldwell (1992) referred to these behaviors and tactics as \"ambassador\" role of the manager and Dutton and Ashford (1993) described them as \"issue-selling\" behavior. This type of external behavior is likely to be more important for the survival and growth of organizations that are highly dependent on external entities for funding, resources, and support (e.g. public universities and non-profit organizations), this type of leadership behavior is (Johansen and LeRoux, 2013; Rabovsky and Rutherford, 2016). Even for work teams, the successful completion of a project is likely to depend on the leader's ability to obtain necessary resources and support (Katz and Allen, 1985; Druskat and Wheeler, 2003). Furthermore, it is important for managers to coordinate external activities, resolve conflicts, and buffer group members from external interference (Ancona and Caldwell, 1992; Yukl, 2012).\nNetworking: Networking involves building and maintaining cooperative relationships with people outside the manager's workunit. Specific networking activities include attending meetings, professional conferences, and ceremonies, joining associations and clubs, and socializing informally and communicating frequently with people in the professional network (Kaplan, 1984; Yukl, 2012). A few studies have found that networking behavior can facilitate collaboration on projects across groups and organizations (O'Leary and Bingham, 2009) and improve workgroup performance (Druskat and Wheeler, 2003; Johansen and LeRoux, 2013).\nHypotheses: Understanding why a leader is effective in a particular context requires examining different patterns of leadership behavior (Yukl, 2012). Most of the past research on external leadership was focused on a single-specific behavior or it examined a broadly defined behavior without an attempt to assess the individual and joint effects of the specific component behaviors. The purpose of the current study was to assess the independent and joint relationships of the three external leadership behaviors to workgroup performance and managerial effectiveness. There are adequate theoretical explanations and empirical evidence to support hypotheses about the positive relationship of each type of external behavior to workunit performance and managerial effectiveness in many situations. Unfortunately, it is more difficult to find support for hypotheses about the joint effects of the three external behaviors. The exception is for networking, and there are plausible reasons to support the hypothesis that positive effects for extensive networking depend on how much the leader also uses external monitoring and representing. Rival hypotheses are tested, because the proposed interaction does not preclude the possibility of a weak positive relationship for networking. The hypotheses that we tested are as follows:\nMethod: Sample and procedures\nResults: Preliminary analyses\nDiscussion: The results supported the hypothesis that external monitoring and representing can be used to enhance workunit performance and managerial effectiveness. The relationship between networking and the two outcomes was more complex. Networking improved workunit performance and managerial effectiveness only when one or both of the other external behaviors were used to a moderate or high extent. As noted earlier, networking can be used to advance self-oriented objectives (e.g. build and maintain personal friendships, gain more visibility to help advance one's career in the organization) as well as workunit objectives. For our measure of networking, it was not possible to determine the extent to which each type of objective was involved, but the other two external behaviors provide clues about likely objectives for a manager. When a high networking score is combined with high scores on a leader's use of external monitoring and representing, this pattern of behavior may reflect the use of networking primarily to advance workunit objectives rather than to pursue personal objectives.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the individual and joint influence of three distinct external leadership behaviors (i.e. networking, representing, and external monitoring) on workgroup performance and managerial effectiveness.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were gathered by surveying subordinates of 233 managers in various types of organizations.\nFindings: The results of multiple regression analyses indicated that external monitoring and representing were positively related to subordinate perceptions of workgroup performance and managerial effectiveness. The effects of networking depended on a leader's use of the other two external behaviors.\nOriginality/value: Understanding why a leader is effective in a particular context requires examining joint effects and different patterns of external behavior (Yukl, 2012). Past research on external leader behavior only examined one of the specific behaviors or examined a broadly defined behavior that included more than one of the three specific behaviors. The study provides new insight into the independent and joint effects of the three external leadership behaviors on managerial effectiveness and workgroup performance.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Designing competitivity activity model through the strategic agility approach in a turbulent environment
|
[
"Italy",
"Dynamic capabilities",
"Competitive activity",
"IT environment",
"Strategic agility"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Environmental turbulence renders systematic strategic planning more difficult for firms (Grant, 2003; Tsai and Yang, 2014). Rapid changes increase the volatility of the business environment and require flexible and creative strategies. Nowadays, firms face great environmental turbulence due to ever-evolving competition, changing technology, fluctuating demand, disruption to the supply chain caused by human-made or natural disasters and so on. High levels of environmental turbulence can paralyze a firm's operations. Turbulence comprises uncertainty and risks faced by a firm. As a consequence, managing uncertainty and reducing risk is relevant to firms' success and they are key issues. To that end, Vecchiato (2015) points out the importance of expanding our understanding of environmental uncertainty in turbulent contexts, whereas Oetinger (2004) argues that firms should attempt to reduce the impact of uncertainty by proactively anticipating change and getting equipped to manage change. The literature describes a firm's strategic agility as a way to manage unforeseen changes and risks faced by organizations. Research indicates a limited need for agility when operating in environments characterized by low uncertainty (Lee, 2002; Qrunfleh and Tarafdar, 2014). Competitive activity in turbulent environments is dependent on both a firm's ability to manage changes and on its flexibility (Oetinger, 2004).\n2. Theoretical framework: In a competitive market, there is an urgent need to develop and improve organizations' flexibility and their ability to respond to market situations. Many companies face constant increasing and uncertain competition that is intensified by technological innovations, market environment changes and changing demands of customers. This critical situation has led to significant changes in organizations' strategic landscape and business priorities. Both traditional and contemporary business models are revised to improve competitive activity in such environments. In other words, past approaches and solutions are no longer able to address organizational challenges and external environment issues. Therefore, a company's agility is considered to be a response to organizational changes and to improving competitive activity. In fact, agility is recognized as a new paradigm for competitive organizations and enterprises. From the mid-1990s, several academics investigated agility with regard to both an organization and business. Goldman et al. (1995) refer to the external factors that challenge a business's profit, and other authors focus on strategic agility as a business's ability to quickly adapt and change in response to rapidly changing environmental conditions (Bititci et al., 1999; McGaughey, 1999; Bessant et al., 2001). Other literature has highlighted the competitive factors lying behind agility. Schonsleben (2000) considers agile firms to be those that understand how to remain competitive by means of proactive amassing of knowledge and competencies. Sambamurthy et al. (2003) described partnering agility as the ability to leverage the assets, knowledge and competencies of suppliers, distributors, contract manufacturers and logistics providers through alliances, partnerships and joint ventures. In relation to the agility of a firm, some publications stress the role of knowledge to generate abilities, so that an organization has the potential to thrive in a continuously changing business environment. Dove (2001) argues that agility is defined by the ability to manage and apply knowledge effectively, whereas Arteta and Giachetti (2004) refer to the ability to act proactively with regard to change. Setia et al. (2008) focus on an organization's ability to harness existing knowledge, assets, relationships to seize opportunities for competitive advantage. According to Doz and Kosonen (2008), strategic agility consists of strategic sensitivity, collective commitment and resource fluidity, which allow the company to \"perceive early, decide quickly, and strike with strength and speed\". More recently, strategic agility conceptualization has been referred to the supply chain (Lin et al., 2006; Braunscheidel and Suresh, 2009) and to the business process (Tallon, 2008).\n3. Methodology: Our aim is to present a model of shaping strategic agility based on dynamic capabilities to improve a firm's competitive activity. Our literature review enabled us to design a conceptual framework. An empirical study has been designed to test the model in the setting of Italian IT firms. The electronics industry has been chosen as a study context based on the dynamism of its products, processes and firms (Calantone et al., 2003), as well as on the relevance to foster resource efficiency (Ducatel, 2001). Thus, IT was considered to be a relevant context, where building strategic agility could be analyzed.\n4. Results: A descriptive statistical analysis has been conducted with regard to the variables considered in the study: digital options, strategic foresight, systematic insight, market acuity, customer agility, operational agility, partner agility and competitive activity. Mean value, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were calculated. The results of the study are summarized in Table IV.\n5. Discussion and conclusions: In this paper, a model to build strategic agility has been proposed and tested based on dynamic capabilities and its relationship with competitive activities.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: This paper aims to introduce and test a model of shaping strategic agility based on dynamic capabilities such as information technology (IT) competencies, entrepreneurial alertness and acuity market to improve firms' competitive activity.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A study based on a quantitative approach has been designed. Data have been collected through closed questionnaires from a sample of firms. The study has been conducted in the electronics industry in Italy based on the dynamism of the setting. Through SPSS-AMOS application, path analysis has been performed to conduct a first assessment of the theoretical model.\nFindings: The dimensions of strategic agility are relevant capabilities for improving competitive activity. Furthermore, increasing strategic agility in the three dimensions (customer, operational and partnering) depends on the ability to improve other dynamic capabilities of the organization, including IT competency, systematic insight and strategic foresight. Finally, strategic agility results to be the only variable able to leverage the firm's competitive activity.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study presents some limitations linked to the response rate and the ability to conduct further analysis. However, it highlights the main dimensions that managers and entrepreneurs should develop to improve the competitive activities of the firm.\nPractical implications: The paper addresses practitioners' need to identify the main variable to leverage in order to increase firms' competitivity.\nSocial implications: The results of the study offer the opportunity for new reflections when designing business executives' training programs and defining recruitment pathways.\nOriginality/value: This is the first study that investigates strategic agility building in a turbulent environment in the Italian setting.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Standards for health promotion in hospitals: development and pilot test in nine European countries
|
[
"Health services",
"Standards",
"Hospitals",
"Self assessment",
"Quality improvement"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Background: In 1993 the World Health Organisation initiated a European Pilot Project on the role of health promotion in hospitals. This project has expanded over the years and now numbers more than 700 hospitals in 25 countries (Pelikan et al. 1998a, b). Based on the principles set out in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (World Health Organisation, 1986), the Ljubljana Charter on Reforming Health Care (World Health Organisation, 1996) and the Vienna Recommendations on Health Promoting Hospitals (World Health Organisation, 1997) the aim of the Network is to strengthen health promotion, disease prevention and rehabilitation services and enhance a reorientation of the hospitals. Against the changing burden of disease from acute to chronic conditions, health promotion activities are considered an important intervention to improve important quality of care issues, such as sustained health-related quality of life, illness management and compliance with treatment.As the network grew and health promotion programmes were incorporated into the daily routine of hospital work it became increasingly clear that objectives, standards and indicators needed to be identified to monitor the quality of activities directed towards patients, staff and environment. Standards are potentially strong tools for quality improvement and for the implementation of a concrete programme for health promotion in hospitals. A survey of the available sets of standards for quality in health care revealed that these standards only marginally cover health promotion (World Health Organisation, 2002; International Society for Quality in Health Care, 2000; Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, 1999; Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation, 1999; Clinical Standards Board for Scotland, 2001; Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 2000).Therefore, the process of setting standards for health promotion in hospitals was initiated in 2001. It was decided to aim at universal standards for hospitals and not exclusively for the Network's member hospitals, as health education, disease prevention and rehabilitation should be offered to patients in all hospitals, regardless of their affiliation to the Network. In some countries, where primary care is provided in centres and less through individual practitioners, the standards may be highly applicable and relevant. However, it was decided to develop standards only for hospitals, as at this level of care standards are an accepted tool for quality improvement.\n2. Methods: 2.1 Process of development\n3. Results of the pilot test: The main purpose of the pilot was to evaluate whether the standards for health promotion in hospitals were perceived to be relevant and applicable by health professionals in different types of hospitals in European countries. In addition, the current fulfilment of the standards was assessed in order to identify their possible impact. Analysis of the standards was based on 35 review forms (one hospital did not fill in the review form correctly) provided by 36 hospitals in nine European countries. Comments from institutions and individuals of the overall Health Promoting Hospital Network, positive feedback from accreditation and quality agencies and experts gave valuable input. The comments of study participants concerning presentation, conceptualization, understandability, phrasing, grouping and implementation of standards and the rating of relevance, applicability and compliance for each of standards 1-5 are summarized elsewhere in more detail (World Health Organisation, 2003b).Piloting hospitals found the standards to be relevant and applicable. Figure 2 describes graphically the quantitative results of the hospitals' assessment of the standards' relevance/applicability and fulfilment (Figure 2). The graphs represent the assessment by the hospitals of standards 1-5 regarding the applicability and relevance and the actual fulfilment of the standards' measurable elements. The lighter shaded bars represent the percentage of review forms that assess the respective criteria as applicable and relevant. The darker shaded bars represent the percentage of review forms that assess the respective criteria as fulfilled. A total of 30 of 35 (86 per cent) criteria are rated in >80 per cent of the review forms as being applicable and relevant. Five of 35 (14 per cent) criteria are rated in >60 per cent of the review forms as being fulfilled.Most hospitals complied only moderately with the standards, indicating that the standards are applicable in principle and that there is room for improvement with regard to the standards fulfilment. The reservations expressed by the piloting institutions are more related to the process of implementing health promotion as a part of the clinical activity, rather than to the standards themselves. Participants stressed that standards should not be used for external evaluation of the hospitals' activities but primarily for a self-assessment.\n4. Discussion: Hospitals taking part in the pilot test rated the standards as being understandable, relevant and applicable. This result indicates that the actual standard formulation can fulfil the aim: to set universal standards for health promotion, disease prevention and rehabilitation in hospitals.The reason for focusing on hospital roles is the recognition of a specific need to reorient the hospitals into a new direction, where the specific and professional care and the patient's mastery and behaviour are complementary and where hospital staff understand the importance of supporting and activating the patient. However, this is an obligation for the total health care and standards describing the activities across the sector boundaries should be developed in the future.The hospitals in the International Health Promoting Hospitals Network have realised this responsibility, and in spite of the reservations listed above, they have the insight and capacity to use the standards as a tool for planning, implementation and evaluation of their efforts. To facilitate this, a self-assessment tool based on the standards is being prepared. The network has to decide whether this tool should be obligatory or whether the results of the self-assessment should be decisive for membership. It may also be considered to establish an organisation within the network for external auditing. Although participants expressed in the pilot test that standards should not be used for external assessment, which can be understood given the current low level of compliance and their ongoing development, they may be used for accreditation in the future and once integrated in the existing quality system. Information on the development of this work will be made available online on the Health Promoting Hospitals web page (World Health Organisation, 2004a).Our survey on existing standards for quality in health care made it clear that health promotion, disease prevention and rehabilitation are insufficiently covered. The standards for health promotion developed by the International Health Promoting Hospitals Network are based on the best available evidence and they have been developed, structured and formulated according to the ALPHA programme given by ISQUA. Thus the national and international sets of standards should be supplemented by the newly developed standards and health promotion assessed together with other important quality issues.\n5. Conclusion: Standards for health promotion in hospitals have been developed and piloted. They were found to be relevant and applicable. However, compliance with the standards in the test hospitals is low. Systematic monitoring of the implementation of health promotion services in hospitals is therefore needed.Based on the results of the pilot test and the discussions during the workshops, the standards and criteria in their final versions were amended and will be continuously revised in the future, subject to changing needs and experience gained from their use.The standards will not be used to formally assess, accredit or rank individual hospitals that are members of the Health Promoting Hospitals Network. The use of aggregated data on compliance with the standards will be discussed with the members of the Network.Measurable elements and indicators will be developed further for the self-assessment tool. The tool will be accompanied by a manual and glossary of terms. Specific guidelines may be developed to supplement the standards. The self-assessment tool may also be developed as on online database linked to the existing database of Health Promoting Hospitals (World Health Organisation, 2004b). Quality organizations are therefore encouraged to include the standards for health promotion in hospitals in their standard sets.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - To describe the process of development of standards for health promotion in hospitals, including pilot study, method and results.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A set of standards for health promotion in hospitals was developed by a task force of the International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals, following the recommendations of the ALPHA programme. The standards were pilot tested and assessed qualitatively and quantitatively in 36 hospitals in nine European countries. Subsequently, standards were reviewed by representatives from the piloting hospitals. A self-assessment tool was produced to evaluate whether hospital managers and professionals perceive the standards to be relevant and applicable and whether they are currently met. Participants provided comments from their national health system perspective and rated the standards.\nFindings: - General comments and specific comments were provided for each standard regarding its relevance, applicability and current level of compliance. A total of 35 standards' criteria were assessed and 86 per cent (30/35) were rated >80 per cent relevant and applicable, while 14 per cent (5/35) were rated >60 per cent relevant. The degree of current fulfilment of the criteria, however, was low.\nResearch limitations/implications: - While the standards should be applicable to other regions (South America, Africa, Asia) additional testing may be required to adapt them to prevailing health care challenges.\nPractical implications: - The pilot test revealed that the standards are applicable and were considered relevant, and showed that current compliance is low. It also showed that there is a clear need to facilitate continuous monitoring and improvement of compliance. The standards are regarded as being public domain, are applicable to other organisations and can be incorporated into existing quality systems.\nOriginality/value: - Standards are a common tool for quality assurance in health care, but so far have considered health promotion activities only partly, if at all. The standards for health promotion in hospitals developed by WHO fill this important gap.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
Learning through action: Engagement and behavioural change through the use of drama
|
[
"Drama",
"Action learning",
"Individual psychology",
"Human resource management"
] |
[
{
"content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Many training and development methodologies are based on a cognitive approach to learning. A blue print of techniques, messages and ideas is delivered to a group via lectures, manuals or classes, and so learning is achieved by listening, reading and discussion.\nTools and formats: As a learning tool, drama comes in various guises, and can be used to achieve different outcomes and challenges depending on the need.Interactive Live Action Scenarios\nSo what can drama and active learning bring to an organization?: Engaging your audience\nConclusions: Someone said in referring to David Kolb's experiential learning theories, including, of course drama, \"What I see I forget, what I hear and see I remember a little, but what I hear, see, discuss and do allows me to acquire knowledge and skill...\"In its purest form drama is a story-telling process, which has the power to engage with our emotions, our feelings and experiences and this emotional response can have a considerable impact on how we perceive things. By tapping into your staff's emotions you can create an experience that leads to greater retention of knowledge, understanding and commitment to change.\n",
"role": "user"
},
{
"content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to provide L&D Managers with an informative overview of how drama works in the context of learning and development, the key methodologies involved and their benefits to the organization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This article is a case study providing information on how drama has been applied for learning and development purposes in a number of UK organizations.\nFindings: - One of the key points of this article, and central reasons for Drama's ongoing success as an L&D tool, is its ability to evoke an emotional response to the learning process. Through emotion, we can engage staff and inspire them to learn, in a way that transcends other training methodologies.\nOriginality/value: - This paper introduces L&D managers to a new approach to learning. It offers a brief overview of what drama-based learning can add to the mix, and explains how these methods are helpful both to staff and the organisation as a whole. The article includes a series of case study examples from the public and private sectors to illustrate key points and methods.\n",
"role": "assistant"
}
] |
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